YMMV / Alamut

• Alternative Character Interpretation:
  • Hassan: A pragmatic leader who does what he can so his persecuted Shia sect can survive? Or a megalomaniac who casually sends his loyal disciples to their deaths for his own amusement?
  • Nizam al-Mulk: A ruthless social climber who persecutes religious minorities for foreign tyrants? Or a brilliant bureaucrat whose only wish is to bring peace and stability to Iran at any cost?
  • ibn Tahir: A young man experiencing a sincere spiritual transformation after his whole worldview collapses? Or a dupe who just accepts whatever ideology is put in front of him?
• Harsher in Hindsight: Obviously, 9/11. But also, the word Alamut translates to “Eagle’s Nest”, which is what Hitler would call his retreat.
• Ho Yay: Aside from the overt lesbianism between Sara and Halima and Miriam and Halima, this happens between some of the male characters as well. When ibn Tahir meets Suleiman for instance, he dwells extensively on Suleiman's physical beauty and compares him to a character from The Book of Kings.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Hassan's son is not a good person by any stretch of the imagination, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him in the long run. His father left him in the care of his abusive grandparents, and when he calls him back to his side, instead of showing him some love or care, his father makes him an ordinary soldier, apparently frustrated by the fact that he... Embraced his philosophy too easily, without the angst his father felt upon realizing its "truths". Granted, the boy does act like a entitled prick, and later kills a man whose only crime was obeying Hassan's orders, but that hardly makes him worse than his father, while the narrative treats him as completely irredeemable. Worst of all, Hassan then supposedly feels sorry for having to execute him, when before he showed nothing but contempt towards his only child.
• Unintentionally Unsympathetic: Hassan himself. We are supposed to feel sorry when he does something terrible and realizes it, despite the fact that, brief attacks of guilty conscience aside, he never even considers, you know, not doing the terrible things he does. In a way, he would be more sympathetic as a religious fanatic his Real Life counterpart was, since then the narrative wouldn't even try to excuse his actions.