Rudabeh (رودابه)

Rudabeh, princess of Kabul, daughter of King Mehrab Kaboli and Queen Sindukht. Royal, elegant, and unfortunately carrying the kind of ancestry that makes people immediately nervous. She’s a descendant of Zahak, which is less “fun family trivia” and more “historical red flag.”

She falls in love with Zal, because nothing says romance like ignoring centuries of political and moral baggage. Meanwhile, Manuchehr, king of Iran, and Sam are absolutely not on board with this union. From their perspective, this is less a marriage and more a catastrophic PR decision.

But love, as always, refuses to consult with anyone sensible. So Rudabeh does the iconic thing: she lets down her long hair like a rope so Zal can climb up to her. A grand romantic gesture, slightly impractical, and probably a nightmare for hair care.

Zal, to his credit, takes one look and decides he’s not about to risk injuring her scalp for the sake of aesthetics. He uses an actual rope instead. Romance survives, gravity is respected, everyone wins. They meet, spend the night together, and eventually get married after pushing through all the expected outrage.

She becomes the mother of Rostam, which sounds glorious until you get to the part where he is, medically speaking, enormous. The birth nearly kills her. Once again, Zal pulls out the emergency solution: burn the feather, summon Simurgh, and perform what is essentially the world’s first mythical C-section. They call it Rostamzad, because even life-saving surgery needs a memorable name.

She survives. Rostam grows up to become the greatest hero around. And for a moment, it almost feels like things might actually go well.

They do not.

Rostam is eventually killed through the betrayal of his half-brother Shaghad, because apparently no family in this story can avoid internal sabotage. From that point on, Rudabeh’s life collapses into grief.

Then Bahman, son of Esfandiyar, decides to continue the cycle of revenge like it’s some kind of inherited hobby. He invades Zabulistan, executes Faramarz — Rostam’s son, Rudabeh’s grandson — and imprisons the already aged Zal. Just in case there was any joy left to extinguish.

When the news reaches Rudabeh, it’s not just loss. It’s total erasure. Husband broken, son gone, grandson executed, homeland in ruins.

She dies shortly after.

Not in battle, not by some grand supernatural force. Just grief, finally finishing what everything else started.