hytham & basim ✨ (my internet is weird and idk if my ask went through if i sent this already please ignore it fhdhfk)
send me “thoughts on __”
Oh, Bryn you came for my throat with this one and you know it 😭
As you all probably already understood by now, my biggest weakness are familial relationships, both blood bound and found. There’s a complexity there, between the folds of these kind of connections, often based on trust which I think it’s the most powerful human aspect of all.
I’m dying to know more about Hytham and Basim. What we are told about them leaves room for so many speculations and possibilities! I think it’s telling that Basim chose Hytham specifically to accompany him all the way to Norway. We know Mentors usually have dozens of novices and lower ranking assassins to look after but this was a mission that required certain skills and endurance and he chose him. This immediately becomes something crucial to remember once we’re exposed to Hytham’s insecurities about failing Basim, letting him down. Eivor asks if he’s ready to sacrifice his health to prove his worthiness, they say they find that difficult to understand to which Hytham replies “I wouldn’t expect that you do”. That’s such a small dialogue but it struck me so deeply!
You can see by they way they talk to each other how comfortable and in sync they actually are. That level of shared intimacy (in the purest sense of the term) is not something easy to achieve, it usually means you spent a lot of time with that other person, quality time, time that brought you closer as people and not just as “colleagues”. They are often seen talking to each other without words, but with looks and small gestures, I really loved that. It made them both that much more human, especially Basim.
I truly believe there was sincere affection between the two of them, by both parts. “Thank you for taking care of Hytham” Basim says, because he knows! He knows what’s gonna happen, he knows he’s bound to leave again, he knows Hytham blames himself for his injury, he’s probably hurt by the thought of having displeased him somehow. And I want to believe they talked about it among them, in the privacy of their bureau and their own shared memories. But in the end Basim had a role to fill, maybe he couldn’t openly let Hytham on what he was really thinking, who knows.
The sincere hurt and brokenness we see in Hytham after the final revelation made me so sad. His shock and refusal, his hope in believing Basim is not really gone... this all tells a story of deep heartbreak. Basim was important to him and he’ll never know his mentor made sure he was well looked after, with a new family and a new home before leaving him for good!
