Rise of Empires: Ottoman [Season 2]

Rise of Empires: Ottoman is Netflix’s latest attempt to out-history the History channel. That’s not a difficult task — so far, the streaming service has given us stuff like the Roman Empire series and Greatest Events of WWII in Colour, which actually show a modicum of interest in actual history, while History continues its ahistorical examinations of ghosts, mothmen, bigfeet, marshmallow men, Tralfamadorians and large vehicles driving over thin ice. Ottoman is a Turkish production and, like Roman Empire, entangles extravagant reenactments with documentary components. But is it actual history, or just schmistory.Rise of Empires: Ottoman Season 1-2 Download.

Mehmed II (Cem Yigit Uzumoglu), Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, slashes the crap out of countless faceless Roman soldiers on the battlefield. Guts fly. He grimaces. Atop one of the towering towers of Constantinople (not Istanbul) (not yet anyway), a man looks down at him, possibly farting in his general direction. Ghostly voices of dead ghosts envelop Mehmed II; he has a vision of a bearded man (himself) watching a bearded man (Constantinople) beheading another bearded man (his father, Mehmed I). But GASP! ‘Twas but a dream. Or was it more than a dream? Was it (drumroll) a VISION.Rise of Empires: Ottoman Season 1 Download.

Actually only the ghostly-ghost-voice thing wasn’t real. Mehmed II was sleeping in his armor — again. He watches from his tent as Constantinople burns as soldiers roar as thunder rolls. He will soon rule the rubble! Dramaticus interruptus occurs, and we see a historian in tweed, corduroy and/or a turtleneck giving real-life context to reenactments of stuff that happened in the 15th century. The stuff with actors and significantly less blazers with patches on the elbows flashes back to Mehmed II’s becoming Sultan at the underripe age of 19. He wants to make a name for himself and do what 23 other armies, including his father’s, failed to do, namely, plant a few trees in pursuit of a healthier planet, play a little backgammon and hit the sack early.