Hi Aunty,
Here's my very overdue response to your post on Episode 125 - Alexander does a Holmes. My comments are based strictly on what we see in this episode and not on events that we know occur in future ones.
There is no chance of Alexander even thinking about killing an innocent child just to make an example. His name and image as a king of the people is too important. If he really did want to instill fear in people, he would do it through the adults, who he does not need to kill either. It serves no purpose to ask for more bloodshed during this breezy evening, that too of a child. He just reacted very well to what the child said and used it to his advantage. Alexander's brain already analyzes several chess moves ahead. (Speaking of anachronisms I don't now if the Macedonians played chess or if this game existed that long ago!)
His focus is on discreetly reading Barsine's expressions. He thinks she's guileless and will give it away when she sees Puru in the crowd, who smartly signals her to remain passive. Alexander's bet here is that a person who is brave enough to come to a newly-conquered Persia and get to Barsine's room undetected must be something. He suspects it is someone she knows and trusts completely.
The Persian pair poshi custom
Spot on, about the pair poshi custom. Persians were used to it and the defeated soldiers did the same with Alexander when he showed mercy, without being asked to do so by him or his generals.
I think Barsine is shocked at this command because it means Puru, being part of the crowd, cannot make an exit and will have to come up to Alexander to do this. Alexander scrutinizes Barsine's facial expressions (or lack thereof) as each person comes up to kiss his feet. The boy coming into the picture changes the direction of events, but if he hadn't showed up, Puru would have ended up facing Alexander this way eventually. Which she knows he will never accept and some sort of chaos will ensue. She is as worried about being found out as she is about getting Puru into more trouble.
A tour de force
I totally agree, Alexander is a tour de force in this episode. Rohit/Alexander is pretty awesome in terms of his dialogue deliver and facial expressions; he really steals everyone's thunder as he prowls around the room. Giving that uninterrupted screen time to Rohit worked wonders!
I love the expressions on his face as he reads the letter out loud, especially the pause and micro shift in his expression when he gets to the part where Darius offers him Barsine. Not only does Alexander think this proposal is a farce, he also seems to be offended on behalf of Barsine, if you know what I mean, that her father would hand her off for marriage as part of a trade to get back half the kingdom. He turns to give her a very specific look indeed as he reads this out. This reminded me of how angry he was when Philip decided to marry Cleopatra off without giving her any say in the matter or caring about his feelings. He would never do that to anyone.
The flair with which Alexander dictates the letter and shows everyone their place is bang on. There is no room for debate or ambiguity: he is the king of the jungle. As he had threatened Darius on the battlefield in Episode 118, he has now taken his land, his throne, and his freedom. Darius can run or hide but he is no longer free - Alexander will hunt him down. He makes it very clear that all that Darius left behind now belongs to him, including his daughter. Alexander wins wars and friendship, he doesn't trade in them.
Here he underlines to Barsine that she is at his mercy, and in theory he can do anything he wants with her. But he will not - it is beneath him to engage in such activities. Everything he does is upfront, any sneaky business or backstabbing is against his code of honor. I still think he feels for the royal ladies in their current state of humiliation at being deserted by the Shah of the biggest empire, who should have never taken them to the war zone and should have protected them, whatever the outcome of the battle. Is it sympathy, borderline pity? I don't know. But he doesn't miss any chance to drive home the point that for all their fear of him, he is far more honorable than the cowardly Darius.
The point about Macedonians suffering due to Persian attacks, and his need to avenge that, was well placed. My belief is that the CVs are showing that he had additional reasons to want to conquer Persia instead of just being a mindless, bloodthirsty warrior. He still showed mercy to its people despite the fact that his own Macedonians had been ill-treated in the past by Persians. He does not want to destroy Persia by looting its treasures - he wants it to prosper under his reign and genuinely cares for his new subjects. What he has come to collect, time will tell. Whether that was just to threaten Darius or not, who knows? But he is playing to the gallery here and wants to scare Barsine, for sure and possibly threaten her helpers. For all he knows, Darius may be in cahoots with them too, even though Barsine or the helpers actually had nothing to do with Darius' letter and were surprised about it and its contents.
A remarkable self portrait
Yes, I wholly agree with you that it is a remarkable self portrait. Confidence oozes out of every cell in his body. And yes, he is no baccha as Darius condescendingly called him. He is a man and challenges Darius to face him like one. He is afraid of nothing and no one. He is young and fierce, the first Macedonian to ever set foot on Persian soil, and has managed to do this with a much smaller army than Darius'. He is not to be underestimated or toyed with.
The Macedonian Holmes
He literally sniffs out Darius's location and has probably already formulated a plan around getting to him. In the meantime, he wants to find out what Barsine is up to. Nothing escapes his watchful gaze. The best part is that when he finishes dictating the letter and asks the ladies to join the celebrations with him, he fools them into thinking that they're off the hook and can forget about what happened in the room, that he is none the less wiser about the intruder's balcony adventures. But no! He smells something fishy and goes straight to the balcony where he spots the footprints. I am pretty sure he knows there is more than one person trying to rescue Barsine and that the royal ladies are hastening to leave the room so that Alexander doesn't catch on to them. But he does, and how! And he makes it a point to let the ladies know he's figured it out.
A cat and mouse game
And then we see Alexander's brilliant idea about trapping the intruder. He may seem heartless to many people but he has a great understanding of human psychology. The person who was unafraid to set fire to the bazaar while he was addressing the crowd would not hesitate to disrupt his pair poshi session in public. It was obvious to Alexander back then that this person had no qualms about ruining his first speech to the people there, so if he came across as that very arrogant, cruel monarch that Puru and the royal ladies think he is, then he can expect a typical rebellious reaction from them during the pair poshi. Very well played Alexander!
Also, when he tells Barsine he noticed that only one window was open she totally misses all the nuances in his speech. He does sympathize with her but I think he is also a little irritated by the damsel in distress, self-pitying state she seems to be in. I felt that he wanted to rouse her from this stupor and act like a responsible and mature princess. What he is asking of her is expected of any ruler who wants to protect himself and his reign. But no chance of her being sensible about it!
As you said:
Alexander drips sarcasm camouflaged as concern - Hota hai. Kabhi kabhi ghabrahat mein insaan wo sab se aham cheez dekhna bhool jaata hai jo uski aankhon ke saamne hota hai, ie the indications of Puru's presence in her room, Barsine can do nothing but look down and avert her eyes.
Reason for Alexander's change of attitude
I can't add much more here because you've said it perfectly. He never meant to use the royal ladies as pawns. He showed them mercy and expected them to continue to function as a royal household of which he is also now a member. Not only do they not show gratitude, they behave as if he's a monster out to devour them, and are plotting an escape. Do they not know what happens to the women in royal families when their countries are conquered? For goodness sake! As you said, Alexander cannot bear to be crossed.
Barsine cannot hide anything from Alexander no matter how much she tries, and if answers are not forthcoming he will set things up to make sure all secrets are revealed. He mocks her for thinking she knows him and is smart enough to fool him, but he tells her very clearly that he misses nothing. Tonight she will know what Alexander is really made of. She won't even have to tell him directly - he will read it on her face. And he doesn't have to wait long for that because Alexander kuch hone ka intezaar nahin karta, balke cheezon ko khud mukammal banata hai.
Puru: A new hope
It's about time Puru did something sensible. He catches Barsine in time staring at him and shakes his head slightly to warn her off. But Alexander notices it anyway, confirmation that the person he was looking for has indeed walked into the lion's den.
PS haven't had a chance to proofread this. Please excuse mistakes.
Edited by inlieu - 7 years ago
