02x06 - Leap of Faith

[bunniefuu]

[man shouting indistinctly]

[birds chirping]

[grunts]

[crows cawing]

[breathing heavily]

Freydis!

[Jomsviking 1] Where is Freydis?

Where is she?

- [Jomsviking 2] Freydis! Where is she?

- [people clamoring]

[woman whimpering]

- [man] I don't know!

- Traitor!

She's not here!

[people screaming]

[woman gasping]

- [Jomsviking] Where is she hiding?

- She's not here.

Please.

It does no good looking for her here.

Where else would she be?

I don't know.

I do.

Where exactly did you see her?

She was over there.

Cover the west side.

Let's move forward.

Nobody's here.

[Jomsviking 1] We found something.

[Jomsviking 2] Here!

What about the body?

No. But there are wolf tracks.

[woman exclaims]

[women laughing]

[both moaning]

[both panting]

[both laughing]

I've never known a woman to laugh so much.

[both laugh]

How can I not?

I'm free!

[both laughing]

[women giggling]

Batu! Come join us.

[water gushing]

Allfather.

[yells]

[Harald] Pechenegs.

If we survive the falls,

then we have to survive them.

[Harald] Pack up. We're moving on.

[Batu] You have seen the falls?

[Harald] We have.

I'm not going to lie to you.

It will be a challenge.

We'll have to prepare ourselves

to go down it.

When do we leave?

- Tomorrow.

- [Cadlin] What?

No! Why so soon?

The water level is dropping.

If we wait longer,

the boat will not make it over the falls.

And we will all be trapped here.

Is that such a bad thing?

Batu, the longer we stay here,

the greater the chance

the Pechenegs will find us.

[Brigtoc] Then we portage.

The Varangian said

the Pechenegs have moved east.

[Leif] He lied.

There are many camps

visible from the falls.

Could see fires on the plains below.

We've risked enough

camping here the last few nights.

The sooner we move, the better.

Then I am not sure we'll be joining you.

What?

Why not?

I am not ready to die.

[sighs]

You would all rather risk the Pechenegs?

They haven't found us yet.

And you can't tell us

the fall is without risk.

Nothing is without risk!

All we have done

for the last two moons has been with risk.

But before, we had no choice. Now, we do.

I choose to stay.

I do too.

[Harald sighs]

Batu?

I'm not sure.

Elena?

I share their feelings.

[sighs]

What is all this?

We have known for months

this day will come.

And now, when it is finally here,

you are not willing to meet the challenge?

I will not wait here

and let the Pechenegs

make a flute out of my coward's bones!

I'll go by myself if I must.

You can't.

What do you mean I can't?

- I have no fear of going by myself.

- It is not about your fear, Harald.

We need at least six rowers,

and we must lessen the weight

of the boat by 50 skippund

or it'll not clear the base of the falls.

Fifty skippund?

So we lose the mast.

The mast weighs maybe 15 skippund.

[sighs]

No. If I lose my furs,

I have no reason to go on.

Then you are just like everyone else.

[sighs]

[indistinct chatter]

[Gudrid breathing heavily]

The trial will start soon.

Where I will be found guilty.

You are guilty.

[voice breaks] What were you thinking?

And what are you thinking?

Following a monster

who massacres people while they pray,

instead of the gods

you've trusted all your life?

Things have changed.

No, [sighs] not things, Mother.

We have changed.

[Harekr] Ready the prisoner.

Please, Jorundr!

Beg for leniency.

For me.

It is your only chance.

Jorundr, please.

Would my father have begged? Hmm?

[Freydis grunts]

She is burning with fever.

Get hot water and rags, quickly.

My son. I must get my son

You must be quiet, Freydis.

You are very ill

and Harekr is looking for you.

He has my son. [groans] In Jomsborg.

- [shushing]

- I must go back. I must get him

I am going to help you.

You must bite on this

and try to remain silent.

[whimpers]

All right.

[screams and cries]

[Gytha] Thank you. You may go.

Princess Gytha.

- Earl Godwin.

- Do you know where I might find the queen?

In Winchester, I believe.

She has gone to attend

to one of her properties.

- When was this trip planned?

- [Gytha] I would not know.

I offered to accompany her,

but she refused.

She only took

a small group of guards and Agnarr.

Agnarr?

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[exhales deeply]

[chatter stops]

Are you lost?

[chatter continues]

Do I look lost?

Not at all.

I am, uh, looking for someone.

- [goats bleating]

- [man talking indistinctly]

[Agnarr] Nothing.

- [Leif] Are these edible?

- No!

It's poisonous.

Then why are you picking them?

I am preparing to face a new enemy.

Pain.

Hmm.

How bad is it?

I am still able to manage it.

But one day I may not.

- What are these called?

- Atropa.

Atropa? Like the goddess of fate?

The oldest one.

- The inflexible one.

- Hmm.

It was Atropos

who chose the way a mortal dies.

And cuts the thread of life.

Do not worry about me, Leif Eriksson.

- I know what is coming.

- No, you don't.

I do.

Nothing surprises me.

[both breathing heavily]

[Harekr] Friends.

We are gathered here

for the trial of Jorundr Torvilsson,

who is charged

with the most terrible crime of m*rder.

[crowd gasp]

He's summoned here

before the gods to speak the truth.

I'm not afraid of the truth.

Did you take food to Freydis

the night of her disappearance?

You know I did.

And later,

did you remove her body from the temple,

wrapping it in a blanket,

placing it in a cart?

- [crowd murmuring]

- I did, but she was not dead.

Is this the blanket you used

to take her away from us?

[crowd exclaim]

That is from the child birth.

Auor. Come, child.

In the morning after Freydis disappeared,

what did you find in the temple?

The priestess was gone,

but I found a Kn*fe on the ground

with blood on it.

Freydis was given

a Kn*fe for the childbirth.

[Harekr] Is this the Kn*fe you found?

Yes.

Good.

Is this your Kn*fe?

It is.

[crowd gasp]

But I didn't use it on Freydis

and you know it.

No, I do not know it.

- I didn't k*ll her.

- You did k*ll her!

And then you took her body

to the boneyard where we found this!

[crowd exclaim]

Oh, wise ones,

we have a k*ller in our midst!

If he strikes once, he will strike again!

We must rid ourselves of this evil.

[Jorundr grunting]

I await your judgment.

[Jorundr] Mother, don't.

Please.

Have mercy on him.

[voice breaks] I'm begging you.

He's my only child!

[sobbing]

Please.

[crowd murmuring]

[breathing heavily]

We have decided.

He is guilty.

[sobbing]

His hand.

His necklace.

And exile.

[grunts]

[Jorundr grunting]

- [Gudrid screaming]

- [exclaiming]

[screaming]

[Jorundr groans]

[screaming]

[groaning]

[groaning]

[breathing heavily]

[Jomsviking] Row!

Explain to me this science

that requires

the weight of the boat to be reduced

in order to make it over the falls.

It is a science of the mind.

Really?

Mmm-hmm. No one wants to die.

But we are loathe to risk death

in order to survive,

until we have no choice.

Harald doesn't understand this.

I presented him with a situation

for him to feel

what he's asking others to do.

Sacrifice.

Everybody has to risk something.

Why not Harald?

Will he do it?

That I don't know.

[Mariam sighs]

Leif?

Hmm.

I don't want to die.

[women chatting]

[women laugh]

I did not think

you would be one of those to desert me.

I'd have thought

you'd be faithful to your father's wishes.

I did not say I wouldn't.

I said I can understand

why the others are reluctant.

Freedom and love

are strong emotions to overcome,

especially when you've never known them.

I would've thought

the thr*at of savagery and t*rture

would help make their decision easier.

[Elena] It would.

But not till it shows itself.

When your father came to me,

he knew about the Pechenegs.

And yet he was brave enough

to make the journey.

That is because

he feared something else more.

When I was a girl,

raiders invaded Chude from Novgorod

and k*lled hundreds.

My aunts and cousins

fled to the rivers with their belongings

to avoid robbery and r*pe.

Many drowned.

To stop the suffering,

my father journeyed to Constantinople

and met with the emperor.

He negotiated an end to the raids

in return for a great tribute.

That is why

he was returning to Constantinople,

to pay for that peace.

This pendant must be extremely valuable

if it's enough to save a kingdom.

It is.

And you are a very strong woman

to deliver on your father's promise.

[rooster crows]

I'm looking for a man called the Bear.

Are you now?

Do you know where he is?

[scoffs] That depends.

Not on that.

Then on what?

On who exactly is asking.

- The ale-wife knows something.

- [Emma] Yes?

[Agnarr] She would not tell me.

Why not?

I said I was inquiring

on behalf of the Queen of England.

She laughed. Said she would

only tell the queen herself.

[woman humming]

[Agnarr] I present to you

Her Royal Highness,

- the Queen of England.

- [laughing]

Do you now?

[Emma] He does.

I understand you can help me.

[gasps]

I knew Godwin as a child.

The large family house

was only two miles from here.

It was grand.

Back then, all the children

played in the fields together.

He was a sweet boy.

His father's betrayal changed everything.

Losing his home, his title, his wealth,

dealing with the shame of it,

it made him angry and bitter.

But the Bear was always loyal to him.

The Bear knew Godwin?

He was Godwin's guardian.

His mother d*ed

shortly after his father's imprisonment,

so the Bear took him in.

He was all he had, after all was lost.

What is his real name? The Bear?

John Fletcher.

He was the old ealdorman's retainer.

He would do anything for the boy.

[bell tolling]

Ealdorman Wulfhaere!

What brings you to London?

You, Earl Godwin.

- Should I be worried about my estate?

- I don't know. Should you be?

I saw the queen in Sussex.

I trust she is not planning

on taking some or all of it from me

and giving it to a Viking?

Earl Godwin, I speak in jest.

I trust

that if the queen was about to depose me,

you would have

at least given me some warning.

And I jest with you. Fear not.

The queen has other business in Sussex.

- [arrow whooshes]

- [deer grunts]

[sighs]

A good try, King Svein.

We'll find you another deer.

[man speaking indistinctly]

They left before the thaw?

On a boat on a sled.

Filled with furs

to sell in Constantinople? [chuckles]

I think you're lying to me.

If I was lying,

I would have

made the story more believable.

Extraordinary.

My brother, the great Viking berserker,

now a fur trader.

No less amazing

than the great Olaf Haraldsson,

architect of

King Canute's London invasion,

now the guardian of his son.

We have an arrangement.

I look after

his northern empire and Svein,

in exchange

for the life of my own son, Magnus,

who he raises in his court.

Brilliant.

That depends on who you ask.

[bell tolling]

[Yaroslav]

With the southern trade routes closed,

it is important

that you keep the Baltic open for trade.

That means controlling the Jomsvikings

who are now raiding our ships.

I ran into them a few months ago.

Trust me. I will find them

and get rid of them once and for all.

Was there a woman with Harald

or did he mention one to you?

A woman?

Not to me. Why?

Nothing.

[Olaf sighs]

[Freydis breathing heavily]

Freydis.

- Where is my son?

- Freydis. You are all right.

It is me, Valgerda.

How did I get here?

Hrefna found you in the boneyard.

Some of the afterbirth

was still in your body,

and I was able to remove it.

And you will be fine,

but you will never

be able to have another child.

[crying softly]

- [grunts]

- [water splashes]

I cannot guarantee anyone's survival.

What is over the falls, I do not know.

I can only guarantee

my best efforts to keep us alive.

And I cannot do that if we remain here.

- [grunts]

- [water splashing]

Ready! [grunts] And up!

Now heave!

[cow mooing]

[Agnarr] He's not dead long.

There is no sign of a wound.

A grand ring

for a farmer.

[strained breathing]

[Kolr] From your mother.

Jorundr, why would you do this?

[weakly] I didn't k*ll her.

[grunts]

I was trying to save her.

Think about it, Kolr!

Harekr wanted her dead.

[grunts]

She threatened him.

So did I.

So he used me to get rid of us both.

[breathing heavily]

And he will k*ll anyone

to maintain his power.

Today, it is me.

Tomorrow, it can be any of you.

[whimpers]

I'm sorry.

[grunts]

[Jomsviking] Move out.

To your oars!

Pull!

The m*ssacre was my fault.

I'm sorry. And I'm leaving.

- Where are you going?

- To get my son.

Harekr will never let you have him.

Then I will k*ll him

or he will have to k*ll me.

It is the best I could find.

It is good enough for my needs.

[breathing heavily]

[bell tolling]

[horn blowing]

[man exclaims]

[horses grunting]

[horn blowing]

[guards exclaim]

[men chatting and laughing]

[King Canute] Leave us.

Surprise.

This man,

the Bear.

Were there signs

that he had been m*rder*d?

No.

But I'm sure Godwin was behind it

as well as the false assassination attempt

to gain your gratitude.

I do not put such things

beyond the imagination of Godwin.

What about Aelfwynn?

He wrote me

to ask my permission to wed her.

I said yes.

Why would he create a situation

that would lead to his betrothed

being tortured to death?

What could he possibly gain from that?

I do not know.

But I'm sure there was a reason.

Were you sure when you had her k*lled?

No.

I am not saying

that you are wrong, my love.

But Godwin is a complex man

who has endured great losses

and found a way to survive.

This is not proof of the crimes

that you accuse him of.

And now

he has lost something much greater,

which cannot be returned.

Love.

- [guard 1] King Canute.

- [guard 2] Sire.

Your Highness, welcome home.

I heard from your soldiers

just how resounding your victory was

against the Wends.

I am not the only one

who has been keeping England safe.

The queen tells me

that you saved her life while I was away.

I am grateful.

She also told me about your betrothed.

Aelfwynn.

The queen had no choice,

but to act the way she did.

I acknowledge that.

But it does not ease my pain.

I understand.

In my experience,

the best way to forget about a great woman

is to find another who is superior.

[both chuckle]

You should be married.

If it pleases the king,

I shall try to find a suitable bride.

I already have.

I have decided

that you should become part of my family.

Gytha, my niece,

would make a most wonderful wife.

Your Highness

words escape me.

Then say nothing.

You have my blessing.

My queen, we have cause for celebration.

Godwin is to marry Gytha.

Gytha

I am so sorry.

Why are you sorry, Your Highness?

- You're glad?

- How could I not be?

I'm going to marry the kindest,

most loving man in all of England.

How can you think that?

Aelfwynn told me.

If he could love me

even half as much as he loved her,

I would be a lucky woman. [sniffles]

But Gytha, you are of a royal line.

You're right.

At least there is one thing

I can give him that she could not.

And what is that?

Aelfwynn said it was Godwin's dream

to have a son who would be king.

She could not. But I can.

[King Canute] Gytha! Where are you?

[Gytha] Coming.

[indistinct chatter]

[Freydis] Harekr!

Harekr!

Freydis.

[Freydis] Harekr!

She wants her baby.

But she's dead.

You said she's dead.

[Freydis] Harekr!

Maybe it's her spirit. Pray to her.

- No, no, this is a trick.

- [crowd praying]

We must find who is doing it

and punish them.

- [Freydis] Harekr!

- [Skögul] She is here!

She is outside the gates. Open them.

[man] The gates! Open the gates!

[crowd murmuring]

[door opens]

[man 1] It's her!

[man 2] It is! It is Freydis!

[man 3] It's Freydis!

[crowd continue murmuring]

Freydis,

we thought you were dead!

Come. Let us help you.

You cannot help me, Harekr.

You are the cause of my pain.

You have taken my son and I want him back!

We are taking care of him, Freydis.

We only want what's best for him.

I am what's best for him!

Any mother will tell you that.

I'm taking him back.

That's not going to happen.

[scoffs]

Are you challenging me?

[chuckles] No.

It would not be fair in your condition.

Come to the temple to recover.

Let the gods decide

what is fair and unfair.

Yes, let the gods decide.

- [woman] We must trust in the gods!

- [man] You have Odin on your side.

All right.

If you wish to fight me, Freydis,

I am ready.

[yells]

[grunting]

[groans]

[crowd murmuring]

[coughs and pants]

Take her to the temple.

No.

I will k*ll you if I must.

Then do it.

I will not give up my son.

[both grunting]

[grunts]

[Freydis panting]

[crowd gasp]

[Gudrid] No!

[crowd murmuring]

No.

[stone strikes]

- Stop it. I order

- [man exclaims]

- [stone strikes]

- [Harekr grunts]

- Stop!

- [crowd exclaiming]

[all yelling]

- [man] Evil one!

- [woman 1] Traitor!

[woman 2] He stole a child!

- [woman 3] k*ll him!

- Yes!

[Harekr grunting]

- [all] k*ll him!

- k*ll him!

k*ll him!

[panting]

[Freydis chuckles softly]

Here.

- All right.

- What about you?

Don't worry.

We're doing this together.

Ropes ready.

Push off!

Row! And row!

Row!

And row! Row!

[gasps]

And faster!

[all grunting]

Oars in!

[exclaims]

[rumbling]

[whimpers]

[breathing heavily]

[breathing heavily]

[all screaming]