Why does Ahmed order Zülfikar of all people to execute Iskender, and in such a remote place at that? He must know Zülfikar and Iskender are very close and that Zülfikar would be pretty devastated by such an order. That might precisely be the reason why - Iskender has saved Kösem's life multiple times and Ahmed certainly owes him for that, but he can't just let this kind of threat go. Thus, he entrusts Iskender's fate into the hands of one man who is both extremely loyal to Ahmed and couldn't go trough with Iskender's execution. Ahmed knows Zülfikar would find some way to keep him out of the way that doesn't involve killing him.
Fridge Horror
What if Halime and Dilruba were successful in killing Kösem’s sons? Mustafa never had children, so the Ottoman line would have died out on his death, leading to instability, and without a strong leader like Kösem, the empire would be at the mercy of European powers.
When the real Ahmed I took the throne, he was around 13 years old, and became a father soon after. In the series itself, his age isn't stated outright, and the Dawson Casting doesn't help. Still, not only does Handan order him to take a concubine each night, but the first of them, Mahfiruz, makes advances towards him in a way that is meant to be seductive, but in the context of the aforementioned age confusion just comes across as creepy.
Same for Osman, who would have been 12 or 13 when he took Meleksima as a concubine, 14 when he became sultan (which explains his immaturity), and 17 when he died.
It’s unknown the exact ages of Ibrahim’s hasekis, but they were probably no more than twenty when they had their oldest sons. Ibrahim is in his 30s and looks even older.
What if Murad had succeeded in killing Ibrahim? It would be a similar situation to if Halime had won, perhaps less so if Kösem remained in power. But it would certainly end up in civil war.
Fridge Logic
After Kösem pulls the right strings, which finally allows for Safiye to be held accountable, you would think he would be proud of her? Not really. Instead, he is dissapointed she "lost her innocence", apparently unaware his grandma isn't the nicest person in the world and if Kösem tried to get rid of her, she just might have a reason for that.
Just how exactly did Reyhan aga survive the fall?
When a mob surrounds the palace while both Ahmed and Mustafa are seemingly lying on their deathbeds, Safiye rather reasonably decides to leave, justifying it by the survival of empire. She isn't even wrong - after potential deaths of Ahmed and Mustafa, the next in line is Mehmed Giray, and Safiye has to make sure the transition of power between dynasties will be smooth. In fact, she is the only to even make plans in case neither of her grandsons survive, while what the rest of the dynasty does is little more than damage control, with Kösem stopping the uprising and all that. And sure, we the audience know both boys are going to survive, but from the in-universe perspective, the only two male members of the dynasty are suffering from a deadly illness and the empire is only weeks from total collapse. Safiye's actions are perfectly reasonable... And for this, she gets called "traitor" by Kösem, and it's the very reason she has a falling out with her benefactor.
Why does Zülfikar tell Kösem about Iskender's real identity? He must know she would gladly tell Ahmed, and that he would be understandably freaked out by the appearance of a new rival for the throne. Might be a case of Honor Before Reason, though.
Why is the defeat of Team Mustafa so ridiculously easy? Especially deaths of Halime and Dilruba are mindboggling - we never see Kösem planting any spies into harem, and she would certainly encounter many difficulties. Not that it would be completely impossible, but apparently it wasn't eventful enough for us to see. Plus, Halime, who is familiar with both poisons and Kösem's ambitions apparently isn't wary enough to not just get poisoned.
How does Farya, a hungarian princess, speak perfect Turkish the moment she steps into the harem?
