El Hashashin is a complicated story about the mighty assassins (you might even know them more as Assassins Creed, the video game) who will take over the world in the 11th century, as their leader, Hassan El Sabbah, was an intelligent and charismatic man who later on became a conman with his little tips and tricks to make people admire him.
Who Is the Mighty Hassan El Sabbah?
Hassan El Sabbah was a brilliant scholar from Persia. As a young boy, he was blessed with a gift: foreseeing people's lives, history, and future! Hassan learned he was different from a very young age, which later came into his favour, especially after his accident in the well where he had made a deal with a shaman to join the darkness.
He excelled in mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy—he wasn't a typical warrior! However, his intellectual pursuits intertwined with a passion for the Ismaili sect in Islam.
Who Are These People and Who's Really Important in this Series?
For now, not to spoil anything, Hassan El Sabbah and his two close friends, Nezam Al Molk (Fathy Abdelwahab) and Omar El Khayam (Nicolas Moawad), made a pact when they were young men, that whoever has power and authority would help the other two reach it by assigning them different ruling roles.
As much as we wish Omar El Khayam had a huge part in the story, he will stay as calm and collected as he is, probably read some more poetry and walk around without a care in the world; that's how the real Khayam rolled!
The Person You Need to Keep an Eye on Is Nezam Al Molk
Nezam Al Molk's importance in this series is just as interesting as Hassan's. He was a Persian scholar, jurist, political philosopher, and governor of the Seljuk Empire in Asfahan, which was ruled by Alp Arslan. The latter was killed, leaving the throne for his son, El Malek Shah.
Rising from a lowly position within the empire after the death of Alp Arslan, El Malek Shah gave him a higher position as a vizier, which put him in the highest power to help out his two friends, as said per the pact they made.
To Get the Most Exciting Part of this Story
Hassan follows the Ismaili sect in Islam, and he made a deal with people called Al Batenyeen (who always hid underground) to spread the message of their beliefs and sect.
Al Batenyeen's Imam assigned El Sabbah as their prophet and overall leader! Hassan travelled to Cairo to meet Al Mostanser Bellah, the caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and asked him who was taking over the throne. He performed a miracle and won his favour. After the miracle of making his mother walk again, Hassan El Sabbah asked the caliph, and his answer was Nizar Al Mostafa.
That was the sign that Hassan El Sabbah would start spreading his message and prophecy under the Nizari Isma'ilism and prepare for his next stop. Next on his list was Asfahan, the prosperous and flourishing city led by King Shah and his vizier Nezam Al Molk!
Of course, for people to believe Hassan El Sabbah was a prophet to the Nizari Isma'ilism, he had to do a little trick to convince them. On the boat back from Cairo to Asfahan, Hassan knew meteorology too well, and he knew the storm would stop; but to them, Hassan was a prophet because he stopped the storm when he read a little bit in his meteorology book!
How cool was Hassan El Sabbah? We can't wait to see all his tricks play out in the show!
