1
00:00:15,640 --> 00:00:16,683
Where is the prince?

2
00:00:16,766 --> 00:00:18,351
In his chambers, Sultana Mara.

3
00:00:27,027 --> 00:00:29,112
-[footsteps approaching]
-[Mara] Mehmed.

4
00:00:35,577 --> 00:00:36,703
I'm so sorry.

5
00:00:39,622 --> 00:00:40,707
No need.

6
00:00:41,416 --> 00:00:44,419
Your mother will always be a part of you.

7
00:00:46,588 --> 00:00:47,797
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 --> 00:01:13,406
It does me no good to live in the past.

10
00:01:22,248 --> 00:01:23,958
[Mara] Let me show you something.

11
00:01:25,085 --> 00:01:25,960
Come.

12
00:01:39,974 --> 00:01:43,812
The Ancients believed the blood moon
was a portent of great change.

13
00:01:46,606 --> 00:01:48,358
Remember this blood moon, Mehmed.

14
00:01:49,526 --> 00:01:52,445
One day, it will return
when you need it most.

15
00:01:53,029 --> 00:01:55,156
When all seems lost.

16
00:02:04,457 --> 00:02:07,544
[cannon fire in distance]

17
00:02:10,004 --> 00:02:13,258
[narrator] In late April,
the Romans attempt a desperate gambit,

18
00:02:13,341 --> 00:02:16,511
ambushing the Ottoman fleet
moored in the Golden Horn.

19
00:02:20,181 --> 00:02:22,559
They are met with a wall of cannon fire.

20
00:02:24,853 --> 00:02:27,730
Turning the attackers into the attacked.

21
00:02:30,733 --> 00:02:32,694
Governor, do you believe in prophecies?

22
00:02:34,154 --> 00:02:35,905
I believe in the word of God.

23
00:02:40,994 --> 00:02:46,583
Many years ago, my ancestor,
Osman, had a dream.

24
00:02:48,418 --> 00:02:50,628
A great tree rose from the ground.

25
00:02:52,046 --> 00:02:55,967
From its roots
sprang four mountain ranges,

26
00:02:57,177 --> 00:02:58,595
then four rivers.

27
00:03:00,054 --> 00:03:05,935
And around those rivers,
beautiful shimmering cities arose.

28
00:03:08,354 --> 00:03:12,108
The great tree's leaves
turned to gleaming swords.

29
00:03:14,736 --> 00:03:20,325
Suddenly, a mighty wind blew
and the swords all pointed to one city...

30
00:03:23,411 --> 00:03:24,746
Constantinople.

31
00:03:26,873 --> 00:03:29,751
Our swords are now pointed
at Constantinople.

32
00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:34,631
The emperor will soon feel
how deeply they cut.

33
00:03:37,091 --> 00:03:39,052
[cannon fire in distance]

34
00:03:46,392 --> 00:03:48,686
[narrator] Every empire has a beginning.

35
00:03:48,770 --> 00:03:52,899
Forged of blood, steel,
fortune and conquest.

36
00:03:52,982 --> 00:03:57,320
In 1453, Roman Emperor Constantine XI

37
00:03:57,403 --> 00:03:59,906
and Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II,

38
00:03:59,989 --> 00:04:03,034
wage an epic battle for Constantinople.

39
00:04:03,534 --> 00:04:06,788
Twenty-three armies have tried
to take the legendary city,

40
00:04:06,871 --> 00:04:08,248
all have failed.

41
00:04:08,581 --> 00:04:11,793
Out of the carnage,
one ruler will emerge victorious

42
00:04:11,876 --> 00:04:16,172
and change the course of history
for the next 300 years.

43
00:04:17,090 --> 00:04:19,300
For one empire to rise...

44
00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:21,094
another must fall.

45
00:04:45,660 --> 00:04:47,161
[indistinct talking]

46
00:04:57,463 --> 00:05:01,801
The Genoese in Galata warned the Turks
that this attack is coming.

47
00:05:01,884 --> 00:05:06,180
And it blows up in the Byzantine faces,
because it not only fails completely,

48
00:05:06,264 --> 00:05:10,310
but it cost them the lives of 200 men
that they can't afford to lose.

49
00:05:14,439 --> 00:05:18,151
It's this moment
where now both sides realize

50
00:05:18,234 --> 00:05:21,738
that no quarter will be asked,
and no quarter will be given.

51
00:05:24,282 --> 00:05:26,367
Surrender is no longer even an option.

52
00:05:26,451 --> 00:05:27,910
You're in this to the end.

53
00:05:29,203 --> 00:05:34,083
You either die or you triumph,
and there is no other alternative.

54
00:05:35,710 --> 00:05:37,628
[screaming, panicking]

55
00:05:38,004 --> 00:05:41,799
[narrator] Word of the defenders'
failed ambush and their grisly fate

56
00:05:41,883 --> 00:05:44,260
sends tremors throughout Constantinople.

57
00:05:48,306 --> 00:05:49,140
Ahh!

58
00:05:51,142 --> 00:05:52,935
[sobbing]

59
00:05:57,231 --> 00:05:59,150
[panting]

60
00:06:06,949 --> 00:06:11,204
[Giustiniani] That lying bastard,
Lomellini, betrayed us.

61
00:06:13,873 --> 00:06:15,083
He will pay for this.

62
00:06:15,583 --> 00:06:18,669
I told you we couldn't trust
these Catholic mercenaries.

63
00:06:18,753 --> 00:06:20,171
You dare to speak of trust?

64
00:06:20,254 --> 00:06:21,756
Why don't you share with us

65
00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,592
the purpose of the nightly adventures
outside the walls?

66
00:06:24,675 --> 00:06:26,594
[shouting] Tread carefully, Genoa!

67
00:06:26,677 --> 00:06:27,678
Lords!

68
00:06:28,096 --> 00:06:30,890
It's you who should watch your step.

69
00:06:30,973 --> 00:06:32,141
You viper.

70
00:06:32,225 --> 00:06:33,267
Stop it!

71
00:06:34,102 --> 00:06:38,106
You argue like children
while our empire fights for its life!

72
00:06:38,940 --> 00:06:40,691
If you keep this nonsense up,

73
00:06:42,068 --> 00:06:44,195
we might as well surrender to the Turks!

74
00:06:47,657 --> 00:06:49,283
[bell tolling in distance]

75
00:06:50,576 --> 00:06:52,829
The sultan has bested us
at nearly every turn,

76
00:06:52,912 --> 00:06:54,956
and we are running out of time.

77
00:06:55,039 --> 00:06:55,915
And so are they.

78
00:06:55,998 --> 00:07:00,795
Every day, they're camped out there
is a brick thrown onto the sultan's back.

79
00:07:01,796 --> 00:07:03,214
Help will come for us.

80
00:07:03,714 --> 00:07:05,758
There are rumors reported daily
of a fleet--

81
00:07:05,842 --> 00:07:08,386
Rumors encouraged by our own spies.

82
00:07:08,469 --> 00:07:09,595
Based on truth.

83
00:07:10,471 --> 00:07:12,515
-Venice has pledged to send help.
-Then where is it?

84
00:07:12,598 --> 00:07:15,268
They will come, and the walls will hold...

85
00:07:16,269 --> 00:07:17,270
as they always have.

86
00:07:24,777 --> 00:07:26,070
Keep our lookouts alert.

87
00:07:27,113 --> 00:07:29,031
Send out a search party for the fleet.

88
00:07:29,365 --> 00:07:33,286
Constantine is very conscious
of the weight of history, so to speak.

89
00:07:33,995 --> 00:07:37,748
He may rule over the remains
of an empire.

90
00:07:38,332 --> 00:07:41,002
But he is the only one
who can legitimately claim

91
00:07:41,085 --> 00:07:42,879
to be the Roman emperor.

92
00:07:42,962 --> 00:07:44,714
[sighs] Leave me be.

93
00:07:45,798 --> 00:07:47,508
[Brownworth] With a political lineage

94
00:07:47,592 --> 00:07:49,635
that stretches
all the way back to Augustus.

95
00:07:56,017 --> 00:07:57,560
He was very conscious of duty,

96
00:07:57,643 --> 00:08:00,897
and he was very much
of the old school in that manner.

97
00:08:07,028 --> 00:08:08,154
[door shuts]

98
00:08:14,785 --> 00:08:17,580
[Roger Crowley] Constantinople
had been around for so long,

99
00:08:17,663 --> 00:08:20,458
that it was surrounded by prophecies.

100
00:08:22,126 --> 00:08:25,087
One was that the city would be founded,

101
00:08:25,171 --> 00:08:28,049
uh, by an emperor
whose name was Constantine,

102
00:08:28,966 --> 00:08:31,177
whose mother was called Helena,

103
00:08:31,260 --> 00:08:33,721
and that it would be lost under an emperor

104
00:08:33,804 --> 00:08:35,848
with the same name,
and the same mother.

105
00:08:37,058 --> 00:08:40,770
And unfortunately, Constantine XI
fitted the bill in this respect.

106
00:08:41,938 --> 00:08:44,690
I will not be the Constantine
who lost the City of God.

107
00:08:53,199 --> 00:08:55,993
[narrator] The fate
of the 1,100-year-old empire

108
00:08:56,077 --> 00:08:57,203
and its ruler,

109
00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:00,248
will be written in the coming weeks.

110
00:09:01,666 --> 00:09:04,001
[thunder rumbling]

111
00:09:12,051 --> 00:09:14,303
With the battle mired in a stalemate,

112
00:09:15,763 --> 00:09:17,390
both sides dig in...

113
00:09:19,892 --> 00:09:22,228
and old scores are settled.

114
00:09:28,859 --> 00:09:31,654
TRAITOR

115
00:09:38,494 --> 00:09:39,870
[thunder rumbling]

116
00:09:43,457 --> 00:09:45,543
The siege enters its second month.

117
00:09:46,210 --> 00:09:49,505
The Ottoman camp is beset
by a sense of despair.

118
00:09:50,047 --> 00:09:52,883
The fighting reaches a new level
of brutality.

119
00:09:53,217 --> 00:09:54,677
[screaming]

120
00:09:56,304 --> 00:10:01,559
Over the ensuing weeks, Mehmed's forces
attempt numerous assaults on the city.

121
00:10:04,729 --> 00:10:07,398
Only to be repulsed
by the severely damaged,

122
00:10:07,481 --> 00:10:09,483
but still standing walls,

123
00:10:09,734 --> 00:10:12,361
and the defending forces
led by Giustiniani.

124
00:10:16,574 --> 00:10:18,242
[thunder rumbling]

125
00:10:18,326 --> 00:10:21,621
[Dr. Michael Talbot] There's no guarantee
that the siege is gonna be successful.

126
00:10:21,704 --> 00:10:24,957
There's several points where the Ottomans
almost give up and go away.

127
00:10:28,002 --> 00:10:31,797
I mean, just the logistics
of organizing an army in the 15th century.

128
00:10:31,881 --> 00:10:35,760
The amount of food that you need take
from your peasantry to support the army.

129
00:10:35,843 --> 00:10:39,680
The amount of the state's wealth
that you need to invest in arms and pay.

130
00:10:40,598 --> 00:10:43,267
Let alone, the potential loss of life.

131
00:10:44,352 --> 00:10:46,145
You know, populations in the 15th century

132
00:10:46,228 --> 00:10:48,397
are much, much smaller
than ours are today.

133
00:10:48,481 --> 00:10:51,233
Every death is multiplied, if you like.

134
00:10:51,317 --> 00:10:53,736
That's one less person to go home
and till the fields.

135
00:10:53,819 --> 00:10:55,488
That's one less person to pay taxes.

136
00:10:55,571 --> 00:10:58,366
That's one less family
that's gonna exist.

137
00:10:58,449 --> 00:11:00,076
So it's a huge gamble.

138
00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,127
[Crowley] Within the walls
at the same time,

139
00:11:10,211 --> 00:11:13,673
the defenders are getting exhausted,
their walls are being eroded,

140
00:11:13,756 --> 00:11:15,549
they're running out of food.

141
00:11:19,136 --> 00:11:22,765
[narrator] Each day brings with it
a growing sense of desperation.

142
00:11:24,392 --> 00:11:28,437
[Talbot] There are images
of the holiest relics of Constantinople

143
00:11:28,521 --> 00:11:33,442
being displayed on the city walls
at the time of the Ottoman siege.

144
00:11:34,443 --> 00:11:37,947
So these great images
of Christ Pantocrator and the Virgin Mary

145
00:11:38,030 --> 00:11:40,866
are taken around the walls
to encourage the troops.

146
00:11:40,950 --> 00:11:43,452
And of course, the Virgin
had saved the city many times before,

147
00:11:43,536 --> 00:11:46,706
not least from Muslim armies
in the past.

148
00:11:46,789 --> 00:11:48,833
So, terrifying, yes,

149
00:11:48,916 --> 00:11:52,253
but both sides clearly believed
that God is on their side

150
00:11:52,336 --> 00:11:53,629
in one way or another.

151
00:11:59,385 --> 00:12:01,637
[Crowley] And so the siege
enters a new phase

152
00:12:01,721 --> 00:12:03,472
where the attacks get bloodier,

153
00:12:03,556 --> 00:12:05,391
the techniques more intense,

154
00:12:05,474 --> 00:12:07,643
and the fighting more ferocious.

155
00:12:07,727 --> 00:12:09,520
[all shouting]

156
00:12:20,072 --> 00:12:23,409
[Talbot] You think about
the physical nature of medieval warfare.

157
00:12:25,035 --> 00:12:27,663
Certainly, we have some guns
and some bows and arrows

158
00:12:27,747 --> 00:12:30,249
that enable you to kill people
at a distance.

159
00:12:33,169 --> 00:12:34,920
[screaming]

160
00:12:35,546 --> 00:12:38,841
But lots of the fighting
happens hand to hand,

161
00:12:38,924 --> 00:12:40,718
with swords, and axes, and spears,

162
00:12:40,801 --> 00:12:43,804
where you think
about the visceral nature of that.

163
00:12:47,558 --> 00:12:49,727
You know,
the physical force that's required

164
00:12:49,810 --> 00:12:53,606
to smash someone in the skull with an ax,
or to stab them through the chest.

165
00:12:56,525 --> 00:12:57,818
Ahh!

166
00:13:00,696 --> 00:13:02,323
[grunts]

167
00:13:06,285 --> 00:13:08,496
[Talbot]
You're looking at someone in the eyes,

168
00:13:08,579 --> 00:13:11,499
and you're seeing the damage
that your weapon does to them.

169
00:13:11,582 --> 00:13:14,585
Knowing that in the next few seconds,
that could happen to you.

170
00:13:14,710 --> 00:13:17,213
It must be absolutely terrifying.

171
00:13:17,546 --> 00:13:19,340
Ahh!

172
00:13:23,636 --> 00:13:25,513
[cannon fire in distance]

173
00:13:30,476 --> 00:13:31,977
The Italian on the walls,

174
00:13:34,063 --> 00:13:35,231
Giustiniani...

175
00:13:38,400 --> 00:13:39,819
needs to be dealt with, Pasha.

176
00:13:39,902 --> 00:13:40,945
He baits me.

177
00:13:44,490 --> 00:13:49,078
I would love nothing more
than to deal with him personally.

178
00:13:53,833 --> 00:13:56,210
I admire your enthusiasm, Zaganos Pasha,

179
00:13:57,795 --> 00:13:59,922
but that may not be necessary.

180
00:14:02,424 --> 00:14:03,759
What's on your mind?

181
00:14:23,946 --> 00:14:24,822
Sir!

182
00:14:43,716 --> 00:14:45,676
[Zaganos Pasha,shouting] Giustiniani!

183
00:14:52,975 --> 00:14:55,185
Has Zaganos Pasha gone insane?

184
00:14:55,686 --> 00:14:56,854
What's he doing?

185
00:14:57,313 --> 00:14:58,606
[horse neighing]

186
00:15:01,525 --> 00:15:03,986
[Zaganos Pasha, shouting] Giustiniani!

187
00:15:08,198 --> 00:15:10,659
I bring word from the sultan himself!

188
00:15:46,695 --> 00:15:47,696
Sultan.

189
00:15:54,036 --> 00:15:58,123
So, you're the Genoese nightmare
that stalks walls.

190
00:15:59,291 --> 00:16:00,542
I've been called worse.

191
00:16:00,626 --> 00:16:02,002
Hmm. Pirate?

192
00:16:03,963 --> 00:16:06,966
You and your band of outlaws
have cost me many men...

193
00:16:08,425 --> 00:16:10,135
but earned my respect.

194
00:16:10,678 --> 00:16:11,845
You flatter me, Sultan.

195
00:16:11,929 --> 00:16:14,014
I offer reason, mercenary.

196
00:16:14,890 --> 00:16:18,894
If it is flattery you're looking for,
turn back to your whimpering paymasters.

197
00:16:20,104 --> 00:16:23,649
They're too busy executing
Ottoman prisoners to sweet-talk me.

198
00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:25,025
This is not your fight.

199
00:16:25,693 --> 00:16:30,114
You're a soldier of fortune,
so, I'm prepared to give you a fortune.

200
00:16:31,156 --> 00:16:32,992
It's a little late for that, Sultan.

201
00:16:34,034 --> 00:16:35,202
There's a rumor,

202
00:16:35,536 --> 00:16:37,663
the emperor has offered you
the island of Lemnos

203
00:16:37,746 --> 00:16:39,373
in the event of a victory.

204
00:16:40,708 --> 00:16:43,919
The emperor has also promised
the same island

205
00:16:44,336 --> 00:16:46,046
to three others fighting with you.

206
00:16:48,382 --> 00:16:49,383
Have you heard?

207
00:16:50,259 --> 00:16:52,261
[Notaras]
Emperor, this is unacceptable.

208
00:16:52,845 --> 00:16:54,888
How do we know he's not betraying us?

209
00:16:55,639 --> 00:16:57,933
Let us send arrows
into both of them and be done!

210
00:17:01,353 --> 00:17:02,604
Look around, soldier.

211
00:17:03,689 --> 00:17:05,190
You cannot win this battle.

212
00:17:06,191 --> 00:17:07,484
I don't have to win.

213
00:17:08,944 --> 00:17:12,406
It's only a matter of time
before the Christian army arrives.

214
00:17:13,198 --> 00:17:14,742
And you will not defeat them.

215
00:17:16,493 --> 00:17:19,788
Mehmed motivated people
any way he could.

216
00:17:19,872 --> 00:17:25,044
He even tried to, uh, entice Giustiniani

217
00:17:25,127 --> 00:17:29,548
away from, uh, Constantinople to join him,

218
00:17:30,132 --> 00:17:32,092
and he offered him money.

219
00:17:32,342 --> 00:17:33,552
[Mehmed] Leave the defenses now,

220
00:17:33,635 --> 00:17:36,013
and you and your men
will be given land and riches

221
00:17:36,096 --> 00:17:37,765
beyond your wildest dreams.

222
00:17:38,474 --> 00:17:40,726
I will make you governor
of all the Aegean islands

223
00:17:40,809 --> 00:17:42,853
with the protection of my military.

224
00:17:43,062 --> 00:17:47,483
You will be free to conduct
any business you wish, with no taxes.

225
00:17:48,859 --> 00:17:52,112
My offer would make you wealthier
than the emperor himself.

226
00:17:54,198 --> 00:17:56,492
For God's sake,
what are they talking about?

227
00:18:01,789 --> 00:18:03,332
Tell me, Sultan...

228
00:18:05,209 --> 00:18:08,337
what is to stop me
from cutting off your head,

229
00:18:08,420 --> 00:18:11,381
-and ending this here and now?
-[chuckles]

230
00:18:12,591 --> 00:18:13,675
[Mehmed] Soldier...

231
00:18:15,094 --> 00:18:16,762
I'll need your answer by sundown.

232
00:18:25,479 --> 00:18:27,606
[Giustiniani] Zaganos Pasha
called for me by name.

233
00:18:28,232 --> 00:18:29,942
And you go running like his whore?

234
00:18:30,025 --> 00:18:32,903
Lord Loukas!
He held aloft a white flag!

235
00:18:34,988 --> 00:18:37,199
It was in our interest
to know what he had to say.

236
00:18:37,282 --> 00:18:38,450
Which was?

237
00:18:41,745 --> 00:18:44,248
Zaganos Pasha bid me
to take my men and leave.

238
00:18:44,331 --> 00:18:45,582
In return for what?

239
00:18:45,666 --> 00:18:47,793
In return for our lives, my lord.

240
00:18:48,752 --> 00:18:51,547
He would spare us, if we flee.

241
00:18:57,719 --> 00:18:59,930
[narrator] With Ottoman ships
in the Golden Horn

242
00:19:00,013 --> 00:19:03,976
and Mehmed's army encamped
outside the city's landward walls,

243
00:19:04,059 --> 00:19:08,438
the Romans are now forced
to defend Constantinople on two fronts.

244
00:19:08,981 --> 00:19:12,025
The city is also still reeling
from the bloody aftermath

245
00:19:12,109 --> 00:19:15,070
of the failed Roman attack
on the ships in the harbor.

246
00:19:15,654 --> 00:19:20,117
Within Constantinople was fury and blame,
uh, at the failed attack,

247
00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,327
but it got worse because they realized

248
00:19:22,411 --> 00:19:25,998
that a certain number of sailors
had been captured.

249
00:19:26,081 --> 00:19:30,335
And Mehmed then had them impaled
on stakes outside the walls.

250
00:19:30,419 --> 00:19:32,337
The defenders, uh, responded

251
00:19:32,421 --> 00:19:37,050
by hanging some of their Turkish prisoners
from the battlements.

252
00:19:39,219 --> 00:19:43,515
So we see a kind of spiral
of brutality unfolding

253
00:19:43,599 --> 00:19:46,894
between the two sides
as the siege went on.

254
00:19:47,477 --> 00:19:49,146
[narrator] Six weeks into the siege,

255
00:19:49,229 --> 00:19:51,982
both sides are nearing
their breaking point.

256
00:19:55,152 --> 00:19:58,238
[Crowley] It's a moment of trauma
and complete chaos.

257
00:20:07,122 --> 00:20:08,332
[shouting]

258
00:20:12,085 --> 00:20:13,128
[coughs]

259
00:20:13,712 --> 00:20:16,131
[Crowley] But there are many
individual moments of pathos,

260
00:20:16,215 --> 00:20:18,592
-of courage, of...
-[Roman soldier] Get up!

261
00:20:18,675 --> 00:20:20,844
-[Crowley] ...sacrifice.
-[Ana] Stop!

262
00:20:20,928 --> 00:20:21,845
Stop it!

263
00:20:22,596 --> 00:20:25,390
-He's hurt. Can't you see?
-He will get a blow of my sword.

264
00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:27,559
No! Have you no mercy?

265
00:20:28,393 --> 00:20:30,145
Let me tend to his wound.

266
00:20:31,230 --> 00:20:34,024
Your pope preaches
to return good for evil.

267
00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:39,488
Perhaps a good deed of charity like this
will help in our cause in front of God.

268
00:20:41,281 --> 00:20:42,324
[sheaths sword]

269
00:20:44,243 --> 00:20:45,327
[spits]

270
00:20:56,630 --> 00:20:57,756
[knock on door]

271
00:21:21,530 --> 00:21:23,282
I thought you weren't coming.

272
00:21:23,907 --> 00:21:25,826
I always keep my promises.

273
00:21:32,624 --> 00:21:35,085
[Giustiniani]
I will take you wherever you wish.

274
00:21:35,544 --> 00:21:38,005
I have my ship waiting in the harbor.

275
00:21:40,507 --> 00:21:41,717
If we survive.

276
00:21:42,718 --> 00:21:45,012
That harbor is filled with Turkish ships.

277
00:21:45,345 --> 00:21:47,389
How much longer can you hold them off?

278
00:21:47,931 --> 00:21:50,183
Despair doesn't suit you, Therma.

279
00:21:53,353 --> 00:21:57,733
I will take you away, far away
from this wretched place.

280
00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:09,953
[panting]

281
00:22:11,747 --> 00:22:13,206
[Ana] You will be safe here.

282
00:22:16,543 --> 00:22:17,377
[coughs]

283
00:22:22,841 --> 00:22:24,217
[panting]

284
00:22:27,763 --> 00:22:29,306
Oh! Oh!

285
00:22:32,726 --> 00:22:34,144
You should have let me die.

286
00:22:36,605 --> 00:22:37,981
Too many people have died.

287
00:22:45,238 --> 00:22:47,657
I must believe there is still good
in this world.

288
00:22:56,541 --> 00:22:58,085
[indistinct talking]

289
00:23:40,669 --> 00:23:41,670
[messenger] Sultan.

290
00:23:43,004 --> 00:23:44,589
A message from Constantinople.

291
00:23:57,227 --> 00:24:00,313
[Giustiniani] "Sultan, thank you
for your most generous offer.

292
00:24:00,397 --> 00:24:04,317
I have considered it in full,
but I fear I must decline.

293
00:24:05,026 --> 00:24:07,612
Once this bloody affair is behind us,

294
00:24:08,238 --> 00:24:10,740
I'll be honored
if you visit me on Lemnos."

295
00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:50,238
[woman] News from Constantinople?

296
00:24:53,366 --> 00:24:55,535
Mehmed is bogged down outside the walls.

297
00:24:57,245 --> 00:24:58,914
My news may hearten you.

298
00:25:00,123 --> 00:25:01,291
What is this?

299
00:25:09,257 --> 00:25:11,635
[Dr. Tunç Şen] There is a great tradition

300
00:25:11,718 --> 00:25:15,013
of practicing astronomy and astrology

301
00:25:15,096 --> 00:25:18,141
in the Greater Eurasian, uh, landscape.

302
00:25:19,601 --> 00:25:25,607
One of the main tasks of astrologers
was designating an auspicious moment.

303
00:25:25,690 --> 00:25:29,152
The idea of future,
the idea of the uncertain,

304
00:25:29,236 --> 00:25:32,822
how this siege would end.

305
00:25:33,907 --> 00:25:34,908
Is this true?

306
00:25:34,991 --> 00:25:36,743
The astrologers have confirmed it.

307
00:25:36,826 --> 00:25:37,911
They are certain.

308
00:25:39,871 --> 00:25:41,790
I need to take this news myself.

309
00:25:42,582 --> 00:25:44,167
[narrator] In Constantinople,

310
00:25:44,251 --> 00:25:46,545
the defenders are faced
with a new problem.

311
00:25:47,379 --> 00:25:49,506
[nobleman] Emperor, we need a miracle.

312
00:25:50,549 --> 00:25:53,009
We are long out of money
and running out of time.

313
00:25:54,970 --> 00:25:57,931
And some of the soldiers
are threatening to leave

314
00:25:58,014 --> 00:25:59,432
if they're not paid.

315
00:25:59,516 --> 00:26:00,433
[Loukas] Leeches!

316
00:26:00,892 --> 00:26:03,728
Determined to suck the last bit of life
from the city.

317
00:26:06,398 --> 00:26:09,317
My men will stay... or go.

318
00:26:10,485 --> 00:26:11,736
Wherever I am.

319
00:26:11,820 --> 00:26:17,325
Lord Giustiniani, no man,
dead or alive, will be left unpaid.

320
00:26:17,909 --> 00:26:19,077
You have my word.

321
00:26:20,870 --> 00:26:22,289
Is that not worth something?

322
00:26:24,666 --> 00:26:27,877
Emperor, I have given you my word.

323
00:26:29,170 --> 00:26:30,964
I am here until the city is safe.

324
00:26:32,799 --> 00:26:36,928
But you know the terms
of the deal you made with them.

325
00:26:37,012 --> 00:26:38,722
[scoffs] Emperor, I warned you,

326
00:26:38,805 --> 00:26:42,475
these Italian recruits would only fight
as long as the money kept flowing!

327
00:26:42,559 --> 00:26:45,937
Not one of them is honorable enough
to see this wretched siege through,

328
00:26:46,021 --> 00:26:49,858
and yet, they strut about
calling themselves Christians!

329
00:26:51,151 --> 00:26:53,778
Careful, Lord.

330
00:26:55,530 --> 00:26:58,074
You are playing with dangerous weapons.

331
00:26:59,826 --> 00:27:05,040
The same weapons that stand between you
and the Ottomans at the gate.

332
00:27:06,583 --> 00:27:09,961
Lord Giustiniani, it's no secret
there is no money in the treasury.

333
00:27:11,671 --> 00:27:13,840
[Dr. Marios Philippedes]
Constantinople was broke.

334
00:27:14,716 --> 00:27:17,677
There is a coin of Emperor John VIII,

335
00:27:18,386 --> 00:27:22,515
who was, uh, the predecessor
of Constantine.

336
00:27:22,599 --> 00:27:25,060
There's a silver, nice coin.

337
00:27:25,143 --> 00:27:30,065
Now if you examine a coin
of Constantine XI...

338
00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:32,484
you can see the difference,
this is silver,

339
00:27:33,318 --> 00:27:37,364
and this is very thin copper
with nothing in there.

340
00:27:37,447 --> 00:27:38,573
He didn't have any money.

341
00:27:39,783 --> 00:27:44,621
Lord Loukas,
you are a man of great wealth,

342
00:27:45,288 --> 00:27:49,084
do you not have anything tucked away
to loan the emperor?

343
00:27:56,549 --> 00:27:58,385
I've given everything I have.

344
00:27:59,844 --> 00:28:01,680
All that is left is my life...

345
00:28:01,763 --> 00:28:02,847
[scoffs]

346
00:28:04,224 --> 00:28:06,101
...and I will gladly give that.

347
00:28:09,354 --> 00:28:12,691
[Jason Goodwin] Constantine is in debt.
He, you know, they owed money.

348
00:28:14,150 --> 00:28:16,861
It's a pretty sort of tragic business.

349
00:28:17,612 --> 00:28:21,324
But he was a...
he was a real fighter, Constantine.

350
00:28:25,161 --> 00:28:25,995
It is God...

351
00:28:27,872 --> 00:28:29,874
who will provide in our time of need.

352
00:28:37,382 --> 00:28:39,884
[indistinct, overlapping talking]

353
00:28:46,224 --> 00:28:48,685
[narrator] In a desperate attempt
to pay the mercenaries,

354
00:28:49,561 --> 00:28:53,606
Emperor Constantine orders
all religious artifacts melted down,

355
00:28:53,690 --> 00:28:55,775
and minted into coins.

356
00:28:55,859 --> 00:28:58,069
[clattering]

357
00:29:36,316 --> 00:29:40,320
Even as the situation in Constantinople
grows more dire,

358
00:29:40,820 --> 00:29:43,656
a glimmer of hope appears
in the Mediterranean.

359
00:29:45,533 --> 00:29:46,493
Look!

360
00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:56,461
[Dr. Philippedes] The Venetians,
they finally put an armada together

361
00:29:56,544 --> 00:29:58,213
to send to Constantinople.

362
00:29:58,963 --> 00:30:00,799
We must get word to Constantinople!

363
00:30:00,882 --> 00:30:04,093
[narrator] In mid-May,
rumors of a massive Venetian fleet

364
00:30:04,177 --> 00:30:06,638
gathering in the Mediterranean
become reality.

365
00:30:08,389 --> 00:30:11,184
The warships prepare to sail
for Constantinople,

366
00:30:11,851 --> 00:30:13,812
and come to the aid of the Romans.

367
00:30:14,270 --> 00:30:19,609
Mehmed's fear was, above all,
any help that would come from Venice.

368
00:30:40,171 --> 00:30:42,298
I have given you
every advantage possible.

369
00:30:43,675 --> 00:30:45,802
And in return,
you have given me nothing.

370
00:30:47,387 --> 00:30:48,388
Halil Pasha,

371
00:30:50,348 --> 00:30:52,016
you promised me the city.

372
00:30:53,643 --> 00:30:54,727
Where is it?

373
00:30:55,937 --> 00:30:57,230
[shouting] Where is it?

374
00:30:57,522 --> 00:30:59,566
Sultan, the Red Apple will fall in time.

375
00:30:59,649 --> 00:31:00,817
It requires patience.

376
00:31:00,900 --> 00:31:01,985
Are you blind?

377
00:31:02,819 --> 00:31:04,529
Can you not see we're out of time?

378
00:31:06,489 --> 00:31:09,367
They're saying the Christian fleet
is just days from here.

379
00:31:12,620 --> 00:31:14,414
What will you do to fix this?

380
00:31:17,500 --> 00:31:18,418
Nothing?

381
00:31:22,672 --> 00:31:27,802
The greatest minds in my empire
can offer me nothing?

382
00:31:34,017 --> 00:31:36,394
Out of my sight. All of you.

383
00:31:55,163 --> 00:31:56,205
What is it?

384
00:31:57,540 --> 00:31:59,709
I have known you
since you were a small boy.

385
00:32:00,126 --> 00:32:02,420
Your father entrusted me
with your education.

386
00:32:02,503 --> 00:32:03,838
Spare me the history lesson.

387
00:32:04,672 --> 00:32:06,966
Say what's actually on your mind for once.

388
00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:10,470
This is exactly what I warned against.

389
00:32:12,055 --> 00:32:15,391
Those walls still stand,
no matter the size of our cannons.

390
00:32:16,100 --> 00:32:18,353
And you see the spirit in the defenders.

391
00:32:18,895 --> 00:32:20,939
They will die before they surrender.

392
00:32:21,022 --> 00:32:22,649
[Mehmed]
We have ten times their numbers.

393
00:32:22,732 --> 00:32:25,526
If our men cannot win
with such an advantage,

394
00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:28,738
it is you who are responsible
for their failure.

395
00:32:28,821 --> 00:32:30,406
Are you not their commander?

396
00:32:33,159 --> 00:32:35,912
Constantinople will fall, someday.

397
00:32:37,163 --> 00:32:40,083
But I fear it cannot be done
under these circumstances.

398
00:32:56,307 --> 00:32:57,809
Make another offer for truce.

399
00:32:59,811 --> 00:33:01,562
I assure you they'll accept it.

400
00:33:03,731 --> 00:33:05,358
Ask for anything you want.

401
00:33:06,484 --> 00:33:08,111
It will be seen as our victory.

402
00:33:10,154 --> 00:33:14,701
And in return,
leave them the city, for now.

403
00:33:15,952 --> 00:33:19,414
And come back when they are weaker,
and you are stronger.

404
00:33:20,456 --> 00:33:22,208
The outcome will be inevitable.

405
00:33:25,962 --> 00:33:31,843
At least allow me to draw up terms
for a truce, for your approval.

406
00:33:33,886 --> 00:33:38,224
Then, if you agree,
we can send word to the emperor.

407
00:33:42,270 --> 00:33:43,980
[Talbot]
When it's going really, really badly,

408
00:33:44,063 --> 00:33:47,316
there's a temptation to just
pick up the camp and walk away,

409
00:33:47,400 --> 00:33:50,194
as happened with so many sieges
of the city in the past.

410
00:34:02,206 --> 00:34:04,917
There was no guarantee
that he was gonna win this.

411
00:34:09,130 --> 00:34:12,508
[narrator] News of the Italian fleet
gathering in the Mediterranean

412
00:34:12,592 --> 00:34:16,554
is a welcome jolt of hope
for the emperor in Constantinople.

413
00:34:18,598 --> 00:34:20,183
-How long?
-Six days at most.

414
00:34:20,266 --> 00:34:22,018
Can you hold off the Turks that long?

415
00:34:23,144 --> 00:34:24,145
Of course!

416
00:34:26,439 --> 00:34:28,274
Lord Loukas, Lord Sphrantzes,

417
00:34:29,484 --> 00:34:31,652
see to it that Lord Giustiniani
has everything he needs

418
00:34:31,736 --> 00:34:32,862
to defend the walls.

419
00:34:33,821 --> 00:34:37,158
We must keep those Ottoman bastards at bay
until the fleet arrives.

420
00:34:59,138 --> 00:35:02,266
Sultan, a message.

421
00:35:04,352 --> 00:35:05,436
It's urgent.

422
00:35:32,213 --> 00:35:33,464
Fetch me my horse!

423
00:35:46,978 --> 00:35:48,062
What is your name?

424
00:35:51,232 --> 00:35:52,108
Ali.

425
00:35:52,733 --> 00:35:53,568
Ali.

426
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:57,321
I'm Ana.

427
00:36:01,784 --> 00:36:04,620
I called my mother Ana.

428
00:36:07,957 --> 00:36:10,334
Will I see her in Heaven?

429
00:36:12,211 --> 00:36:13,087
Yes.

430
00:36:14,172 --> 00:36:15,173
I'm sure of it.

431
00:36:17,466 --> 00:36:18,634
Our Gods, they're...

432
00:36:20,052 --> 00:36:21,387
they're not so different.

433
00:36:33,691 --> 00:36:35,359
-Mother Mara.
-My son.

434
00:36:35,443 --> 00:36:37,612
I came here as soon
as I received your note.

435
00:36:37,862 --> 00:36:40,072
Why are you here?
It's too dangerous.

436
00:36:40,156 --> 00:36:41,699
I come with important news.

437
00:36:42,366 --> 00:36:44,243
You must not leave the battlefield.

438
00:36:45,786 --> 00:36:48,539
My court astrologers
have watched the skies.

439
00:36:49,123 --> 00:36:50,750
The stars have aligned, Mehmed.

440
00:36:52,585 --> 00:36:56,214
So, we have this tradition
of court astrologers

441
00:36:56,297 --> 00:37:01,093
interpreting comets
or other sorts of celestial

442
00:37:01,177 --> 00:37:03,846
or meteorological occurrences,

443
00:37:03,930 --> 00:37:09,060
as a sign of an Ottoman victory
against their enemies.

444
00:37:09,977 --> 00:37:11,896
Now, it's time to attack.

445
00:37:17,068 --> 00:37:19,403
Remember what I told you long ago?

446
00:37:20,029 --> 00:37:23,366
A blood moon would appear
when all hope was lost?

447
00:37:23,658 --> 00:37:25,576
Have you looked at the moon tonight?

448
00:37:33,167 --> 00:37:37,880
Usually eclipses are considered
as bad signs, bad omen.

449
00:37:37,964 --> 00:37:42,051
But Ottoman astrologers interpret
the occurrence of eclipses,

450
00:37:42,134 --> 00:37:46,305
as a bad omen for their enemies,
not for the Ottomans themselves.

451
00:37:47,306 --> 00:37:49,225
[Mara] You must not doubt yourself.

452
00:37:50,685 --> 00:37:51,686
Now go.

453
00:37:52,228 --> 00:37:56,315
I will see you again,
on your throne in Constantinople.

454
00:38:05,157 --> 00:38:08,327
[Crowley] Mehmed realized
it was now or never.

455
00:38:08,411 --> 00:38:09,412
The signs were good.

456
00:38:24,510 --> 00:38:28,222
As soon as the sultan returns,
the terms must be ready.

457
00:38:29,473 --> 00:38:30,516
Yes, Pasha.

458
00:38:38,941 --> 00:38:41,944
For us now, horoscopes,
you know, we don't all believe in it.

459
00:38:42,028 --> 00:38:43,654
It's just what some people like.

460
00:38:43,738 --> 00:38:46,824
Whereas in the 15th century,
that was part of life.

461
00:38:47,867 --> 00:38:51,078
[Talbot] Gods and holy spirits
were absolutely everywhere around us,

462
00:38:51,162 --> 00:38:53,956
and sometimes
they manifest themselves to us.

463
00:38:57,626 --> 00:39:01,255
[Philippedes] What really lowered morale
in Constantinople

464
00:39:01,339 --> 00:39:03,966
during the siege, was a lunar eclipse.

465
00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:05,301
Dear God.

466
00:39:06,093 --> 00:39:08,429
[Philippedes] They saw the blood moon
as they called it.

467
00:39:09,096 --> 00:39:14,060
There was a prophecy that Constantinople
would fall after a lunar eclipse.

468
00:39:14,852 --> 00:39:15,978
What does it mean?

469
00:39:30,326 --> 00:39:32,870
Sultan, we have the terms drawn up.

470
00:39:36,374 --> 00:39:39,919
Halil was still saying, let's try
and cut a deal with these people,

471
00:39:40,002 --> 00:39:41,921
and get a large amount of money
out of them.

472
00:39:42,588 --> 00:39:44,340
The troops were getting restless.

473
00:39:44,423 --> 00:39:46,675
Mehmed couldn't sustain this
much longer.

474
00:39:46,759 --> 00:39:48,427
Have you not eyes, Pasha?

475
00:39:49,428 --> 00:39:50,638
It is our time.

476
00:39:55,017 --> 00:39:56,018
My brothers!

477
00:39:58,062 --> 00:40:00,022
Pick yourselves up and prepare.

478
00:40:01,774 --> 00:40:03,526
The prophets have spoken.

479
00:40:04,360 --> 00:40:05,820
Our time is at hand.

480
00:40:06,570 --> 00:40:07,613
Don't doubt it.

481
00:40:07,696 --> 00:40:09,240
Don't doubt our might.

482
00:40:10,282 --> 00:40:12,743
Allah will be with every one of us.

483
00:40:12,827 --> 00:40:14,995
And we will take the city!

484
00:40:15,079 --> 00:40:16,372
[cheering]

485
00:40:29,385 --> 00:40:31,720
[Philippedes] We hear
from the defenders chronicles

486
00:40:31,804 --> 00:40:33,431
that the Turks were elated.

487
00:40:33,514 --> 00:40:36,225
They thought it predicted
the end of the city.

488
00:40:36,308 --> 00:40:37,810
[cheering]

489
00:40:40,771 --> 00:40:42,022
Drink up, Lords.

490
00:40:43,858 --> 00:40:46,277
Soon we will fight for our lives.

491
00:41:00,207 --> 00:41:02,501
[narrator] Mehmed readies his army
for battle.

492
00:41:03,627 --> 00:41:07,381
His destiny will be written
at the walls of Constantinople.

493
00:41:07,673 --> 00:41:09,175
[Candarli] Sultan, I urge you.

494
00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:12,094
Do not force the matter any longer.

495
00:41:12,178 --> 00:41:14,680
-If we fail--
-If we fail...

496
00:41:16,348 --> 00:41:19,643
If Venetian galleys arrive
with 100,000 men!

497
00:41:20,436 --> 00:41:24,231
If Caesar returns from the grave
to lead Constantine's troops.

498
00:41:26,233 --> 00:41:28,819
There's no more time for ifs, Pasha.
We must take the city.

499
00:41:28,903 --> 00:41:30,946
The cost will be steep.

500
00:41:34,200 --> 00:41:37,077
You have urged me to give up,
Halil Pasha, time and again.

501
00:41:37,161 --> 00:41:38,996
And you nearly convinced me.

502
00:41:39,538 --> 00:41:42,416
But my fate is written...

503
00:41:44,335 --> 00:41:45,419
as is yours.

504
00:41:47,421 --> 00:41:48,422
[soldier] Sultan!

505
00:41:54,929 --> 00:41:56,555
[narrator] In the wake of the blood moon

506
00:41:56,639 --> 00:42:00,309
and just hours before Mehmed
launches his final assault,

507
00:42:00,893 --> 00:42:03,479
he's met by an apocalyptic sight.

508
00:42:06,232 --> 00:42:09,818
[Crowley] Lights appeared to be shining
on the roof of Hagia Sophia.

509
00:42:23,415 --> 00:42:25,543
What kind of sorcery is this?

510
00:42:31,674 --> 00:42:35,803
It created this incredibly
hysterical atmosphere within the city,

511
00:42:35,886 --> 00:42:38,556
that they could be looking
at the end of the world.

512
00:42:40,516 --> 00:42:41,892
[clamoring]

513
00:42:44,728 --> 00:42:46,522
[sobbing]

514
00:42:48,315 --> 00:42:51,318
[Talbot] The city is meant
to have been protected by the Virgin Mary.

515
00:42:51,402 --> 00:42:54,029
There's the story that on the last day
of Constantinople,

516
00:42:54,863 --> 00:42:57,825
she was seen leaving the city.

517
00:43:01,579 --> 00:43:05,207
[shouting] Allah has abandoned
the infidels!

518
00:43:05,291 --> 00:43:07,293
[cheering]

519
00:43:21,724 --> 00:43:23,642
[dramatic music plays]