‘Shahmaran’ Season 1 Recap: Who Was Sahsu?

There are plenty of fantasy fiction shows on Netflix, especially from Turkey. Shahmaran is one of them. Season one of the show was released earlier this year, and it is based on a mythological prophecy that turns out to be real. Two lead characters—one of them was unaware of the prophecy, the other was pursuing the woman he was supposed to fall in love with to fulfill the prophecy. Whether the two people will unite is what the story of this eight episode series covers.

Spoilers Ahead

Why was Sahsu in Adana?

The show began with a man covered in sweat, blood, and grime jumping off a cliff with the intent of killing himself. The man hit a large stone, but yet he did not die. The scene moved to Sahsu getting down at Adana train station, on her way to meet her grandfather, who’d abandoned her mother when she was little. Her mother had been in a depressive state all her life after her abandonment. Sahsu’s grandfather’s name was Davut Demir, and he lived in a small house flanked on both sides by his friends Salih and Medine. The man was known to be helpful, until Sahsu showed up and he went all radio silent on her. The grandfather and Sahsu hardly spoke, but the latter wanted answers. Davut also shared with her the letters her mother wrote him asking for answers, which he’d never responded to.

Sahsu was also in Adana as she had joined a local university as an assistant professor in the psychology department. The job gave her a reason to come to the town to confront her grandfather. She was staying at a seedy lodge in the city because she had no reason to live with her kin. 

How did Sahsu and Maran meet?

Davut Demir’s neighbor was from a rich family of a father and his adult children. The three sisters and their brother were excited to have a young woman in their neighborhood. Diba, Bike, and Hare were the sisters, while Maran was the brother, who ran a perfumery. With the arrival of Sahsu in the neighborhood, everyone in the family began to root for Maran to get with Davut’s granddaughter. Sahsu ran into Maran several times throughout her visit to her grandfather, and they slowly became acquaintances. 

Sahsu was rescued from a fire in the town by Maran, and brought back to her grandfather’s place, and she never went back to the lodge. Soon it was revealed Maran was indeed half snake and half human, making him a basilisk. This also proved his family were essentially snakes who worshiped Shahmaran, the mythological creature, and were waiting for a prophecy to be fulfilled. Maran and his family assumed Sahsu was meant to visit Adana and help them fulfill the prophecy. The trick lay in how to involve her in it without freaking her out. 

Who was Cihan?

Cihan was Sahsu’s colleague at the university who had initially become good friends with her. He was by her side all the time, which began to bother Maran, who’d started falling in love with her. It was slowly revealed that Cihan was the son of one of the many believers of the Shahmaran, Lakmu. Cihan was aware of the prophecy, which was the reason he was always around Sahsu. Sahsu was being followed by a man in a black hoodie. Maran, her sisters, and Cihan were aware of this but could not come to find the identity for her. The man in the hoodie reached the university campus, and Sahsu lost her mind as she was trying to track this person. Diba, who was a student of Sahsu and realized Cihan and his powers as both tried to save her. Cihan, however, was given the chance to kidnap Sahsu by the same devil in the hoodie to harm her in the process.

Why was Sahsu always rescued by Maran?

Maran kept showing up to save Sahsu, as he felt there was an attraction between the two. He had rescued her from the fire that had engulfed the town, which was followed by their conversation about life and love. Sahsu’s attraction to him was confirmed when Maran spent a while in the underground pool area shedding his skin. Sahsu wanted to meet him, but she never found him, even at his home. His sisters refused to share his location for obvious reasons, but soon they understood Sahsu could be falling for their brother, and they were headed towards fulfilling the prophecy. 

What was the prophecy Maran and his family discussed?

The prophecy involved many sightings and incidents that were considered omens. One of them was a fire during a festival that occurred, which Sahsu was rescued from. This was followed by the culling of thousands of livestock in a hilly area. Lakmu and Maran’s father Ural knew all these omens would lead them to the prophecy. This could be the reason why all of them wanted Sahsu to be around to make sure Shahmaran’s prophecy was seen through to its conclusion. Everyone in the family and the other people who believed in Shahmaran’s power came together to make sure the eons-old prophecy could finally come true, and peace would be restored. 

Why did Cihan kidnap Sahsu?

Cihan, as promised to the devil in the hoodie, decided to kidnap Sahsu. Cihan had a change of mind over the powers he was promised if Sahsu was delivered to them. Cihan slowly began to give away the fact there was more to what was happening around Sahsu, and she began to fear for her life, until Maran showed up and injured Cihan. Maran could not answer any of Sahsu’s questions, as all he did was save her from being harmed or, worse, killed. 

What happened at the party at Maran’s home?

Maran and his family had a small dinner party at their home that brought together many people they knew, including Sahsu and her grandfather, whom she had begun to open up to. Their relationship dynamics had improved, and at the dinner, they were joined by Salih and his pregnant wife Medine. Medine, right from the start of the dinner, had begun to complain about some sort of stomach pain, which she was ignoring.

Cihan was asked to take a step back, but he had begun to conspire further to kill Sahsu, but she whisked Maran away near the lake, where they made love for the first time. This indicated they were in love and would like to stay with each other. It was during their time around the lake that Sahsu’s skin had transformed into a serpent’s scales, which she probably wasn’t aware of as well. It was on their return from their intimate rendezvous that things began to get worse at Maran’s home.

Why was Medine in pain?

Medine began to bleed profusely, and she was hardly two months pregnant at this point. A distressed Salih requested Ural to investigate it as he was a doctor as well. Ural and his daughters were now aware this was the last omen to be witnessed before the prophecy was fulfilled. While Salih was unaware of anything that was happening, Maran’s sisters were busy making sure Medine survived the ordeal. 

Medine was moved to the underground pool to make her labor easy, as the family knew she would be giving birth to a snake. This was the last omen to be sighted, but they needed Maran and Sahsu by their side for everything to work like clockwork. Sadly, nothing worked as planned as Medine gave birth to a snake, which was instantly killed by Ural. Medine succumbed after the delivery, to everyone’s shock. 

How did Sahsu’s grandfather survive?

Sahsu’s grandfather had moved away from the dinner table due to chest pain and collapsed. This happened a while before Medine went into labor. Sahsu tried to save him, but she was helpless. She asked for Maran’s help, but he was unable to revive him using CPR. He had to finally reveal himself to be half animal and half human to revive Davut Demir, which petrified Sahsu further. He used his fangs to retrieve the poison that had caused the heart attack. It could have been Cihan who took this action just to distress Sahsu further. Maran again came to her rescue, but this time he would have to reveal the truth.

Who was Sahsu?

A petrified Sahsu was informed of the myth of Shahmaran, which she’d thought was make-believe. Maran went ahead and revealed the story behind the legend of Shahmaran; the female snake and her human lover Camsap. Shahmaran’s sister Lilith had been wary of trusting Camsap when he’d asked to return to the human land on the surface, promising he wouldn’t betray them by sharing their location and secrets. However, Camsap was tricked into doing so by the King and his men. The man ended up betraying his love and the snake land was massacred in the search for antidotes for the dying king. This led to Shahmaran having to take the most heartbreaking step, which was to stop Lilith from killing Camsap at any cost by imprisoning her in a well.

Shahmaran sacrificed her body and told Camsap most of her wisdom lay in her tail, which could be used for the benefit of the humans. Her sacrifice pulled a distressed Camsap into the land of guilt and despair. This made him attempt suicide several times, but since he was immortal at this point, he could never escape his torment. He lived for many years until he met Sahsu’s grandmother and had a daughter with her. His guilt caught up to him, but he chose not to kill himself in front of Sahsu’s mother and walked away. It turns out Sahsu’s grandfather Davut was the real Camsap. The prophecy, however, stated that the descendant of Camsap should fall in love with a basilisk till death parts them. This time it should be the human who had to sacrifice their identity to be with the basilisk, which was Maran.

Shahmaran season 1 ended with Sahsu stopping the hooded devil by using her powers, which she didn’t realize she had in her. As Maran tried to save her, Sahsu ended up saving her own life. There is a possibility that the hooded devil could be sent by Lilith to stop the unification of humans with the basilisks and make the prophecy a success. Lilith was the person in the well, as shown through several flashes, and the show ended with Lilith waking up and threatening to destroy the humans that decimated her kind.