01x15 - After Yule

[bunniefuu]

I see. So, Canute is dead?

No. He went missing, to be precise.

Ragnar's unit tried to rescue Canute,

and engaged Thorkell in battle at Marlborough.

In the midst of the confusion,

His Highness the Prince went missing.

Then aren't they still surrounded by Thorkell's men?

Yes. However, we didn't see anyone among
Thorkell's men

who looked like he could be the prince for two days.

He may still be alive and is waiting for help.

However, even if we were to send help,

we'd have to wait until spring.

I'm sure you must be very worried,

Your Highness.

If Canute

had been as talented

as his brother Harald,

he might not have
ended up missing.

Wow! It's snowing!

AFTER YULE

The w*r is ending!

Winter.

DECEMBER
GLOUCESTER, EARLDOM OF MERCIA

You're cold enough to freeze even a warrior's heart.

Oh, winter!

Captain. Roasted pork or boiled pork.
What do you want?

Give me both!

I can't understand you. Swallow your food first.

Okay.

In any case,

the fact that the prince escaped was a big loss to us.

He didn't escape! You handed him over.

That prince was a coward,
but he could have been useful.

We could have put him on a pedestal
and started a new dynasty.

It would have helped gather soldiers for an army
at least.

If you're the one who's going to carry him,

you'd be pretty powerful.

Indeed. What?

Hey, you! English girl!

Yes?

Beer! Bring a keg!

Excuse me! They ordered another keg!

Another one? Damn!

Those rascals! They're going to eat through
the entire city!

This is robbery!

Stop crying!

If I was going to lose the prince anyway,
I should have given him to the English instead.

What?

You're so difficult.

As soon as the fire starts to die down,
you go looking for another spark.

Of course, you bastard!

We're warriors!

A warrior is a warrior when he's on the b*ttlefield!

But you know...

I heard some bad news about that.

They're going to recognize King Sweyn
as the Bretwalda

at the next Witenagemot in Wessex.

What?

That's total surrender!

That's right. Denmark is going
to swallow England whole.

The nobility want to end the w*r, even if it means
surrendering the throne.

Every time I get a bad feeling about something,
why does it always come true?

What are you going to do? att*ck King Sweyn,
even if it means certain death?

You idiot!

I love fighting, but I hate losing!

When I fight, I fight to win!

This is no fun.

I wish the world would be at w*r forever.

It's a messenger! Is the lord here?

Anything out of the ordinary, Ear?

There sure is. It's damn cold.

The snow absorbs sounds.

NORTH PART OF EARLDOM OF MERCIA
ASKELADD'S ARMY CONTROLLED FARM VILLAGE

Even I can't hear that far anymore.

It's better than keeping guards all over the place.

We can avoid giving away our position.

Then do something about those guys.

They're obviously not farmers.

-Monks? Keep an eye on them, too.
-Father, forgive us.

"Forgive us." Hear that?

Must they constantly beg for forgiveness?

What a pain.

Oh, God Most High,

Our Father in Heaven,

please gather the souls of the villagers

who lie in rest here to your side.

Please save the souls of the men who k*lled
these people.

Please forgive us for our sins.

This isn't the time to be praying for someone else,
you bastards.

Father.

Can you hear my voice?

Our Father.

You

created us in your image.

But you didn't give us your power.

Father.

If you love both good men and bad men equally,

why do you test us, despite our powerlessness?

Father.

Can you

hear my voice?

Our Father.

I doubt

-your love.
-Enough!

Did you say...

you doubt the Father?

And you call yourself a Christian?
You should fear the Lord!

We must not doubt the Father's love!

Every father...

Every father loves his own child.

Your Highness...

Oh! Wait!

Father...

An army of Danes?

Really?

Yes. That's what the message said.

They've occupied a village
at the head of the Severn River.

We've received a request for reinforcements
from the local lord.

According to one of the villagers who survived,

the enemy has around to men.

Soldiers from neighboring areas are already
heading there,

but we wanted to ask you to come too, Thorkell,
because of your m*llitary fame.

-What do you think?
-Nothing, really.

There aren't a lot of Danish units who would
act alone there

at this time of year.

They feigned to go by sea,
but they're heading to Gainsborough by land.

They must have been snowed in and are stuck.

I'm almost certain it's...

Thorfinn and Canute.

All right! Wake everyone up! Get ready to march!

And...

Hey, you.

Pack us some lunch.

For men. Five days will be enough.

Five hundred?

Here we go.

This is fun. If we do this right,

we can enjoy this w*r for a long time!

How many men are there? Ear?

Who knows? Maybe , or .

They're extending their line to the east along the forest.

They discovered us quickly.

Did we make a mistake somewhere?

I don't know...

They found us. We can't change that.

We're leaving?

Tonight? That's impossible!

I've only finished two sleds!

I just started on the third one yesterday!

Really? Thanks. Then finish them by tonight.

We'll abandon the ones we can't finish.

I said that's impossible!

We only have two carpenters!

The English army found us.

-They found us?
-Yeah.

They came through the snow.

They must really hate the Danes.

Impossible...

We must hurry, or we'll miss our chance
to escape.

Understand? Hurry and finish.

Okay.

Bjorn! Prepare the men for battle.

Capture their commander.
I want to find out how they found us.

Understood.

Wait, Bjorn.

One more thing.

This is a good opportunity.

Let's do what we discussed as well.

They found us?

This is bad.

We'll be fine! The English are weak.

No. That's not what I mean.

I was talking about Askeladd's luck.

Luck?

First the heavy snowfall, and now this.

This is the first time his plans have ever been ruined.

Oh! What a tasty-looking rabbit!

-Are you the one who caught it, Thorfinn?
-What?

Are you going to eat it alone? Are you going to roast it?

Why do you care?

It's not good to eat nothing but meat!

Boil it with some vegetables!

I'll make some soup with that rabbit.

Shut up. I can eat my own food however I want.

You're going to borrow someone's stove anyway, right?

Come over here!

Your Highness! I've brought broad beans,
cabbage, and rabbit!

Rabbit?

Yes. Thorfinn caught it.

I thought it would be good to add to the soup.

Thanks.

Drain the blood and remove its organs.

The ingredients are simple, but it tastes good.

It's because of the rabbit.

I've grown tired of eating salted-cured meat. Thank you.

What's wrong? Don't hold back.

It's your rabbit.

It's good, right? Catch us a deer next time!

I thought royals only did the eating.

It's my hobby. I don't usually cook.

No one knows about it except Ragnar.

You can't tell anyone either, okay?

There's nothing wrong with it.

A long time ago,

I cooked some cod.

It turned out well,

so I brought it to my father.

But His Highness didn't eat it.

He was very angry.

"You're the child of a king! Don't act like a sl*ve!"
That's what he said.

I wasn't supposed to cook after that.

A king's child doesn't need to know how to do
things like this.

At that time,

His Highness must have been very busy.

When this w*r is over, let's cook some poultry
and bring it to him.

I'm sure he'd be happy.

What kind of poultry?

I've never cooked poultry before.

Chicken, or duck.

Do you remember the duck you ate during Yule?

Yes. That was delicious.

I asked the cook for his secret.

He made good use of the broth.

The broth? I see.

Ragnar!

You idiot! I have a message!

What is it? What's wrong?

The enemy has found us.

A battle has begun in the woods to the east.

What?

They don't have a lot of men,

but please be careful.

What's going on?

We've only been in this village for ten days!

-How come they found us?
-How am I supposed to know?

What's going on?

We even k*lled all the villagers...

In any case,

we're going to move once we defeat the English.
Get ready.

That's why I first said

we should turn back to Wales!

No. We're heading for Derby.

He still wants to keep walking through

enemy lands in this situation?

Bring Askeladd here. Now!

He's leading at the frontline right now.

If you want to talk to him, you should go
see him yourself.

I'll show you the way.

Unbelievable! You men are just like your leader!

You don't have any manners!

He can't even read his own luck!

And he's a Norse warrior?

I swear on my sword, I'm going to show him

how foolish he is today!

Hey!

Hey!

The sound of the battle is coming from that way!

You finally noticed? You're so slow.

What? You bastards! What are you--?

You bastards...

Sorry, Conehead.

It's orders from Askeladd.

Want to fight? We're okay with that.

But you're going to die anyway.

Bring Askeladd here! I have something important
to tell him.

Is it your dying wish? I'll listen. Tell me.

Just bring him here!

It's related to His Highness the Prince.

I need to talk to him directly.

Hurry!

Let's hear your dying wish.

Shall we speak in private?

The cries stopped.

The battle is over.

Unbelievable.

The soup got cold.

I'm grateful to you.

You did a good job keeping that coward of a prince alive.

Your death will cause him to grow

even further.

I will take over that job starting today,

in place of you, who was

"k*lled by the English."

Swear to your god!

Swear that you'll take over for me,

and that...

you'll protect His Highness Canute
at whatever the cost!

I will protect His Highness Canute
at whatever the cost,

and ensure that Ragnar the warrior
did not die in vain.

Are you satisfied?

It fills me with regret

to leave His Highness with you.

You should hurry.

You've lost a lot of blood.

Before you reach

Gainsborough,

you should prepare yourself...

The court in Jelling

are fighting over who will be the next king of Denmark

and has split into two factions.

One of the factions picked His Highness Canute

as their leader.

The other faction chose Canute's brother,

Harald.

They don't care about what

either of them wants.

It's just a power struggle

amongst those traitors.

His Highness the King feared

that the Kingdom of Denmark would be split.

His heart was probably already decided.

He decided to k*ll

one of the princes.

King Sweyn decided to k*ll the prince?

The reason that the king

took the prince to the b*ttlefield with him

was to have the prince die in battle.

Be careful.

Prince Canute's real enemy

is now

his father, King Sweyn

himself.

Go into exile.

That's the only way now.

In Gainsborough,

my brother will make preparations

for you...

What's going on?

You should have told me earlier.

Please.

Just one...

last look...

Let me see His Highness.

To say goodbye...

No.

Your Highness...

Once this w*r is over...

let's cook poultry together.

I'm sure

the king would be...

happy.