| “ | But one weak link can break the chain of a mighty dynasty! | „ |
| ~ Pharaoh Seti I to Rameses |
| “ | Oh my son, they were only slaves. | „ |
| ~ Pharaoh Seti I to his adopted son Moses. |
Pharaoh Seti I was the secondary antagonist in the 1998 animated film The Prince of Egypt. Although he was not an active villain for much of the film, it was his actions that would cause much of what occurred in the story - he is also the unseen villain from the beginning of the film.
He was voiced by legendary actor Patrick Stewart.
History
Little is known of Pharaoh Seti or his reign before he committed the act that would forever immortalize him as a tyrant: fearing that the enslaved Hebrews were growing too powerful and might rebel against him, he ordered a mass execution of all male infants born to the Hebrews, having his army invade Hebrew homes and kidnap the male infants from their terrified mothers and tossing them into the river Nile.
However one Hebrew woman managed to flee from the massacre and sent her son adrift on the river Nile using a small basket, after a perilous journey this infant would reach the royal palace where Seti's wife Queen Tuya picked him up and adopted him: by this time Seti had already had a son named Rameses, and despite his previous aggression towards the Hebrews, he agreed to his wife's proposal to adopt Moses (most likely being unaware of his true heritage).
Making a few brief appearances in the film following this Seti is shown to be a stern leader, even to his own sons (though he is especially harsh towards Rameses, due to him being the heir to the throne) - however he was also shown to have a softer side, though he tried his best not to show it (in Seti's defense, many rulers before him of that period did the same, being raised from birth to believe they were incarnations of gods, particularly Osiris & his son Horus).
When Moses discovered his true heritage he had a nightmare involving the death of his people, while exploring the royal palace he came across a depiction of the massacre. Upon seeing Moses lament over this, Seti, feeling guilty, tries to comfort his adoptive son, explaining his reasons for the massacre. However, his uncaring attitude towards the "slaves" simply served to alienate him from Moses, who fled from his adoptive father - repulsed and disgusted by his attempts to justify mass murder.
Seti is not heard of again in the film, but died at some point following Moses' voyage into the desert, passing his kingdom to a now fully-grown Rameses - who would do all in his power to try and build a "better" Egypt than his father could ever of dreamed of.
Gallery
Trivia
- Seti is similar to King Henry; they were the original rulers of their kingdom (Egypt for Seti, unknown kingdom for himself), but ironically served as the secondary antagonist in their respective films. Their deaths paved the way for someone else to take over and become the main antagonist (which they themselves were introduced as) (Rameses in Seti's case, King Stefan in King Henry's case).
- In Exodus: Gods and Kings, Seti is portrayed by John Torturro. His role is very much the same.
- In the overall film, Seti was introduced as the main antagonist but was ultimately killed off to make way for the true main villain to take over.