In this episode of Poetry of Time, the fires of rebellion begin to burn across Iran. While Fereydoun, the boy of prophecy, trains in the mountains, an unexpected hero rises from among the people — Kaveh the Blacksmith.

Grieving his son, lost to Zahhak’s serpents, Kaveh refuses to kneel before the tyrant. With nothing but his courage and his leather apron, he raises the legendary Derafsh-e Kaviani, the simple banner that would become the symbol of a nation’s resistance.

As Fereydoun descends from the mountains, the people rally behind Kaveh’s defiance. The time for fear is ending — the storm of rebellion is ready to strike.

In this episode of Poetry of Time, we follow the quiet whispers of defiance beneath Zahhak's thousand-year reign. As Iran suffers under the shadow of the Serpent King, two brave men save the lives of innocent youths — planting the first seeds of rebellion among the mountains, where the Kurdish people are born.

But even tyrants fear what the future holds. Zahhak's haunting dream speaks of a young warrior destined to strike him down — a boy hidden in the hills, nurtured by fate and guarded by the mountains. His name… is Fereydoun.

This is the story of those hidden in the shadows… and the storm that waits on the horizon.

In this episode of Poetry of Time, we trace the chilling origins of Zahhak, the Serpent King of Persian mythology. Born in Arabia, tempted by Iblis, cursed with snakes upon his shoulders — Zahhak's hunger for power knows no limits. When the nobles of Iran, desperate for a ruler, invite him to their land… they unknowingly open the gates to a thousand years of fear and tyranny.

Discover how ambition, deception, and misplaced trust allowed darkness to cross mountains — and how the shadows of Zahhak’s reign fell over Iran.

This is the story of how a king rose… not from heroism… but from horror.