I was excited for the show. Didn't know what to expect with the largely Turkish cast talking in English etc. I hoped that the documentary wouldn't be too biased in favor or against the Ottomans. Ideally it would have been a great and accurate documentary series with fantastic, well acted reenactments by the actors. I was also a bit worried about the Tuba Büyüküstün which I think they put in the documentary to attract the average Turkish viewer and fans of Turkish drama shows (surprisingly incredibly popular in the Balkans, middle east and even Spain etc)

And for the first 20 minutes I started watching it I was so happy to see that it seemed to be a very fine docu drama. But then it all started to go down hill.

First off every single Turk in the show, except the slave girl that converted to Christianity, have the stereotypical "evil guy" look. They always have an evil grin and they always dress in black. Every single scene they are threatening someone etc. Meanwhile the eastern Roman / Byzantines wear colorful clothes, have soft nice expressions (except Giovanni Giustiniani who is portrayed as a "lovable womanizing pirate / mercenary")

In reality the Sultan would have worn colorful robes made from expensive silks with intricate details and embroidery etc etc. He wouldn't have walked around in black leather all day every day.. same for his followers. From the moment we see Mehmet he is wearing his black leather outfit. What even is that supposed to be? Obviously not his actual armor, we even see him wearing more realistic armor to battle, so what's with the black leather? Remember, this is the same for every single Turk. The only people with color are the Jannisary troops, which I'm sure they would have made to wear black if their uniforms weren't as iconic..but strangely they all wear no armor for battles and storm into battle with ceremonial outfits..

How actual Ottoman troops would have looked

https://historybytez.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/zonaro_gatesofconst.jpg

https://www.deviantart.com/susam-boy/art/Fatih-Sultan-Mehmet-1453-170795293

https://history.info/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Conquest_of_Constantinople_Zonaro.jpg

https://www.google.com/amp/s/istanbulclues.com/sultan-mehmed-ii-the-conqueror/amp/

Etc

Every time we hear the historians talk, they talk about how brilliant Mehmet is. How he spoke 5 languages and was a great commander etc etc. but then we switch to the reenactment parts and Mehmet acts like a angry, bratty, spoiled, bully. This happens with almost everything. The Historians will say something positive and then the reenactment will be a complete mess.

Let's move on to Giovanni.. Honestly the show is more a dramatization of Giovanni than a a docu about Mehmet or the Ottomans. Giovanni was a ruthless pirate so brutal even his own nation hated him. He came to Constantinople because he thought it would be an easy way to gain a lot of glory and honor (he damaged his family name with his actions and came from a great family). He also hoped he'd get land etc in the end. Likely expected an easy defense and eventual western reinforcements. he did not realise the Ottomans had giant wall destroying cannons.

The moment he rode into the city the music made it clear he was going to stare at a girl, who'd in turn become his love interest. It was so cliche, I swear I guessed it before it happened lol. But I hoped it was just a throwaway scene and he wouldn't get some dumb love plot, which is based on absolutely NOTHING. It only served to make him a likeable guy, a womanizer etc it's a very cliche thing to do with the "HERO" of the story.

There is even a scene where Mehmet goes to the wall and talks to Giovanni, tries to buy him..

This is absolutely RIDICULOUS. Mehmet would have been pierced by hundreds of bolts before he even came close. Those are called KILLING FIELDS for a reason. In that scene Mehmet offers Giovanni the entire Aegean and Giovanni refuses. This is a complete joke and meant to show that Giovanni was now suddenly dedicated to Constantine and Constantinople.

So this dude is getting a nonsense love plot and is made to seem like this honorable warrior that gave his heart to this city and wouldn't ever betray it (he fucking does though, doesn't he). He even threatens everyone else who tries to suggest a truce or tries to stop the war. He threatens everyone by calling them traitors. Suddenly this dude is the most loyal byzantine.

It's crazy that the hero in the show is a mercenary of the other side who is made to seem so much greater than he was.

Meanwhile poor Constantine, who likely bravely died fighting in the heart of his city

Takes a back seat to "the great Giovanni Giustiniani who ran away with all his men and died not long after.

Then we get to straight up inaccuracies and other misrepresentations.

1 We know who Mehmets mother was. It was Hüma Hatun. The show shamelessly claimed we did not know his mother and Mehmet kept it secret?? WHAT? How is a PRINCE supposed to keep his BIRTH MOTHER secret. Ottomans also did not really have "illegitimate" sons. Whether your mother was from a peasant/slave or royal aristocrat background you are equally a prince.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hüma_Hatun

2 The idea that he was beaten like that is absurd. He would have been disciplined. But lashed and wounded? IT'S ILLEGAL TO SPILL ROYAL BLOOD.. when members of the family were killed they would be strangled because of this. They would never cut a member of the House of Osman as it was believed that it was a very bad omen.

3 During the battle reenactments Ottomans get slaughtered like lv1 enemies vs a lv99 boss. Giovanni stands on his own in the middle of the killing field slaughtering Ottoman after Ottoman. Which is again, complete nonsense. First off giovanni would have stood behind his 700 heavy plate armored men with giant shields, pikes, crossbows etc. They were the last line..

For the Ottoman soldiers to get to them they had to cross the killing field! This is where most casualties happened not during the fight. So they had to run trough a field that's constantly bombarded. Shot with make shift shotguns, hand cannons. Thousands of arrows and bolts. Trough a moot, then trough multiple walled sections etc etc.

But the docu pretends like Giovanni and a handful of his men were single handily stopping the assaults. Also pretends like Ottomans just threw troops at the problem which wasn't at all the case.. remember Mehmet was a very very well educated and extremely experienced commander. He had been ruling his own province since he was like 10. He had been leading men since he was a child..

The docu also pretends like Mehmet was almost out of men. Which, again, is not reflective of reality.

4 Ottoman troop composition.

The documentary talks about the Serbian miners but never mentions the 1500 allied serbian heavy cavalry that mehmet had in his army! Which reminds me of Radu and Vlad Tepes which we never hears off btw but I'll come to that later..

They constantly show these guys wearing furs and bones, with their faces painted. Then they claimed these were Bashi Bozuk. Bashi Bozuk did not dress like that. Deli Cavalry did. They also wore wings on their backs which is where the winged hussars got their wings from.. this is such a huge inaccuracy it's insane that it's in there. They pretend like a large part of the army was bashi bozuk which is also wrong. Deli Cavalry were shock troops they didn't just go in and die, they were meant to intimidate and act as shock troops (hit and retreat)

Başi bozuk were random irregulars. They did not wear furs, masks, face paint or wings like the deli troops..

All Ottoman troops had dirty faces even the Jannisaries.. the historians talk about how organized this army was, the only true standing army in Europe, first military band in history etc. And then the reenactment shows them as a band of undisciplined savages.

Historians are like the Jannisaries were the best trained, most feared warriors. Cue reenactment of Giovanni Giustiniani slaughtering hundreds single handily lol.

The Ottoman army was so simplified and everyone wore leather. Where are the Sipahi heavy cavalry? Where are the armored Jannisary? Why are they all wearing their ceremonial clothes?

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/ottoman-sipahi-and-aragonese-jose-daniel.html

How an Ottoman armored soldier would have looked vs an Aragonese

5 The documentary tries to raise the drama by pretending Mehmet was worried about western reinforcements from the start and that was all he thought about. It wasn't. It would have taken a while for them to arrive, if they ever did. But long before that the Ottomans took control of the horn. And although the Ottoman navy alone wouldn't be able to properly block reinforcements if they came with frigates, the Ottomans had lined the entire bosphorus with cannons. The horn was a death trap

6 They claim the Ottoman navy had a 100 ships. Which it did, but only 35 of those were galleys there rest were large rowboats. The ships could easily overwhelm and destroy any frigate. But frigates are so large and fast they can ram trough those galleys. That's why they were unable to stop them. The wind also didn't ever die down as far as I know. They just rammed through the blockade.

The baltalu scene was a massive dramatization and bs. Sure he'd be pissed but he understands warfare he understood what happened and that the admiral couldn't help it. He made an example out of him but wouldn't have gone too far as that would create resentment between his forces as the admiral was very well respected. Remember this is the guy who spared the vizier because his support might come in handy.

7 The documentary pretends like Mehmet had this lonely, cold and horrible life. Never mentions all the kids he grow up with etc.

Mehmets closest friend is never even mentionned! It's fucking Radu III Dracul. Younger brother of VLAD III "TEPES/THE IMPALER" DRACUL (the guy that Dracula is based on)

I mean Radu defeats his own brother and rules Wallachia for the Ottomans (as a vassal like his father, only Radu saw Mehmet as a brother). There are even rumors about them being lovers but that's based on nothing and likely just made up by nationalist Romanians etc to explain his loyalty to Mehmet and also why his brother Vlad hated Mehmet and Radu with a passion.

8 Weapons.

On one hand I'm happy to see the swords have Yalmans. it's the double edge at the end which makes Turkish Kilij swords/sabers tip heavy. This makes it easy to swing the sword with just the wrist with barely any effort. But I'm also a bit confused as to why experienced Jannisary warriors would attack plate armored foes with kilij swords. Although they can cut trough armor it works best on horseback. they would have used Maces, Pick axes and axes against armor..both of which they carried. Not to mention where are all the Ottoman firearms? Muskets and arquebuses etc?

There is so much more I want to write, but I've already written too much. If you got this far, DM me and I'll send you a cookie. Anyway, the show was a major disappointment for me. I think the (Turkish) maker of the show tried to pander to a western audience so badly, that he made heroes out of some random mercenary in an effort to not embellish the Ottoman side. But the result is horrible. He might also be a guy who isnt a big fan of the Ottomans. E.g. one of the Turkish experts in the show was NOT a historian. He was a geologist with an interest for history. But he is also notorious for sorta disliking the Ottomans..strangely though he only said positive things. All of the historians and experts did a great job. The guy who did the drama parts completely ruined it.

I'm still waiting for a objective and realistic retelling. I don't need it to be PC or for the Ottomans to look like angels. I don't mind if the other side is shown as brave (Constantine was after all, if he truly died fighting). But I don't want Ottomans to be a stereotype. Whether it's them being portrayed as angels who couldn't do wrong or as guys who apparently have a genetic defect that makes them look with an angry grin 24/7

P.s. don't mind the grammar and spelling I wrote all of this on my phone.

EDIT: fixed most of the grammar etc just wanted to add Surprisingly the accents weren't distracting at all, except with the child actor. Tuba Büyüküstün did much better then I expected and I loved how the Ottoman women were dressed in the docu.