1 00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,680 Where is the prince? 2 00:00:16,766 --> 00:00:18,346 In his chambers, Sultana Mara. 3 00:00:27,027 --> 00:00:29,107 Mehmed. 4 00:00:35,577 --> 00:00:36,697 I'm so sorry. 5 00:00:39,622 --> 00:00:40,712 No need. 6 00:00:41,416 --> 00:00:44,416 Your mother will always be a part of you. 7 00:00:46,588 --> 00:00:47,798 I hardly knew her. 8 00:00:53,845 --> 00:00:55,555 I can't even remember her face. 9 00:01:11,071 --> 00:01:13,411 It does me no good to live in the past. 10 00:01:22,248 --> 00:01:23,958 Let me show you something. 11 00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:25,955 Come. 12 00:01:39,974 --> 00:01:43,814 The Ancients believed the blood moon was a portent of great change. 13 00:01:46,606 --> 00:01:48,356 Remember this blood moon, Mehmed. 14 00:01:49,526 --> 00:01:52,446 One day, it will return when you need it most. 15 00:01:53,029 --> 00:01:55,159 When all seems lost. 16 00:02:10,004 --> 00:02:13,264 In late April, the Romans attempt a desperate gambit, 17 00:02:13,341 --> 00:02:16,511 ambushing the Ottoman fleet moored in the Golden Horn. 18 00:02:20,181 --> 00:02:22,561 They are met with a wall of cannon fire. 19 00:02:24,853 --> 00:02:27,733 Turning the attackers into the attacked. 20 00:02:30,733 --> 00:02:32,693 Governor, do you believe in prophecies? 21 00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:35,914 I believe in the word of God. 22 00:02:40,994 --> 00:02:46,584 Many years ago, my ancestor, Osman, had a dream. 23 00:02:48,418 --> 00:02:50,628 A great tree rose from the ground. 24 00:02:52,046 --> 00:02:55,966 From its roots sprang four mountain ranges, 25 00:02:57,177 --> 00:02:58,597 then four rivers. 26 00:03:00,054 --> 00:03:05,944 And around those rivers, beautiful shimmering cities arose. 27 00:03:08,354 --> 00:03:12,114 The great tree's leaves turned to gleaming swords. 28 00:03:14,736 --> 00:03:20,326 Suddenly, a mighty wind blew and the swords all pointed to one city... 29 00:03:23,411 --> 00:03:24,751 Constantinople. 30 00:03:26,873 --> 00:03:29,753 Our swords are now pointed at Constantinople. 31 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,630 The emperor will soon feel how deeply they cut. 32 00:03:46,392 --> 00:03:48,692 Every empire has a beginning. 33 00:03:48,770 --> 00:03:52,900 Forged of blood, steel, fortune and conquest. 34 00:03:52,982 --> 00:03:57,322 In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI 35 00:03:57,403 --> 00:03:59,913 and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II, 36 00:03:59,989 --> 00:04:03,029 wage an epic battle for Constantinople. 37 00:04:03,534 --> 00:04:06,794 Twenty-three armies have tried to take the legendary city, 38 00:04:06,871 --> 00:04:08,251 all have failed. 39 00:04:08,581 --> 00:04:11,791 Out of the carnage, one ruler will emerge victorious 40 00:04:11,876 --> 00:04:16,166 and change the course of history for the next 300 years. 41 00:04:17,090 --> 00:04:19,300 For one empire to rise... 42 00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:21,094 another must fall. 43 00:04:57,463 --> 00:05:01,803 The Genoese in Galata warned the Turks that this attack is coming. 44 00:05:01,884 --> 00:05:06,184 And it blows up in the Byzantine faces, because it not only fails completely, 45 00:05:06,264 --> 00:05:10,314 but it cost them the lives of 200 men that they can't afford to lose. 46 00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:18,149 It's this moment where now both sides realize 47 00:05:18,234 --> 00:05:21,744 that no quarter will be asked, and no quarter will be given. 48 00:05:24,282 --> 00:05:26,372 Surrender is no longer even an option. 49 00:05:26,451 --> 00:05:27,911 You're in this to the end. 50 00:05:29,203 --> 00:05:34,083 You either die or you triumph, and there is no other alternative. 51 00:05:38,004 --> 00:05:41,804 Word of the defenders' failed ambush and their grisly fate 52 00:05:41,883 --> 00:05:44,263 sends tremors throughout Constantinople. 53 00:05:48,306 --> 00:05:49,136 Ahh! 54 00:06:06,949 --> 00:06:11,199 That lying bastard, Lomellini, betrayed us. 55 00:06:13,873 --> 00:06:15,083 He will pay for this. 56 00:06:15,583 --> 00:06:18,673 I told you we couldn't trust these Catholic mercenaries. 57 00:06:18,753 --> 00:06:20,173 You dare to speak of trust? 58 00:06:20,254 --> 00:06:21,764 Why don't you share with us 59 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,589 the purpose of the nightly adventures outside the walls? 60 00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:26,585 Tread carefully, Genoa! 61 00:06:26,677 --> 00:06:27,677 Lords! 62 00:06:28,096 --> 00:06:30,886 It's you who should watch your step. 63 00:06:30,973 --> 00:06:32,143 You viper. 64 00:06:32,225 --> 00:06:33,265 Stop it! 65 00:06:34,102 --> 00:06:38,112 You argue like children while our empire fights for its life! 66 00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:40,690 If you keep this nonsense up, 67 00:06:42,068 --> 00:06:44,198 we might as well surrender to the Turks! 68 00:06:50,576 --> 00:06:52,826 The sultan has bested us at nearly every turn, 69 00:06:52,912 --> 00:06:54,962 and we are running out of time. 70 00:06:55,039 --> 00:06:55,919 And so are they. 71 00:06:55,998 --> 00:07:00,798 Every day, they're camped out there is a brick thrown onto the sultan's back. 72 00:07:01,796 --> 00:07:03,206 Help will come for us. 73 00:07:03,714 --> 00:07:05,764 There are rumors reported daily of a fleet-- 74 00:07:05,842 --> 00:07:08,392 Rumors encouraged by our own spies. 75 00:07:08,469 --> 00:07:09,599 Based on truth. 76 00:07:10,471 --> 00:07:12,521 -Venice has pledged to send help. -Then where is it? 77 00:07:12,598 --> 00:07:15,268 They will come, and the walls will hold... 78 00:07:16,269 --> 00:07:17,269 as they always have. 79 00:07:24,777 --> 00:07:26,067 Keep our lookouts alert. 80 00:07:27,113 --> 00:07:29,033 Send out a search party for the fleet. 81 00:07:29,365 --> 00:07:33,285 Constantine is very conscious of the weight of history, so to speak. 82 00:07:33,995 --> 00:07:37,745 He may rule over the remains of an empire. 83 00:07:38,332 --> 00:07:41,002 But he is the only one who can legitimately claim 84 00:07:41,085 --> 00:07:42,875 to be the Roman emperor. 85 00:07:42,962 --> 00:07:44,712 Leave me be. 86 00:07:45,798 --> 00:07:47,508 With a political lineage 87 00:07:47,592 --> 00:07:49,642 that stretches all the way back to Augustus. 88 00:07:56,017 --> 00:07:57,557 He was very conscious of duty, 89 00:07:57,643 --> 00:08:00,903 and he was very much of the old school in that manner. 90 00:08:14,785 --> 00:08:17,575 Constantinople had been around for so long, 91 00:08:17,663 --> 00:08:20,463 that it was surrounded by prophecies. 92 00:08:22,126 --> 00:08:25,086 One was that the city would be founded, 93 00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:28,051 uh, by an emperor whose name was Constantine, 94 00:08:28,966 --> 00:08:31,176 whose mother was called Helena, 95 00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:33,720 and that it would be lost under an emperor 96 00:08:33,804 --> 00:08:35,854 with the same name, and the same mother. 97 00:08:37,058 --> 00:08:40,768 And unfortunately, Constantine XI fitted the bill in this respect. 98 00:08:41,938 --> 00:08:44,688 I will not be the Constantine who lost the City of God. 99 00:08:53,199 --> 00:08:55,989 The fate of the 1,100-year-old empire 100 00:08:56,077 --> 00:08:57,197 and its ruler, 101 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,250 will be written in the coming weeks. 102 00:09:12,051 --> 00:09:14,301 With the battle mired in a stalemate, 103 00:09:15,763 --> 00:09:17,393 both sides dig in... 104 00:09:19,892 --> 00:09:22,232 and old scores are settled. 105 00:09:28,859 --> 00:09:31,649 TRAITOR 106 00:09:43,457 --> 00:09:45,537 The siege enters its second month. 107 00:09:46,210 --> 00:09:49,510 The Ottoman camp is beset by a sense of despair. 108 00:09:50,047 --> 00:09:52,877 The fighting reaches a new level of brutality. 109 00:09:56,304 --> 00:10:01,564 Over the ensuing weeks, Mehmed's forces attempt numerous assaults on the city. 110 00:10:04,729 --> 00:10:07,399 Only to be repulsed by the severely damaged, 111 00:10:07,481 --> 00:10:09,481 but still standing walls, 112 00:10:09,734 --> 00:10:12,364 and the defending forces led by Giustiniani. 113 00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:21,616 There's no guarantee that the siege is gonna be successful. 114 00:10:21,704 --> 00:10:24,964 There's several points where the Ottomans almost give up and go away. 115 00:10:28,002 --> 00:10:31,802 I mean, just the logistics of organizing an army in the 15th century. 116 00:10:31,881 --> 00:10:35,761 The amount of food that you need take from your peasantry to support the army. 117 00:10:35,843 --> 00:10:39,683 The amount of the state's wealth that you need to invest in arms and pay. 118 00:10:40,598 --> 00:10:43,268 Let alone, the potential loss of life. 119 00:10:44,352 --> 00:10:46,152 You know, populations in the 15th century 120 00:10:46,228 --> 00:10:48,398 are much, much smaller than ours are today. 121 00:10:48,481 --> 00:10:51,231 Every death is multiplied, if you like. 122 00:10:51,317 --> 00:10:53,737 That's one less person to go home and till the fields. 123 00:10:53,819 --> 00:10:55,489 That's one less person to pay taxes. 124 00:10:55,571 --> 00:10:58,371 That's one less family that's gonna exist. 125 00:10:58,449 --> 00:11:00,079 So it's a huge gamble. 126 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,130 Within the walls at the same time, 127 00:11:10,211 --> 00:11:13,671 the defenders are getting exhausted, their walls are being eroded, 128 00:11:13,756 --> 00:11:15,546 they're running out of food. 129 00:11:19,136 --> 00:11:22,766 Each day brings with it a growing sense of desperation. 130 00:11:24,392 --> 00:11:28,442 There are images of the holiest relics of Constantinople 131 00:11:28,521 --> 00:11:33,441 being displayed on the city walls at the time of the Ottoman siege. 132 00:11:34,443 --> 00:11:37,953 So these great images of Christ Pantocrator and the Virgin Mary 133 00:11:38,030 --> 00:11:40,870 are taken around the walls to encourage the troops. 134 00:11:40,950 --> 00:11:43,450 And of course, the Virgin had saved the city many times before, 135 00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:46,706 not least from Muslim armies in the past. 136 00:11:46,789 --> 00:11:48,829 So, terrifying, yes, 137 00:11:48,916 --> 00:11:52,246 but both sides clearly believed that God is on their side 138 00:11:52,336 --> 00:11:53,626 in one way or another. 139 00:11:59,385 --> 00:12:01,635 And so the siege enters a new phase 140 00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:03,471 where the attacks get bloodier, 141 00:12:03,556 --> 00:12:05,386 the techniques more intense, 142 00:12:05,474 --> 00:12:07,644 and the fighting more ferocious. 143 00:12:20,072 --> 00:12:23,412 You think about the physical nature of medieval warfare. 144 00:12:25,035 --> 00:12:27,655 Certainly, we have some guns and some bows and arrows 145 00:12:27,747 --> 00:12:30,247 that enable you to kill people at a distance. 146 00:12:35,546 --> 00:12:38,836 But lots of the fighting happens hand to hand, 147 00:12:38,924 --> 00:12:40,724 with swords, and axes, and spears, 148 00:12:40,801 --> 00:12:43,801 where you think about the visceral nature of that. 149 00:12:47,558 --> 00:12:49,728 You know, the physical force that's required 150 00:12:49,810 --> 00:12:53,610 to smash someone in the skull with an ax, or to stab them through the chest. 151 00:12:56,525 --> 00:12:57,815 Ahh! 152 00:13:06,285 --> 00:13:08,495 You're looking at someone in the eyes, 153 00:13:08,579 --> 00:13:11,499 and you're seeing the damage that your weapon does to them. 154 00:13:11,582 --> 00:13:14,592 Knowing that in the next few seconds, that could happen to you. 155 00:13:14,710 --> 00:13:17,210 It must be absolutely terrifying. 156 00:13:17,546 --> 00:13:19,336 Ahh! 157 00:13:30,476 --> 00:13:31,976 The Italian on the walls, 158 00:13:34,063 --> 00:13:35,233 Giustiniani... 159 00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:39,820 needs to be dealt with, Pasha. 160 00:13:39,902 --> 00:13:40,952 He baits me. 161 00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:49,080 I would love nothing more than to deal with him personally. 162 00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:56,213 I admire your enthusiasm, Zaganos Pasha, 163 00:13:57,795 --> 00:13:59,915 but that may not be necessary. 164 00:14:02,424 --> 00:14:03,764 What's on your mind? 165 00:14:23,946 --> 00:14:24,816 Sir! 166 00:14:43,716 --> 00:14:45,676 Giustiniani! 167 00:14:52,975 --> 00:14:55,185 Has Zaganos Pasha gone insane? 168 00:14:55,686 --> 00:14:56,846 What's he doing? 169 00:15:01,525 --> 00:15:03,985 Giustiniani! 170 00:15:08,198 --> 00:15:10,658 I bring word from the sultan himself! 171 00:15:46,695 --> 00:15:47,695 Sultan. 172 00:15:54,036 --> 00:15:58,116 So, you're the Genoese nightmare that stalks walls. 173 00:15:59,291 --> 00:16:00,541 I've been called worse. 174 00:16:00,626 --> 00:16:01,996 Hmm. Pirate? 175 00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:06,973 You and your band of outlaws have cost me many men... 176 00:16:08,425 --> 00:16:10,135 but earned my respect. 177 00:16:10,678 --> 00:16:11,848 You flatter me, Sultan. 178 00:16:11,929 --> 00:16:14,009 I offer reason, mercenary. 179 00:16:14,890 --> 00:16:18,890 If it is flattery you're looking for, turn back to your whimpering paymasters. 180 00:16:20,104 --> 00:16:23,654 They're too busy executing Ottoman prisoners to sweet-talk me. 181 00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:25,032 This is not your fight. 182 00:16:25,693 --> 00:16:30,113 You're a soldier of fortune, so, I'm prepared to give you a fortune. 183 00:16:31,156 --> 00:16:32,986 It's a little late for that, Sultan. 184 00:16:34,034 --> 00:16:35,204 There's a rumor, 185 00:16:35,536 --> 00:16:37,656 the emperor has offered you the island of Lemnos 186 00:16:37,746 --> 00:16:39,366 in the event of a victory. 187 00:16:40,708 --> 00:16:43,918 The emperor has also promised the same island 188 00:16:44,336 --> 00:16:46,046 to three others fighting with you. 189 00:16:48,382 --> 00:16:49,382 Have you heard? 190 00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,259 Emperor, this is unacceptable. 191 00:16:52,845 --> 00:16:54,885 How do we know he's not betraying us? 192 00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:57,929 Let us send arrows into both of them and be done! 193 00:17:01,353 --> 00:17:02,603 Look around, soldier. 194 00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:05,189 You cannot win this battle. 195 00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:07,481 I don't have to win. 196 00:17:08,944 --> 00:17:12,414 It's only a matter of time before the Christian army arrives. 197 00:17:13,198 --> 00:17:14,738 And you will not defeat them. 198 00:17:16,493 --> 00:17:19,793 Mehmed motivated people any way he could. 199 00:17:19,872 --> 00:17:25,042 He even tried to, uh, entice Giustiniani 200 00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:29,547 away from, uh, Constantinople to join him, 201 00:17:30,132 --> 00:17:32,092 and he offered him money. 202 00:17:32,342 --> 00:17:33,552 Leave the defenses now, 203 00:17:33,635 --> 00:17:36,005 and you and your men will be given land and riches 204 00:17:36,096 --> 00:17:37,766 beyond your wildest dreams. 205 00:17:38,474 --> 00:17:40,734 I will make you governor of all the Aegean islands 206 00:17:40,809 --> 00:17:42,849 with the protection of my military. 207 00:17:43,062 --> 00:17:47,482 You will be free to conduct any business you wish, with no taxes. 208 00:17:48,859 --> 00:17:52,109 My offer would make you wealthier than the emperor himself. 209 00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:56,488 For God's sake, what are they talking about? 210 00:18:01,789 --> 00:18:03,329 Tell me, Sultan... 211 00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:08,339 what is to stop me from cutting off your head, 212 00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:11,380 and ending this here and now? 213 00:18:12,591 --> 00:18:13,681 Soldier... 214 00:18:15,094 --> 00:18:16,764 I'll need your answer by sundown. 215 00:18:25,479 --> 00:18:27,609 Zaganos Pasha called for me by name. 216 00:18:28,232 --> 00:18:29,942 And you go running like his whore? 217 00:18:30,025 --> 00:18:32,895 Lord Loukas! He held aloft a white flag! 218 00:18:34,988 --> 00:18:37,198 It was in our interest to know what he had to say. 219 00:18:37,282 --> 00:18:38,452 Which was? 220 00:18:41,745 --> 00:18:44,245 Zaganos Pasha bid me to take my men and leave. 221 00:18:44,331 --> 00:18:45,581 In return for what? 222 00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:47,786 In return for our lives, my lord. 223 00:18:48,752 --> 00:18:51,552 He would spare us, if we flee. 224 00:18:57,719 --> 00:18:59,929 With Ottoman ships in the Golden Horn 225 00:19:00,013 --> 00:19:03,983 and Mehmed's army encamped outside the city's landward walls, 226 00:19:04,059 --> 00:19:08,439 the Romans are now forced to defend Constantinople on two fronts. 227 00:19:08,981 --> 00:19:12,031 The city is also still reeling from the bloody aftermath 228 00:19:12,109 --> 00:19:15,069 of the failed Roman attack on the ships in the harbor. 229 00:19:15,654 --> 00:19:20,124 Within Constantinople was fury and blame, uh, at the failed attack, 230 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,330 but it got worse because they realized 231 00:19:22,411 --> 00:19:26,001 that a certain number of sailors had been captured. 232 00:19:26,081 --> 00:19:30,341 And Mehmed then had them impaled on stakes outside the walls. 233 00:19:30,419 --> 00:19:32,339 The defenders, uh, responded 234 00:19:32,421 --> 00:19:37,051 by hanging some of their Turkish prisoners from the battlements. 235 00:19:39,219 --> 00:19:43,519 So we see a kind of spiral of brutality unfolding 236 00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:46,889 between the two sides as the siege went on. 237 00:19:47,477 --> 00:19:49,147 Six weeks into the siege, 238 00:19:49,229 --> 00:19:51,979 both sides are nearing their breaking point. 239 00:19:55,152 --> 00:19:58,242 It's a moment of trauma and complete chaos. 240 00:20:13,712 --> 00:20:16,132 But there are many individual moments of pathos, 241 00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:18,585 - of courage, of... - Get up! 242 00:20:18,675 --> 00:20:20,835 - ...sacrifice. - Stop! 243 00:20:20,928 --> 00:20:21,848 Stop it! 244 00:20:22,596 --> 00:20:25,386 -He's hurt. Can't you see? -He will get a blow of my sword. 245 00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:27,564 No! Have you no mercy? 246 00:20:28,393 --> 00:20:30,153 Let me tend to his wound. 247 00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:34,020 Your pope preaches to return good for evil. 248 00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:39,487 Perhaps a good deed of charity like this will help in our cause in front of God. 249 00:21:21,530 --> 00:21:23,280 I thought you weren't coming. 250 00:21:23,907 --> 00:21:25,827 I always keep my promises. 251 00:21:32,624 --> 00:21:35,094 I will take you wherever you wish. 252 00:21:35,544 --> 00:21:38,014 I have my ship waiting in the harbor. 253 00:21:40,507 --> 00:21:41,717 If we survive. 254 00:21:42,718 --> 00:21:45,008 That harbor is filled with Turkish ships. 255 00:21:45,345 --> 00:21:47,385 How much longer can you hold them off? 256 00:21:47,931 --> 00:21:50,181 Despair doesn't suit you, Therma. 257 00:21:53,353 --> 00:21:57,733 I will take you away, far away from this wretched place. 258 00:22:11,747 --> 00:22:13,207 You will be safe here. 259 00:22:27,763 --> 00:22:29,313 Oh! Oh! 260 00:22:32,726 --> 00:22:34,136 You should have let me die. 261 00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:37,975 Too many people have died. 262 00:22:45,238 --> 00:22:47,658 I must believe there is still good in this world. 263 00:23:40,669 --> 00:23:41,669 Sultan. 264 00:23:43,004 --> 00:23:44,594 A message from Constantinople. 265 00:23:57,227 --> 00:24:00,307 "Sultan, thank you for your most generous offer. 266 00:24:00,397 --> 00:24:04,317 I have considered it in full, but I fear I must decline. 267 00:24:05,026 --> 00:24:07,606 Once this bloody affair is behind us, 268 00:24:08,238 --> 00:24:10,738 I'll be honored if you visit me on Lemnos." 269 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,240 News from Constantinople? 270 00:24:53,366 --> 00:24:55,536 Mehmed is bogged down outside the walls. 271 00:24:57,245 --> 00:24:58,905 My news may hearten you. 272 00:25:00,123 --> 00:25:01,293 What is this? 273 00:25:09,257 --> 00:25:11,637 There is a great tradition 274 00:25:11,718 --> 00:25:15,008 of practicing astronomy and astrology 275 00:25:15,096 --> 00:25:18,136 in the Greater Eurasian, uh, landscape. 276 00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:25,611 One of the main tasks of astrologers was designating an auspicious moment. 277 00:25:25,690 --> 00:25:29,150 The idea of future, the idea of the uncertain, 278 00:25:29,236 --> 00:25:32,816 how this siege would end. 279 00:25:33,907 --> 00:25:34,907 Is this true? 280 00:25:34,991 --> 00:25:36,741 The astrologers have confirmed it. 281 00:25:36,826 --> 00:25:37,906 They are certain. 282 00:25:39,871 --> 00:25:41,791 I need to take this news myself. 283 00:25:42,582 --> 00:25:44,172 In Constantinople, 284 00:25:44,251 --> 00:25:46,551 the defenders are faced with a new problem. 285 00:25:47,379 --> 00:25:49,509 Emperor, we need a miracle. 286 00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,009 We are long out of money and running out of time. 287 00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:57,930 And some of the soldiers are threatening to leave 288 00:25:58,014 --> 00:25:59,434 if they're not paid. 289 00:25:59,516 --> 00:26:00,426 Leeches! 290 00:26:00,892 --> 00:26:03,732 Determined to suck the last bit of life from the city. 291 00:26:06,398 --> 00:26:09,318 My men will stay... or go. 292 00:26:10,485 --> 00:26:11,735 Wherever I am. 293 00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:17,330 Lord Giustiniani, no man, dead or alive, will be left unpaid. 294 00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:19,079 You have my word. 295 00:26:20,870 --> 00:26:22,290 Is that not worth something? 296 00:26:24,666 --> 00:26:27,876 Emperor, I have given you my word. 297 00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:30,960 I am here until the city is safe. 298 00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:36,929 But you know the terms of the deal you made with them. 299 00:26:37,012 --> 00:26:38,722 Emperor, I warned you, 300 00:26:38,805 --> 00:26:42,475 these Italian recruits would only fight as long as the money kept flowing! 301 00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:45,939 Not one of them is honorable enough to see this wretched siege through, 302 00:26:46,021 --> 00:26:49,861 and yet, they strut about calling themselves Christians! 303 00:26:51,151 --> 00:26:53,781 Careful, Lord. 304 00:26:55,530 --> 00:26:58,070 You are playing with dangerous weapons. 305 00:26:59,826 --> 00:27:05,036 The same weapons that stand between you and the Ottomans at the gate. 306 00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:09,963 Lord Giustiniani, it's no secret there is no money in the treasury. 307 00:27:11,671 --> 00:27:13,841 Constantinople was broke. 308 00:27:14,716 --> 00:27:17,676 There is a coin of Emperor John VIII, 309 00:27:18,386 --> 00:27:22,516 who was, uh, the predecessor of Constantine. 310 00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:25,059 There's a silver, nice coin. 311 00:27:25,143 --> 00:27:30,073 Now if you examine a coin of Constantine XI... 312 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:32,482 you can see the difference, this is silver, 313 00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:37,358 and this is very thin copper with nothing in there. 314 00:27:37,447 --> 00:27:38,567 He didn't have any money. 315 00:27:39,783 --> 00:27:44,623 Lord Loukas, you are a man of great wealth, 316 00:27:45,288 --> 00:27:49,078 do you not have anything tucked away to loan the emperor? 317 00:27:56,549 --> 00:27:58,389 I've given everything I have. 318 00:27:59,844 --> 00:28:01,684 All that is left is my life... 319 00:28:04,224 --> 00:28:06,104 ...and I will gladly give that. 320 00:28:09,354 --> 00:28:12,694 Constantine is in debt. He, you know, they owed money. 321 00:28:14,150 --> 00:28:16,860 It's a pretty sort of tragic business. 322 00:28:17,612 --> 00:28:21,322 But he was a... he was a real fighter, Constantine. 323 00:28:25,161 --> 00:28:26,001 It is God... 324 00:28:27,872 --> 00:28:29,872 who will provide in our time of need. 325 00:28:46,224 --> 00:28:48,694 In a desperate attempt to pay the mercenaries, 326 00:28:49,561 --> 00:28:53,611 Emperor Constantine orders all religious artifacts melted down, 327 00:28:53,690 --> 00:28:55,780 and minted into coins. 328 00:29:36,316 --> 00:29:40,316 Even as the situation in Constantinople grows more dire, 329 00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:43,660 a glimmer of hope appears in the Mediterranean. 330 00:29:45,533 --> 00:29:46,493 Look! 331 00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:56,459 The Venetians, they finally put an armada together 332 00:29:56,544 --> 00:29:58,214 to send to Constantinople. 333 00:29:58,963 --> 00:30:00,803 We must get word to Constantinople! 334 00:30:00,882 --> 00:30:04,092 In mid-May, rumors of a massive Venetian fleet 335 00:30:04,177 --> 00:30:06,637 gathering in the Mediterranean become reality. 336 00:30:08,389 --> 00:30:11,179 The warships prepare to sail for Constantinople, 337 00:30:11,851 --> 00:30:13,811 and come to the aid of the Romans. 338 00:30:14,270 --> 00:30:19,610 Mehmed's fear was, above all, any help that would come from Venice. 339 00:30:40,171 --> 00:30:42,301 I have given you every advantage possible. 340 00:30:43,675 --> 00:30:45,795 And in return, you have given me nothing. 341 00:30:47,387 --> 00:30:48,387 Halil Pasha, 342 00:30:50,348 --> 00:30:52,018 you promised me the city. 343 00:30:53,643 --> 00:30:54,733 Where is it? 344 00:30:55,937 --> 00:30:57,227 Where is it? 345 00:30:57,522 --> 00:30:59,572 Sultan, the Red Apple will fall in time. 346 00:30:59,649 --> 00:31:00,819 It requires patience. 347 00:31:00,900 --> 00:31:01,990 Are you blind? 348 00:31:02,819 --> 00:31:04,529 Can you not see we're out of time? 349 00:31:06,489 --> 00:31:09,369 They're saying the Christian fleet is just days from here. 350 00:31:12,620 --> 00:31:14,410 What will you do to fix this? 351 00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:18,420 Nothing? 352 00:31:22,672 --> 00:31:27,802 The greatest minds in my empire can offer me nothing? 353 00:31:34,017 --> 00:31:36,387 Out of my sight. All of you. 354 00:31:55,163 --> 00:31:56,213 What is it? 355 00:31:57,540 --> 00:31:59,710 I have known you since you were a small boy. 356 00:32:00,126 --> 00:32:02,416 Your father entrusted me with your education. 357 00:32:02,503 --> 00:32:03,843 Spare me the history lesson. 358 00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:06,972 Say what's actually on your mind for once. 359 00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:10,466 This is exactly what I warned against. 360 00:32:12,055 --> 00:32:15,385 Those walls still stand, no matter the size of our cannons. 361 00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:18,350 And you see the spirit in the defenders. 362 00:32:18,895 --> 00:32:20,935 They will die before they surrender. 363 00:32:21,022 --> 00:32:22,652 We have ten times their numbers. 364 00:32:22,732 --> 00:32:25,532 If our men cannot win with such an advantage, 365 00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:28,740 it is you who are responsible for their failure. 366 00:32:28,821 --> 00:32:30,411 Are you not their commander? 367 00:32:33,159 --> 00:32:35,909 Constantinople will fall, someday. 368 00:32:37,163 --> 00:32:40,083 But I fear it cannot be done under these circumstances. 369 00:32:56,307 --> 00:32:57,807 Make another offer for truce. 370 00:32:59,811 --> 00:33:01,561 I assure you they'll accept it. 371 00:33:03,731 --> 00:33:05,361 Ask for anything you want. 372 00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:08,114 It will be seen as our victory. 373 00:33:10,154 --> 00:33:14,704 And in return, leave them the city, for now. 374 00:33:15,952 --> 00:33:19,412 And come back when they are weaker, and you are stronger. 375 00:33:20,456 --> 00:33:22,206 The outcome will be inevitable. 376 00:33:25,962 --> 00:33:31,842 At least allow me to draw up terms for a truce, for your approval. 377 00:33:33,886 --> 00:33:38,216 Then, if you agree, we can send word to the emperor. 378 00:33:42,270 --> 00:33:43,980 When it's going really, really badly, 379 00:33:44,063 --> 00:33:47,323 there's a temptation to just pick up the camp and walk away, 380 00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,190 as happened with so many sieges of the city in the past. 381 00:34:02,206 --> 00:34:04,916 There was no guarantee that he was gonna win this. 382 00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:12,510 News of the Italian fleet gathering in the Mediterranean 383 00:34:12,592 --> 00:34:16,552 is a welcome jolt of hope for the emperor in Constantinople. 384 00:34:18,598 --> 00:34:20,178 -How long? -Six days at most. 385 00:34:20,266 --> 00:34:22,016 Can you hold off the Turks that long? 386 00:34:23,144 --> 00:34:24,154 Of course! 387 00:34:26,439 --> 00:34:28,269 Lord Loukas, Lord Sphrantzes, 388 00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:31,654 see to it that Lord Giustiniani has everything he needs 389 00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:32,856 to defend the walls. 390 00:34:33,821 --> 00:34:37,161 We must keep those Ottoman bastards at bay until the fleet arrives. 391 00:34:59,138 --> 00:35:02,268 Sultan, a message. 392 00:35:04,352 --> 00:35:05,442 It's urgent. 393 00:35:32,213 --> 00:35:33,463 Fetch me my horse! 394 00:35:46,978 --> 00:35:48,058 What is your name? 395 00:35:51,232 --> 00:35:52,112 Ali. 396 00:35:52,733 --> 00:35:53,573 Ali. 397 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:57,320 I'm Ana. 398 00:36:01,784 --> 00:36:04,624 I called my mother Ana. 399 00:36:07,957 --> 00:36:10,327 Will I see her in Heaven? 400 00:36:12,211 --> 00:36:13,091 Yes. 401 00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:15,172 I'm sure of it. 402 00:36:17,466 --> 00:36:18,626 Our Gods, they're... 403 00:36:20,052 --> 00:36:21,392 they're not so different. 404 00:36:33,691 --> 00:36:35,361 -Mother Mara. -My son. 405 00:36:35,443 --> 00:36:37,613 I came here as soon as I received your note. 406 00:36:37,862 --> 00:36:40,072 Why are you here? It's too dangerous. 407 00:36:40,156 --> 00:36:41,696 I come with important news. 408 00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:44,236 You must not leave the battlefield. 409 00:36:45,786 --> 00:36:48,536 My court astrologers have watched the skies. 410 00:36:49,123 --> 00:36:50,753 The stars have aligned, Mehmed. 411 00:36:52,585 --> 00:36:56,205 So, we have this tradition of court astrologers 412 00:36:56,297 --> 00:37:01,087 interpreting comets or other sorts of celestial 413 00:37:01,177 --> 00:37:03,847 or meteorological occurrences, 414 00:37:03,930 --> 00:37:09,060 as a sign of an Ottoman victory against their enemies. 415 00:37:09,977 --> 00:37:11,897 Now, it's time to attack. 416 00:37:17,068 --> 00:37:19,398 Remember what I told you long ago? 417 00:37:20,029 --> 00:37:23,369 A blood moon would appear when all hope was lost? 418 00:37:23,658 --> 00:37:25,578 Have you looked at the moon tonight? 419 00:37:33,167 --> 00:37:37,877 Usually eclipses are considered as bad signs, bad omen. 420 00:37:37,964 --> 00:37:42,054 But Ottoman astrologers interpret the occurrence of eclipses, 421 00:37:42,134 --> 00:37:46,314 as a bad omen for their enemies, not for the Ottomans themselves. 422 00:37:47,306 --> 00:37:49,226 You must not doubt yourself. 423 00:37:50,685 --> 00:37:51,685 Now go. 424 00:37:52,228 --> 00:37:56,318 I will see you again, on your throne in Constantinople. 425 00:38:05,157 --> 00:38:08,327 Mehmed realized it was now or never. 426 00:38:08,411 --> 00:38:09,411 The signs were good. 427 00:38:24,510 --> 00:38:28,220 As soon as the sultan returns, the terms must be ready. 428 00:38:29,473 --> 00:38:30,523 Yes, Pasha. 429 00:38:38,941 --> 00:38:41,941 For us now, horoscopes, you know, we don't all believe in it. 430 00:38:42,028 --> 00:38:43,648 It's just what some people like. 431 00:38:43,738 --> 00:38:46,818 Whereas in the 15th century, that was part of life. 432 00:38:47,867 --> 00:38:51,077 Gods and holy spirits were absolutely everywhere around us, 433 00:38:51,162 --> 00:38:53,962 and sometimes they manifest themselves to us. 434 00:38:57,626 --> 00:39:01,256 What really lowered morale in Constantinople 435 00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:03,969 during the siege, was a lunar eclipse. 436 00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:05,300 Dear God. 437 00:39:06,093 --> 00:39:08,433 They saw the blood moon as they called it. 438 00:39:09,096 --> 00:39:14,056 There was a prophecy that Constantinople would fall after a lunar eclipse. 439 00:39:14,852 --> 00:39:15,982 What does it mean? 440 00:39:30,326 --> 00:39:32,866 Sultan, we have the terms drawn up. 441 00:39:36,374 --> 00:39:39,924 Halil was still saying, let's try and cut a deal with these people, 442 00:39:40,002 --> 00:39:41,922 and get a large amount of money out of them. 443 00:39:42,588 --> 00:39:44,338 The troops were getting restless. 444 00:39:44,423 --> 00:39:46,683 Mehmed couldn't sustain this much longer. 445 00:39:46,759 --> 00:39:48,429 Have you not eyes, Pasha? 446 00:39:49,428 --> 00:39:50,638 It is our time. 447 00:39:55,017 --> 00:39:56,017 My brothers! 448 00:39:58,062 --> 00:40:00,022 Pick yourselves up and prepare. 449 00:40:01,774 --> 00:40:03,534 The prophets have spoken. 450 00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:05,820 Our time is at hand. 451 00:40:06,570 --> 00:40:07,610 Don't doubt it. 452 00:40:07,696 --> 00:40:09,236 Don't doubt our might. 453 00:40:10,282 --> 00:40:12,742 Allah will be with every one of us. 454 00:40:12,827 --> 00:40:14,997 And we will take the city! 455 00:40:29,385 --> 00:40:31,715 We hear from the defenders chronicles 456 00:40:31,804 --> 00:40:33,434 that the Turks were elated. 457 00:40:33,514 --> 00:40:36,234 They thought it predicted the end of the city. 458 00:40:40,771 --> 00:40:42,021 Drink up, Lords. 459 00:40:43,858 --> 00:40:46,278 Soon we will fight for our lives. 460 00:41:00,207 --> 00:41:02,497 Mehmed readies his army for battle. 461 00:41:03,627 --> 00:41:07,377 His destiny will be written at the walls of Constantinople. 462 00:41:07,673 --> 00:41:09,183 Sultan, I urge you. 463 00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:12,092 Do not force the matter any longer. 464 00:41:12,178 --> 00:41:14,678 -If we fail-- -If we fail... 465 00:41:16,348 --> 00:41:19,638 If Venetian galleys arrive with 100,000 men! 466 00:41:20,436 --> 00:41:24,226 If Caesar returns from the grave to lead Constantine's troops. 467 00:41:26,233 --> 00:41:28,823 There's no more time for ifs, Pasha. We must take the city. 468 00:41:28,903 --> 00:41:30,953 The cost will be steep. 469 00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,080 You have urged me to give up, Halil Pasha, time and again. 470 00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:39,001 And you nearly convinced me. 471 00:41:39,538 --> 00:41:42,418 But my fate is written... 472 00:41:44,335 --> 00:41:45,415 as is yours. 473 00:41:47,421 --> 00:41:48,421 Sultan! 474 00:41:54,929 --> 00:41:56,559 In the wake of the blood moon 475 00:41:56,639 --> 00:42:00,309 and just hours before Mehmed launches his final assault, 476 00:42:00,893 --> 00:42:03,483 he's met by an apocalyptic sight. 477 00:42:06,232 --> 00:42:09,822 Lights appeared to be shining on the roof of Hagia Sophia. 478 00:42:23,415 --> 00:42:25,535 What kind of sorcery is this? 479 00:42:31,674 --> 00:42:35,804 It created this incredibly hysterical atmosphere within the city, 480 00:42:35,886 --> 00:42:38,556 that they could be looking at the end of the world. 481 00:42:48,315 --> 00:42:51,315 The city is meant to have been protected by the Virgin Mary. 482 00:42:51,402 --> 00:42:54,032 There's the story that on the last day of Constantinople, 483 00:42:54,863 --> 00:42:57,833 she was seen leaving the city. 484 00:43:01,579 --> 00:43:05,209 Allah has abandoned the infidels!