The Winter King (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

Episode Three

1
[UTHER] The Kingdom of
Kingdoms has a new heir.
For the honor of becoming
Mordred's protector,
I give you my oath.
[MERLIN] Uther's letting his
enemies get too close, Arthur.
I am not coming back.
[GASPS AND GRUNTS]
[UTHER] Look for me
when you cross the
water to the other world.
[FLAMES CRACKLING]
[NORWENNA] Welcome to
Avalon, King Gundleus.
Would you honor us and eat with us?
- A baby cannot rule Britain.
- [SCREAMS]
- [GUNDLEUS] Kill them all!
- [MORGAN] Run!
[GRUNTING]
- [GUNDLEUS] Druidess
- [GRUNTS]
Lord!
[LADWYS] This is not the Edling King.
They've changed the child.
[GUNDLEUS] You were the
mother of a king. Now
- [KNIFE SLICES]
- you're nothing.
[MORGAN] Come! Come! We must move!
Attack!
[MORGAN] Form a circle around the king!
You are a traitor and a murderer!
Kill him!
Arthur has come.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[GRIM MUSIC]
[HORSE WHINNIES]
[HORSES WHINNYING]
[WHINNYING]
[HORSES NICKERING]
Your sword.
- [WHINNIES]
- Drop it.
[LAUGHS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[BIRD SCREECHING]
[BEDWIN] May I see the
goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living.
May I be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
[SANSUM] Bishop Bedwin,
riders are approaching.
Come quickly.
[DRAMATIC HORNS PLAY]
[BEDWIN] It can't be.
Open the gates!

Bedwin.
[MORDRED FUSSES]
Arthur!
[MORDRED CRYING]
- [BEDWIN] The Edling King.
- [SANSUM] Praise be.
The Lord has shown us a miracle, Bedwin.
This was no miracle.
My sister and all
these brave souls
they saved him.
And Gundleus?
- [GRUNTS]
- [WHINNIES]
- We kill him!
- [MORGAN] Yes!
Traitor! You murdered our queen!
And raped our Druidess.
But the gods are still with her
- [GRUNTS]
- and they demand punishment!
You must die!
"I desire mercy, not sacrifice."
This is barbaric beyond
It's a fitting revenge.
- [GRUNTING]
- [YELLING]
Gundleus Ap Meir,
King of Siluria,
the gods rejoice in your death.
- No!
- Ladwys!
[YELLS]
Unhand me!
I am Merlin's Druidess,
and I demand my sacrifice!
No one is questioning
your status, Nimue,
or your suffering.
[GASPS]
There will be no more blood spilt today.
On his feet. Remove their armor.
[PANTS]
- Brother, are you mad?
- Why are you doing this?
Killing Gundleus will not
bring peace to Britain.
It'll bring peace to me.
Where can we keep the prisoners secure?
Well, there is nowhere.
Uther kept no prisoners.
I prefer sacrifice to imprisonment.
[MORGAN] Arthur don't
break the way of things.
King's chamber has a lock.
[SCOFFS]
You'd put this traitor
in our father's chamber?
Trust me sister.
[CRYING]
[CONTINUES CRYING]
Arthur.
[MORDRED FUSSING]
You have denied me my peace
and Sulevia, the Goddess of governance,
her sacrifice.
You will know pain like my pain.
And you will be punished.
[LADWYS GRUNTING]
[LADWYS PANTING]
Is this where Uther's soul
crossed over to the other world?
It is.
I can't stay here. I can't stay here!
[GUNDLEUS] Let her go.
She's not harmed you.
[MORGAN] Oh, she killed her
share of the people of Avalon.
- [DOOR CLOSES]
- She remains here.
[BREATHING SHAKILY]
Clear the chamber.
Make sure there's no means for escape.
[KEYS JANGLING]
King Gundleus, we'll
bring you food and water.
[DOOR OPENS]
So, while we rot, you steal the kingdom?
Your father smelled you for
a bastard traitor, Arthur.
You stay away until the old man dies,
and then you seize your chance.
The crippled king's no
safer with him than me.
[CHUCKLES]
Once
in front of my father,
I swore that I would guard
any child that he bore.
And I swear it again.
If any man should harm
me the Edling King,
I will revenge that harm.
I will protect his life with my own.
[DOOR CREAKS OPEN AND CLOSES]
[MYSTERIOUS MUSIC]

[CRYING]
[SOBS]
[GASPS]
Merlin told me
the gods are like mist,
drifting, fading.
If we hear them and please them,
then they'll thicken,
and they'll join to cover all the land.
[SNIFFLES] They'll protect us.
[CRIES]
But if we deny them, we're lost.
[CRIES]
I thought Arthur would understand,
but he doesn't. He doesn't
understand anything.
[CRYING]
[SNIFFLES]
Do you love me?
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
[SNIFFLES]
Hold out your palm.
Come Sulis, Belisima,
Nehallenia.
[DERFEL GASPING]
[PANTING]
Ollodius,
Nodens, Manawdyn, fab Lyr.
- Ahh.
- [BIRD CAWING]
[GASPS]
[EXHALING DEEPLY]
As long as you carry the
scar, your life is mine.
[BREATHING HEAVILY]
So long as I carry the scar
[WHISPERS] my life is yours.
We're as one, Derfel.
[FLAMES CRACKLING]
[GRUNTS]
- [BLADE CLANKS]
- [BEDWIN] I'm
I'm sure we can find room
for you inside Caer Cadarn.
We're used to sleeping like this.
[CHUCKLES]
That's God's miracle you
came. Kingdoms need kings.
Without them, they're
they're empty land, inviting
a conqueror's spears.
[CLANK, WATER SPLASHES]
[GRUNTS]
[WHISTLES]
[ARTHUR] Wash time!
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
[BEDWIN] Arthur. Arthur
at the end, your father talked of you.
I believe he regretted his actions.
[BEDWIN] How long will you stay?
[ARTHUR] For as long as you need us.
I've counted 15 men defending
the whole of Caer Cadarn.
[WHISTLES]
Lord Owain took most of
our warriors on a war party.
Uther increasingly relied on him.
He's fighting the Saxons at Calleva.
The Saxons are in Calleva?
Every spring, more boats come
and more Saxons press west towards us.
We'll all be Saxons soon,
unless the kingdoms
destroy each other first.
[THUD]
- So, nothing's changed, then?
- Arthur
If anything, it's got worse.
Truly, Britain bleeds.
Think about staying, please.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[GENTLE MUSIC]

He seems so alert.
Is that normal for his age?
You're asking me?
[CHUCKLES]
I have something for you.
Bear's tooth
for my fearless sister.
[INHALES AND EXHALES DEEPLY]
I thought we were dead.
Sorry, I should have come sooner.
There's nothing to be sorry for.
You saved us.
I should have done more.
- That day when our father
- Let's not talk of him.
I'll just say one thing.
If he was alive now, he'd
be so grateful to you.
He was so desperate to
keep Mordred on the throne
that he took a huge
risk with Gundleus
which didn't pay off.
Why are you keeping him alive, Arthur?
It's both madness and dangerous.
You know what he's capable of.
I've learned that powerful men
are more useful alive than dead.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
What?
Where are we going to sleep tonight?
Don't worry about that. Our
lord has found rooms for you.
You'll feel better tomorrow.
However bad a day has been,
the sun rises on the next.
Bo, are you sure about that, Sag?
Seems to me Britain's
a land of mist and rain.
[SAGRAMOR] And Gaul is not?
Well, I suppose [CHUCKLES]
I suppose you know better.
Hey. [SNIFFS] Alors
who of you knew my
lord when he was a boy?
Huh?
Arthur was often at Avalon.
We all knew him.
My My father, Hywel,
taught him how to fight.
With a sword's edge
against bales of hay.
Arthur's talked about my father?
Of course.
He likes to tell stories
of growing up in Britain
and of the friends he left behind.
He never forgets those he loves.
- Has he talked of me?
- What is your name?
Derfel.
Derfel? I don't remember.
- Oh.
- [GRUNTS]
- Oh!
- The death pit boy!
- Oh, it's you! [LAUGHS]
- Is that what he calls me?
[LAUGHS] Hey, we've heard
your story so many times.
Yeah? The one, two
Oh, God! I've got a stake in my heart,
and I'm going to die!
[LAUGHTER]
Oh! God, I'm dying! Now I'm not dead!
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
Lanval, go north to Powys.
I want to know what Gorfydd is up to.
In Dumnonia, this will keep you safe.
It's my father's seal.
Once you get to Powys,
you're in enemy territory.
Hey, be careful.
I mean it. If they find
you, they will kill you.
Oh, they've tried, huh, but
they haven't managed yet.
- [CHUCKLES]
- Mm.
I'll be back before you
know it. I mean it, huh?
You blink, like that, I'll be back.
- Lanval.
- Huh?
It's that way.
[LAUGHS] It is that way. Okay.
[ARTHUR] Get some rest, Sag.
Tomorrow I want to show you Dumnonia.
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
[HORSE NICKERS]
[HORSE WHINNIES]
[SHUSHING] It's okay.
- [HORSE WHINNIES]
- Let me help you, Lord.
- [HORSE WHINNIES AND GRUNTS]
- [MAN IN DISTANCE] Hyah!
It's you.
[HOOVES CLOPPING IN BACKGROUND]
Death pit boy.
Yes, Lord.
One two.
[EXHALES SHARPLY]
When I said it wouldn't hurt, I lied.
Here you are, growing taller than me.
You suit your name. Sagamore
told me. It's Derfel.
It is.
My sister said that you
killed a man Shh, shh, shh.
in defense of the Edling King.
- [HORSE GRUNTS AND WHINNIES]
- Shh, shh, shh, shh.
That without you, the whole
group may not have lived.
[DERFEL] It was Nimue
who gave me the courage to fight back.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
- Gods spoke to her.
- [HORSE NICKERS]
I'm glad the gods have not deserted her,
like she must think I have.
[SACRED VOCALIZING]

[WHISPERS] Great gods, see me.

Save me.

Sirona
bless me.

Heal me.

[OMINOUS MUSIC]

[PANTING]
- [HORSE BLUSTERS]
- I hear your friends.
When you brought me to
Avalon, she made me better.
And now you've helped
her escape the Silurian.
It's good to repay debts.
What do you wish for?
[HORSE BLUSTERS]
To be your man.
You know how to use a sword?
I've been learning,
and I'm a good horseman.
Maybe I could ride into battle with you.
Would you want to kill men?
If there was a good reason for it.
There often isn't, and you
have to sacrifice much
- friends, family.
- I have no family.
You have to put your warrior brothers
before everything and everyone.
Could you do that, Derfel?
Fighting is the one
thing that I'm good at.
I know it is.
- [PATS HORSE]
- Come on, then.
- I'll show you.
- [HORSE NICKERS]
- We're entirely self-sufficient.
- [MAN GRUNTING, SWORDS CLANKING]
We have no slaves. We look
after ourselves when we travel.
I don't encourage marriage.
[SWORDS CLANKING]
No place for regrets about wives
and children on the battlefield.
Those that do have
family barely see them.
- I'll never have a family.
- You say that now.
No. My path is to be a warrior.
- [SWORDS CLANKING]
- I have my own sword, Lord.
[MEN YELLING IN DISTANCE,
SWORDS CONTINUE CLANKING]
Salurian?
Breaks easily.
- [SWORD CLANKS]
- Our weapons are made of steel.
My mother was a blacksmith.
I learned from her.
[SWORDS CLANKING]
If you were to join us, Derfel,
you'd have to forget everything
you've come to understand about warfare.
We train the mind as well as the body.
Focus is everything.
A strength of purpose.
[MEN CONTINUE YELLING, SWORDS CLANKING]

[PENSIVE MUSIC]

Well?
It's more beautiful than Gaul. Admit it.
I don't notice where I am,
just the people I'm killing.
Is it to be Saxons here?
Maybe.
So, then we're staying?
[ARTHUR SIGHS]
I don't know.
You don't know? You can't not know.
You always know. You just
don't know that you know.
You work on instincts. That's
how you make your decisions.
Your head, it just
needs time to catch up.
[HORSE WHINNIES]
[HORSE NICKERING]
[ARTHUR] Where are you coming from?
Caleeva. Saxons ambushed
us, scores of them.
It was a massacre.
[WHEELS RATTLING]
[HORSE WHINNIES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]

[GRUNTING]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS CONTINUE]
- [GRUNTS]
- Let's get some blankets!
We need more rushes and blankets!
- [GRUNTING CONTINUES]
- More rushes and blankets!
- Let's go!
- [INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
[HORSE WHINNIES]
Arthur.
At least I think it is.
Look at you. Where's all that hair gone?

[EXHALES DEEPLY]

I mourn your father every day, Arthur.
At least he didn't live to see this.
We came at 'em in the early morning.
Suddenly, the bastards were behind us.
Didn't even have time
to form a shield wall.
Come on. There's more.
[MAN COUGHING IN DISTANCE]
[INDISTINCT CONVERSATIONS]
[COUGHING CONTINUES]
Thank God you're alive.
Many are not.
Do you think they were
warned we were coming?
No one else knew. Just Uther, myself.
Did Gundleus know?
That's possible, I suppose.
Has he returned from Gorfydd yet?
You don't know?
Don't know what?
- Let me at the bastard!
- He's my prisoner, Owain.
I swore an oath.
And I swore an oath to
protect Queen Norwenna
and the Edling King, if
you remember. Where is he?!
I won't stop you from killing Gundleus.
- Is he in there?
- I couldn't even if I wanted to.
My father placed his faith in you.
It's not me that rules this country.
What are you talkin about?
I don't rule Dumnonia.
While Mordred is a child,
you and Bedwin rule in all but name.
[SCOFFS]
All I can do is tell you what I believe.
If you kill Gundleus, you
cleave this country wide open.
Vengeance is the way of things.
Maybe the way of things has to change.
Think, Owain.
Gorfydd could use Gundleus'
death as an excuse to attack us.
We aren't prepared.
All right.
All right. We'll save his skin for now.
But there is no earthly reason why
he should be allowed to stay in there,
in the King's chamber, with his woman.
Why don't we imprison Ladwys elsewhere?
[SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC]
Give me the key.
[FOOTSTEPS APPROACH]
- Here they come.
- [DOOR UNLOCKING]
- [DOOR CREAKS]
- They've come to kill us.
[WHISPERING] I'm not
going to take your life,
not this time,
although I really would quite like to,
seeing as how you're a
killer of women and children.
Oh, Lord Owain, always such an entrance.
[EXHALES]
But I am going to take
something even more precious.
[SIGHS]
- Yeah.
- Don't touch her.
Don't touch her!
Keep your filthy hands off of her!
[SIGHS]
I'll bite your throat out.
[SWORD CLANKS]
- [CHUCKLES]
- Is that right?
[SNARLING]
[GROWLING AND SNARLING]
[LAUGHING]
Do you have healing skills?
Of course.
She can help with your wounded men.
Morgan will keep her close.
- [METAL CLANKS]
- [EXHALES]
Tell me about the Saxons.
How far have they pushed forward?
[EXHALES] Right. Well
Well, since you've been gone
pushed on beyond the Thames
to Durobrivis,
Strong Gore in Gwent,
and now Calleva.
These towns are outposts
for them, but still.
It's everything you predicted, Arthur,
and they are getting closer
to Caer Cadarn and Avalon.
What of the tribe kings?
Right? Well, we're still at
peace with Mark in Kernow.
Cadwys governs Isca for us.
Tewdric of Gwent
remains our closest ally,
and there's peace, just
about, with Eachern in Elmet.
Gorfydd of Powys
is hostile, obviously.
His men raid our
borders, steal our sheep,
and burn our villages.
Gundleus is his war dog,
which is why Uther tried
to break up their alliance.
I sent my man Lanval north
to seek information about Gorfydd.
[SCOFFS]
I am so glad you're here, Arthur.
While Arthur's here, he
should become a Protector
to the Edling King, don't you think?
We need him and his men.
Would you?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
If you'll have me.
Only if you'll forgive me,
for leaving you to be banished alone.

Nothing to forgive.

Nimue, I've been looking for you.
What do you want?
I need your help. Come.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Many of these men are dead.
Speed their souls across the ocean.
You, out of all of us, can do it.

[SANSUM] May the Lord who
frees you from your sins
save you and raise you

Peace be with you.
Peace be with you.

God be praised.
[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
I feel your anguish.
Nimue.
The Lord says: "We repay
evil with blessing."
He tells us to find
forgiveness within us.
Nimue.
Let me help you find
a path to acceptance.
You must leave.
[GRUNTING]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[SCREAMS]

Nimue! Nimue! What are you doing?
- Taking what's mine.
- [PANTS]
Gundleus made me wear it.
I'm coming for both of you.
Still living, he'll watch
as I sacrifice his
beating heart to the gods.

When you close your eyes, see me.

Nimue, wait.
What happened to you,
it happens to many women.
I know. It doesn't make it any easier.
He's severed me from who I am.
I need my revenge.
No. Arthur's orders are clear.
Nobody must hurt King Gundleus.
[NIMUE] You choose Arthur over me?
I'd prefer to have a spear
pierce my heart than live like this.
No, no, no.
If you do anything rash, I can't
I won't defend you.

[MOANS]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[CONTINUES MOANING]
Shh, shh.
Father! [MOANING]
You're dreaming,
Lunete. You're dreaming.
Go back to sleep. Shh.
- [MOANS]
- Shh, shh, shh.

[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Where've you been? I
haven't seen you all day.
You have to help me.

You promised you would.

You know I would do anything for you.

What is it?
Gundleus must die.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Cadwys has paid no tax for years.
I can't believe it.
He's a cunning bastard, that one.
Uther just completely lost interest
in harrying the chieftains and farmers.
[COMMOTION]
[MAN] Easy.
Hey.
[ARTHUR] Hey.
Ah. [CHUCKLES]
I was beginning to worry about you.
You? How about me? No,
no, you don't do that.
You blink and I'm back.
That's what I said.
Lanval.
So Gorfydd is fortifying
his border towns
between Powys and Dumnonia.
He's doubling his efforts in his mind.
Now making weapons.
That means a full scale invasion. [TUTS]
So that's it, huh?
Uther dies and Gorfydd makes his move!
All right.
All right, look, he
won't mobilize his men
until after the harvest is in.
[KNOCKING]
Then the weather will be against him.
If he's going to invade, then
surely it'll be in the spring.
Right. I'll demand fealty of
Tewdrick, Eachern and Cadwys.
We'll have to get their support.
But subtly.
I beg your pardon?
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Why don't you talk to them,
rather than give them an ultimatum?

If they think it's their idea,
might be likely to fight harder.
We'll call them to the Edling King's
Naming Ceremony.

They love a feast.

Tell the tribe kings the
call to the Naming Ceremony
comes from myself and Bishop Bedwin.
And Arthur Pendragon.
They'll come from
curiosity, if nothing else.
Yes, my Lords.
I don't know.
I don't know all this intrigue.
I'd have just made them fight.
Do you think Uther sees
us from the Otherworld,
or whatever you Christians call it?
We call it heaven. What are you asking?
Would Uther really want Arthur to be
the Edling King's protector?
I mean, he never did call
him back in from banishment.
Arthur is Mordred's half
brother and a great warrior.
- We need him.
- Aye, but does he need us?
What do you mean?
Arthur's ambitious.
Always has been.
Because Merlin bred it into him.
[BEDWIN] The two of
you can't be divided.
We can't afford it.
Bishop Bedwin!
- What?
- He's like our Lord,
in the corn on the day of the Sabbath.
What are you talking about?
Arthur is in the fields.
A warrior in the fields of the people,
collecting the harvest to
protect us in time of war.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

[OWAIN] What's all
this? What's all this?
What's all this?
Is that it?
It's a bit pathetic.
I could bale double this
amount in half the time.
Just ignore him.
[GRUNTS]

[OWAIN] Is this what you
imagined you'd be doing
when you came to Caer Cadarn?
[DERFEL] No, Lord.
[OWAIN] No. Me neither.
He says working with his
hands allows him to think.
It just gives me calluses.
[BLOWS]

[DERFEL] He makes the work look easy.
Uh Not so sure about that.
I want to become one of his warriors.

[INDISTINCT CHATTER]
Has he offered it?
Well, he said he'd reward me if I
Well, it's out of the
question. All right?
Who knows how long Arthur will stay?
And we need you here.
We need all our good men.
No. Absolutely not. No.
All right, listen. We'll train you up.
I'll train you up myself, all right?
But no more talk about
leaving. Do you understand me?
Yes, Lord.

Derfel.
Had enough for one day?

[PEOPLE CHEERING, LAUGHING]
Give me some more of
that, will you Bishop?
I need it after this
day's work. Come on.

[BEDWIN] No, no, no.
Oh, you can have one more.
The amount of time you
Christians spend on your knees.
Doing only the devil knows what mind
I'm sure your god won't
disapprove of another, will he?
[OWAIN] Yeah, just a slurp.
Oh, a little bit more! Come on.
You must eat.
Gundleus is in Uther's chamber.
There's only one warrior
who guards the door.
But it's locked. Arthur
must have the key.
Yeah. He wears it around his neck.
How do you know?
I saw it in the fields today.
So we steal it from him.
I have herbs to make him sleep
and you can give them to him.
Me? Why me?
I can't get close to him,
can I? It has to be you.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
We've never brought
the harvest in so fast.
The people are inspired
by your example, Arthur.
All these men.
Fodder for war against Powys.
We shouldn't be fighting each other.
[BEDWIN] Nah.

[DOOR SLAMS SHUT]
Come to take your pleasure?
Or kill me like the Druidess threatened?
[LIQUID POURS]

Don't let her murder my Lord.
I won't let anybody
murder either of you.

[EXHALES]
Are you married to King Gundleus?
Even though you're not of the blood
- Who cares about blood?
- Ha.
Not me.
I'd be a fine hypocrite if I did.
We are betrothed.
And where did you speak your vows?
He took me to Lleu's Mound
and had his Druid bind us.
But his Uncle Gorfydd
doesn't recognize the bond.
Gorfydd has a daughter, Ceinwyn.
He wants their marriage
to bind Siluria and Powys.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Is she beautiful?
She's young.
Gundleus doesn't want the marriage
and he'd never let me go.
Now I have a question for you.
We burnt Avalon.
Don't you hate us?

Hate is an emotion that weakens me.

I try to banish it.
[DOOR OPENS, CLOSES]
[NIMUE] Derfel. Derfel.
Put this in Arthur's wine.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]

Are you sure this won't harm him?
It'll make him sleep, that's all.
You take the ring with the key on it.
I'll do the rest.

Derfel, what? You tried
to kill Gundleus before.
And you stopped me.
- If you've lost your courage
- No, I haven't, Nimue.
I just don't want to betray Arthur.
It's for me.

Please, do this for me.

[DERFEL] Do you know where Arthur is?
He's over there.
- [INDISTINCT CHATTER]
- [HORSE NEIGHS]
[MORGAN] Try it, maybe
you might win this time.
[DERFEL] Lord?
May I talk with you?
Do. Morgan's beating me.
[MORGAN] Derfel, why
don't you take over?
Don't let him win.
[ARTHUR] Thank you, sister.
[MORGAN] Good night.
[ARTHUR] Good night.
What did you want to talk to me about?
Lord Owain has said
I must train with him.
Well, I won't fight Owain,
even for you, Derfel.
I'd rather serve you.
[ARTHUR] He's a great warrior
and he loves war.
I do not.
I'm good at it, but that's different.
Would you like some more wine, Lord?
I'll have some water.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
Last summer, King Ban sent me
to fight against a chieftain.
He was attacking Ban's
people in the hills,
so we went into the
chieftain's flat farmlands.
We burned haystacks and
we killed his people.
We did it not because we wanted to,
but because it needed to be done.
And we won.
And that was the end of the killing.

Do you really want me to drink that?
Lord, you you asked for water.
But should I drink it, Derfel?
No.
Lord, I'm sorry.
How did you know?
[ARTHUR] Nimue wants Gundleus dead.
I knew she'd turn to you for help.
[DERFEL] I swore to her.
She's my best friend and
she can't think of anything
except him and what he did to her.
You don't have to explain.
You'll need this.
[HORSE NEIGHS]

Do you have it?
Give me the ring.
- Derfel.
- I couldn't do it to him.
What?
I'm sorry.
You're sorry?
[SCREAMS] Why, why?
Stop! Stop!
What has he suffered?
[EXHALES]

You.
It's as easy to divide a country
as it is to cut up this apple.
The hard task
is putting it back together.
What if we traded peacefully in Britain?
Dumnonia shares its harvest.
In exchange, we take furs
from you, tin from Kernow,
copper from Powys.
Every tribe has equal worth.
This country's never been equal.
Dumnonia demands fealty.
Dumnonia must change its ways.
But this wrangling between
tribe kings has to stop.
We can't just take what
we want when we want.
So, what do you suggest?
[ARTHUR] A Council of Kings.
Impossible.
It's essential.
Unless you want your
children to grow up slaves.
The Saxons watch while
we kill each other,
doing their work for them.

Persuade your uncle to come
to Mordred's Naming Ceremony.
[CHUCKLES] He'll never come.
Tell him we'll pay
double what my father did
for his copper, and we'll
buy the weapons he's making
to fight the Saxons, not each other.
He won't travel for days
to honor a puking baby.

The old ways are broken.
It's time for something new.
If he's not part of the Council,
he'll be completely isolated
and so will you.
Bring him here.

Where's my woman?
[SCOFFS]

Ladwys stays.
And if you don't return with Gorfydd,
I'll kill her.

Let him pass.
[SIGHS]
Do as I say.
[SPEARMAN] Open the gates!
I misunderstood you.
You're more ambitious
than I thought. Ha!
[EXHALES]
[STEPS APPROACHING]
You set him free?
You set Gundleus free?
Is it true?
Arthur?
He'll come back.
For what, Arthur? The
pleasure of our company?
It is a risk worth taking.
We cannot afford a war with Gorfydd.
You didn't even consult us.
So, this is my responsibility.
If the plan fails, you can both
remain as Mordred's Protectors.
And what about you?
My men and I will leave.
I don't understand you anymore.
I don't understand any of this.
Just doing it your way,
huh? As you always have.

I need to think.
I'll be back in time for
Mordred's Naming Ceremony.
[BEDWIN] Where are you going?
To collect the tax Cadwys owes us.
Dumnonia's gonna need it.
We're fighting wars on two fronts.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[NIMUE] He set Gundleus free?
He's broken his bond,
with the gods, with me.
I can't stay here.
Nimue, I'm sorry.
I've lost my path, Derfel.
Derfel!
Saddle your horse.
Where are we going?
Tax collection. You're my man now.
All right. Let's move!
I wanna make Lindinnis by nightfall.
I want to come with you.
I can't stay here alone.
Lord!
Can I?

Come on.
[OWAIN] Let's go.

[SIGHS]

Your plan better work, brother,
or we're all lost.
[DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[UPBEAT MUSIC]

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