Originally posted by: MaddyO
My comments on this episode:
When two people are married they usually take vows that they will stick by each other through "thick and thin". In most ordinary people's lives this "thick and thin" is usually about life's everyday difficulties like financial troubles, mishaps to the family, inter-relationship troubles and so on. I almost forgot that in the life of a King and Queen not only are there all the ordinary types of family troubles, but the "thick and thin" can actually involve also life-endangering physical battles with lethal enemies.
Yesterday when Jodha and Jalal fought shoulder to shoulder against inimical forces, where they trusted each other to hold up their ends of the fight and also to protect one another, where they took pride in their warrior blood and royal upbringing, and where they actually wielded deadly weapons and killed men around them like they were pesky ants, I saw what the marriage vows really meant to them.
It is not easy being the King and Queen of a whole Sultanate forever surrounded by assassination-driven enemies gunning for your life. In the real life of a King and Queen there cannot be room for physical differences between man and woman when death hangs outside every door and there is no place of safety, not even home. In fact the most treacherous of places is their home. With so much to ward off as evil and inimical, how can a Queen afford to be less than the greatest sipahi to really protect her King, her husband and her suhaag?
We have heard high tales of women who burnt themselves after their husbands were killed in war and that is often cited as the heights of bravery among royal women. But what Jalal challenged Jodha to do yesterday is to not give away her life after he went - but to fight for her life and to fight for his life too ... in the same way that he fought for himself and for her. Fighting to live is far more courageous than dying to ward off evil.
All this talk of women being inferior, unequal or weak was not a story that this great man was going to buy. He had a wife in a million and he knew just what she was capable of. He would not have let her cower from fear behind a tree yesterday. He gave her a sword in her hand and said "You do it during practice. Now show what you can do in real war. Go for it!"
In the 16th century such equality between men and women was rarer, for sure, but look at the world we live in today. Such equality between men and women isn't even found in the present century when women are still being preyed upon as helpless creatures.
But think of the progressive mindset of Jalal that actually allowed him to encourage his wife to be equal to him at a moment when he knew her life was in danger and he was sending her into the lion's den as it were. If we are commonplace romance-cravers and have lily-livers we would all say "Ooh, what kind of romantic man is this that makes his wife fight, when he should be the protective one, the defender of her, the one that takes the blows and pushes her into a safe corner". But folks, I salute the man that Jalal is, because he is not that kind of ridiculous romantic that carries a picture in his head of women and men being unequal. He doesn't need a wife he has to protect and shield. He openly shows to everyone that he wants a wife that he can respect for her abilities to not only shield herself but shield everyone close to her, including himself.
Think for a moment, what would have been the situation if Ruq was in the place of Jodha in yesterday's episode. We would have had a melodrama queen, screeching blue murder at the enemies but not doing a single valuable act in the cause of vanquishing them. Ruq would have run for safety and started distracting Jalal with all kinds of unwanted advice to do this or that ... without so much as lifting a finger herself. If anything she would have been a liability around Jalal's neck instead of being his dependable support. If I remember correctly, she didn't even know the front of a sword from its back!
But look at the wife Jalal has in Jodha. She is in every way his ardhangini. She is not the woman separate to his being the man. In fact here we have a relationship where the woman is perhaps being given a higher place by the man than he gives even himself - and it's the man himself who is saying to her "Inside the word "woman" you will find the word "man"! That's who I want you to be, and that's where I want find myself in your life!"
Look in the end how much Jalal relished the prospect of seeing Jodha at her warlike best in this whole episode. Look at the sheer pride in his voice as he showed off his wife's prowess to everyone saying she was as good as a whole army. And look at the love that flowed from him when she was tending his wounds as he said to her "I knew how good you were, but I never thought you'd make short work of all those men!" At every turn he was making little of his own skills and putting her above himself as his bodyguard!
I must thank Ekta and her crew for giving us this episode that showed us the real calibre of our lead pair. Let us forget the cribs we had that we want more "passion" in the romance. What we got yesterday was not just "passion in bed" but the "superior animalistic passion" of two people battling it out for each other against real enemies using real weapons and standing as equal with the enemy ranged against them. We had a display of a marriage that really works even when the times are very life-threatening, and not just merely unbearable.
I am really very glad that this story has now gone from two people fighting each other to two people fighting for each other. I think the children of such parents will be supremely blessed because of the kind of blood that runs in their veins. It will be a mixture of sheer Rajvanshi valour and great Mughal ruthlessness. It will be the blood of a father who knows how to treat the mother with love and the kind of respect that makes her a Queen equal in every way to his being King.
Remember folks, that scene when Jodha in Amer was once told by her mother that the King always walks ahead and the Queen follows. And Jodha said to her mother "But Mother the King and Queen should walk together so that the praja can follow them." Yesterday I saw a King and Queen walk together and I will never forget this feeling of pride I got that in this world there are some men who know how powerful womanhood really is. Thanks Jalal and Jodha. And thanks Ekta!
Mansi wonderful super analysis. 👏👏👏
As usual when episode is wonderful it brings out the best in you, but the nice thing is even not so good episodes you manage to see the positives. 👍🏼
I loved your green bits but the lines in bold wow! ⭐️
What an episode!!! Yet to get out of the episode haze! It reminded us why we LOVE Jodha Akbar and are crazy about Jodha and Jalal so much.
Where had they disappeared to?!!! We got our baghin and teda back. This is the Jodha Jalal we love. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Honestly Rajat and Paridhi can bring magic to screen just by looking at each other - when they are given decent scenes they just make us forget ourselves. It would be a rare viewer who did not have a smile on his/her face after watching yesterday's episode.
For Jalal such fights are like office meetings! What he cherished and hugely enjoyed was fighting alongside Jodha.
Do they need to manufacture situations for romance? With these two romance is where they are together - like you pointed out Jalal was ready to romance Jodha standing in a dungeon strewn with bodies of dead soldiers!
This is the kind of Jalal we love to see the one who is so so confident in his own self and in his Jodha that he encourages her to be the best she can be. He does not want to cosset her he just wants to cherish her.
Jalal does not feel only HE should protect her, he is so much a secure person - now that he has finally got Jodha's love - they both are bringing the best in each other.
This is the Jodha we love, the fiery proud warrior like Jodha who can stand toe to toe with Jalal and be his true ardhangini. Please bring back this Jodha. ⭐️
Jalal saying to Jodha when she jumped into fight to ward off an attack on him from back - itna to yakeen hum aap pe karte hai! Uff
I just loved the goofy grins on their faces when Jodha told Jalal to sit under the tree and put on some mud-leaves on his face. Did you notice how she turned his face and put on the lep. Jalal doing the same to her. Jalal so proud of Jodha that he can't stop praising her to everyone.
What was so evident was the love and overwhelming happiness both get in just being together, in each other's presence. The location, circumstances cease to matter cos they are together.
Isn't that what we saw - walking barefoot hand in hand, get so engrossed in each other, the confidence and trust and faith in each other to stand by and protect the other always. No wonder Jalal said he will take Jodha everywhere with him! Yes please do that and please go out of haram and Agra a lot!
I felt that even Rajat and Paridhi enjoyed this episode so much, as if they were really having fun there.
Kudos to Ekta too, after all SHE chose them for our Jodha and Jalal and this is her vision.
Please CVs bring back our Teda and Fiery back. 👏👏👏 ⭐️⭐️⭐️