While it got off to a slow start, “Tyrant” has grown into an intriguing political tale about a reluctant expat who, despite his best efforts to escape, finds himself sinking deeper and deeper into the chaos that engulfs the Middle-Eastern country that his family rules over with an iron fist. As Season 3 premieres Wednesday at 10 p.m. on FX, the nation of Abbudin must respond to the assassination that ended last season on a cliffhanger. WARNING: Spoilers for previous seasons are ahead.
Bassam “Barry” Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner)
The second son of Khaled Al-Fayeed, the deceased ruler of Abbudin. Wanting to escape his family’s brutality, he fled to L.A. as a teen and became a pediatrician. Twenty years later, he returned to Abbudin with his wife and kids for a family wedding, only for his father to die. Bassam is forced to let go of his nonviolent ways and fight against both his family’s ruthless policies and a terrorist organization.
Jamal Al-Fayeed (Ashraf Barhom)
When Bassam left for America, Khaled named Jamal his heir, who was then abused by his father as part of an attempt to brutally groom him into a ruler. Instead, Jamal became an unstable, violent man who relied on Bassam for advice as Abbudin continued to crumble under his watch.
At the end of Season 2, Jamal was ready to step down as the people called for Bassam to replace hiim, but he discovered that his own family had been plotting against him. Instead, Jamal announced on TV that he refused to hand over Abbudin to foreigners … shortly before he was shot. Jamal is now in intensive care, with Bassam as the new president.
Leila Al-Fayeed (Moran Atias)
Jamal’s wife, Leila, is a cold but brilliant strategist, often pitting herself against both Bassam and Jamal in her attempts to establish a modern yet merciless regime in Abbudin. She has no qualms going behind Jamal’s back, making a deal with the Arab League to testify against her husband in exchange for securing power for her son, Ahmed.
Ihab Bin Rashid (Alexander Karim)
The leader of the Army of the Caliphate, an ISIS-like terrorist organization that seeks to depose the Al-Fayeeds. Ihab is the son of Sheikh Rashid, a popular religious leader who attempted a coup against the Al-Fayeeds that was thwarted by a gas bombing.
Sheikh Rashid wasn’t the only person in Ihab’s family Bassam had to reluctantly kill. In season 2, while leading a counter-strike against the Caliphate, Bassam was forced to kill Ibab’s wife. With his forces driven out of Abbudin and his body and mind severely scarred by the encounter, Ihab now wants bloody revenge against Bassam.
Tariq Al-Fayeed (Raad Rawi)
The recently-deceased general of the Abbudin military and the uncle of Bassam and Jamal. Tariq was even more ruthless than Khaled, so much so that Khaled was afraid to do anything about him lest Tariq use his military control to stage a coup. Tariq is willing to cause as many casualties as possible to protect Al-Fayeed rule.
During their war against the Caliphate, Tariq uses brutal ground and air strikes against Caliphate-controlled villages with mixed results. Through Season 2, he constantly butts heads with Jamal, whom he feels should base his decisions on what his father would have wanted, not what Bassam wants. Ultimately, he is another victim of Jamal’s insanity as his nephew beats him to death with a miniature gold oil rig.
Ahmed Al-Fayeed (Cameron Gharaee)
Ahmed’s wedding is what leads Bassam to end his self-imposed exile. Thanks to his grandfather’s decision to put Jamal in charge, Ahmed was the heir to the presidency in Abbudin. But with his uncle now in charge, his father in the ICU thanks to his wife, and his mother continuing to pull the strings, Ahmed is being pushed in many different directions.
Nusrat Al-Fayeed (Sibylla Deen)
Ahmed’s wife has absolutely no love for her in-laws. She has been sexually and physically assaulted by Jamal on several occassions, and when her father attempted to push for a divorce, Jamal shot him. Eventually it became too much, and in the Season 2 finale, Nusrat shot Jamal on worldwide television.
Molly Al-Fayeed (Jennifer Finnigan)
An American-born physician who is Bassam’s wife. At the start of the series, she asks Bassam to take her and the kids with them to Abbudin, but her painful naïveté quickly earned her the dislike of many viewers. In Season 2, she believes that Bassam is dead after Jamal leaves him in the desert and tells the world he executed him. After an uneasy reunion, Molly is now the First Lady of Abbudin.
Sammy Al-Fayeed (Noah Silver)
Bassam’s son, who struggles to deal with his homosexuality in a region of the world that is hostile to LGBT individuals. Like his mother, viewers came to dislike Sammy because of his foolish actions, though he became a more active figure in Season 2 as he joined the fight against the Caliphate.
Daliyah Al-Yazbek (Melia Kreiling)
When left in the desert to die by Jamal, Bassam encountered Daliyah, a Bedouin woman who quickly became a part of his campaign against the Caliphate. Daliyah fell in love with Bassam, only to discover who he truly was. Now that Bassam is in charge of Abbudin and the Caliphate has been driven out, Daliyah is struggling to figure out where she belongs in the new order.
William Cogswell (Chris Noth)
Season 3 will see a new player from America enter the power struggle. With Khaled and Tariq dead and Jamal out of commission, the U.S. has sent in General William Cogswell to advise Bassam as he seeks to reform Abbudin’s government and military. Of course, Cogswell is doing this to make sure that the Americanized Bassam runs things in a way that serves Western interests, but it turns out that he has a past with Leila that may complicate things.