The Great (2020) s02e09 Episode Script
Walnut Season
1
Do you think she's all right?
I think she's fine.
It's when they go quiet,
things are bad, apparently.
It's true.
Silence basically means death.
Jesus, Arkady.
I wish I could be with her.
Fuck tradition.
Jesus. Is she all right?
Seems like an easy birth to me.
Good luck.
I, uh I must leave.
- Finally got your war.
- I did.
Good for you. It will be interesting.
You rode on my father's coat tails
in those wars
and blamed me for fucking it up,
and then as we know
she basically won the coup.
So this is all yours, fat boy.
- Don't fuck it up.
I have cousins in one of the battalions.
- I'd like to see them come home.
- I'm not going to fuck it up!
- Jesus.
I can't stay out here.
- It's tradition.
- Fuck that.
I want to see my son born.
We have a head!
- Oh!
- Only a head?
Can you tell us if it's horse or human?
Another big push for me,
please, Empress.
What are you doing?
- My ceps.
Tried and tested, on fruit mostly.
But they will bring the baby out swiftly,
as the Empress requested.
I do not want those in me!
- And you will not. I'm taking over.
You may go, Vinodel.
I am her doctor.
Is that a head!?
One more big push, my darling.
No, I don't think I can.
I am tired.
I have the ceps!
Here we are!
- It's out!
- Is it all right?
It is exquisite.
Paul.
Hello.
I am your dad.
He is smaller than I thought.
Is the Empress still alive?
She is indeed.
And a fucking marvel.
Where is he?
We must confirm for the records,
is he a he?
- What?
- He wants you to check for a cock.
It is a boy!
- With a cock!
- A human cock?
Ah, my dear wife, Empress, lady.
Shall I fuck you in the interest
of our wedded bliss?
Lookalike. Where is Peter?
Ah.
Where have you been?
You may fuck off, Pugachev.
I we escaped to the forest.
I wanted Paul to see the loons hatch.
You should have seen him.
Did he like it?
To see him see it,
watching his eyes widen.
Sorry I escaped.
Although I came back,
so not really an escape.
Ah, he's hungry.
- He is?
- Hmm. I can feel it.
I gave him a small bit
of foie gras before.
He made a sound like a dove coming.
I confess to not being familiar
with that sound,
but I assume it is one
of heavenly satisfaction.
Oh. Exactly.
We have not seen each other much.
Since the birth.
Busy parents.
Apparently it is usual.
- We had a strange moment at the graves.
I wonder if you remember it.
No.
No?
No.
Nor do I.
Must go.
Did you tell them we were coming?
Yeah, while they were setting fire
to my desk
and shouting, "Down with King Hugo,"
I managed to compose a letter.
Fuck, you're a nightmare
when you're hungry.
Come on. I need a bath.
Good morning.
Mmm.
Haven't had this dream in a while.
You're not dreaming, Grigor.
I've missed you.
Hey, what are you doing?
Excuse me.
What the fuck are you doing?
- Cousin Marial.
It's good to see you.
- Maxim?
What the fuck are you doing here?
- I am moving into this apartment.
It's now mine.
I didn't think about you.
I often think of you, and mostly fondly.
I want a lion-shaped bed if I can.
- This apartment is mine.
- Your father died last month.
I know, but I didn't think
there was a male inheritor.
I am he.
- I don't like those chairs.
Move them.
Why are you looking at him?
- I'm not.
- I've seen you do it before.
- Elizabeth, leave him alone.
Paul is fine.
Paul is beyond fine.
Yes.
I trust that is a snack.
I insert this in you.
You hold it up there until your walls
naturally contract around it,
retightening the royal cunt.
Terrifying, but
Necessary
for one's own future enjoyment.
Oh!
There we are.
I will be needing that back.
Have you seen the casualty reports?
It is a nightmare.
Fuck.
I must go.
I need Velementov back here
to tell me why we haven't won yet.
Will you take Paul with you?
Uh Can you take him to Peter for me?
You're not avoiding Peter, are you?
Of course not. I'm clearly busy.
Bye, Paul. Mwah!
You all right?
- I am not.
- He's not.
It is torture when I'm with her.
For when I forget, it is as usual,
like the sun has come out in the room.
And then I remember.
I fucked her mother and killed her.
And then I am a wreck.
Like she can see it.
She cannot see it.
And she'll never know.
We all buried the body
and Marial took care of her things
and then she left in a carriage story.
- She did?
- Calm yourself.
And you did not kill her,
she fell out the window.
I fucked her then.
More than she deserved.
Voltaire.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut.
Did you just tut-tut me?
I did.
I was trying to assemble some words.
Listen, you opaque French fuck,
what is it?
Ah, you know, of course,
that is why you anger.
I am in a war and it will distract me
from everything I wished to do here,
suck focus and funds.
Is that your point?
And yet we hoped for more, didn't we?
I had no choice.
No choice?
The last bastion of the unimaginative,
or the coward.
Which are you?
- What should I have done?
They weren't going to stop.
- Because they don't know how.
You could have taught them.
That is why you came, is it not?
To change everything?
Right. It is.
But you must understand
the realities of leading a nation.
Blah blah blah blah blah.
- Empress?
- Georgina? Why are you back?
I went to France and was looking forward
to many parties and affairs
and to try frog's legs.
However something happened to me.
I met a young woman of 19 there.
Extraordinary, her name
was Olympe de Gouges,
brilliant, a philosopher.
I know who she is.
She said a woman was born free and
should live equal in her rights to men.
She had things to say
that struck me deeply
and also always brought me back to you.
And honestly, not having
anyone's cock in me for a bit
gave me time to think about me.
I realized what you are trying
to bring here
it's something I need to help
bring to Russia.
I
don't know what to say.
Say I can stay.
You told me to close my legs
and open a book.
I did.
Let me help change this place.
I'm a savvy bitch and a fighter,
you'll need that here.
Begging on my knees is my next strategy.
Happy to move to it.
Strangely I believe you.
Because you can see I've been changed.
Once an idea hits you right,
you are irrevocably changed.
- Exactly.
- So yes?
Yes.
I mean, did they use enough gold?
It's making me queasy
just looking at it.
I miss Sweden.
Oh, fucking desk.
Let it go.
Hugo, Agnes.
Catherine. Amazing palace.
And you.
Most amazing of all.
We forgot how beautiful you were.
- So annoying.
- I heard what happened.
About the desk?
Democracy won.
Which somehow they
painted us the enemy of,
even though
we brought the idea in.
- We were too nice.
- I said that.
- I know. I'm listening now.
- Which is so helpful.
- What do you need?
- A bed.
I could kill a whole roast chicken
slathered in vodka butter.
You seek refuge here?
- We have nowhere to go.
We felt simpatico with you.
We can beg. Well, Agnes can.
I have this knee that clicks
when I get on my knees.
- Whereas I love getting on my knees.
- You used to.
- Of course you can stay.
I must dash though.
Go. I haven't forgotten what it's like
running an empire, it never stops.
And then one day it does.
- I don't understand your anger.
You are the one who left me.
- I'm not angry.
- Your coldness then.
- You've not been in touch for months.
Not a single letter.
You've never been one to hold a grudge.
It's one of the many things
I love about you.
I've been seeing someone.
That's wonderful.
Of course you did,
marriage is not a tomb.
- Who was it?
- It's Marial.
Of course.
Virgins reunited. Very sweet.
I'm not going to end things with her.
I'm not in a strong position
to ask you to, am I?
No, you're not.
I had this made for you.
A French designer named de Lesseps.
So handsome.
Thanks.
I need to go do a few things.
Of course.
- Oh!
- Ah, startled?
I just am, every time,
by your beauty.
Oh, smooth, and also accurate.
Small thing.
I need you to marry me
or an eight-year-old boy
inherits my family's fortune.
What?
I thought there wasn't an inheritor.
- I forgot about Maxim.
- Shit.
- Marial, I'm
- Married.
And it's illegal to get a divorce,
so now we get to the clever bit.
We have Georgina declared dead.
She's banished forever anyway.
I mean, just in name,
we don't have to live together.
I'm not all romancey on it
even though, let's face it,
we were born to be together.
She's back.
- What?
- George
back.
- Right.
- Yeah. I
Shh! Just let me
Okay, that's that then.
Marial, it doesn't matter. I love you.
She has a hold on you, Grigor,
she always did.
You have a bigger one.
Flattered. And slightly disbelieving.
- I
- You don't have to do anything.
We both knew this would happen.
It's okay. We can end our thing.
- But I don't want to do that.
- That's very sweet of you to say.
Jesus. I thought we could
at least discuss it.
And say what?
You stayed with her
while she fucked your best friend.
If that's not hold, not sure what is.
I have a husband to find. Bye.
I am very agitated.
As a boy, I could not keep a secret.
If anyone told me anything, I would
scream it back at them almost instantly.
When Catherine and I are with Paul,
she will, without fail, bring up Joanna.
What if one day she wants to fuck?
And instead of me saying,
"I love fucking you,"
I yell out, "I love fucking your mother"?
It is intolerable.
Almost as bad as when I saw my mother
drown Igor out by the lake.
I almost told you hundreds of times
and still to this day,
it flashes through me
sometimes when we
speak.
Right. Probably shouldn't
have said that last bit.
Yes.
If I'd ever chosen to do it,
it would have been gentler
and more sympathetic than that.
But honestly it does feel better
getting something out
to make room for
more of the other secret.
Indeed.
Are you all right?
I am fine, darling.
Really?
It is insignificant. He is gone.
That is all of it.
Cutie.
You're okay.
You're okay.
You're okay, Paul.
He is so delightful with Paul.
He took him to the forest
and apparently when he saw a loon,
Peter said it was as if
he was opening something in
Oh
God! I have a war to run!
What am I doing?
- Kill him.
- Funny.
You will not be free until you do,
and if you do, you will be free of it.
I've already lost one love.
- You love him?
- No, of course I don't. He's a
A monster and a thug
who almost drowned you.
And you overthrew him because
of all those very good reasons.
You do not need to marshal
the arguments against, Marial.
They are practicing
endless drills in my mind.
I could send him away.
Exile him to the country.
What would that do?
Take him out of my orbit,
he could visit Paul on weekends.
It is a marvelous idea.
- Thank you.
- I said kill him.
Also
small thing.
I need you to repeal the laws
around inheritance and women
and do it retrospectively.
I'm already in a war,
I can't afford another one.
- It is on my list though.
- I need it now.
I can't.
Is that
Childbirth things.
Don't want to know
what it does, never want to find out.
Hi.
Back again.
I wanted to talk to you about an idea.
You go live in a country house,
fresh air, forests.
We share Paul,
I visit briefly on occasion.
Briefly on occasion.
I know it sounds
- I love it.
- Oh.
Great.
- Where is Paul?
- You took him before.
- I did not.
- You did.
I know I did not.
And I know you did.
Fuck!
Fuck. You really don't have him?
- You really don't?
- Oh, fuck!
Now, don't worry.
I think you've just mislaid him.
I am not the one who took him out
into the grounds without his guards
to look for fucking loons.
Then swiftly brought him back
for you to lose.
- No one can know we've
- Lost sight of him?
Agreed. I'm letting the "we" part go.
Let's just
- Find him.
- Yes.
Elizabeth! Maybe you gave him to her.
- You might have indeed.
Good idea.
She's gone to her country house.
- What?
- Did she have Paul?
- Yes.
- Without telling us?
She was in a strange state
when she left.
Right.
I don't understand.
Is she couping me?
No, I don't think so.
- Mother said I should watch her.
Not to trust her.
Your mother did
Right.
But no, Elizabeth loves us both
as if we were her own.
And Paul she adores and dotes on.
It doesn't make sense.
Are you all right?
- Just not knowing where Paul is.
It is upsetting.
Maybe she is protecting him
and had to act quickly
by getting him out of the palace.
She was paranoid
about something happening.
I should go
to her country house, get him.
- You are a prisoner.
- He is my son.
Someone needs to go,
and you cannot let everyone know
he has gone so you cannot go.
I know.
It will smell like a coup is in motion
and people will start machinations
against you that you cannot see.
Take it from someone who has been couped.
Good point, which I already knew.
We need a plan.
So I just pretend
you're both still here?
Take it to Peter's
apartment sometimes.
Act as if nothing is going on.
I will pretend to be in my apartments
in serious conference,
not to be disturbed.
Where did you get it?
It's rented. So take care of it.
What a baby!
The heir. So moving.
- King Hugo, Sweden.
- Grigor, Russia.
- Could you give us a minute?
- I have to go.
Just wanted to quickly
put a thought in your head.
Don't answer now, just mull it, muse it,
or do answer now if your instinct is yes.
Quickly.
Lend me half the Russian army
to go retake Sweden.
- Lend you what?
- Mm-hmm.
I'll give them back and pay you a fortune,
"name your price" kind of deal.
Can't say fairer than that.
You can't let this democracy thing
take hold.
You've gotta nip it in the bud.
Those ideas
float across the border and, boom,
you're looking for a bed and a loaf
of moldy rye bread in Gdansk.
No. Absolutely not.
Like I said, just just think on it.
You need to go, you're in a hurry.
Bye.
Six hours it takes.
Right.
Do not speak to me.
I have work to do.
You are mad because you still think
it was me who lost Paul.
I know, which is different to think.
I spy with my little eye
something beginning with "A."
Really? I said
I must pass the time somehow.
- Who is playing this with you?
- Myself.
I have an ability to forget
the very thought I just had,
so will be unsure of the answer,
but when I say it,
it will come back to me.
- I
- Awe. That was it.
Ha. Starts with "A"
and is the look on your face.
Actually I think it was me
who mislaid Paul.
I know.
It doesn't matter now.
Getting him is all that matters.
Agreed.
Thank you for being forgiving.
Am I not always?
I suppose you are.
Murder, mayhem, near drowning,
so many things you have forgiven me for.
And I for you,
with the kicking and the couping.
I wonder how far it would stretch,
that forgiveness?
It would be an interesting test
of our love
There is no love!
Actually
what's the worst thing you've ever done?
I would love to hear something shocking
that rocked me to the core.
- Why would you want that?
- Pass the time.
You might hate me.
It hadn't occurred to me.
But now you say it, it would be
a great test of this hypothetical love.
For maybe it will be so shocking that
I will realize I love you
because I forgive you
and maybe it will make me hate you
and finally kill you.
Try me. Fun.
Well, I did, in fact
eat a baby loon while it was alive
in front of its mother.
I spy with my little eye
something beginning with "L."
Love?
Liar.
Funny.
I'll let you work.
Gentlemen. Thanks for coming.
As you know,
I am in need of a husband.
It's a tight turnaround,
so I'll skip the pleasantries, okay?
Right.
Vinodel. Could you please describe
your ideal wife?
One who can cook,
cleans when the maids aren't in,
endlessly sexually compliant,
laughs at my jokes,
tells me I'm aging well,
and applies the ointment I need
on a six hourly basis.
Excellent. You can go.
Smirnov?
I suppose I just want someone
who keeps me company,
gives me a kiss every now and then.
How often?
- Daily?
- Door's there, thanks.
Tough but fair.
Raskolvy, it says here
you've had six wives.
- What happened to them?
- They fell.
All of them fell?
I have a taste for clumsy women.
I'm not clumsy.
- I'm trying to change?
- Bye.
Excuse me a moment.
Patriarch?
Have I done something?
I want to fuck you.
What the fuck?
What was that?
I am somewhat lost.
My old self has come to get me.
I thought you said God
and whippings was handling it?
He normally does.
Well, if he's not coming to you,
you can go to him, right?
That thing you do in the woods?
I have been too ashamed.
Your old self option.
Not an option.
Hypothetical.
You're caught
in a fast-flowing icy river,
your hands are broken and you
have recently had bad laryngitis
and so cannot yell for help.
I roll on my back knowing that somewhere
the river will calm as all rivers do
and the journey will end.
So I merely enjoy the ride,
looking at the sky,
waving to beavers as I pass by.
Hypothetical!
You wake up and everything tastes burnt.
A horror of an idea.
I knew you'd hate it.
Witch.
Oh, hang on.
Bandits up ahead.
Driver, stop!
What?! Why stop?
Ah, save them just
shooting at us thoughtlessly.
Come on, let us meet your loyal subjects.
Get out of the carriage
or I'll shoot you in the ball bag.
- I'm actually out.
Earrings.
We're in a hurry so I suggest
I just leave this jewelry here
and you go about your business.
I'll decide who does what, fuckhead.
Look in my eyes and know that I will
kill you both easily if I have to
but have no desire to
as we are in a hurry.
- Our son is missing.
- Sad.
- Don't show weakness.
How many times?
Okay, fuck off.
Can I ask you both
what you think of the new Empress?
Same shit, different war.
I think she is very different.
Apparently she's pretty.
Hmm, yeah, I have heard that too.
She will do many great things!
Okay, let's go.
Do not make that face at me, Igor.
You are a beautiful
and spirited one.
Where has your mother gone?
Ah!
There she is.
Oh!
You're my Igor, there you are.
What are you doing?
Eating a whole chicken
and weeping a little bit.
- So sulking.
- I tried, she said no.
So, we go to Germany
and open a fish canning business.
- I'm a king!
- Act like it!
There's always him.
Coup her and get him to?
You're a fucking wonder to me.
To me too.
Where's Peter off to today?
Hunting.
It will be a long trip
so you might be here a while.
Right.
And he wants us to take the kid?
He loves this little bastard.
He needed some time.
You don't have to sit with me, you know?
I know the drill.
I'm sort of avoiding going home.
Hmm.
Problems with the small woman
you're seeing?
What?
- How do you know about that?
- I like to read sometimes in the theatre.
Heard you two fucking.
Watched for a bit.
She seems nice.
Well, my wife is back now.
Two of them?
Which one will you pick, as I take it
you can't handle fucking two women?
I think she picked for me.
- Shame.
Seemed like you two had fun.
More fun than anyone else
I've watched fuck in that theatre.
Can you do a lap with Paul now?
Try and be seen by a few people?
Certainly.
Not by the hair.
Support the neck, Pugachev,
you fucking animal.
How is the war going?
Fine.
Really? I hear badly.
Also, is it not an irony of ironies
that you who says she hates killing
is sending thousands to their deaths
and worse, sending them under Velementov
who will lose, as he does.
- We will prevail.
- I used to say that.
I am not you!
You know what is annoying about you?
I thought I was perfect.
You are, to me, but that's just
the complicated nature of love.
You should actually think
about how grating and unfair
your natural perfection is
on everyone else.
Why are you saying that?
Just musing.
But really, how can anyone
have your standards?
I'm not perfect.
I'd love to hear how you are not.
- You would?
- It may help me.
I'd love to not love you some days.
It is a burden, is it?
Unrequited love is notoriously so.
- I'm ruthless.
- Love that about you.
- I can be judgmental.
- You don't think that.
You think you are just
perceptive and precise
in attributing everyone's deficiencies
and shortcomings.
Hmm?
You laugh because that is
what you tell yourself, isn't it?
Sometimes I think you're the only person
who really knows me.
I do.
You look at me
and I can tell you sense all of me.
Your greatness, your strangeness,
your fucked-upedness, your lies.
My lies?
You love me.
- I
- It's impossible though.
What?
Us.
Yes.
Fuck.
- It will be fine.
You need a knife?
I have to tell you something
before we go in.
I let it slip that I saw my mother
drown Igor to Elizabeth this morning.
- Fucking hell.
You think to mention this now?
It seemed relevant, so
I was a bit worried.
She loves Paul.
She loved Ivan, until she slit
the poor kid's throat with a knife.
Which way?
Evening.
I know this is technically not my chair,
but fuck it, I'm sitting in it.
I tried to sleep in a salon and woke
to Raskolvy touching himself to my foot.
Ugh.
- Where's your sister, anyway?
I thought she looked after you.
She's married now.
Wouldn't you rather, say, live with her,
so I can have my stuff?
- Her husband doesn't like me.
He oft greets me with a punch.
So she's going to make you
live here all by yourself?
- I have my serfs.
Can I have some milk?
- Please.
- Please?
Listen.
Get behind me.
Because you're the first person
she wants to see,
the man who let his mother
drown her child.
I was nine.
- Oh, yes. Sorry.
That was cruel of me.
Fucking mother.
Oh, that's him.
He's fine.
Let me go in there first.
Okay.
There you are, my Igor.
Elizabeth?
Elizabeth. Are you all right?
Ah, hello.
Thank you for looking after Paul.
It is Paul, you realize?
Of course I do.
Forgive an old woman a little
playing out of some old ghosts.
Peter told me
about his mother.
Brutal.
A deep wound gouged a little deeper.
It wasn't my fault
for letting him run free,
which, I suppose, is helpful.
But the rest is, uh
as you say, just brutal.
I'm so sorry.
Sorry I ran with Paul,
but I had an overwhelming sense
there was danger, and just went.
I should've told you, but
something in me just said go.
And I obey my instincts.
It's okay.
Everyone is fine and safe.
We used to lie in here on this carpet
staring at the ceiling.
He had these big eyes that wondered
on little things that other people missed.
I do a good job most days,
filling the hole with other things,
but today it feels
very fucking deep.
Aunt?
He was such a sweet kid.
I never knew what pain you could be in,
until Paul and now.
It is a sun extinguishing one.
Come.
I'm sorry.
I'm fucking sorry.
You should never have had to see it.
I shouldn't have told you.
I didn't protect him.
I should've kept on protecting you.
True.
Eh he's hungry.
He always knows. It's strange.
I am also hungry.
In France, women's lives are changing.
They are fierce thinkers
who meet in salons like these,
not to speak of hats and wigs
but of education and equality for all.
This is what Empress Catherine
is trying to bring us.
I have seen it with my own eyes,
a utopia.
And so we must start reading immediately.
You lying bitch.
Please tell me you still hate her?
Of course I do.
The Enlightenment
is a curse that will bring us all down.
That's what I learned in France
and that's why I'm back.
Aristocrats are finished if she prevails.
I love you so much right now.
Right. Where's your cousin?
I've come to beat him up
until he gives you back your estate.
- That won't be necessary. He's eight.
- I don't care.
Please know that was
intended as a romantic gesture.
I cannot divorce George,
but I want to be with you.
You considered divorcing George?
Shit.
- You must be serious.
- I am. Know that, Marial.
I want to say this is back on.
But I have some conditions of my own
that may affect your decision.
- Name them.
- Maxim.
Can you come in here, please?
This is your cousin?
- He's cute.
- Thank you.
He's also my fiancé.
- What?
I don't get it.
By law this lets me keep my things.
He does not want me to suck his cock,
and he silences the annoying fucks
at court who want me married.
I bring him a glass of milk
from time to time
and basically get to live my life freely.
So we both have conditions.
Honestly?
I don't give a fuck about them.
- Can I go now?
I have a speech to write.
Yes. Sorry. Get out.
Of course God forgives you.
What do I do?
- Hail Mary and a hand job.
- What?
What? Uh
I mean, ten Hail Mary's.
Oh, and one other thing.
Blackberries, thyme, chocolate
and burgundy, but when melded
alchemy.
Hypothetical.
A woman who has loathed you,
tried to kill you, overthrown you,
and imprisoned you
walks into a room
and tells you she loves you.
What do you do?
First try and start breathing again.
And then?
- Velcra.
- Science. Love it.
Alchemy.
Indeed.
What the fuckity-fuck?
Got a Plan B?
I have pushed them back a mile
and I'm holding the line in Reograditch
till I come up with a plan to take them.
And that plan is?
- There are a few that seem good.
We could
We could split them down the middle
and deal with two halves.
Boats may be interesting
Velementov, when you
burble on like this,
all I hear is,
"I don't know what to do."
Patience is a virtue.
- Patience is a luxury we do not have.
When every day we don't win, people die.
Money is going to become
an issue soon too.
Some regions are refusing
to pay taxes in protest of it.
It is a disaster.
I fear I was caught up
in my rage and pride
and forgot it was emblematic
of everything I fucking despise.
Maybe in the spring, weather better
Spring? Are you fucking kidding me?
I have something to add.
I alas can't break my confessional seal,
but I will merely
put two and two together
and perhaps you will see four.
Orlo, you'll enjoy this.
Who are these people?
I am Melnikoff and this is Shubin,
Empress, from the treasury.
I am Melnikoff, and he is Shubin.
I have helped break a commandment.
He is going to report
a large sum has disappeared.
We are looking into it.
Why didn't you tell me?
A piercingly forensic question, Empress.
- We should've fucking killed you.
We should've.
Orlo?
I
You?
He stole several
million rubles and we covered it up.
Sorry.
And two and two makes four.
I can explain.
No. You can't.
My uncle, he asked for
Thing to understand is,
my region, we are dirt poor
and now the front runs through us,
and my uncle does good with it.
Not all good, I mean, he steals some,
we both know that,
but fundamentally
it's better than not.
Your mouth is moving,
and all I hear is a buzzing sound.
I had to help them. Help him.
Get out. Now.
- Hear him out.
- Catherine, you're not from here.
You do not understand what it's like.
Go, or you'll be arrested!
- What?
- No.
I think I will go, actually.
Everyone should go. I need a minute.
Catherine.
It's Orlo.
He's a good man.
- Don't you have a war to win?
- Yes.
Then I suggest you go do that.
I will not be spoken to like that.
Then go win the war
and you will not be.
Orlo. She'll calm down.
You explain. Talk to her.
I already did.
Explain again until she understands.
You did steal from her
so she is going to be angry.
I helped win this place for her.
I'm not sure why anymore.
You can't really leave me.
Sorry. I can't stay.
So you can really leave me?
Oh. Bit hurtful.
I'll miss you.
Being kind about it
makes it more annoying.
What a world.
Hmm. Seems quite good to me right now.
Although I'm a bit worried
she's going to fuck him.
I'm a bit worried
only one of them's coming back.
What? Why?
He just feels so bad about Joanna.
What about Joanna?
You helped Elizabeth after, right?
Just clean up her room.
I didn't want details
and she didn't give them,
but why would he tell her
that Elizabeth killed her mother?
No
Yeah, weird.
Why would he?
He killed Joanna?
- He didn't kill her!
- He fucking did, I can tell!
He didn't! He just fucked her.
And then she fell out
the window during it, but
the window bit was an accident.
Everything we say
when we're together is a secret, right?
That seems a good rule.
Yes, they do!
Do you think she's all right?
I think she's fine.
It's when they go quiet,
things are bad, apparently.
It's true.
Silence basically means death.
Jesus, Arkady.
I wish I could be with her.
Fuck tradition.
Jesus. Is she all right?
Seems like an easy birth to me.
Good luck.
I, uh I must leave.
- Finally got your war.
- I did.
Good for you. It will be interesting.
You rode on my father's coat tails
in those wars
and blamed me for fucking it up,
and then as we know
she basically won the coup.
So this is all yours, fat boy.
- Don't fuck it up.
I have cousins in one of the battalions.
- I'd like to see them come home.
- I'm not going to fuck it up!
- Jesus.
I can't stay out here.
- It's tradition.
- Fuck that.
I want to see my son born.
We have a head!
- Oh!
- Only a head?
Can you tell us if it's horse or human?
Another big push for me,
please, Empress.
What are you doing?
- My ceps.
Tried and tested, on fruit mostly.
But they will bring the baby out swiftly,
as the Empress requested.
I do not want those in me!
- And you will not. I'm taking over.
You may go, Vinodel.
I am her doctor.
Is that a head!?
One more big push, my darling.
No, I don't think I can.
I am tired.
I have the ceps!
Here we are!
- It's out!
- Is it all right?
It is exquisite.
Paul.
Hello.
I am your dad.
He is smaller than I thought.
Is the Empress still alive?
She is indeed.
And a fucking marvel.
Where is he?
We must confirm for the records,
is he a he?
- What?
- He wants you to check for a cock.
It is a boy!
- With a cock!
- A human cock?
Ah, my dear wife, Empress, lady.
Shall I fuck you in the interest
of our wedded bliss?
Lookalike. Where is Peter?
Ah.
Where have you been?
You may fuck off, Pugachev.
I we escaped to the forest.
I wanted Paul to see the loons hatch.
You should have seen him.
Did he like it?
To see him see it,
watching his eyes widen.
Sorry I escaped.
Although I came back,
so not really an escape.
Ah, he's hungry.
- He is?
- Hmm. I can feel it.
I gave him a small bit
of foie gras before.
He made a sound like a dove coming.
I confess to not being familiar
with that sound,
but I assume it is one
of heavenly satisfaction.
Oh. Exactly.
We have not seen each other much.
Since the birth.
Busy parents.
Apparently it is usual.
- We had a strange moment at the graves.
I wonder if you remember it.
No.
No?
No.
Nor do I.
Must go.
Did you tell them we were coming?
Yeah, while they were setting fire
to my desk
and shouting, "Down with King Hugo,"
I managed to compose a letter.
Fuck, you're a nightmare
when you're hungry.
Come on. I need a bath.
Good morning.
Mmm.
Haven't had this dream in a while.
You're not dreaming, Grigor.
I've missed you.
Hey, what are you doing?
Excuse me.
What the fuck are you doing?
- Cousin Marial.
It's good to see you.
- Maxim?
What the fuck are you doing here?
- I am moving into this apartment.
It's now mine.
I didn't think about you.
I often think of you, and mostly fondly.
I want a lion-shaped bed if I can.
- This apartment is mine.
- Your father died last month.
I know, but I didn't think
there was a male inheritor.
I am he.
- I don't like those chairs.
Move them.
Why are you looking at him?
- I'm not.
- I've seen you do it before.
- Elizabeth, leave him alone.
Paul is fine.
Paul is beyond fine.
Yes.
I trust that is a snack.
I insert this in you.
You hold it up there until your walls
naturally contract around it,
retightening the royal cunt.
Terrifying, but
Necessary
for one's own future enjoyment.
Oh!
There we are.
I will be needing that back.
Have you seen the casualty reports?
It is a nightmare.
Fuck.
I must go.
I need Velementov back here
to tell me why we haven't won yet.
Will you take Paul with you?
Uh Can you take him to Peter for me?
You're not avoiding Peter, are you?
Of course not. I'm clearly busy.
Bye, Paul. Mwah!
You all right?
- I am not.
- He's not.
It is torture when I'm with her.
For when I forget, it is as usual,
like the sun has come out in the room.
And then I remember.
I fucked her mother and killed her.
And then I am a wreck.
Like she can see it.
She cannot see it.
And she'll never know.
We all buried the body
and Marial took care of her things
and then she left in a carriage story.
- She did?
- Calm yourself.
And you did not kill her,
she fell out the window.
I fucked her then.
More than she deserved.
Voltaire.
Tut-tut-tut-tut-tut-tut.
Did you just tut-tut me?
I did.
I was trying to assemble some words.
Listen, you opaque French fuck,
what is it?
Ah, you know, of course,
that is why you anger.
I am in a war and it will distract me
from everything I wished to do here,
suck focus and funds.
Is that your point?
And yet we hoped for more, didn't we?
I had no choice.
No choice?
The last bastion of the unimaginative,
or the coward.
Which are you?
- What should I have done?
They weren't going to stop.
- Because they don't know how.
You could have taught them.
That is why you came, is it not?
To change everything?
Right. It is.
But you must understand
the realities of leading a nation.
Blah blah blah blah blah.
- Empress?
- Georgina? Why are you back?
I went to France and was looking forward
to many parties and affairs
and to try frog's legs.
However something happened to me.
I met a young woman of 19 there.
Extraordinary, her name
was Olympe de Gouges,
brilliant, a philosopher.
I know who she is.
She said a woman was born free and
should live equal in her rights to men.
She had things to say
that struck me deeply
and also always brought me back to you.
And honestly, not having
anyone's cock in me for a bit
gave me time to think about me.
I realized what you are trying
to bring here
it's something I need to help
bring to Russia.
I
don't know what to say.
Say I can stay.
You told me to close my legs
and open a book.
I did.
Let me help change this place.
I'm a savvy bitch and a fighter,
you'll need that here.
Begging on my knees is my next strategy.
Happy to move to it.
Strangely I believe you.
Because you can see I've been changed.
Once an idea hits you right,
you are irrevocably changed.
- Exactly.
- So yes?
Yes.
I mean, did they use enough gold?
It's making me queasy
just looking at it.
I miss Sweden.
Oh, fucking desk.
Let it go.
Hugo, Agnes.
Catherine. Amazing palace.
And you.
Most amazing of all.
We forgot how beautiful you were.
- So annoying.
- I heard what happened.
About the desk?
Democracy won.
Which somehow they
painted us the enemy of,
even though
we brought the idea in.
- We were too nice.
- I said that.
- I know. I'm listening now.
- Which is so helpful.
- What do you need?
- A bed.
I could kill a whole roast chicken
slathered in vodka butter.
You seek refuge here?
- We have nowhere to go.
We felt simpatico with you.
We can beg. Well, Agnes can.
I have this knee that clicks
when I get on my knees.
- Whereas I love getting on my knees.
- You used to.
- Of course you can stay.
I must dash though.
Go. I haven't forgotten what it's like
running an empire, it never stops.
And then one day it does.
- I don't understand your anger.
You are the one who left me.
- I'm not angry.
- Your coldness then.
- You've not been in touch for months.
Not a single letter.
You've never been one to hold a grudge.
It's one of the many things
I love about you.
I've been seeing someone.
That's wonderful.
Of course you did,
marriage is not a tomb.
- Who was it?
- It's Marial.
Of course.
Virgins reunited. Very sweet.
I'm not going to end things with her.
I'm not in a strong position
to ask you to, am I?
No, you're not.
I had this made for you.
A French designer named de Lesseps.
So handsome.
Thanks.
I need to go do a few things.
Of course.
- Oh!
- Ah, startled?
I just am, every time,
by your beauty.
Oh, smooth, and also accurate.
Small thing.
I need you to marry me
or an eight-year-old boy
inherits my family's fortune.
What?
I thought there wasn't an inheritor.
- I forgot about Maxim.
- Shit.
- Marial, I'm
- Married.
And it's illegal to get a divorce,
so now we get to the clever bit.
We have Georgina declared dead.
She's banished forever anyway.
I mean, just in name,
we don't have to live together.
I'm not all romancey on it
even though, let's face it,
we were born to be together.
She's back.
- What?
- George
back.
- Right.
- Yeah. I
Shh! Just let me
Okay, that's that then.
Marial, it doesn't matter. I love you.
She has a hold on you, Grigor,
she always did.
You have a bigger one.
Flattered. And slightly disbelieving.
- I
- You don't have to do anything.
We both knew this would happen.
It's okay. We can end our thing.
- But I don't want to do that.
- That's very sweet of you to say.
Jesus. I thought we could
at least discuss it.
And say what?
You stayed with her
while she fucked your best friend.
If that's not hold, not sure what is.
I have a husband to find. Bye.
I am very agitated.
As a boy, I could not keep a secret.
If anyone told me anything, I would
scream it back at them almost instantly.
When Catherine and I are with Paul,
she will, without fail, bring up Joanna.
What if one day she wants to fuck?
And instead of me saying,
"I love fucking you,"
I yell out, "I love fucking your mother"?
It is intolerable.
Almost as bad as when I saw my mother
drown Igor out by the lake.
I almost told you hundreds of times
and still to this day,
it flashes through me
sometimes when we
speak.
Right. Probably shouldn't
have said that last bit.
Yes.
If I'd ever chosen to do it,
it would have been gentler
and more sympathetic than that.
But honestly it does feel better
getting something out
to make room for
more of the other secret.
Indeed.
Are you all right?
I am fine, darling.
Really?
It is insignificant. He is gone.
That is all of it.
Cutie.
You're okay.
You're okay.
You're okay, Paul.
He is so delightful with Paul.
He took him to the forest
and apparently when he saw a loon,
Peter said it was as if
he was opening something in
Oh
God! I have a war to run!
What am I doing?
- Kill him.
- Funny.
You will not be free until you do,
and if you do, you will be free of it.
I've already lost one love.
- You love him?
- No, of course I don't. He's a
A monster and a thug
who almost drowned you.
And you overthrew him because
of all those very good reasons.
You do not need to marshal
the arguments against, Marial.
They are practicing
endless drills in my mind.
I could send him away.
Exile him to the country.
What would that do?
Take him out of my orbit,
he could visit Paul on weekends.
It is a marvelous idea.
- Thank you.
- I said kill him.
Also
small thing.
I need you to repeal the laws
around inheritance and women
and do it retrospectively.
I'm already in a war,
I can't afford another one.
- It is on my list though.
- I need it now.
I can't.
Is that
Childbirth things.
Don't want to know
what it does, never want to find out.
Hi.
Back again.
I wanted to talk to you about an idea.
You go live in a country house,
fresh air, forests.
We share Paul,
I visit briefly on occasion.
Briefly on occasion.
I know it sounds
- I love it.
- Oh.
Great.
- Where is Paul?
- You took him before.
- I did not.
- You did.
I know I did not.
And I know you did.
Fuck!
Fuck. You really don't have him?
- You really don't?
- Oh, fuck!
Now, don't worry.
I think you've just mislaid him.
I am not the one who took him out
into the grounds without his guards
to look for fucking loons.
Then swiftly brought him back
for you to lose.
- No one can know we've
- Lost sight of him?
Agreed. I'm letting the "we" part go.
Let's just
- Find him.
- Yes.
Elizabeth! Maybe you gave him to her.
- You might have indeed.
Good idea.
She's gone to her country house.
- What?
- Did she have Paul?
- Yes.
- Without telling us?
She was in a strange state
when she left.
Right.
I don't understand.
Is she couping me?
No, I don't think so.
- Mother said I should watch her.
Not to trust her.
Your mother did
Right.
But no, Elizabeth loves us both
as if we were her own.
And Paul she adores and dotes on.
It doesn't make sense.
Are you all right?
- Just not knowing where Paul is.
It is upsetting.
Maybe she is protecting him
and had to act quickly
by getting him out of the palace.
She was paranoid
about something happening.
I should go
to her country house, get him.
- You are a prisoner.
- He is my son.
Someone needs to go,
and you cannot let everyone know
he has gone so you cannot go.
I know.
It will smell like a coup is in motion
and people will start machinations
against you that you cannot see.
Take it from someone who has been couped.
Good point, which I already knew.
We need a plan.
So I just pretend
you're both still here?
Take it to Peter's
apartment sometimes.
Act as if nothing is going on.
I will pretend to be in my apartments
in serious conference,
not to be disturbed.
Where did you get it?
It's rented. So take care of it.
What a baby!
The heir. So moving.
- King Hugo, Sweden.
- Grigor, Russia.
- Could you give us a minute?
- I have to go.
Just wanted to quickly
put a thought in your head.
Don't answer now, just mull it, muse it,
or do answer now if your instinct is yes.
Quickly.
Lend me half the Russian army
to go retake Sweden.
- Lend you what?
- Mm-hmm.
I'll give them back and pay you a fortune,
"name your price" kind of deal.
Can't say fairer than that.
You can't let this democracy thing
take hold.
You've gotta nip it in the bud.
Those ideas
float across the border and, boom,
you're looking for a bed and a loaf
of moldy rye bread in Gdansk.
No. Absolutely not.
Like I said, just just think on it.
You need to go, you're in a hurry.
Bye.
Six hours it takes.
Right.
Do not speak to me.
I have work to do.
You are mad because you still think
it was me who lost Paul.
I know, which is different to think.
I spy with my little eye
something beginning with "A."
Really? I said
I must pass the time somehow.
- Who is playing this with you?
- Myself.
I have an ability to forget
the very thought I just had,
so will be unsure of the answer,
but when I say it,
it will come back to me.
- I
- Awe. That was it.
Ha. Starts with "A"
and is the look on your face.
Actually I think it was me
who mislaid Paul.
I know.
It doesn't matter now.
Getting him is all that matters.
Agreed.
Thank you for being forgiving.
Am I not always?
I suppose you are.
Murder, mayhem, near drowning,
so many things you have forgiven me for.
And I for you,
with the kicking and the couping.
I wonder how far it would stretch,
that forgiveness?
It would be an interesting test
of our love
There is no love!
Actually
what's the worst thing you've ever done?
I would love to hear something shocking
that rocked me to the core.
- Why would you want that?
- Pass the time.
You might hate me.
It hadn't occurred to me.
But now you say it, it would be
a great test of this hypothetical love.
For maybe it will be so shocking that
I will realize I love you
because I forgive you
and maybe it will make me hate you
and finally kill you.
Try me. Fun.
Well, I did, in fact
eat a baby loon while it was alive
in front of its mother.
I spy with my little eye
something beginning with "L."
Love?
Liar.
Funny.
I'll let you work.
Gentlemen. Thanks for coming.
As you know,
I am in need of a husband.
It's a tight turnaround,
so I'll skip the pleasantries, okay?
Right.
Vinodel. Could you please describe
your ideal wife?
One who can cook,
cleans when the maids aren't in,
endlessly sexually compliant,
laughs at my jokes,
tells me I'm aging well,
and applies the ointment I need
on a six hourly basis.
Excellent. You can go.
Smirnov?
I suppose I just want someone
who keeps me company,
gives me a kiss every now and then.
How often?
- Daily?
- Door's there, thanks.
Tough but fair.
Raskolvy, it says here
you've had six wives.
- What happened to them?
- They fell.
All of them fell?
I have a taste for clumsy women.
I'm not clumsy.
- I'm trying to change?
- Bye.
Excuse me a moment.
Patriarch?
Have I done something?
I want to fuck you.
What the fuck?
What was that?
I am somewhat lost.
My old self has come to get me.
I thought you said God
and whippings was handling it?
He normally does.
Well, if he's not coming to you,
you can go to him, right?
That thing you do in the woods?
I have been too ashamed.
Your old self option.
Not an option.
Hypothetical.
You're caught
in a fast-flowing icy river,
your hands are broken and you
have recently had bad laryngitis
and so cannot yell for help.
I roll on my back knowing that somewhere
the river will calm as all rivers do
and the journey will end.
So I merely enjoy the ride,
looking at the sky,
waving to beavers as I pass by.
Hypothetical!
You wake up and everything tastes burnt.
A horror of an idea.
I knew you'd hate it.
Witch.
Oh, hang on.
Bandits up ahead.
Driver, stop!
What?! Why stop?
Ah, save them just
shooting at us thoughtlessly.
Come on, let us meet your loyal subjects.
Get out of the carriage
or I'll shoot you in the ball bag.
- I'm actually out.
Earrings.
We're in a hurry so I suggest
I just leave this jewelry here
and you go about your business.
I'll decide who does what, fuckhead.
Look in my eyes and know that I will
kill you both easily if I have to
but have no desire to
as we are in a hurry.
- Our son is missing.
- Sad.
- Don't show weakness.
How many times?
Okay, fuck off.
Can I ask you both
what you think of the new Empress?
Same shit, different war.
I think she is very different.
Apparently she's pretty.
Hmm, yeah, I have heard that too.
She will do many great things!
Okay, let's go.
Do not make that face at me, Igor.
You are a beautiful
and spirited one.
Where has your mother gone?
Ah!
There she is.
Oh!
You're my Igor, there you are.
What are you doing?
Eating a whole chicken
and weeping a little bit.
- So sulking.
- I tried, she said no.
So, we go to Germany
and open a fish canning business.
- I'm a king!
- Act like it!
There's always him.
Coup her and get him to?
You're a fucking wonder to me.
To me too.
Where's Peter off to today?
Hunting.
It will be a long trip
so you might be here a while.
Right.
And he wants us to take the kid?
He loves this little bastard.
He needed some time.
You don't have to sit with me, you know?
I know the drill.
I'm sort of avoiding going home.
Hmm.
Problems with the small woman
you're seeing?
What?
- How do you know about that?
- I like to read sometimes in the theatre.
Heard you two fucking.
Watched for a bit.
She seems nice.
Well, my wife is back now.
Two of them?
Which one will you pick, as I take it
you can't handle fucking two women?
I think she picked for me.
- Shame.
Seemed like you two had fun.
More fun than anyone else
I've watched fuck in that theatre.
Can you do a lap with Paul now?
Try and be seen by a few people?
Certainly.
Not by the hair.
Support the neck, Pugachev,
you fucking animal.
How is the war going?
Fine.
Really? I hear badly.
Also, is it not an irony of ironies
that you who says she hates killing
is sending thousands to their deaths
and worse, sending them under Velementov
who will lose, as he does.
- We will prevail.
- I used to say that.
I am not you!
You know what is annoying about you?
I thought I was perfect.
You are, to me, but that's just
the complicated nature of love.
You should actually think
about how grating and unfair
your natural perfection is
on everyone else.
Why are you saying that?
Just musing.
But really, how can anyone
have your standards?
I'm not perfect.
I'd love to hear how you are not.
- You would?
- It may help me.
I'd love to not love you some days.
It is a burden, is it?
Unrequited love is notoriously so.
- I'm ruthless.
- Love that about you.
- I can be judgmental.
- You don't think that.
You think you are just
perceptive and precise
in attributing everyone's deficiencies
and shortcomings.
Hmm?
You laugh because that is
what you tell yourself, isn't it?
Sometimes I think you're the only person
who really knows me.
I do.
You look at me
and I can tell you sense all of me.
Your greatness, your strangeness,
your fucked-upedness, your lies.
My lies?
You love me.
- I
- It's impossible though.
What?
Us.
Yes.
Fuck.
- It will be fine.
You need a knife?
I have to tell you something
before we go in.
I let it slip that I saw my mother
drown Igor to Elizabeth this morning.
- Fucking hell.
You think to mention this now?
It seemed relevant, so
I was a bit worried.
She loves Paul.
She loved Ivan, until she slit
the poor kid's throat with a knife.
Which way?
Evening.
I know this is technically not my chair,
but fuck it, I'm sitting in it.
I tried to sleep in a salon and woke
to Raskolvy touching himself to my foot.
Ugh.
- Where's your sister, anyway?
I thought she looked after you.
She's married now.
Wouldn't you rather, say, live with her,
so I can have my stuff?
- Her husband doesn't like me.
He oft greets me with a punch.
So she's going to make you
live here all by yourself?
- I have my serfs.
Can I have some milk?
- Please.
- Please?
Listen.
Get behind me.
Because you're the first person
she wants to see,
the man who let his mother
drown her child.
I was nine.
- Oh, yes. Sorry.
That was cruel of me.
Fucking mother.
Oh, that's him.
He's fine.
Let me go in there first.
Okay.
There you are, my Igor.
Elizabeth?
Elizabeth. Are you all right?
Ah, hello.
Thank you for looking after Paul.
It is Paul, you realize?
Of course I do.
Forgive an old woman a little
playing out of some old ghosts.
Peter told me
about his mother.
Brutal.
A deep wound gouged a little deeper.
It wasn't my fault
for letting him run free,
which, I suppose, is helpful.
But the rest is, uh
as you say, just brutal.
I'm so sorry.
Sorry I ran with Paul,
but I had an overwhelming sense
there was danger, and just went.
I should've told you, but
something in me just said go.
And I obey my instincts.
It's okay.
Everyone is fine and safe.
We used to lie in here on this carpet
staring at the ceiling.
He had these big eyes that wondered
on little things that other people missed.
I do a good job most days,
filling the hole with other things,
but today it feels
very fucking deep.
Aunt?
He was such a sweet kid.
I never knew what pain you could be in,
until Paul and now.
It is a sun extinguishing one.
Come.
I'm sorry.
I'm fucking sorry.
You should never have had to see it.
I shouldn't have told you.
I didn't protect him.
I should've kept on protecting you.
True.
Eh he's hungry.
He always knows. It's strange.
I am also hungry.
In France, women's lives are changing.
They are fierce thinkers
who meet in salons like these,
not to speak of hats and wigs
but of education and equality for all.
This is what Empress Catherine
is trying to bring us.
I have seen it with my own eyes,
a utopia.
And so we must start reading immediately.
You lying bitch.
Please tell me you still hate her?
Of course I do.
The Enlightenment
is a curse that will bring us all down.
That's what I learned in France
and that's why I'm back.
Aristocrats are finished if she prevails.
I love you so much right now.
Right. Where's your cousin?
I've come to beat him up
until he gives you back your estate.
- That won't be necessary. He's eight.
- I don't care.
Please know that was
intended as a romantic gesture.
I cannot divorce George,
but I want to be with you.
You considered divorcing George?
Shit.
- You must be serious.
- I am. Know that, Marial.
I want to say this is back on.
But I have some conditions of my own
that may affect your decision.
- Name them.
- Maxim.
Can you come in here, please?
This is your cousin?
- He's cute.
- Thank you.
He's also my fiancé.
- What?
I don't get it.
By law this lets me keep my things.
He does not want me to suck his cock,
and he silences the annoying fucks
at court who want me married.
I bring him a glass of milk
from time to time
and basically get to live my life freely.
So we both have conditions.
Honestly?
I don't give a fuck about them.
- Can I go now?
I have a speech to write.
Yes. Sorry. Get out.
Of course God forgives you.
What do I do?
- Hail Mary and a hand job.
- What?
What? Uh
I mean, ten Hail Mary's.
Oh, and one other thing.
Blackberries, thyme, chocolate
and burgundy, but when melded
alchemy.
Hypothetical.
A woman who has loathed you,
tried to kill you, overthrown you,
and imprisoned you
walks into a room
and tells you she loves you.
What do you do?
First try and start breathing again.
And then?
- Velcra.
- Science. Love it.
Alchemy.
Indeed.
What the fuckity-fuck?
Got a Plan B?
I have pushed them back a mile
and I'm holding the line in Reograditch
till I come up with a plan to take them.
And that plan is?
- There are a few that seem good.
We could
We could split them down the middle
and deal with two halves.
Boats may be interesting
Velementov, when you
burble on like this,
all I hear is,
"I don't know what to do."
Patience is a virtue.
- Patience is a luxury we do not have.
When every day we don't win, people die.
Money is going to become
an issue soon too.
Some regions are refusing
to pay taxes in protest of it.
It is a disaster.
I fear I was caught up
in my rage and pride
and forgot it was emblematic
of everything I fucking despise.
Maybe in the spring, weather better
Spring? Are you fucking kidding me?
I have something to add.
I alas can't break my confessional seal,
but I will merely
put two and two together
and perhaps you will see four.
Orlo, you'll enjoy this.
Who are these people?
I am Melnikoff and this is Shubin,
Empress, from the treasury.
I am Melnikoff, and he is Shubin.
I have helped break a commandment.
He is going to report
a large sum has disappeared.
We are looking into it.
Why didn't you tell me?
A piercingly forensic question, Empress.
- We should've fucking killed you.
We should've.
Orlo?
I
You?
He stole several
million rubles and we covered it up.
Sorry.
And two and two makes four.
I can explain.
No. You can't.
My uncle, he asked for
Thing to understand is,
my region, we are dirt poor
and now the front runs through us,
and my uncle does good with it.
Not all good, I mean, he steals some,
we both know that,
but fundamentally
it's better than not.
Your mouth is moving,
and all I hear is a buzzing sound.
I had to help them. Help him.
Get out. Now.
- Hear him out.
- Catherine, you're not from here.
You do not understand what it's like.
Go, or you'll be arrested!
- What?
- No.
I think I will go, actually.
Everyone should go. I need a minute.
Catherine.
It's Orlo.
He's a good man.
- Don't you have a war to win?
- Yes.
Then I suggest you go do that.
I will not be spoken to like that.
Then go win the war
and you will not be.
Orlo. She'll calm down.
You explain. Talk to her.
I already did.
Explain again until she understands.
You did steal from her
so she is going to be angry.
I helped win this place for her.
I'm not sure why anymore.
You can't really leave me.
Sorry. I can't stay.
So you can really leave me?
Oh. Bit hurtful.
I'll miss you.
Being kind about it
makes it more annoying.
What a world.
Hmm. Seems quite good to me right now.
Although I'm a bit worried
she's going to fuck him.
I'm a bit worried
only one of them's coming back.
What? Why?
He just feels so bad about Joanna.
What about Joanna?
You helped Elizabeth after, right?
Just clean up her room.
I didn't want details
and she didn't give them,
but why would he tell her
that Elizabeth killed her mother?
No
Yeah, weird.
Why would he?
He killed Joanna?
- He didn't kill her!
- He fucking did, I can tell!
He didn't! He just fucked her.
And then she fell out
the window during it, but
the window bit was an accident.
Everything we say
when we're together is a secret, right?
That seems a good rule.
Yes, they do!