02x02 - Towers of Faith

[bunniefuu]

Whoa!

Put him down. Shut up!

Tell me where the Jomsvikings live.

No one knows where they live.

All we are told is that believers in the old ways who come to this beach

will be taken away to a new Uppsala called Jomsborg.

So the Jomsvikings just find you?

Odin sends them like Valkyries to carry you to safety?

And if they are lucky,

to take their revenge on Christians like you.

- Father.
- No. Please.

To become king, you must bloody your sword.

Send this pagan to hell!

Send the message, "We're in control."

Now!

Your father would be proud.

Welcome, Freydis!

Freydis, Savior of Kattegat.

Welcome, Freydis!

Welcome, Freydis!

She k*lled Jarl Kåre.

- Hello.
- Freydis.

Hello.

Welcome, Freydis!

Freydis.

The Keeper of the Faith.

The leaders of Jomsborg.

Freydis, I am Harekr.

Welcome to Jomsborg.

Thank you.

This is Gudrid.

Novgorod, my friend.

Soon, we will be treated like kings.

What are they doing?

Opium.

They say its smoke enters your body and steals your soul.

Why would they do it?

To escape this Earth.

To talk to the dead.

I think I found my uncle.

That's him. Let's go.

Let me by. I'm Prince Harald Sigurdsson.

I'm here to see my uncle, Yaroslav.

Wait.

Here, take it.

Hey! What this fight needs is a Viking named Prince Harald Sigurdsson of Norway,

great-grandson of Harald Finehair and blood relative of the esteemed Yaroslav the Wise.

Stop!

Harald?

Uncle.

Look at you.

What has brought you to Novgorod?

It's a long story, Uncle.

One told better over food and drink.

So your family hates the Vikings and Canute.

That's nothing new.
Lots of people feel that way.

But you were different.

You came to London
to do something about it.

There is nothing else to tell you.

We found gold.

In your lodgings. Someone paid you.

I need a name. A description.

I never saw him.

Since you do not know
what this man looks like,

your eyes are of no use to me.

- He was not from the north.
- How do you know?

His words.

He left gold for me
and instructions in the alehouses.

He was from the south.

I need a name.

I know nothing more.

No.

Think harder.

I heard someone call him "Bear"!

Did he operate alone?

He says so.

His family are from Northumbria.

They lost their lands
when Canute gave the shire to Jarl Nori.

He claims he was paid
by someone from the south. "Bear."

Or Barr.

It's a familiar name,

perhaps an invented one
to protect a family member.

How will you find out?

He has another eye.

That's good! att*ck! That's good!

You trained them well.

Great compliment
from a shield maiden of Kattegat.

Perhaps you will share
some of your training with us.

Now we will see what she's made of.

We'll see if the stories are true.

Uh, uh, uh.

I'm sorry.

No. I learned much.

We all did.

Thank you, Freydis.

Ah!

Jorundr.

Tide's leaving, time to go.

I remember
when you learned your first lesson.

Every time I look at your nose I remember.

Where are they going?

Jorundr is making a run
back to the north to pick up refugees.

If he's successful,

he will bring them here
where they will be safe.

Did you and Harekr
have other children besides Jorundr?

Jorundr is not Harekr's child.

My husband was Harekr's brother.

He was k*lled in a raid
when Jorundr was a child.

Harekr raised him as his own.

They are close.

Tell me about your baby's father.

How did you know I am with child?

The way you protected your belly.

He is a good man.

I miss him, but we're...

We are now on different paths.

You are in a good place, Freydis.

A new child
is to be celebrated in Jomsborg.

Especially yours.

Open the gates!

So we hear
that Canute has kept the crown of England.

And installed
his son, Svein, as king of Norway.

A crown he promised to me.

And your brother, Olaf?
Does he not have a claim?

He was defeated
by Sweyn Forkbeard in Kattegat,

who then made him
his grandson's protector.

Lord Vitomir, this is my nephew,
Harald Sigurdsson, Prince of Norway.

Vitomir is from Chude,

a kingdom where the women
are all breathtakingly beautiful,

and the men
inspire envy with their strength.

Welcome to Novgorod, Prince Harald.

What has brought you here?

Well, like many in this room,
I find myself a refugee.

Waiting for the route to Constantinople
to open once again.

And what has closed it?

The Pechenegs.

Pechenegs?

Brutal, nomadic warriors.

Now camped along the Dnieper River.

Excellent horsemen, but savages.

They skin their victims alive
and collect their skulls as drinking mugs.

It has been 17 months

since a trading boat
passed from Kodak to the Black Sea.

Our warehouses now strain
with goods that have nowhere to go

and my tables overflow with guests.

Greenlander!

They have language
at the edge of the world, don't they?

Last time I was there.

And tell us, what it is like
to live so removed from civilization.

Yes, tell us!

Greenland is... quiet.

Quiet and?

Gives you time to think about things.

At night, we would watch the norörljós.

Colors of all the heavens
would light up the sky.

We heard stories when we were younger

that they were
the reflections of the Valkyries' armor.

Or...

when the moon is low,

and the sea is sleeping,

you can hear the söngr of the hvalr
swimming at the bottom of the world.

Then, all at once,

they explode from the darkness.

Mouths open wide enough
to swallow a whole ship.

I hated Greenland when I lived there.

Now I miss it.

I miss the people I knew there.

I understand that.

Welcome to Novgorod,
where unfortunately, quiet does not exist.

I like him.

Uncle, I've come to ask for a favor.

An army.

So you can return to Norway and take
what you feel is rightfully yours.

Yes.

I'm afraid you have come
a long way for nothing, nephew.

I cannot help you.

Cannot? Or will not?

Novgorod is at peace.

But not without problems.

With our southern trade route blocked

I need Canute's northern empire
more than ever, especially England.

I cannot risk
upsetting him or his crazy father

just so that you can fight
for something you never had!

As I see it, beloved nephew,
you have two choices.

Return to Kattegat
and swear fealty to Olaf.

No.

Or do
what Vikings have always done.

Reinvent themselves.

The Skuld
weaves the fates of gods and men.

And now your fate
has been woven into ours.

I have felt this.

But I do not understand how.

Would you be willing
to become Gudija of this temple?

I am a warrior.

- Not a Gudija.
- Ah.

I think that is not true.

I think you came to us
for a greater purpose than as a warrior.

I think you're here

to help the believers
of the old ways find a better life.

Your sword, may I see it?

Refugees we brought here
told us much about you, Freydis.

They say the last Gudija in Uppsala

gave it to you
before the shrine was destroyed.

She did.

Do you not feel
there was purpose to her act?

Who, but you has the right to begin again?

Begin what?

To build a new Uppsala.

Here.

Did no one tell you you had been chosen?

In Uppsala, an ancient one appeared to me.

He told me I had been chosen,

but when the people called for my help...

I did not help them.

He spoke the truth. I...

I ran from Kattegat.

Had you stayed,
you would have no choice to make now.

Perhaps here, not Kattegat...

is the real test of your calling.

Almudhanib.

We call it the koma.

It's a thing of beauty
in any language.

Many believe it a bad omen.

People are always afraid
of things they don't understand.

So do you understand it?

Fully? No.

But I know
it is not the skull of the giant Ymir

or a harbinger of evil.

It is more probably
made of rocks and vapors,

reflecting the light of the Sun.

And I know from writings of the ancients

that this is not
its first visit over our heads.

So I am not afraid.

You know much about the heavens.

I am one
who studies the elements in the skies.

I came to Novgorod

to look for the burning rocks
that fall to Earth.

Rocks from the sky?

- Did you find any?
- Yes.

They are easier to find in the snow.

My name is Mariam.

I am Leif.

Leif Eriksson.

Mmm.

It is too cold for me, Leif Eriksson.

Throw me the line!

Hold it!

This way!

There is food for you all.

But first, you must hand in your weapons.

For safekeeping, my friend.

For you.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

It was my father's.

Come.

They are believers in the old ways.

Just like us.

They are not a thr*at.

We don't know that.

We don't ask where they come from.

It's better to be careful.

Where do they go from here?

We take them into the forest.

Where they can work and live in peace.

Doing what?

They help make the weapons we use
to protect them from the Christian thr*at.

The right to live in peace
requires everyone to do their part.

You are Freydis,
the shield maiden from Kattegat.

I am.

We looked for you after Kattegat fell.

There were no leaders to help us.

The gods have provided what you asked for.

Welcome.

She's right.

I ran and I was not there for any of them.

Where is my son?

Do not worry. I've taken good care of him.

Mother.

Whose blood is that?

I k*lled a pagan.

Why? Was he threatening you?

No.

He did give us important information
we wanted about the Jomsvikings.

The Jomsvikings?

Heathen warriors
who live somewhere across the water.

If we are to build a strong Norway,

we must find
their hidden fortress and destroy them.

It is an important job.

Go and wash yourself.

I want Olaf to eat with us tonight.

I'll have you know
I do not allow dogs at my table.

A dog can be very loyal.

And comforting when one is alone.

Liv!

Liv.

I'm looking for someone who came in here.

You can see all who are here.

They say if you inhale the smoke,

you can talk to the dead.

Yes.

Many talk to their families,

friends they have lost.

For a moment, there's no wall
between the living and the dead.

A thousand. For everything.

No. One for three. One for three.

I have a new plan.

Yaroslav will not back
an army for me, so I will fund my own.

I intend to buy
as many furs as possible here

and sell them in Constantinople.

And how do you plan to get there?

I will worry
about that detail tomorrow, my friend.

Today we must make money.

Doing what?

What we're good at.

Who wants to bet against Kaysan,

the great African warrior?

No one will bet against Kaysan?

Maybe some of you
will bet against Kaysan now!

I'll bet against both of them!

Two against two.

Vikings against the world.

Harald.

- Come on. We need the money, right?
- You're the one who needs the money.

What do you say?

Kaysan!

I have a better idea.

This is what we want!

If this man accepts my bet of 100 hryvnya,

I'll fight against both of his fighters.

One hundred hryvnya?

- I accept.
- You'll be fighting!

Rip off his head!

Don't worry.

I'll try not to k*ll your brother.

I can't promise he'll return the favor.

Come on! Get him!

- Yes!
- Come on!

Yeah!

- See what you're missing?
- Yes, looks like fun.

Watch the left of the big one.
He's slow to defend.

- k*ll the Viking!
- Fighters ready?

Come on!

Get him! Go!

Hey!

That's not fair.
You can't bring in someone fresh.

They are brothers.
Your man must defeat both to win.

Come on! b*at him!

- Kaysan, come!
- Hey!

Go, go, go!

We won! We won! It's over. We won! Leif!

- What happened?
- We won! Let's collect our winnings.

Where did he go?
Where is my money? Where is he?

I want my money!

Hey, where did they go?

Leif!

So where shall we go? You hungry?

That was a most impressive fight.

We lost money, Lord Vitomir.

I cannot help you.

Actually, I think that you can.

I must transport something of great worth
to the emperor in Constantinople.

I think you could
be the man to help me get there.

I will pay you, of course.

Handsomely.

How handsomely?

One thousand hryvnya.

Half now, half when we arrive.

Two thousand.

All now.

We will eat without my son.

As you wish.

I do not wish. You exhausted the boy.

So it is just us.

I trust no one
in this godforsaken country.

Including me? I'm a prisoner, like you.

Tell me about these Jomsvikings.

Why do a group of pirates
command your attention?

They may also
be harboring my brother Harald,

to whom Canute
promised the throne of Norway.

If I know my brother,
he will do anything to gain it.

Including getting rid of your son.

And that deserves my attention.

Still, if you take a fleet,

it's only a matter of time
before the jarls learn of your absence

and descend on Kattegat.

Sometimes I think
that is what Canute intended for me.

It may have been.

But I will never let that happen.

I promise.

Canute was wrong
to pass you over for the Norman queen.

You are beautiful.

That kind of talk is dangerous.

It is just between us.

A queen and her dog.

Please.

- Watch the queen.
- Yes, my lord.

They've been slaughtered like cattle.

They silenced him.

I knew there were others.

Put guards at every door.
The gates of the city are to be closed.

No one enters, no one leaves.

My lord.

So much! We are rich!

Where have you been?

I bought half the furs in Novgorod.

Now I need you to find us a boat
to get them to Constantinople.

I k*lled a man so you could buy furs.

I told you this. The furs
are part of my plan to take back Norway.

- I do not care about your plan.
- Then why did you fight with me?

To save your life, Harald! Nothing more!

Look, maybe you truly are
someday king of Norway,

but no one seems to believe that, but you.

At some point, you need to ask yourself
whether it is truly your destiny

or just a dream.

I understand your doubts,
but I don't share them.

I will sit on the throne of Norway.

I will find a way to get there.

And I'll find my own boat.

You ready?

You are all safe here!

This is our new Uppsala!

Yes!

Leif Eriksson.

Liv.

I hear you.

Are you really here?

It is me.

Liv?

I miss you.

Yes.

I am here.

I'm lost without you, Liv.

I miss you. I need to talk to you.

Then you must come with me.

Leif.

I can't lose you.

Come to Valhalla.

Yes.

Come with me.

Come.

Leif.

No!