Episode Discussion Thread #18 01/09/2016 - END - Page 16

Dear MDS,

I agree with every single point that you have made here.

The first para is very perceptive. I too was amused to see how Devi was lapping it all up, and like you, I was not impressed. It was the same when she went to meet Kaurwaki dressed to the nines, when that would have been like jale par namak chidakna. It was not in character for her at all. She is shown as an intelligent girl, so what did she think the reaction from Kaurwaki would have been?

I also found it very odd that tonight Devi actually thought that Ashoka - and she must have spotted at once that he was sozzled - was speaking to her and of her. It is incomprehensible.

Well, a man can love two women, you know, though in different ways. Maybe it will be like that here. In any case, in the polygamous set ups that were mandatory for kings, these kinds of adjustments were necessary. Besides, I do not think that Ashoka would ever be either casual or inconsiderate towards Devi, no matter that he can never feel for her what he felt/feels for the Barbie doll.

I have said here repeatedly that Dharma should have told Ashoka about the sandhi. She had not promised Bindusara that she would keep it a secret. As I noted above in a response to Sucheta, if Dharma had let Ashoka know that his father was bartering Magadha, and the freedom of the whole imperial family, as per Jagannath's interpretation of the sandhi, for the sake of his amar prem, it would have sorted the problem out in a moment.

Ashoka would have hit the roof, and Jagannath and Quackwaki would have been shunted back to Kalinga pronto. The TRPs might even have improved, and the show might have gained a new lease of life!😉

One cannot say as yet if Ashoka is able to find out that Dharma was murdered by Sushim and Siamak. We have to watch the whole scene. Plus, I think the culprits will try and pass it off as a natural death, an unexpected outcome of her illness the day before. If I am not mistaken, Sushim is not strangling her, he is suffocating her, so there would be no telltale marks around her throat. And they would not have had the forensic skills needed to make out that it was really a murder.

And yes, Ashoka should kill Sushim while Charumitra is still alive. This apart, he has already mucked up l'affaire Jagannath, so I hope he is more efficient when it comes to Sushim and Siamak!

Where,by the way, is our Greek femme fatale (et aussi une femme formidable!) Lassandra?

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: MuguetDScorpion

I didn't like Devi's smile in the first scene while she was bathing like a queen. It looked like she is enjoying her royal life. We don't expect anything like this from her. If the smile is because of her happiness to finally start a new chapter with Ashok then also it's weird. She should be unhappy for getting a man who is not in love with her right now.

So typical... It's like in almost every show. The guy gets drunk and makes love with the girl. The girl gets pregnant and all the drama starts. Though Devi stopped before anything like this happens. I am not happy with his sorry. It didn't sound like he was really sorry. Poor Devi once Ashwaki will get married Devi will be neglected like a furniture in a corner. 😕 If only the CVs could show Ashok managing to love both of the ladies... If only...

Ashok understood her mother's feelings very well. She should have told him instead of thinking that Ashok won't be able to accept it. No bakwaas no drama.

Poor Charu is wondering if Bindu will be sad once she will die. 😆 Bechari...

I so so so wish Ashok kills Sushim before Charu dies. It will be the best punishment for Charu. She is dying to see Ashok losing himself but I want him to show her that he is not that weak. He is even stronger than before.

How will Ashok come to know that Sushim and Siamak killed Dharma ? Or will he just assume ? Take his revenge without any proof and then Bindu gets angry at him again. It's always the same thing, isn't it ? Or the CVS will spare us as the show is ending. 😆

Originally posted by: sashashyam

OK, my dear, let us accept that there is no confusion about anything. In any case, why should you or anyone else not express her or his opinion fully and frankly?

And if you feel disgusted with Ashoka tonight and I don't, for I definitely don't - even strong samrats get drunk, you know, and do the oddest things, witness Akbar the Great, and that did not stop them from building vast empires ! - we just have to agree to disagree.

Let me ask you one thing then. What do you think Ashoka should have done? We start from the premise that he should not have got drunk in the first place, that too not on that cheap liquor. He must have had a whopper of a hangover the next day😉.

One more point, that the hard push sobers Ashoka b instantly is not strange. It can happen. And yes, the difference between Bindusara-Noor and Ashoka-Devi is that Bindusara was not honest with Noor about the situation till after they were married. With Ashoka and Devi, there is no such lack of honesty.

Shyamala Aunty

well that's what I was saying different people different opinions,sometimes we accept sometimes we don't.

Well, my dear Swathi, even great icons have their moments of weakness, and that does not make them any the less great. As they say, courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to face one's fear and conquer it. And it is not as though Ashoka has failed to live up to the image that we all have of Ashoka the Great only this one time. He has done it time and again.

The problem is that we tend to see this young man, who is still only in the process of becoming the icon, so to speak, as Ashoka the Great. He has a good long way to go before he gets there. And flawed characters are the ones that are the most interesting, precisely because of their flaws.

As for what Ashoka should have done, I liked Ria's suggestion of a quiet conversation between Ashoka and Devi the best. As I wrote in my response to her, I could have written an excellent heart to heart conversation between a sober Ashoka and a Devi who is neither shy nor awkward, but calm, sensible and supportive of her husband. Now that would have been the foundation for a beautiful relationship between them. What took me aback was that she seemed to expect him to behave like a normal husband on his wedding night.

But I am sorry that you are so upset with this stupid script. Having watched Jodha Akbar deteriorate rapidly after a very good start, and Maharana Pratap as well for all that I loved Faisal Khan's Kunwar Pratap and the magnificent Rana Udai Singh, and having been driven off CAS after the infuriatingly scripted assassination of Chanakya, I did not come back here expecting anything very realistic or historically accurate. I just came back because I like Mohit Raina, and he has not disappointed me thus far. It the show ends soon now, it will be great pity for the poor boy, having got a promising role fully 16 months after Mahadev ended, only to see it collapse in 7 months. I only hope he is not stranded without work for another year.

Shyamala Aunty

well that's what I was saying different people different opinions,sometimes we accept sometimes we don't.

Originally posted by: swathiinduru

Edited by sashashyam - 9 years ago

Folks,

Many of you sound depressed and exasperated by the news of the early demise of our show. While I still hope that it might get some more time, let us try and amuse ourselves with a little puzzle. Or to be precise, two puzzles.

I do not know if some or all of you are as confused as I am by the above definitions of the marriage, and the status of the wife, as reiterated again and again in the show - earlier by Ashoka for Kaurwaki, and now by the officiating priest for Ashoka and Devi (for the saat janam) and by Ashoka for Devi post their marriage, both in private and in public (for the ardhangini/vamangi)

While this might be OK for the ek patnivrat husbands like Lord Rama, it is bound to result in disastrous complications for our Ashoka, who was not even serially monogamous!😉

The ardhangini concept is of course derived from the Ardhanaareeswara roop of Mahadev and Parvati, and the vamangi (the one who is his left half) is the same. Now imagine each of Ashoka's five legally wedded queens all demanding their full half share of him, and each of them fighting with the others to secure her right.

That would need about 2 1/2 of him, whereas there is only one half available for distribution, since he needs the other half for himself. I suspect that Devi would soon retire to the sidelines, but the other four would be there slugging it out.

The poor chap, if he did not run for cover in time, would be torn to bits.😉😉

The saat janam concept is equally fraught with dangerous possibilities, even for the monogamous. Let us say that a marriage sours for whatever reason, which is getting to be more and more common these days. The prospect of repeating this unpleasant exercise for 6 more births is enough to put even the most optimistic off marriage for good!

To come back to our Ashoka, if each of the five queens was bound to him not just for this life, but for six more lives, there would be a regular traffic jam in the reincarnation pipeline. And scrimmages over the order in which they would (re)marry him, who would be his chief queen and so on and on that would put a tough football match to shame.😉

Plus, they might all end up in a era where even bigamy is punishable by law, what to speak of polygamy. Then we would have Ashoka the Great in jail for years, with the five queens now fighting over who would take special home-cooked meals for him in prison.😉

Shyamala/Aunty

My dear Ria,

Yes you did, confused me, I mean. At my age, it is hardly surprising that I am confused from time to time!😉 And I am always pleased and entertained when a young person trips me up on something!

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: BabyHimavari

true to say aunty...I prefer the more subtle love story rather than physical relationship and there so called romance so thats why this question always arise in my heart... being a girl of modern age i don't mind seeing consummation night if its shown in subtle dignified way... but everything should be in margin so that the viewers don't feel awkward and i generally prefers if such scenes are avoided... there are much more interesting to show in a relationship rather than only physical intimacy...

@bold... why not aunty... write up if u have time.. we would love to know..😆😆... even i have tried something like that in small parts in the SS link i have sent u earlier.. don't know how much i have justified...

and about PS... well then i guess i have succeed in confusing u 😆

Originally posted by: sashashyam

Ria dear,

Far from being in any way wrong, it is a very sensible question and you have answered it yourself in a perfect and sensitive manner. These scenes are totally unnecessary, and not only in historical shows or under such awkward circumstances. And they are often so embarrassing that I always skip them.

If you had given me two hours I could have written an excellent heart to heart conversation between a sober Ashoka and a Devi who is neither shy nor awkward, but calm, sensible and supportive of her husband. Now that would have been the foundation for a beautiful relationship between them. What took me aback was that she seemed to expect him to behave like a normal husband on his wedding night.

Shyamala Aunty

PS: When I first saw the part in bold, I thought it was because you liked the joke there!😉

What a painfully stupid episode followed by one of the saddest precaps I've seen.

@ shyamala aunty

Dear Shyam,

🤣 for a good part of this post. The blue sections are priceless! My comments are in green.

I understood that Siamak and Sushim were stealing the Magadha imperial seal when they were caught by Dharma. But what was it doing in her room anyway?

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: shyam09

What a painfully stupid episode followed by one of the saddest precaps I've seen.

Ashok-Devi's scene was cliche Indian telly bakhwas. I found it disappointing that Ashok, the intelligent youth who put matrabhumi, maa, and Guru Chanakya's teachings ahead of him, thought it was best to consume liquor to the point of intoxication, while Kaurvaki became a warrior-princess hardened by the separation. Indeed, it should have been opposite or at the very least, show a more ABN focused Ashok; but as is the norm in this silly show, Ashok and his supporters are always put down to bring up those who oppose them - the latest one being Madam Kaurvaki. Ashok's reaction shouldn't even be that huge. I get that he was madly in love with this girl, but he was always aware that his relationship with her couldn't come together because ABN came first and he wanted to protect her. When it did happen, because Dharma forced him, he went crazy and only focused on Kaurvaki, completely forgetting about ABN. It's not the confusing DVs ... just bring Ashok back on track, and your TRPs will increase.

Never fear, he is going to start chopping off heads from next week. I only hope he does a better job of it with Sushim and Siamak than he did with the unspeakable Jagannath.😡

... Maybe Chanakya's soul and CGM Lion planned this all together. You see, Chanakya came down from Swarg, rode CGM Lion to the Ujjaini Baba, slapped him a couple of times to make sure that he predicts total destruction to Dharma, highlighting that Kaurvaki isn't the right choice. CGM Lion later joins in and convinces Dharma subconsciously that Devi is the correct wife for Ashok. You mess with Chanakya's plan, Chanakya messes with you. ... 🤣🤣🤣

Charu-Dharma scene was unsurprisingly stupid. Dharma once again is brought to her knees by Charumitra. At first I thought that perhaps it was some voodoo, but then I realized that Dharma was having a stroke because of all the untrue things that was being said to her. It was not a happy experience because I would have preferred voodoo crap over this garbage. "We were a happy family before you came..." Yeah, Dharma married Bindusar, was abandoned for 14 years, came back again, and was exiled with Ashok for 10 years ... and still Bindusar went goo-goo, gaa-gaa over Dharma. Oh Charu definitely loved Bindusar and she expressed it by never spending time with him, focusing on her black magic, and ways to kill him / guarantee Sushim as the heir. If that doesn't shout out love, then nothing does. Also, it didn't help that Bindusar blamed everything on Dharma yesterday either. But that's typical CV bull ...

What I found more surprising was how quickly Ashok got over his drunken behavior. One second he was walking away in a drunken state, the next second he comes rushing over because Dharma screamed his name as if nothing ever happened and this followed through until the end of the episode, which included some "normal" talking from Ashok.
You have forgotten an mportant question. Where did he go? He came out of his rooms and walked down the corridor and turned right to go some place. He came rushing out of there. Maybe he went into the garden to clear the mother of all hangovers that the cheap madira must have given him.

These corridors seem to have a life of their own. The other day, after the wedding blow up, Ashoka was walking down one corridor and Kaurwaki down another, scattering her jewels all over to the undoubted and incredulous delight of the palace cleaners the next morning😉. Suddenly she slips on the oil,and there is Ashoka right behind her to catch her arm and keep her from falling!

But as for Ashoka's getting drunk, I would far more tolerant than you are. He may talk all the time of maa, mathrubhoomi and his acharya's ABN dream, but he is also a young man very much in love who has landed himself in an awful mess of his own making. Itni bewakoofi to banti hai! What bewildered me was Devi actually thinking at the beginning that he was speaking to her and about her.

Well, I have been engaging in a lengthy exchange about this a little earlier on this page with Swathi, and I do not want to rehash that,but one cannot expect a young man to be a paragon all the time, and definitely not under these circumstances.

What took me aback was how soon he recovered and how clearly he reaffirmed his mathrubhakti in ringing tones the next morning. If I had been the paashan he was so condescendingly offering to marry to please his Matashree, I would have said thanks but no thanks! Stones too have their self respect!

That whole scene with Dharma and Ashoka was plain cuckoo.

The final scene was stupid as well. Dharma once again takes the entire blame on herself when ... it wasn't her fault at all. Apparently Ashok didn't marry Devi in anger, but because Niyati decided that ... but it was Dharma's fault still, somehow? I might as well start blaming Dharma for everything as well. Congratulations Dharma, you are to blame for making us watch Quackwaki scenes, for Jagganath's insults in the court, for Bindusar's stupidity ... hell, you know what, why don't I just blame Dharma for Chanakya's death as well. That's something she definitely had a part in ... /sarcasm.

And the precap ... really, Dharma goes this coming week or the next? Here's how it will go down -- Ashok and Devi have their suhag raat. In the next few days, Devi throws up in the morning and shares the good news with Dharma, and it spreads throughout the palace. The evil 4 find out about this, Siamak poisons Devi's water but Dharma sees this. Sushim pops out of nowhere and strangles Dharma to death. Ashok goes crazy, kills everyone (Charu dies because of her curse). Bindusar retires because he misses Dharma too much and makes Ashok the samrat.

This would make fast forward look like a snail crawling!😉

Kaling is being a pain, so Ashok wipes them out as well. Kaurvaki confronts him, and he realizes that he needs Kaurvaki to control his rage (their split resulted in a burst of anger). He marries Kaurvaki and never expresses rage again. Devi is still there rejoicing that AshWaki have reunited; she tells her baby boy that he should never dream about being Ashok's heir because only Kaurvaki's child has the right to the throne.

Also, since Virat is Kaurvaki's "bro" ... does Ashok / Kaurvaki's split break Ashok-Virat's friendship up? Why was Virat even introduced if as a "bro", he wasn't invited to the wedding? 😆😆

Good Lord! I had forgotten all about him. He will probably resurface very soon now, breathing fire and brimstone at Ashoka for obvious reasons.😉

Also, #1 Ashwaki shipper Garud returned! He was so disappointed with the breakup that he didn't eat his hay. 😆😆

What about our Greek temptress Lassandra? And Ashoka's promise to her? I wonder if it was she who put Siamak up to stealing the imperial seal.

I can understand your frustration completely, my dear Swathi, but this script is so poor that all the characters get distorted. It was the same with Jalal in Jodha Akbar, very soon he became a jodha bhakt, and that was the end of him.

Similarly, this Ashoka is clearly not the historical Ashoka, not by a long chalk.

So I just analyse the characters as they are, and I do not go into how I would have wanted them to be. For that is one sure path to getting ulcers or high BP!

Take care, my dear, and let us hope that the remaining part of the show is at least tolerable.

Shyamala Aunty

Originally posted by: swathiinduru

@ shyamala aunty

Aunty I totally agree with u about humans possessing weakness and having flaws ,obviously either it's emperor t r normal people every one possess weakness and r bound to have flaws ,if they don't that means they r not humans😆

Yes everyone ll have their own weak moment at right Time,let's talk about ashok weakness

Ashok- he was never a weak prince that's y I am disappointed with his character,because ashok was anything but a weak prince,if we talk about human tendencies yes ashok flaws were his extreme anger and ruthless ness,that's definitely his weakness.

But never ever I once remembered ashok being remembered for his romance,he was only remembered for his greatness and ruthless ness, he was known to be chand,he was an ambitious prince was never distracted like cas ashoka,his sole aim was to become emperor,he never listened to anyone in his life,he lived all his life in his own terms, he even didn't listen to his first love and wife that is devi advised him to Change his ways but he rather ignored her royally and had done his brothers massacre,this one situation enough s to know as a prince how he was,he may loved devi but he s nt the one to get influenced just like that definitely nt a women puppet.

Aunty for ashok women was never a weakness neither he ever let them influenced him,he rather believed in fulllfilling his dream to become emperor, infact women used to be scared of him because of his anger, it's only devi,kwk r the women who faced him bravely,one rejected him and never compromised with his blood thirsty another one fought with him bravely,that's y these both including asandhi who was his biggest support system,all these r special in his life,it's only after kaling war his queens helped him in his journey to become dharma ashok,until that he lived on his terms.

So showing an ambitious,cunning prince as weak mourning lover I couldn't accept this, he as a prince was never a distracted one rather he was very ambitious,and was never remembered for romance rather he was remembered for his anger.

As u said grey character always interesting with flaws,I would rather see him emerging from chand to dharm ashok rather a lifeless prince .

the only time he let an woman influence him s when he was in his old age after empress death who s a court dancer and attracted him with his beauty and charm,I can say this s only weak moment for him,other than that he lived his life like he wanted never regretted anything until kalinga war.

Kwk- u might have already guessed I dnt like kwk correction cas kwk because when ever I see her I only remember taxillia massacre,so many innocent people lost their lives because of her stupidity and selfishness,for me cvs destroyed kwk there only, no offense to the real kwk who was a brave woman and a respected queen.

Devi- I love devi as she was a woman of principles,cas devi s no where near to real devi,I never liked her maniac shipping,about yesterday episode lol😆 it's funny,but I ll say what i feel first she dnt want milan raat, but dharma made her agree saying patni dharma bla bla... ,and then ashok himself declared saying he ll give wify rights,so when i saw her bathing And sringar it's that she s weaving her dreams and s in dream land after all she s nt a saint and also he s her love and now husband also ,so she might have expected little from him after declaring her being his amangi, as u said she would have been fyn with heart to heart conversation seeing her handing things maturedly even after that horrible encounter,well it's cvs fault showing something like that.

Emperors r polygamist there's no need to show them as maryada purushottams who can't get over from their one and only true love.

Being part of history s nt everyone cup of coffee but some made it,some because of their ruthless ness some because of their greness, here ashoka s blend of both that's what make ashoka different from others, he s nt just a part of history he made his own history also, so there's no need of amar gadha fo him,his life s immortal because of his greatness nt because of his amar gadha.

Akbar s different he did had a weakness with beautiful women but he was never a weak emperor, women were nt ditraction for him he was also ambitious one.

Pratap the only person whom I admire nt just because of him being veer and greatness but because of his principles the only king who never believed making women conubines,his women all r lawfully wedded,he s a man of principles I can go on when it comes to pratap

Well when I criticise and blame characters r just a part of analysis that's it,other than that anyone who's blame s cvs and their obsession towards love stories rather than actual history,just few months left all these months they wasted for nothing at least now show who ashok s truly,that's what I want