天幕のジャードゥーガル

Reminds me of the Apothecary Diaries. And I don't see this just because the setting is an imperial court of East Asia, the plot involves poisons and medicines, or the protagonist is a knowledgeable young girl. One of the strong points of Apothecary Diaries was in showing the tales of women. That just because their culture and institutions narrow their options, railroading them into becoming wives, concubines, servants or prostitutes, it doesn't mean they somehow lack intelligence, agency, personal wishes and ways to achieve their own goals. Jaadugar does the same, with the added benefit that the high ladies of the Mongol Empire were very powerful even for the standards of the era.

According to the interview with the producer , the chief director, Naoko Yamada, only started joining the project after her movie, Kimi no Iro, started airing in Japan around August 2024, and the main director, Abel Gongora, was already chosen. I don't know how long pre-production for this project took, but I'd guess they started the whole thing around early 2024. There also seem to be no information about Jaadugar completion date, but I'm quite positive that the project takes 2-2.5 years to complete. Season 2 depends heavily on the core staff availability. If next season had already been greenlit since much earlier, that means they've already secured the needed talents and that it should come around 1-1.5 years. If not, and all the staff had already gotten schedules elsewhere, then the future becomes very uncertain.

I was wondering why Sitara wanted to be the messenger for Sorghaghtani. I naively thought she was already scheming her next plan. Trying to get Sorghaghtani as an ally in their battle with Boraqchin. But it seems, it was way more simple than that. She just wanted to see her angry and furious over what she had lost and how her life is now basically over. She probably wanted then tell Sorghaghtani what she had done to her family and therefore get her "revenge". And funnily enough, Sorghaghtani being in her depressed state is what makes Sitara light up that fire once more. If that will help her in the future or not will be seen. However, there is also a secondary irony to the whole thing. Sitara had a different goal previously. She didn't just want to get back at Sorghaghtani but the mongols as a whole. That was what she promised Töregene after all. However, without realizing, she fell into a very similar state as Sorghaghtani. In order to get Töregene back, she was willing to pay any price necessary. Even a price that would result in her and Töregene having 0 power to challenge Boraqchin again. So it was necessary for Sorghaghtani to reject the proposal, because this can allow Sitara and Töregene to find a different path where they aren't losing their powers and are able to do what they originally wanted.

Agreed, Siata was constantly making short-term moves throughout the episode. In a way, it makes sense: she's out of her depth, worried about the one person in the world that may understand her, and at the end of the day remains the traumatized girl who misses her old life at Tus. I suppose further arcs will be about Sitara learning to be more like Boraqchin, the current with in Mongolia (almost title drop in the episode 😆).

I am also a bit waiting for Sitara to become the witch from the title. The scene of the first episode showed a bit, so I expect her to use her knowledge of all kinds of stones and poison to her advantage. It will be interesting to see how what her plan about Boraqchin is. Boraqchin is still trusting Sitara, so there is an option of using herself. Similarly, they could make sure that she loses trust or poison her directly.

In order to get Töregene back, she was willing to pay any price necessary. Even a price that would result in her and Töregene having 0 power to challenge Boraqchin again. So it was necessary for Sorghaghtani to reject the proposal, because this can allow Sitara and Töregene to find a different path where they aren't losing their powers and are able to do what they originally wanted. That's a good read on it. We closed one door but another might open. We're definitely gonna have to fight tooth and nails for the second one though.

I love how despite the hatred Sitara's held for the Mongols theres still a hint of empathy towards Sorghaghtani's predicament and how it mirrors her own. Sorghaghtani may have reminded her of Zumurrud and Anis and how they gave in to their despair so Sitara's sudden but honest outburst was something Sorghaghtani needed in order to pull herself from her depressive stupor. Perhaps they'll be allies of sorts going forward.

I wonder if this could be detrimental to Sitara in the long run though. I think previously, Sorghaghtani was in a similar perspective as Boraqchin, thinking that Sitara was just a regular, if book smart, servant, that she could use for her benefit. But with this strange new empathetic relationship she may realize there's a smoldering fire inside Sitara that everyone is letting go unattended. Of course, the irony and potential backfire only makes this all more compelling!

That was my fault part of the episode. Sitara was prepared for Sorghaghtani to be angry at her and to respond with her own anger, only for her to be despondent and hopeless. Yeah it definitely reminded her of Zummurud and Anis, but I think the thing that really caused Sitara’s outburst was how it was liking looking at herself at her lowest. At the person she tried and continues to try to plaster over with her hatred for the mongols and quest for revenge against them. At the person she refuses to be.

The trio panicking over the approaching attendant sent me💀 I really wanted for Sorghagtani to be a major player in all this so I'm certainly pleased that Sitara's condescending outburst was able to somewhat snap her out of her despair. I honestly feel that Sitara vs Boraqchin would get old real fast so a third party will be necessary to keep everyone on their toes. And now that Sitara has let her true feelings slip/show, hopefully Sorghagtani realizes that Sitara's not the ally she'd initially thought of.

I see a growing evil within Sitara regarding her interactions with Sorghagtani in this episode and a fine example of different experiences and perspectives painting a different picture. In her mind, Sorghagtani is the one responsible for ruining her life and thus she happily expects to see her angry and blaming her for ruining her life by failing to protect Tolui, arrogsntly thinking that the pain and anger she is feeling is nothing compares to hers. She's shamelessly hoping to personally ragebait a sorrowful widower. What she instead sees is that Sorghagtani lost all hope and doesn't even blame her at all. This confuses and enrages Sitara, " How dare that a monster like her express sorrow at losing a lived one!?" Ironically she's the one being ragebaited. She tries to maintain her composure and her emotional disguise but ultimately she reveals her true self to her, calling weak and she is strong and will continue to move on but not before she breaks down, arguably Sorghagtani's sorrow reminds her of her traumas. I fear what will become of Sitara as the story goes on. She is mentally being warped by her need for revenge but being torn down by her conscience.

She is mentally being warped by her need for revenge but being torn down by her conscience. There is a certain irony to this conflict in this particular episode: her need for revenge demanded she kept a cool head, smile and act like a good servant. Revenge is a dish that is best served cold, after all. Instead, her rage was the product of symapthizing with Sorghaghtani, in a way. "This person is now in the same place I was, how come she isn't angry or plotting revenge like I am? This is unworthy of the woman that was supposed to be my arch-enemy!"

I find the parallelisms between Sitara and Sorghaghtani fascinating: Tolui took the maths book from Sitara's family, after killing the most important person in her life, and gave it to Sorgahghtani because she wanted it. Boraqchin took the book from Sorghaghtani's family, after killing the most important person in her life, and gave it to Sitara because she wanted it. Both Sitara and Sorghaghtani think of their similarities in this very episode. Both have experienced what it feels to lose the person they loved and have their life upended. Sitara expected Sorghaghtani to react like she did and is disappointed by her depressed state. Even the visuals draw parallelisms. Sitara's POV flashbacks of her life in Tus are animated in the exact same way as Sorghaghtani's POV flashback of Tolui. Knowing what history has in store for Sitara and Sorghaghtani, I bet we'll see more parallelisms in the future.

This episode really showcases how long Boraqchin was planning this all out. Then with Sitara her plan went fully in motion. I am curious what her relationship and plans are for Möge. More than likely protecting her. I can only assume she did this for Ögedei, but no doubt this isn't what Ögedei would want. For Boraqchin she wants the Mongols to be united. Though does she aim to take out both brothers? With Töregene in the palm of her hands having her son marry Sorghaghtani is the next step. The scene where Sitara goes to see Sorghaghtani because she sees Sorghaghtani the moment she lost someone dear to her for the first time. Sitara hates them for taking her family away from her, but seeing Sorghaghtani reduced from great ambition to this really upset her. It's like Sitara. Though it is through that speech that Sorghaghtani hasn't given up hope. It makes me curious how Sorghaghtani views Sitara now. I'm curious what becomes of Sorghaghtani next.

Boraqchin’s truly a woman of focus, commitment, and sheer will! As if (non-fatally) poisoning Ogedei wasn’t ballsy enough, she had also used herself as a guinea pig. I thought her poisoning episode inspired her to incorporate it into her plot but turned out it’s a part of it all along. Not a great day for Sitara. After playing the long game for years, she couldn’t even get the satisfaction of taking revenge due to Sorghaghtani losing all her emotions. She expected her to feel immense rage but instead felt emptiness. Having said that, Sitara managed to give a pep talk which restored Sorghaghtani’s will to live and led the latter to decline the marriage to Guyuk. It might’ve worked too well, though. Sorghaghtani’s resolve seemed to be toughened to the point of not feeling anger over Tolui’s death.

They say poison is a woman’s weapon. Boraqchin’s quite the little schemer. Everything was going according to her plan to consolidate power for the Great Kha’an. Toregene was used as her pawn and now Tolui’s gone. Plus Sorghaghtani’s marrying Goyuk. But it seems that’s not going to happen. I wonder what’s next? Is Fatima going to get some sense of revenge from this whole situation now that Sorghaghtani’s turning down the proposal?