I am uhtred, son of uhtred.
Aethe/wold has made a pact with the Danes
in the hope of succeeding the ailing Alfred.
I can be the bridge between Saxon and Dane.
You will return to Winchester.
Alfred would kill me!
- Aethelwold is there with the Danes? - He is.
[Uhtred] Haesten has taken the sorceress skade.
But she continues to hold power over her former lord, bloodhair.
I too have been captured by her spell.
She has cursed you all! And uhtred allows it.
I will return and if you are here still, then I will kill you.
I no longer have the trust of my men.
Uhtred is cursed and has lost his mind.
Are you with me or not, dagfinn?
[Uhtred] And even sihtric has deserted me.
And you are cursed once more, uhtred of bebbenburg, you shall wither.
[Uhtred] After the inglorious death of my brother, ragnar.
His spirit has been banished to niflheim.
So with brida I sought out the seer storri
to find a way to free him.
And now, we must send him to his rightful resting place Valhalla!
You must kill the man who killed ragnar.
[Uhtred] Destiny is all!
[Theme music playing]
[Indistinct chatter]
I need ale, slave!
Here!
[Osferth] What is it?
[Finan] You mean, who is it?
Osferth...
You're back!
I'm back.
[Laughs] That's good.
I'm back.
Sihtric?
Er, gone.
Long gone and, erm, with the prisoners, lord.
Good journey then?
- [Uhtred] It was. - [Groans]
I know what I must do now.
Osferth?
- Lord. - Are you still alive?
Of course!
Reaching skade will be near impossible.
She's in the middle of 2,000 Danes or more.
It can be done.
- [Osferth] How? - With god's help.
I'm joking. I've yet to decide.
When?
As soon as I am rested.
As soon as you are rested, you will walk with me.
That is a command.
[Clears throat] Uhtred, sihtric's departure...
Betrayal.
It has disturbed the men.
They feel that you are to share the blame, you and your quest for skade.
Some may not want to go looking for her all over again.
Think on it.
I am provisioning your men, as you asked.
You can ride in a day or less.
I thought you would ask me to stay longer.
No argument?
Do you want an argument?
I do not.
My husband has written.
He'll visit soon.
Urgent matters, it seems.
Then I will stay.
- Until he has gone. - No.
Your presence will only make things worse.
Worse than him wanting to kill you?
I will not hide.
This is my estate, and I am wise to him now.
[Birds chirping]
Uhtred?
Stop, stop.
Listen...
He's gone!
Like smoke.
You know how to use it?
Pointy end forward, as pyrlig would say.
We should divide.
We divide.
Pointy end forward.
Shh, shh.
[Muffled grunting]
[Muffled screams]
[Groans]
There! Shoot! There!
I know you.
I know your face.
It is a common enough face.
You're of Winchester.
Ask me anything and I will give you the truth! I swear!
Brave man.
I am no fool.
[Uhtred] You were at dunholm.
You're aethelwold's man.
I am, lord.
He sent you here to do what?
Kill you, lord.
And I am glad to have failed.
- [Finan] Miserably. - I am glad!
I would like to see my wife and children once again.
Is that so wrong?
When we left Winchester, I did not know we were going to the Danes.
Why did aethelwold send men to kill lord uhtred?
Because uhtred is Alfred's sword and shield.
Have mercy, lady. I had no choice.
Offa, you will carry a message to the Danes,
and I will let you live.
Lord?
Your family in Winchester will be my hostages,
should you be tempted to lose your way.
No, lord.
Yes, lord. What is the message, lord?
You will go return to aethelwold and to haesten, cnut and bloodhair.
You will tell them that uhtred of bebbanburg
is coming as a shadow-Walker,
and they will die as my brother died.
I will send them all to niflheim.
I can do that, lord.
I swear.
You will do that.
Like sihtric some of you may doubt me!
I understand why.
There have been times of late when I have doubted myself!
Those times are behind me now.
I am a lord without wealth, without land.
I cannot offer you silver, nor the walls of a fortress behind
which you can grow fat and lazy.
Follow me and I will take you down a hard, brutal path.
But it is a path that leads
to the one thing every true warrior desires...
Reputation.
Follow me and you will have my sword and my oath.
For whether you are Dane or Saxon,
I swear I will die to protect each and every one of you.
My mind is clear about what must be done.
But I cannot do it without you.
[Men whispering]
[Hen clucking]
What now?
I'm sure whatever it is, it will not be the end of me.
It is aethelwold, lord.
He has returned.
Father pyrlig. I wish to speak to the king.
I wish to speak to the king! I will not stop asking.
- Father beocca, then. - He is occupied.
Then any member of the witan! Edward even!
They say he is about to marry?
[Scoffs] You'll be dead by then, lord.
Then I make my plea to you. Father pyrlig, I am misunderstood!
Your time would be better spent in prayer.
Alfred is in danger, from those who would do harm to wessex.
Men like yourself?
If I really mean to do Alfred harm, then why have I returned alone?
Without a sword!
[Stutters] I tossed it away at the gate?
Without a hope!
Why warn the Danes that we're coming?
Who asks? The men or finan?
I'm asking, but the men would like to know.
To give them worry.
They know that I am coming but they do not know when.
It will give them sleepless nights, and when they do sleep,
I want them to dream of a cold, cold hell.
[Osferth] Hell is a place of fire, lord.
Er, what are you doing?
Did you believe you were leaving without me?
Not a chance.
[Skade] What do you want of me?
There are things I would know.
This undertaking wessex?
When the signs are favourable, and we eventually attack,
which one of us Danes will earn glory?
You saw the death of Alfred.
You said it was me who took him from his horse
and took an axe to his heart.
I drank with you, more than once.
And then you left me to be passed from man to man like a drinking cup.
Each of you is as unworthy as the next.
Haesten wants you only to hump.
He doesn't trust you, nor believe in your power.
You abandoned me! Your path has changed!
Yes, I failed you once!
I would not do it again.
Haesten cannot match me in strength or in spirit.
And yet I am his.
He cannot make you a queen.
Only I can defeat Alfred.
Alfred is now destined to die in his bed.
Only I can defeat uhtred.
You know it to be true.
I have never lied to you, sigurd.
But what you wish for and who you wish for,
it can never be real while haesten is alive.
You must kill him.
You like to look.
Why is the witch eating with us?
Because bloodhair likes to look and that is all he can do.
She's trouble.
You wish me dead?
That would benefit who?
Each of us.
All of us.
Including uhtred?
Did he ride you so well that you now speak for him?
[Haesten sniggers]
You bore me, witch.
Sihtric, answer me this.
Does uhtred wish me dead?
He is undecided.
He does not know if he should hump you or kill you.
[Cnut laughs]
He is afraid of you.
Because she's poison.
She has you all by the balls, believe it.
Is brida your woman or not?
Soon.
I'm the reason she has returned.
Soon?
Her men will be my men.
You should tell her to hold her tongue.
You should tell her about your wife, across the sea. [Laughs]
You betrayed uhtred.
Why?
Because he's losing men and losing his mind.
Will he come for my woman?
He is afraid of the curse, lord, he wants it gone.
Yes, he will come, I'm certain.
But he is not the warrior he once was.
Maybe he's more dangerous now?
More reckless, lord.
Unable to plan. That is why I'm here.
I've given you time enough, I think.
To sit at a graveside, to roam the land.
- When? - When what?
When will your men, become our men.
A union will make us greater than both haesten and bloodhair.
That's no achievement.
They're led by their cocks, they think of nothing but skade.
Whereas I think of nothing but brida.
Let them dream of the seer, let them turn on each other.
A split may be to our advantage.
And so I ask...
When?
Tonight.
Now.
Edward, be sure not to fidget.
There's no need to fret.
Your standing has never been greater.
Mother, I'm not fretting.
I'm hoping she is fair.
I'm sure aelflaed will prove a fitting match.
Stand upright!
Lord king.
Lady.
Ealdorman aethelhelm. Edward you have met.
I have.
May I present my daughter... Aelflaed?
Are the couple to remain during negotiations,
or should they retire to another room, under supervision, of course?
An excellent idea, lord.
Edward, perhaps you could show the lady aelflaed the courtyard?
A peaceful place.
I suggest we get down to the haggling.
- May I sit? - Yes, of course.
I do enjoy a haggle.
You have no reason to be afraid of the palace or Winchester.
It is my hope that we can find a happiness.
I will give you no reason to fear me if fear is the reason for your silence.
I'm not afraid, lord.
But words are a torment at times.
I do not wish to say something foolish.
I'm sure you will not.
My father fears it.
He said so again and again, all the way from wiltunscir.
Or perhaps I should not have said that?
I think your father and my mother
both could learn something about the value of silence.
I worry too.
About words.
I cannot be sure if mine carry weight, not yet.
When I am king, I must choose them with care.
I would be in good company with a wife who does the same.
Forgive my candour, lord, but, to me,
the bride price you offer for my daughter seems low.
As does Edward's morning gift to her.
I believe both offers generous silver. She is to wed a future king.
The morning gift is her protection against dangers that lie ahead.
Those we know and those that have yet to reveal themselves.
I mean no insult to you when I say, Edward is not you.
He is not yet king.
That is the witan's decision.
He proved himself at beamfleot and none who saw it would say otherwise.
I do not doubt it.
He led as a king would, his choices were his own.
Nevertheless.
The time when power passes from an elder to a younger king is fraught with danger.
Things may change for wessex.
Speak plainly.
I thought I had, lord.
Others lay claim to your throne,
your nephew aethelwold is one.
Aethelwold is imprisoned and will be dealt with.
Edward will be king.
But there is risk, lord, that is my point.
What of my daughter's safety then?
The wedding gifts should fit the risk.
Aethelwold is no threat to Edward.
He is a traitor and will be punished with the utmost severity.
Aelflaed is in no danger.
But I understand your...
Deep love for your daughter.
As a Mark of goodwill I will raise the bride price by a third.
That is near enough silver to pave wiltunscir, is it not?
Thank you, lord.
[Bloodhair] We have a message from mercia!
[Cnut] What is this?
[Bloodhair] We have a message from the Dane-slayer.
Uhtred sent you?
He did, lady.
And his message is what?
He says, he will come for you, lord, for all of you.
In the night, as a shadow-Walker.
He says, you will die, as ragnar died.
He says, he will send you all to niflheim.
I say, let him come.
Yes.
Feed his guts to Odin's ravens.
I'll make a sacrifice of the Saxon bastard.
You should have done that at fearnham.
I hear a rat's wheeze.
I said if you wished to make sacrifice of uhtred,
you should have done it at fearnham.
But you chose to run.
Haesten, no.
Mind how you speak.
Oh, you fled, did you not? Ran away.
[Cnut] Bloodhair say nothing.
I lost men on a field of battle!
You were fool enough to lose men and a fortress!
Though I managed to keep hold of my woman.
[Bloodhair] Shut your mouth.
[Haesten] Shall I show you how I bed her, bloodhair?
Shut your mouth!
Come on.
Come on, bloodhair, I'll be gentle!
Come to haesten...
And I will whelp some pups on you!
We make the square, you and I.
Bloodhair, no! Enough of this.
Do you want me to hump you in the square, bloodhair?
We fight! We fight now!
If that is what you want, then yes!
- Fight me! We shall make the square! - Haesten! No more!
I will cut your heart from your chest!
- Prepare! - I'm ready!
I'm ready!
We'll make the square then.
I'm noticing this village is different to the others we've passed.
It prospers.
- In the heart of danelaw, it prospers. - [Chuckles]
[Uhtred] I have a thirst, my friends.
[Finan] Everyone here is as fat as a buttered bishop.
- A buttered bishop? - A buttered bishop.
Do you have a problem with that?
[Man] You?
Who are you?
I am guthlac.
Thegn of this place.
I am uhtred of bebbanburg.
Never heard of it.
We serve the lady aethelflaed. And thus mercia.
As do you, no doubt.
- We are mercians, yes. - Fat mercians,
- what is it you want? - Food and ale.
A place to sleep, rest a while.
And I would hope that our beds will be warmer than your welcome.
No swords.
Leave your weapons with your horses...
My doors will be open to you.
I will not give you my sword, but you have my word.
We are here for food, ale and rest, nothing else.
Very well, but be warned, we don't take kindly to...
Strangers with swords?
Yes. That.
And now he will send a messenger to the Danes,
which could be to our advantage.
This is fine land I gifted my wife.
One day I should like to take it back.
With her buried underneath it.
You are to make her like you, aldhelm.
To what end, lord?
Hump her, if you wish.
To what end, lord?
Bed her and then I shall divorce her!
You are to become my spy.
Your proposal is unacceptable.
Nevertheless, 30 men will be sent here to guard you.
Your men?
Outlaws did enter your estate my dear,
an attempt was made on your life.
Would you like me to absolve you
of your responsibilities for my safety, in writing?
My guard is adequate.
Where's your daughter, the half Dane?
Your daughter is not half Dane.
- She looks like a Dane. - [Aldhelm smiles]
Do we amuse you, aldhelm?
Well, I was briefly thinking, lord, that you, too, look like a Dane.
[Aethelflaed sniggers]
This food is intolerable.
I have to vomit.
Do not rile him, lady.
He is more dangerous than you know.
I am to make you like me.
- Should I sing you a song? - [Snickers]
Another time perhaps.
I admire you, lady.
More than that, even.
Accept aethelred's offer of men, half the number,
I will choose them myself, and they will be loyal to you alone.
I swear.
I am beginning to believe you are a good man, lord aldhelm.
Not quite, lady.
[Whispers indistinctly]
It's warm still.
Does he know you're here?
It does not matter.
You know me.
You believe in me.
All I want...
Is your victory.
[Indistinct whispers]
You must win me.
You will be mine once again.
He is slow on his feet, he cannot win.
He must not win.
He will not win I swear.
He cannot win.
Never.
I must go.
- [Clamouring] - Come on!
It is to the death.
Valhalla awaits one man.
[Men yelling]
Are you ready?
[Crowd shouting]
Then...
Begin.
[Groans]
Who do you wish to see as Victor?
I am destined for neither.
[Both grunt]
[Man] Kill him!
Finish him!
[Laughs]
[Man] Come on, bloodhair!
[Shouts]
- [Indistinct whispers] - [Grunts]
Come...
She is poison to all men.
We will Bury him!
As a warrior!
He is feasting in the great halls with our fathers!
Bury him.
[Laughs]
I had more fun at the burying of my father.
- You knew your father? - I knew his fist.
[Osferth] They are here, lord.
I see you watching.
[Man] Round the back.
Tell our visitor, uhtred, he is surrounded.
Men with weapons, lord, some with bows.
He has sent his messenger and now he plans to keep us here.
Inside an alehouse?
I can think of worse places.
Guthlac belongs to the Danes.
They will hear we're trapped and they will ride to kill us all.
Which is good!
It means there will be less men at their camp. We are a distraction.
And we are surrounded.
Watch that door.
[Man] Lord.
Osferth.
Uhtred, I wish only to talk.
Then talk.
I do not wish to fight.
That is a shame.
Nothing finishes an evening in an alehouse so well as a fight.
Er, maybe a woman?
Ha, maybe a woman.
You are outnumbered. There is no way out, and we have bows.
You should yield.
Yield and your men will live.
They only want uhtred.
- You're a traitor, guthlac. - You cannot escape!
I say it again, we only want uhtred.
You are all free men, free to choose.
[Men] We're with you, lord!
Bar the door.
Ladies...
We cannot climb out, lord.
The bowmen will have us.
Throw me that axe.
[Finan] What now, lord?
- Bring me fire. - Quickly!
- He just loves burning things. - He would love hell.
Finan...
[Guthlac] Fire!
[Indistinct yelling]
The roof!
[Yelling]
[Guthlac] Get water! Save the place!
[Clamouring]
Stand!
Come on! Stand with me!
Cowards!
- More! - More...
We shall burn the whole village if we must!
Lord!
Save the alehouse!
Spare me, lord.
Spare me.
The Danes made me comply.
I had no choice.
Never forget!
[Grunting]
You serve the lady of mercia.
First and last!
[Clamouring continues]
Haesten!
Uhtred, is near.
So, he comes for us.
And he is trapped by the thegn of a village up river.
I would say we should kill him together, but one of us must remain here.
Then, he is yours to kill, my friend.
- Go and make your reputation. - [Laughs]
We have a Dane-slayer to kill!
The witan has gathered and will hear your plea, lord.
That is what you wanted.
I'm glad to be home, lord king.
I had not expected such a large welcome.
Aethelwold, you are accused of conspiring with the Danes
to ride against wessex and mercia.
Yes, lord.
I understand that is how it must have appeared,
but that is not the truth of the matter.
Father beocca,
when I travelled to ragnar ragnarson's fortress at dunholm,
it was aethelwold himself who welcomed me.
I was pleased to see you, father beocca.
He rested easy in the company of Danes,
even as they made plans to take wessex.
Though I was in fear of my life.
In east anglia, he was seen with the Danes
sigurd bloodhair and haesten.
And cnut.
You!
You have made an agreement with these Danes
to seat yourself on this very throne, as their puppet!
What do you say?
Lord, I was among the Danes and do not deny it.
But the story is not as father beocca tells it.
You are fond of stories.
What would you have us believe this time?
Lord, through your guidance, I have grown into a man.
I served you well in battle, have I not?
I went to spy on the Danes, to bring their secrets home to wessex.
[Men whispering]
We will hear him!
Ijourneyed to dunholm,
told the Danes lies to make them believe I had turned on you, lord.
They brought me into their trust and revealed their plans.
Uhtred was there.
In truth, it is uhtred who has betrayed us!
My own sin was vanity, not treachery.
Uhtred did return to mercia.
He served us well once again, at beamfleot.
We are here to discuss aethelwold's misdeeds, not uhtred's.
I cannot say during my time with the Danes,
I was never tempted by the apple that was offered.
But I realised as I watched them, that they are...
Heathen.
The things I saw them do, they have unnatural tastes.
Hair.
I could never give myself over to them and came to warn you, lord.
- Advise you even. - [Scoffs]
But mostly I have come to stand beside you.
And they allowed you to simply walk out of their camp with no resistance?
Er, I do not know you,
but I was not allowed to walk from their camp, not quite.
I told them I would kill uhtred.
They fear him, as they should.
He is a danger to us all.
If you did go to spy on the Danes,
why did you not inform the king of your intentions?
Lord, who knows what secrets may have slipped from his tongue?
He must be tried.
And he must be executed.
[Crowd murmurs]
What secrets of the Danes do you claim to have discovered?
They await your death, lord.
They wish to exploit the chaos that will follow.
[Crowd murmurs]
I wish to swear allegiance to the aetheling Edward.
The king wishes to pray on this matter.
I wish you had remained with the Danes.
He speaks to you, lord king?
I have asked but found no answer.
[Aelswith] The witan is awaiting.
I should have done more to stop him straying.
You did all you could, lord!
What could anyone do for a creature such as aethelwold, he lacks purpose...
Then I should have provided purpose.
It seems he has found it himself.
He is weak.
Accept it.
He stinks of vice.
He was rotten from the moment he entered this world.
Aethelwold's failings were born from my own.
Yet it falls to me to exactjudgment on him.
No man could have been more forgiving than you.
Not even his own father.
My brother who I loved.
Who am I to take his son's life?
Wickedness must be repaid.
Perhaps, it is better for god to judge his servant aethelwold.
He cannot live, lord!
Men will think you weak.
So I must take my brother's son's life to prove otherwise?
And to step from the Christian path of mercy this close to the end.
Might I find the gates of heaven closed to me?
Never, lord.
Aethelwold is a man who believes himself to be king.
He is a danger to Edward...
To your own son.
Cnut and only cnut.
That's good enough.
Less men at the camp.
Sigebriht, thank you.
May I ask?
How is the girl you once loved?
Ecgwynn, is it?
It is.
She is confined to a nunnery.
Whilst Edward marries another without so much as a backward glance it appears.
I would understand it entirely if you could not serve him.
But do men like you and me really have a choice?
- [Door opens] - [Beocca] The king.
[Doors close]
Come forward.
Aethelwold, I am glad that you have come home.
I have no other, lord.
I have decided, in part, to accept your word.
Thank you, lord.
What you say is true, the Danes are not like us, not yet.
We live by god's laws.
And he has bestowed on us uncountable blessings and untold mercies.
Wessex is a sacred place,
a place of home and harvest,
of fairness,
and pity.
All that we love, all that we have built, is here.
This land which holds the promise of england.
That is what you have put in danger.
For turning an eye to the Danes,
the punishment,
is blinding.
[Indistinct chatter]
Lord, you cannot mean it.
[Stammers] Lord, you cannot mean it, lord king.
To see is to be wise.
A king sees with both eyes.
Rightly, aethelwold should lose both.
But I will be merciful. Only one eye will be taken.
So that aethelwold might use the other to find the path to redemption.
Lord, please.
I have repented and thrown myself on your mercy.
I have confessed my sins.
Please, lord. Uncle...
Steapa.
No, no, no, no.
No, lord!
No, please, no!
No, no, please, no wait, wait, wait, no please!
Please!
Once night falls, even the king of shadow-walkers
would find no place here.
[Finan] Shh, someone's coming.
[Osferth] It is sihtric.
You have something to say to me boy?
I do.
Yield to me.
[Both laughing]
You were playing us.
My goodness they were playing us, finan!
Why?
If you had not believed it, osferth, nor would others.
- I fooled you! - No, I knew.
No, you did not. Was I good?
[Osferth] A little.
I'm telling you, I knew.
I just hope it was all worth it.
[Sihtric] I hope so too.
What do you know?
We saw cnut on the road.
Only haesten remains at the camp.
What of bloodhair?
Dead.
He fought with haesten and was killed by skade.
Good Jesus.
She's a witch like no other.
She knows I'm near?
Yes, and she knows of your promise to shadow-walk,
but there are too many guards.
She is allowed to collect grass and herbs by a tree for her spells.
A tree?
It's a single tree on the other side of the camp, you cannot miss it.
Tell her I am here and take her there tonight.
And if she refuses?
If haesten prevents her?
She will not refuse and haesten will not refuse her.
You have never failed me, sihtric. I will see you at the tree.
Let's go. Finan...
[Shudders]
[Muffled groans]
[Shuddering continues]
[Groans]
[Screaming]
I knew you'd come for me, lord.
I'm ready.
- I am ready. - I'm ready.
[Haesten] Skade!
- Can you hear me! - It is haesten.
- Kill him now, kill him for me. - Not now, run...
He is here, lord!
Uhtred is here!
With me! Now!
[Finan] Uhtred, run!
[Sihtric] There are ships on the river!
[Uhtred] To the river. Sihtric, you lead.
[Panting]
[Sihtric] We are under attack!
Haesten says to ready the ships!
Untie them now!
[Finan] Come on!
[Grunting]
Sihtric, the boat!
Make sure it doesn't list, lads!
Prepare the oars.
Ready the oars!
Steady the oars!
And, pull!
Pull!
And pull!
[Haesten] Archers quickly!
Pull!
Pull like a darn slave!
Pull!
And pull!
Pull!
And pull!
[Theme music playing]
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