Hi, and welcome back to the last Review of the last 90 min of Tut. Again not much is happening in these two (one) Episodes, so I will again put them in one entry. Let’s be real, the first few episodes always have a ton of plot and characters for introduction purposes.
In the first Episode(s) of this whole thing we met ALL the characters and the main plotline, the historically non confirmed war with the Mittani.
As we left off with parts of Thebes, the religious and political center of Egypt, burning and killing 50 percent of their populace and for some reason 70 percent of the army..for some reason. The standing army...I really should do more research on the military in Ancient Egypt…
Anyways Thebes burnt, Seed Girl is missing, I wonder where she went? Unfortunately she is still alive, which is highly unlikely for multiple reasons. The main one being, she was in a FIRE without a mask. Ever heard of a little something called “smoke poisoning”, no? Okay, the show runners should have called Shonda Rhimes. “Station 19” was not a thing in 2015 but “Grey’s Anatomy” was. People die of Smoke poisoning. Smut and grime from the fire get carried by the heat and then inhaled. This then festers in the airways and lungs, causing them to make it harder to breathe. So the victim slowly suffocates. SG should be dead as a mummy awaiting burial. But no, she is in a coma. Congrats on now dying of starvation and thirst. This is ca. 1500 BCE, not 2021. There are no IVs or machines to help you breathe once your brain shuts down, not to mention organ failure that is also a side effect of smoke poisoning. Sure, she is alive, we buy that. (Disclaimer: I have little knowledge when it comes to medicine. So please do not be to harsh with me on that ;) )
While this whole drama is going on the Mitanni are now allies with the Hittites and Babylonians to wage war on Egypt. AND they are already IN Mainland Egypt. First of all it is highly unlikely the Hittites would ally themselves with the Babylonians and the Mittani. One of them maybe but both..hell no. to take down Egypts...why? Egypt was not their problem, the Mitanni were. You might ask why, well let's look at the map: Mitanni is between the Babylonians and Egypt, between the Bablyonians and the Hittites. Why would either of them want to get rid of their neutral zone? why would they come for Egypt, when the Mitanni are way closer and the area would be way easier to control for either side. So, it does not make much sense.
Also, where is the proof of the Mitanni making it into the main parts of Egypt? (think Memphis and Giza) But this whole part has one of my favorite sentences “You intend to poison them!” speaking about the rations Tut is handing out to the enemy. In order to “find a compromise” with an army hellbent on destroying you. Sure. What any sane being would do.
But Tut has some more brilliant ideas. He also pisses off the high priest who is insanely popular and controls the populace. A brilliant idea, like no other, way to go!
We now jump locations to the valley of the kings. Eje and Tut now have a very meaningful conversation about death and monuments left behind so people can remember you. So basically a lot of foreshadowing.
While we are here we need to talk about the making of the valley. In front of all the graves are some kind of elaborate entryways with statues and stuff. The whole point of the valley was that no one knew it was there and what was in there. The valley had a gate, with passwords and guards. all the workers lived there in their own villages. But sure, entryways that look like they have been copied off of Abu Simbel in front of every grave, would totally exist.
The whole thing continues with Tut going to war, again, getting beaten again, having broken bones and open wounds again. You know at some point...just don’t. Just stay home man. Better for your health.
Seed Girl wakes up and gets unalived by the Triad of Evil. Well mainly one of them, but they had to, for a reason no one had explained so far. The reason: the bloodline of Akhenaten is not allowed to keep on existing beyond his “children”. As we recall, Seed girl is pregnant...so she has to go.
In my opinion, they should have just poisoned her. From the beginning. It would have eliminated so much idiocy.
We have reached the final moments of Tut. Homeboy is dying and while he is doing that he destroys his last “enemy”. The high priest. For the following reason: he disrespects Tut and “the crown”. But you have given him zero reason to respect you. You started caring about your duties six (I have no idea what the timeline is here) months ago, maybe a year ago.
The Armana period was a traumatic time in the history of Egypt. Almost out of nowhere the ruler destroyed the gods that were predominantly worshipped by the populace. Akhenaten was an unpopular ruler. They tried to extinguish him and his reign from memory and preferably from history. So of course the High Priest of Amun is extremely clingy to the power he regained. But sure, make him the villain, it is not like the series already had three, two in the making and one oblivious “perfect” main character. Tut, I am talking about Tut.
So Tut keeps on dying for way too long. Like seriously, you have several broken bones, infected wounds and a blood poisoning and you are still alive. HOW? But alas he finally dies in Anchesas arms, basically giving Eje his blessing to take his place.
I have issues with the grave. It is too big. It is proven to be meant for a high ranking official that was small and hastily finished. He just died too early and not of wounds attained during war. In fact all the broken bones and stuff came from Carter's poor treatment of the mummy. I mean Carter even beheaded the mummy. If that is not damage, then what is?
As I was saying, the grave was small, the chamber holding the sarkophagus is only 6,37 m x 4,02m. That is not as big as they showed in the series. You could dance a Wiener Waltz there. The decoration is accurate though.
Also the series concludes by saying that Eje was the reason no one remembered the Pharaoh and he was buried in such a small grave. No! As I said he just died too early to have an elaborate big grave. Also Eje himself was, as well as Horemhab, later disregarded when it came to protecting and reburying the mummies. Not only were their graves completely destroyed, their mummies are missing as well as their sarcophagi. So that is that.
In conclusion, the actors were great, the costumes were nice. But everything else was badly researched and in my opinion it was also badly written. Some lazy stereotypes, especially pertaining to the female characters.
Let me know what you think! Have you watched it? Let us know on Instagram or Facebook if you have wishes for any reviews in the future. Lots of love!
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