Altair: A Record of Battles

Battle at the Unusual Rock Formations (1x12)

Air date: Sep 30, 2017

In a series of flashbacks, Louis persuades Balaban to join forces with Balt-Rhein, appealing to Balaban's long-sought dream of independence from Greater Türkiye. Concerned for his ambitious brother, Beyazit approach Zağanos to become one of his spies to safeguard his homeland and keep Balaban from going down a dark path. Present day, Mahmut explains to the others that the Divan is planning to take the other sultanates' capitals, thus they cannot expect reinforcements from Türkiye. While being greatly outnumbered, Mahmut plans to face Balaban's armies head-on as Ismail and Beyazit prepare to use their matchlock guns. After killing Tesisat-Kapı Saruça, Balaban heads to the front lines and chooses to use the same number of men as Mahmut's army to have a more honorable battle, sending word to Fatma and Uzun not to interfere. Knowing that Balaban is the only real threat and the other sultans would crumble without him, Mahmut deploys a series of tactics to easily overcome Balaban and his Yeñiçeri and lure the remaining forces into a valley. Cutting off their escape routes, Beyazit and his soldiers guns down the rest of Yeñiçeri until Balaban is left alone. Choosing to deal with his brother by himself, Beyazit fatally shoots Balaban numerous times. In one last struggle, Balaban and Beyazit share a sorrowful conversation, where Beyazit berates Balaban's choice to side with the empire, despite knowing his dream will only be short-lived. As Balaban dies from his wounds, Beyazit tearfully hugs his brother's body and mourns privately, stating that he loved him more than anyone else.