Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia

I enjoyed the premise and definitely enjoy these types of story navigating a political landscape

Nobody's talking about how Fatima chose honesty over manipulation this episode. She could have let Sorkhotani break but she goaded her into fighting back instead. That puts her directly in Borakchin's crosshairs and the finale is going to make her pay for it isn't it

The villain origin flashback hits different when you realize Borakchin genuinely believed she was protecting Ogedei's dream. She convinced herself realgar was clumsy and ugly like her heart I guess. That scene with the merchant warning her about the stone was too quiet and too loaded

Sorkhotani walking down that carpet in her ceremonial robes and just saying no to the Khan and Khatun in front of every lord in the empire. Chills. The way she stopped being the victim and chose to fight. Fatima crying in the back row got me too

Borakchin poisoning herself to lure Tolui into drinking that cup changed how I see the whole series. She wasn't sick she was calculating the entire time. That woman weaponized her own body and I respect and fear her in equal measure.

The flashback structure worked so well here. Seeing young Borakchin marvel at a crumbling rock then realizing she spent the next six years weaponizing it into empire-scale murder is genuinely terrifying writing. She consulted Chinese medical texts learned alchemy timed the poison across multiple days all while wearing kind eyes for Mogge. That girl in the tent who saw a pretty stone became the reason Sorkhotani nearly lost everything. But watching Sorkhotani choose her sons and her pride anyway at that assembly knowing her family already lost Tolui to these schemes felt like the show finally giving the good people a win. Science SARU's lighting in Borakchin's yurt versus the bright grassland really sold the contrast between internal rot and outward stability.

Everyone keeps calling Sitara naive for spurring Sorkhotani to fight back. But maybe the show is telling us the naive one is Borakchin for thinking six years of poison plotting could beat a mother's spine. Her face when Sorkhotani declined in front of every lord in the empire was worth all the poisoning buildup

Borakchin poisoning herself to look divinely healed while real women are dying around her makes her the scariest person in this show. The flashback of her studying scrolls by the fire then grinding that stone into powder was like watching a villain tutorial. Sorkhotani's refusal was the only warm spot in a cold cold episode

The henna-stained hands scene with Sorkhotani nearly giving up her whole dignity to protect her kids had me tearing up. Sitara begging her not to surrender made me realize Sitara's not weak for being honest. She's the only one in this entire palace who still believes people deserve happiness. That assembly scene where Sorkhotani refuses was pure catharsis

Okay so the real tragedy here is that Sitara tried so hard to warn Sorkhotani and protect her only to accidentally empower her to refuse anyway. Every move she makes ends up being the right one for the wrong reasons. Borakchin can plot for six years but she can't plan around Sitara just being sincere. That's honestly kind of beautiful

The way Borakchin stood upwind while her servant hid from the smoke shows how careless she actually is with other people's lives. She controls the poison the poison controls nothing about her. Meanwhile Sorkhotani just stared down the entire imperial court over her dead husband's legacy. These women are playing different games entirely

I keep going back and forth on whether Sitara being honest with Sorkhotani was smart or just naive. She basically handed her the courage to refuse the marriage by accident. But honestly watching Sorkhotani walk down that carpet in full ceremonial robes and tell the whole court no made my heart swell

Borakchin being the true schemer all along while sitara just fumbled around was a gut punch. She drank her own poison to sell the act. That's commitment to the role. And watching Sorkhotani shut the whole marriage down in front of everyone was the most satisfying thing this show has done

Episode is insane

Japanese made, japanese dubbed, set in iran, with an enslaved persian protagonist, with the enemy being Mongolian. Can't say I'm entire used to it. Every 3minutes the anime reminds you that its about musline & islam. It can feel like a propaganda piece if you're not open minded to the story its trying to tell. I do not vibe with the art style unfortunately, very much western style, reminds me of Nimona. the pacing for the first episode is quite slow, feels like the invasion shouldve happen way earlier as I still do not understand where the story is going.

Start off slow but once it kick start itself its great. The characters around around the main characters are really interesting. Which actually makes the main character feel pale in comparison.

2 woman bonded together by sheet hatred of the Mongols. Ogedei straight up rage baited Fatima HARD. Bro is on a different level.

Love the art as alwayss. Cant wait for season 2.

Akhirnya Fatima kembali bertemu Toregene. Sebagai season finale, aku tidak bisa bilang ini adalah finale yang bagus. Ceritanya masih belum selesai dan belum ada plot point yang benar-benar terselesaikan. Jelas-jelas ini seperti cour 1, biarpun sampai sekarang lanjutannya belum diumumkan.

Never expected Sitara to confront Sorghatani like that. Also Sitara isn't and cunning and revengeful as I thought, she's emotional and righteous in her own way