All jokes aside, I love how, other than the lot of its parallels with the rest of eps where the characters deal with the possibilty of Suleyman dying, e55 (and e54) also has a lot of connections with e44 (and e43). It's not only the fact that both Ibro and Suly collapse and get subconsciously reunited with their parents but it's also how that happens and the consequences it has on their families.
The reasons for their dismays are showed earlier in both e43 and e54 respectively, Ibrahim literally gets shot and Suleyman is visibly affected by the stress of first Mustafa's sickness and then Cihangir's surgery, and in both cases they ignore it even if others are worried about it (Bali bey and Nasuh warn Ibro that he should rest and be treated properly, Mustafa and Ibrahim are concerned after Suleyman's reaction to his baby's suffering). Them ignoring these "signs" has the same reason: they have to stay strong for the others and bury their own pain inside (aka toxic masculinity lmao), not only because "pull yourself together, forget the pain and move on" it's their (and the system's ideal) coping mechanism but also since both of their families went through some traumatic experiences and they don't want to add more by taking their health issues seriously. Ibrahim tells Bali bey, Nasuh and Nigar to not inform Hatice about his wound because it could affect her and her pregnancy, giving that she's already lost a baby and that loss was associated to another near death moment of his in which she tired herself by taking care of him his fear makes all the sense, tho not telling suleyman shows he doesn't want to be a burden to anyone (also him going to work, just as he did after losing the baby, shows very clearly that's how he functions, he's not confortable being useless to his sultan). On the other hand, Suleyman answers to Musti and Ibro that he's alright and forces himself to stay strong, without resting nor showing vulnerability since he can't add more worries to his family, already distressed after Cihangir nearly died. That's why he keeps going on, just like Ibrahim, and only shows his vulnerability when he's forced to fall in his son's arms, a really poetic image if you take into account everyone's been resting in his chest to get strenght from him, an all powerful father figure, through the ep and now it's finally his turn to come back to his father by "dying" in his son's arms.
Soo Suleyman pretty much accepts that death, he says what he thinks are his last words, "be fair", thinking about his sultanate even at that moment (tho you could also think he's already with his dad when he says it, as we know what his ideas on his dad's cruelty are), and Ibro did the same at his own end, telling Suleyman that this time he wouldn't come back. There's a lot of tiredness at these points of their lives, Ibrahim's "how many times shall I die" to Nigar expresses it perfectly, the constant dangers of his position and the fact that he has to keep on living for Suleyman and for the dynasty, that he has to keep on working and dying for them and then he still Isn't seen as an equal (he's not only marked by hatice's and suleyman's remarks on him being an slave but also deeply affected that hurrem got, in his eyes, everything that's been neglected to him) just leads him to see his death as the best possibility as the ultimate return to his origin, to that paradise where he can find his mother. For e54, Suleyman hasn't even slept due to the constant threats to his sons' lives, and the impotence of not having control on them (as sadly ironic as that sounds when you think about how musti and cih actually die, the first by his hands, the second due to his neglect), of nearly losing it all two times in a round just leaves him powerless so it feels only natural to die, to return to his own hostile paradise. Funnily enough, the men who have been denying their pain for so long are forced to face their original wounds, the traumas that are behind their reasonings, in a past that, not matter what, will never get buried.
Also interesting that these pasts are partly resurrected by other characters that Ibro and Suly have seen themselves in: Nigar and Mustafa respectively. Ibrahim is taken to his mother via his travel to the cave, with the water running just as in his dream, and via Nigar's care for him, which makes him associate her to the calm his mom gave him once he wakes up, as the kalfa can be considered his savior and the protection he calls for in his memory. Mustafa's calls for his father take Suleyman to his own need for his father, to his own need to feel consoled, but he can't find that with creepy Yavuz so he ends up associating Musti to his father's treachery all the most, to the ever existing threat of Yavuz' sword on his neck. So e44 and e55 are decisive to understand these projections of the past to others and how these others will have their lives ruined by the way Suleyman and Ibrahim perceive them.
