The Order (2003) Movie Script
Every life is a riddle.
The answer to mine
is a knowledge born of darkness.
It wasn't always so.
In the beginning,
I still had questions.
In the beginning,
my mystery still remained.
Brother Dominic...
scholar of the Catholic arcane.
Believer in
the unsanitized church.
A church that no longer
believes in itself.
The church
of stigmata...
and exorcism, saints...
and demons...
and me.
I believe in many things.
So do I.
And right now,
I believe it's time.
Are you ready to
make your confession?
Forgive me, Alex.
I have sinned against you.
There he is. That's Alex.
- He's young.
- But an old soul, Clive.
He's an old soul.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
I need to speak with you.
Do you always say
the mass in Latin?
- It's how I was taught.
- It belies your age.
And with your back
to your audience, no less.
You know, six or 700 years ago...
they wouldn't have
seen you at all.
You'd have sung the mass in Latin
behind a huge choir screen...
out of the sight of a congregation
who was only allowed to... listen.
I think you would have liked the choir
screen, Alex. You're a contradiction.
What I am is stuck here because the church
doesn't know what to do with me.
Well, the church doesn't know
what the hell to do with itself.
Look, I won't pretend I don't know
you have certain qualifications...
certain skills, that set you apart
from other priests.
However, the diocese has certain questions
about your faith, Alex.
So, what do you want from me?
Well, I have
sad news for you.
- Dominic, the head of your order-
- I know who he is.
He's dead.
Today. In Rome.
Is this your mother?
Say good-bye, Alex.
It's time to say good-bye.
Good-bye.
Leave your tears here
and then forget them.
Alex?
Alex? Alex?
How is it that a cardinal has enough
time to come and tell me this?
Because I loved him.
Because he was my mentor.
Because the circumstances
of his death are... curious.
I need to go to Rome.
The diocese will arrange a flight.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
Your time is coming.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
Fuck your god!
All mouth, no trousers.
Your church will be lost,
Priest.
The dark pope... rises.
- Hello?
- Ah, Thomas.
- I've been trying to reach you, mate.
- Alex.
-
- How are you, SpaghettiO?
Yeah, listen to me.
Dominic died.
- Dominic?
- Yeah.
Ah, no.
- When did it happen?
- Last night.
Where are you? In New York?
At St. Anthony's?
Yeah. Listen,
I'm going to Rome, Thomas.
- When?
- Tomorrow.
And guess what.
So are you.
Just be there.
Hi.
Hi.
When did they release you?
I was released today.
Years ago, it was a dorm
for all the priests.
Now it's empty.
You're here.
True.
-
- Oh, I'll wait.
Uh, we're looking
for Alex Bernier.
That's me.
Is there something wrong?
Just a heads-up, Father.
You know a...
Mara Williams?
Yes.
She escaped today from the mental-health
facility where she was remanded by the court.
Remanded, huh? And what does this
have to do with me?
Well, she was locked up
for trying to kill you, wasn't she?
That was the main reason, yes.
I just thought you'd like to know
she's unaccounted for.
Look, I could have a car drive
by here once in a while.
- No, I'm fine. Thank you.
- Well, like I said, a heads- up.
You know, it says here-
I couldn't make it out in this copy-
that she, uh- that she shot you
at an exercise class?
No, at an exorcism.
Oh.
Have a good night.
You, too, Father.
You lied. You said
they released you.
No, I didn't. I didn't lie.
I said I was released.
I didn't say who did it.
- Mara?
- Alex...
you didn't say good-bye.
They said it would be better
that I didn't see you for a while.
For a year?
I don't know.
- I started painting again.
- Did you?
Yeah. Flowers mostly.
I wanna paint sunflowers,
but I don't have the guts.
Do you think I'm crazy?
I know you're not.
Why'd you come here?
- I heard you call me.
- Mara, don't say that.
Okay, I got a feeling...
that I should be with you...
in case one of us
has to say good- bye.
I've never been to Rome before.
- Is it amazing?
- I bet it is.
- It scares me-
ever since I was a boy.
And you're staying here.
No, I'm not staying here.
I can't stay here.
And you need me
whether you know it or not.
- And?
- The nightingales are gone.
- Are they?
- Yeah.
They've been gone for about a year.
Same as you.
Alex, look at me.
It's you and me.
You and me
till the wheels fall off.
Promise you won't try to kill me.
Cross my heart, hope to die.
It's here.
Hey.
Mara?
- What are they?
- Orphans.
But of what I have no idea.
I've been in worse places.
It just needs light, that's all.
What are those?
Aramaic.
It's the language of Christ.
What does it say?
Barath-mae. "Blood in."
Down there, barath-sec.
"Blood out."
This must have been where
they found Dominic's body.
Alex, what are you thinking?
It was a ceremony.
The message I got said suicide.
Sleeping pills, signore.
Is that him?
Yes, it's him.
Thank you.
No, no. I didn't pay
to look at his face.
- If you don't mind.
-
What are these?
- Okay, let's go, please. Hurry up.
- No, no, no. What are these?
- Do you know what these are?
- Maybe a birthmark.
- I don't know. I'm not a doctor.
- That's not a birthmark.
- When's the body due to be released to the church?
- It isn't.
When we are done with it,
it goes to the state...
for burial in the state cemetery.
Okay. Please, let's go.
Please. Come with me.
It's always nice to see a priest.
- And a Carolingian, no less.
- You've seen others?
A Dominic Sousa, perhaps?
Carolingians...
you surpass even theJesuits in your
heretical search for knowledge.
It's important to stay
inside the lines.
- What lines?
-
This way.
Those were the marks.
Dominic, what were you doing?
"Bread and salt
eaten off the body...
the sins of one man
consumed by the other."
A sin eater.
If Hitler had had one in the bunker,
he'd be sitting on a cloud right now.
- Of course, sin eaters...
haven't existed for two centuries,
have they?
What did Dominic buy from you?
Many things over the years.
Last time, a vellum parchment
written in Aramaic.
What did it say?
I'm not as clever as Dominic...
scholar of mysteries.
He delved deep and dark.
Always after knowledge.
I think he'd have sold his soul
for knowledge.
- Do you?
- His heretic soul or something precious to him.
Is there a price tag
on your head?
What's that supposed to mean?
Sometimes it's better
for a priest not to know.
Knowledge is the enemy of faith.
And sometimes when you
look into the abyss...
the abyss looks back into you.
- Look, his order meant everything to him.
-
Now, Dominic should be buried with
his order in the Concezione Cemetery.
Your order. His former order.
The Carolingians, not many
of you left in the world.
Yeah, a dying breed.
Look, and when they die,
it's the Concezione Cemetery.
Suicide is a cardinal sin.
- Dominic didn't commit suicide.
- It makes no difference.
He had been excommunicated, excluded
from our society and sacraments.
"There is no salvation outside the church."
- Yes, I know my Latin.
- Unlike your manners. Respect what you are.
Well, what I am is my concern.
Thank you.
Listen, I'm sorry. I am. I-
I need the theosophic council
to convene as soon as possible.
The council?
It hasn't convened in years.
For what purpose?
Tell them I found a sin eater.
A sin eater? Here?
At the start
of the new millennium?
How many other impossible things
do you believe in?
It's not impossible. I've seen the marks
on Dominic's body myself.
Your mentor
was excommunicated...
for rejection of articles of faith.
Heresy. Accept it.
He took his own life
because he couldn't bear that.
- Grazie, Franca.
- Father Alex.
Ciao, Maria. Ciao.
Grazie.
In nomine Patris, et Fili,
et Spiritus Sancti.
Amen.
In the name of God...
I command you to return
from whence you came.
In the name of God-
In the name ofJesus, God, and the
Holy Virgin, I order you back to hell!
Well, off to hell yourself.
What kind of a greeting's that?
You're late.
Never too late, Alex.
Witness the repentant thief...
crucified alongside our Lord Savior.
- Quick thinker, eh?
- How you doin'?
Ah, I'm grand.
- So, did you bury him?
- Yeah.
Rogue priest readin' rites
over an excommunicado.
Damn dirty job,
but someone's gotta do it.
Well, cheers.
To the last of the Carolingians.
You and me.
Cheers.
What just passed
through here, Alex?
Demon spawn
in the guise of children.
Nothing I couldn't handle.
- Who summoned those nasties up?
- Dominic, I think.
They were camped
outside his apartment.
Oh, speaking of the apartment,
I met your girlfriend.
She's not my girlfriend.
Well, she should be. She said
you'd be at the Concezione.
You told her it was a restaurant?
- Well, she would have come with me otherwise.
- Oh, women.
Can't live with 'em.
Can't live with 'em.
- Come on.
- Sin eater.
"In absolution, the burden of guilt...
"would be transmuted
to the sin eater...
as would the knowledge
of the transgressions."
Wait. You mean he'd know what
your sins were? Even the details?
He'd know them
and feel the burden of them.
He'd spend sleepless nights
over things others had done.
He'd have the ascendancy
to free a man's soul.
And damn his own.
We're Carolingians, Alex and I.
Now, in a way,
that makes us responsible.
They say the practice of sin eating began
with banished members of our order.
Come on. That's like
saying that sheep...
are responsible for the sweaters
that get made from their wool.
Maybe they are, Mara, girl.
I found the vellum Dominic bought.
I'll translate it for you.
Okay...
"Place the instrument
of delivery over the heart."
It must be some kind of weapon.
And then look.
"Barath-mae, barath-sec. "
Blood in, blood out.
"And drive into the heart."
Now, the rest is missing.
- Still, you get the idea.
- I'm not sure I do.
Well, they're instructions...
on how to kill a sin eater.
Dominic trained us to deal with ghosts
and demons and all manner of undead...
but this sin eater,
he's a living man.
Well, whatever he is,
he killed Dominic.
Maybe, maybe not.
I've seen another copy
of this somewhere.
So, we meet again.
Jesu, the fuckin' cavalry.
So, how are you finding our city
of emperors, our city of martyrs?
Would you care for a beer, Your Eminence?
Or something a little stronger?
- And you are?
- He's Thomas.
- She's Mara.
- We're the Catholic Pete, Linc and Julie.
Well, I am Michael Cardinal Driscoll,
and among other things...
I'm head of
the theosophic council.
A bit like the dead letter department
of the post office, I'm afraid.
I believe Michelangelo
went blind from candlelight.
Dominic didn't believe
in electricity.
Yes, but a sin eater? You couldn't have
shocked the bishop more if you'd said...
you'd been possessed by some Phoenician
demon and then demanded an exorcism.
- The exorcism was on Friday.
- Well, today is Monday.
And yet, I think there may be
credence to what you say.
Matter of fact, I know there is.
A sin eater-
a renegade who provides a path to heaven
outside of the church, outside of our savior.
If you believe such things,
he has the power...
to grant redemption
to the unrepentant.
Sort of a heretical wrench in the cogs
of our Catholic machinery.
You two were Dominic's chosen. What do
you know about his excommunication?
Nothing.
- He wouldn't speak of it.
- Well, Dominic believed this other...
this man was based right here in Rome.
Now, that's all I know because
that's all he told me...
and I assume that the two of you
plan to seek him out.
Otherwise, I am just spinning
my wheels here.
Sadly, the church no longer
has the will to dispatch.
Thank God we still have the tools.
The instrument of delivery,
if you will.
Now, if you'll excuse me...
there are even more pressing matters
weighing on the Vatican tonight.
Signorina.
What could be more
important than this?
They say the pope is ill.
In fact, they say that he's dying.
And that man, Mara, girl,
that American is front-runner for the job.
That man that just asked you
to kill somebody?
Left it to our discretion, I'd say.
Where'd you get that?
Last year. Got drunk,
woke up with it.
That's very strange.
Sailors get anchors, so I'm a priest.
It's still strange, Tommy.
I'm glad Dominic
believed in bathrooms.
I usually just open the window
and lean out.
What's strange is that you're a priest
sleeping on the couch...
instead of a man
sleeping in bed with her.
Thomas, two days ago,
she was in a mental institution.
So, she's crazy about you.
Can you look me in the eye and tell me
you still wanna be a priest?
Can you?
There are other ways to serve.
Hmm, to serve.
- It's knowledge I'm after.
- Knowledge.
When I look under a rock,
my gut reacts to what I see.
I don't wonder how it got under
the rock to begin with.
You guys tired?
Go upstairs and get some sleep.
- Good night.
- Night.
- Sweet dreams, yeah?
- You too.
I know who she is,
but who is she?
Tell me something about her.
- Hmm.
She's a- She's a painter.
Really good too.
I don't know, there's something
about her that-
She sees things differently.
She feels things differently.
I wish I never saw her face.
Alex, you're a fool.
Same as you were once.
Alex,your head rules your heart.
- Oh, and what rules yours?
- Laughter, of course.
Hey, hey, you laugh
to keep from going mad.
- You laugh to keep the wolves at bay.
- It's still laughter.
- As for you, SpaghettiO, choose life.
- Right.
Let your heart wear the crown,
not your head.
Here we are.
Time to see Chirac.
Who is he anyways?
A rising darkness.
A rising darkness?
We're looking for Rosalinda.
Sure. She's over there.
Girl with the faraway eyes.
We need you to take us to Chirac.
Don't start your posturing,
you pagan worshipping pig.
You owe me a debt.
My friend and I
are looking for the other.
Just what does he mean
by the dying?
-
-
Ask him.
Oh, shit. Uh-
Where- Where can I find the sin eater?
The other will find you.
Upon the stone where all is built-
he brings you claves...
regni caelorum.
Claves regni caelorum?
The keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Upon the stone
where all is built.
Upon the stone
where all is built.
Ah, I hate riddles.
Petrus, stone. Petram.
Peter is the stone upon which all,
right, the church is built.
St. Peter's.
Well, the other will find me then.
St. Peter's. Doesn't anyone
just meet for coffee anymore?
- And he will bring you claves regni-
Alex!
Come on.
Let's get out of here.
Thomas.
Thomas.
No point in hangin' around.
Thomas!
Tommy, love.
How long have you
been a priest, Thomas?
Certain pleasures
are forever out of reach.
- Denied.
- Thomas!
Leave it for a sunny day.
Come on.
All mouth and no trousers.
Remember that girl
in Dublin? Megan was her name.
Did you feel foolish, Tommy?
In love with a whore.
Thomas?
It's personal. Ignore it.
The first and only lesson, remember?
Tommy love. Oh, Tommy.
I love you, Tommy.
- Come on, mate.
- Never give them an inch.
- Tommy.
- Not one fuckin' inch!
Thomas? Thomas! Thomas!
In the name of God
and Jesus Christ...
to hell with you!
I love you, Tommy.
I'll pray for you, Tommy.
- Thomas!
Shit!
I said there was no point
in hanging around.
You never laugh, Alex.
It's not good for the soul.
I thought you might
be the nurse.
- Thomas, what happened? Where's Alex?
- He's off in search of coffee.
As for me, I was hoisted up
by me own petard.
Mara, if I can ask...
what happened
between you and Alex?
It's okay.
If I was embarrassed,
I'd wear bracelets.
My little brother was murdered,
and they brought Alex in to consult.
The Filmore murders.
Dominic sent Alex.
That was his first time on his own.
Mara, I hear confession all the time.
Nightingales.
- What about them?
Those are the birds
that I'd hear singing...
right before
the headaches started.
These headaches,
they'd go on for weeks.
They were... blinding.
So, I did this,
and even that didn't help.
Alex performed an exorcism.
Yeah.
Alex took away my pain...
and I fell in love with a priest
who couldn't love me back.
Love.
You traded one pain for another.
Something terrible is gonna
happen to Alex, Thomas.
I don't know what it is...
but I know that
it's worse than death.
Am I the answer to your prayer?
My friends call me William.
William Eden.
- I'm not your friend.
-
That remains to be seen.
I know what you're feeling, Alex,
and you're right.
God exists.
He just doesn't give a damn.
Magnificence.
Flesh rots.
St. Peter's remains.
This impossible dome, Alex...
it was raised by my brother
when I was still a boy.
Blood and sweat built this...
not faith.
It was Michelangelo who drew
the dome on a piece of paper...
but it was left to my brother
to figure out a way...
to raise it halfway to heaven...
and it was my honor, each day
to bring him something to eat...
- and ask him of the world outside of my own.
- Papa?
Hey, William.
You brought some food.
Thank you.
Tell me a story, Phillip,
a story ofJerusalem.
Jerusalem?
- Phillip!
Phillip!
Phillip!
He's dying.
I can give no absolution.
He was excommunicated
last year in Jerusalem.
Good enough to
build God's house...
but not to let him
enter his kingdom.
Is that it?
William, go.
Fetch the sin eater.
In Jerusalem, my brother gave
a dying Arab a drink of water.
There was no well,
so he gave him holy water.
My brother gave the church
his youth in Jerusalem...
his blood at St. Peter's,
but when he lay dying...
they deserted him.
When his soul stretched out,
caught between heaven and hell...
it was the other
who delivered him.
It was the other
who gave him peace.
I always loved
my brother, Alex...
but the church I grew to hate.
This... is the other way.
I can teach you...
if you are willing.
I was willing.
And so, I was taught.
Did you kill Dominic Sousa?
The church killed him.
He died when
he was excommunicated.
His body continued on a while,
but his spirit was dead.
That's a lie.
He was, Alex. He was ruined,
broken, not playacting.
Don't talk to me of lies.
I lost it in 1602.
I had dinner with Caravaggio
and drank too much wine.
It's a means-
an instrument for ridding the world
of the other.
Answer my question.
Did you kill Dominic?
He killed himself, Alex,
after the church abandoned him...
after they took away
his reason to live.
They did to him as they did
to my brother, Alex.
And you know what I did?
You know what
I did for Dominic?
I gave him absolution.
I took on the burden of his sins,
and I gave him peace.
Not the church- I.
So don't talk to me of lies, Alex.
Dominic was like a father to me.
I'm just trying to understand.
Come with me.
Every fear hides a wish.
Don't you think?
So what is it
to be a sin eater?
What is it not to be one?
I know of no other way to be.
It seems beyond a man's judgment.
Forgiveness is God's domain.
I'm just an instrument.
Like any great power,
it depends on how it's used.
- And how do you use it?
- As I see fit.
I'm not a threat to the church.
I'm an insult, an embarrassment.
But you're a Carolingian.
You know how it feels to be outside.
I serve the church.
Serve yourself.
Get Alex some fresh clothes
and a hot bath if he would like.
And then take him someplace quiet
where he can sit.
If you would like anything,
anything can be arranged.
- How long have I been asleep for?
- A few hours.
What is it you want, Alex?
- I want to learn the truth.
- Truth?
The terrible thing about searching for
the truth is that sometimes you find it.
Not to mention it makes you
very unwelcome at parties.
It makes you unwelcome anywhere,
even in church.
Who are you?
I'm all that remains when
everything else turns to dust.
But to put it simply, Alex,
I'm very, very tired.
Are you a man?
I shit. I fuck.
I shave. Does that
make me a man?
Can you die?
You tell me.
I laugh. I cry.
Once, I loved.
Does that make me a man?
I don't know. What about you, Alex?
Are you a man?
- I'm a priest.
- You understand the difference...
the truth of it.
Good.
Do you remember what Keats said
about the truth?
"Beauty is truth. Truth is beauty."
Keeping that in mind...
my original question,
what is it you want?
The truth...
or something beautiful?
Something beautiful.
Beauty is truth, Alex.
Does your oasis have a name?
Mara.
- Her name is Mara.
- So say it.
Say what you want, Alex.
If it's the truth, then
why be afraid? Say it.
I want Mara.
Then you're a man...
and not a priest.
And if Mara's what you want,
then you should go and get her.
-
- Shh. You'll wake her.
She might be dreaming.
How we run
from the things we need.
He's dying.
That's why I'm here.
Rembrandt did some
remarkable things.
This isn't one of them.
It's a de Gelder.
But only I'll know that.
Put it in the car.
- Your services don't come cheap.
- No, they don't.
What did Dominic give you?
I mean he, uh-
he had nothing.
That's not true. He gave me friendship
once, and I returned it.
What do you think
you can do for him that I haven't?
I am the conductor
of the night train.
The answer to your question
is infinite.
- Science, medicine.
-
You give people
nothing to hold...
except words they can't pronounce.
Cancers that act capriciously.
You measure life with a ruler...
and a bathroom scale.
You take away...
you kill the mystery
that makes life mean something.
And you pretend
to understand it all...
when you understand nothing,
when you are nothing...
when your dust has
more value than you do.
Christ on the cross...
he gave forgiveness to a thief
being crucified alongside him.
The church would not
have allowed it.
- But Christ did.
- I know this man.
That's Marcus Burnham.
I read about him.
A lost sheep.
A man full of regret and fear.
Such fear.
They say he got away with murder.
That remains to be seen.
"Blood in."
"Blood out."
From Jerusalem- my brother said
it held a splinter from the true cross.
But the world is rotten with lies.
Bread for the host.
And salt for the blood.
Are you ready to make
your confession?
Uh-huh.
Forgiveness for the unforgivable.
Breathtaking.
- I forgive you.
-
I'm- I'm free.
My cross. Alex,
give me my cross, please.
So, what do you think
of what I do?
It's not immortality, Alex.
You will grow weary.
But 500 years? 1,000?
Imagine what you could accomplish
given that time.
Imagine the knowledge that waits.
What are you saying?
I'm used up.
My time is done.
But I believe in
the legacy of it all.
I should not be
the last of my kind.
There... should be another other.
But why me?
In the end, Alex,
like recognizes like.
- I'm not like you.
-
Alex, you buried an excommunicated
priest in consecrated ground...
after the church
had forbidden it.
You went around
their authority, Alex...
the same as I do.
You're exactly like me.
I hope you like sunflowers.
I love sunflowers.
You know that.
Why?
Why do you love sunflowers?
Because I always thought that...
when God was making
beautiful things...
he messed up with sunflowers.
How?
Well, 'cause they look like-
I don't know.
They look like crooked teeth around
a mouth that's too big, kind of.
Yeah.
But...just when he was
about to start over...
he realized that's what
made them beautiful.
They were a brilliant mistake.
Like you and me.
Where did you go?
- William Eden...
-
offered me the world last night.
When I saw these, I knew.
Knew what?
That all I want is you.
Tell me what it is.
It's you and me.
It's you and me till the wheels
fall off.
Yeah. That's right.
I hadn't expected you so soon.
How are you feeling?
Formal. The pain has passed.
All that remains
is the knowledge gained.
I brought you this, because
I believe it's yours.
And I have an answer for you.
Haste. That doesn't bode well.
My answer to your offer is no.
I don't want to be your successor.
Was I that wrong about you?
We have a lot in common.
I'll give you that.
Can I ask you a question?
Of course. Go ahead.
Yesterday you said
you once loved.
Were you ever married?
I've had many wives
over the years.
But my love,
that was centuries ago.
They grow old, and they die.
And I remain.
Maybe you'll understand, then.
Mara- I love her.
Well, that's fine.
Have it all- Mara too. There's no need
to choose. You're not a priest anymore.
Don't you see? I-
I don't want Mara
to grow old without me.
Alex, the greatest truth
of all is that love cannot last.
You'll grow tired of it. Bored.
I'll still be here.
And so will my offer.
Yeah.
Good-bye, William Eden.
If I've learned one thing, Alex...
it's that only in death
do we ever really say good-bye.
You want to know what I think?
Do I have a choice?
I think he's evil. I don't think you
should have given him the dagger.
And mostly, SpaghettiO, I don't think
he's gonna take no for an answer.
It's the only answer I've got.
Dominic trained us for what?
- I'm not a priest anymore, Thomas-
- For what?
- To dispatch ghosts, demons and all manner of undead.
- That's right.
- You said so yourself- Eden's a living man.
- Well, I was wrong.
And as soon as I can move,
I go back underground...
see if Chirac knows where
we can find the rest of this.
It's time to walk away.
Let it go.
No walking away, Alex.
Take Mara and run.
Get as far away from here as you can.
Lose yourselves somewhere-
- Thomas. Thomas, please.
-
Please, get some sleep.
Eat someJell- O. Do something.
I'm- I'm gonna go visit Mara.
- I'll be back here later.
- Alex, I'm serious.
Yeah, and I'm starting to laugh.
Just like you told me to.
Get some sleep.
Is it dark where you go, Mara?
Is your pain shapeless...
or does it take form?
What are you doing here?
I came to see you.
I thought we should finally meet.
I've heard many confessions.
I never made one.
Did you know Alex's
mother killed herself?
Has he ever told you that?
How do you know
about his mom?
I was there.
His father died
in a car accident.
I was there then too.
Like me, Alex was defined...
by specific events in his youth.
In his case, they were too important
to be left to fate.
You killed them?
-
- And Dominic helped me mold him.
Dominic gave me Alex.
That was his sin.
You still haven't answered
my question, Mara.
Is it dark where you go, Mara?
When the nightingales sing?
Hmm?
I brought them to you.
I placed you in Alex's path.
Your love is my creation...
manufactured like an automobile.
You don't need to worry.
Alex will be fine.
I'll see to it.
I'm sorry, girl...
but this world
is too much with me.
I'll take you to a place
where it isn't dark anymore...
where the sun
shines all the time.
I'm sorry.
Mara?
Oh!
Ohh! Ohh! Ahh!
No! No! Oh, no.
Mara. Mara.
Mara, baby. Baby.
Baby, I-
Baby. Oh!
In nomine Patris, et Fili-
Oh, God.
I'm sorry. I can't.
I can't.
I'm not a priest anymore.
I can take you there if I-
Baby, oh, hang on, okay?
Hold on, okay, please?
No. I-
Baby. Now-
Buon giorno, Mr. Alex.
Eden!
He's not here.
Where is he?
- We thought you would know, Mr. Alex.
- Eden!
He said to say good-bye.
He told me to tell you
that everything's in order.
Everything that once was his
is now yours.
What's going on here?
What's going on here?
"Barath-mae, barath-sec. "
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
And watch your language.
It's a set-up.
Now...
kiss the ring...
and I'll spare your life.
Blasphemer.
Blasphemer.
So...
has the world gone mad?
No. It still makes deals.
Mine was with William Eden.
I opened the Vatican vaults
and retrieved the dagger...
William Eden had
lost 400 years ago.
In return, he compromised
certain votes...
of certain cardinals.
For my deal with William Eden...
I will become pope.
A warrior pope.
A pope of a church
that will reclaim its property...
and its sanctity and its power.
Blasphemer!
Aaah!
Pagan-worshipping blasphemer!
I need to speak with Eden.
You know what I mean.
The other.
No. I'm asking you.
I seek the other.
He ends where he began-
in St. Peter's.
We hang priests here!
The weak ones!
Mara died.
Slit her wrists.
I've got to go.
I've got to go.
Alex.
Am I the answer to your prayer?
You just might be.
I performed the ceremony...
found Mara dying.
I did it to set her free.
How did it feel?
Like I was God.
What about her sins?
Do you have knowledge
of them too?
Yes. There weren't many.
Hmm. She was a good girl.
One thing about it
troubles me, though.
Don't intellectualize
something so visceral.
It's just, in the church,
suicide is a mortal sin...
and I didn't feel it at all.
Maybe the church is wrong.
No.
She was murdered.
One day, you will realize, Alex...
that because of what I did...
in your heart,
Mara, your love...
will live forever.
- No!
Barath-mae-
- Barath-sec.
Now you'll know
what I know, Alex.
Time to look into the abyss.
There are wonders there.
I feel like I'm...
10 years old again.
I'm home.
I...
understand.
God save me, I understand.
The parchment-
it's not how you kill the other.
It's how you become the other.
I'm sorry.
I found out too late.
I won't leave you like this, Alex.
There has to be another way.
When I learn what it is,
I'll find you...
even if it's to kill you.
Morning.
I sent for the sin eater.
I am the sin eater.
Huh.
So Eden gets what he asks for...
and you and I are left behind.
What you told the Vatican
has ruined me. Did you know that?
Deposed...
and degraded.
It was you, wasn't it?
I learned a lot
in a very short time.
And in the end...
the only secret people keep
is immortality.
You ready?
It's the confession, not the priest...
that gives you absolution.
Do you understand?
Yes.
Are you ready
to make your confession?
Yes.
She was like a sunflower.
God's beautiful mistake.
Choke on your own filth.
And now it is I.
I have been blessed and cursed...
for now I possess the keys
to the kingdom ofheaven.
I will forgive those
who deserve freedom.
I will damn those
who have damned themselves.
I will learn to live
after love has died.
I am the sin eater.
Due croci.
Due croci.
The answer to mine
is a knowledge born of darkness.
It wasn't always so.
In the beginning,
I still had questions.
In the beginning,
my mystery still remained.
Brother Dominic...
scholar of the Catholic arcane.
Believer in
the unsanitized church.
A church that no longer
believes in itself.
The church
of stigmata...
and exorcism, saints...
and demons...
and me.
I believe in many things.
So do I.
And right now,
I believe it's time.
Are you ready to
make your confession?
Forgive me, Alex.
I have sinned against you.
There he is. That's Alex.
- He's young.
- But an old soul, Clive.
He's an old soul.
Mea culpa. Mea culpa.
Mea maxima culpa.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
- Corpus Christi?
- Amen.
I need to speak with you.
Do you always say
the mass in Latin?
- It's how I was taught.
- It belies your age.
And with your back
to your audience, no less.
You know, six or 700 years ago...
they wouldn't have
seen you at all.
You'd have sung the mass in Latin
behind a huge choir screen...
out of the sight of a congregation
who was only allowed to... listen.
I think you would have liked the choir
screen, Alex. You're a contradiction.
What I am is stuck here because the church
doesn't know what to do with me.
Well, the church doesn't know
what the hell to do with itself.
Look, I won't pretend I don't know
you have certain qualifications...
certain skills, that set you apart
from other priests.
However, the diocese has certain questions
about your faith, Alex.
So, what do you want from me?
Well, I have
sad news for you.
- Dominic, the head of your order-
- I know who he is.
He's dead.
Today. In Rome.
Is this your mother?
Say good-bye, Alex.
It's time to say good-bye.
Good-bye.
Leave your tears here
and then forget them.
Alex?
Alex? Alex?
How is it that a cardinal has enough
time to come and tell me this?
Because I loved him.
Because he was my mentor.
Because the circumstances
of his death are... curious.
I need to go to Rome.
The diocese will arrange a flight.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
Your time is coming.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
In the name of God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, I order you back to hell.
Fuck your god!
All mouth, no trousers.
Your church will be lost,
Priest.
The dark pope... rises.
- Hello?
- Ah, Thomas.
- I've been trying to reach you, mate.
- Alex.
-
- How are you, SpaghettiO?
Yeah, listen to me.
Dominic died.
- Dominic?
- Yeah.
Ah, no.
- When did it happen?
- Last night.
Where are you? In New York?
At St. Anthony's?
Yeah. Listen,
I'm going to Rome, Thomas.
- When?
- Tomorrow.
And guess what.
So are you.
Just be there.
Hi.
Hi.
When did they release you?
I was released today.
Years ago, it was a dorm
for all the priests.
Now it's empty.
You're here.
True.
-
- Oh, I'll wait.
Uh, we're looking
for Alex Bernier.
That's me.
Is there something wrong?
Just a heads-up, Father.
You know a...
Mara Williams?
Yes.
She escaped today from the mental-health
facility where she was remanded by the court.
Remanded, huh? And what does this
have to do with me?
Well, she was locked up
for trying to kill you, wasn't she?
That was the main reason, yes.
I just thought you'd like to know
she's unaccounted for.
Look, I could have a car drive
by here once in a while.
- No, I'm fine. Thank you.
- Well, like I said, a heads- up.
You know, it says here-
I couldn't make it out in this copy-
that she, uh- that she shot you
at an exercise class?
No, at an exorcism.
Oh.
Have a good night.
You, too, Father.
You lied. You said
they released you.
No, I didn't. I didn't lie.
I said I was released.
I didn't say who did it.
- Mara?
- Alex...
you didn't say good-bye.
They said it would be better
that I didn't see you for a while.
For a year?
I don't know.
- I started painting again.
- Did you?
Yeah. Flowers mostly.
I wanna paint sunflowers,
but I don't have the guts.
Do you think I'm crazy?
I know you're not.
Why'd you come here?
- I heard you call me.
- Mara, don't say that.
Okay, I got a feeling...
that I should be with you...
in case one of us
has to say good- bye.
I've never been to Rome before.
- Is it amazing?
- I bet it is.
- It scares me-
ever since I was a boy.
And you're staying here.
No, I'm not staying here.
I can't stay here.
And you need me
whether you know it or not.
- And?
- The nightingales are gone.
- Are they?
- Yeah.
They've been gone for about a year.
Same as you.
Alex, look at me.
It's you and me.
You and me
till the wheels fall off.
Promise you won't try to kill me.
Cross my heart, hope to die.
It's here.
Hey.
Mara?
- What are they?
- Orphans.
But of what I have no idea.
I've been in worse places.
It just needs light, that's all.
What are those?
Aramaic.
It's the language of Christ.
What does it say?
Barath-mae. "Blood in."
Down there, barath-sec.
"Blood out."
This must have been where
they found Dominic's body.
Alex, what are you thinking?
It was a ceremony.
The message I got said suicide.
Sleeping pills, signore.
Is that him?
Yes, it's him.
Thank you.
No, no. I didn't pay
to look at his face.
- If you don't mind.
-
What are these?
- Okay, let's go, please. Hurry up.
- No, no, no. What are these?
- Do you know what these are?
- Maybe a birthmark.
- I don't know. I'm not a doctor.
- That's not a birthmark.
- When's the body due to be released to the church?
- It isn't.
When we are done with it,
it goes to the state...
for burial in the state cemetery.
Okay. Please, let's go.
Please. Come with me.
It's always nice to see a priest.
- And a Carolingian, no less.
- You've seen others?
A Dominic Sousa, perhaps?
Carolingians...
you surpass even theJesuits in your
heretical search for knowledge.
It's important to stay
inside the lines.
- What lines?
-
This way.
Those were the marks.
Dominic, what were you doing?
"Bread and salt
eaten off the body...
the sins of one man
consumed by the other."
A sin eater.
If Hitler had had one in the bunker,
he'd be sitting on a cloud right now.
- Of course, sin eaters...
haven't existed for two centuries,
have they?
What did Dominic buy from you?
Many things over the years.
Last time, a vellum parchment
written in Aramaic.
What did it say?
I'm not as clever as Dominic...
scholar of mysteries.
He delved deep and dark.
Always after knowledge.
I think he'd have sold his soul
for knowledge.
- Do you?
- His heretic soul or something precious to him.
Is there a price tag
on your head?
What's that supposed to mean?
Sometimes it's better
for a priest not to know.
Knowledge is the enemy of faith.
And sometimes when you
look into the abyss...
the abyss looks back into you.
- Look, his order meant everything to him.
-
Now, Dominic should be buried with
his order in the Concezione Cemetery.
Your order. His former order.
The Carolingians, not many
of you left in the world.
Yeah, a dying breed.
Look, and when they die,
it's the Concezione Cemetery.
Suicide is a cardinal sin.
- Dominic didn't commit suicide.
- It makes no difference.
He had been excommunicated, excluded
from our society and sacraments.
"There is no salvation outside the church."
- Yes, I know my Latin.
- Unlike your manners. Respect what you are.
Well, what I am is my concern.
Thank you.
Listen, I'm sorry. I am. I-
I need the theosophic council
to convene as soon as possible.
The council?
It hasn't convened in years.
For what purpose?
Tell them I found a sin eater.
A sin eater? Here?
At the start
of the new millennium?
How many other impossible things
do you believe in?
It's not impossible. I've seen the marks
on Dominic's body myself.
Your mentor
was excommunicated...
for rejection of articles of faith.
Heresy. Accept it.
He took his own life
because he couldn't bear that.
- Grazie, Franca.
- Father Alex.
Ciao, Maria. Ciao.
Grazie.
In nomine Patris, et Fili,
et Spiritus Sancti.
Amen.
In the name of God...
I command you to return
from whence you came.
In the name of God-
In the name ofJesus, God, and the
Holy Virgin, I order you back to hell!
Well, off to hell yourself.
What kind of a greeting's that?
You're late.
Never too late, Alex.
Witness the repentant thief...
crucified alongside our Lord Savior.
- Quick thinker, eh?
- How you doin'?
Ah, I'm grand.
- So, did you bury him?
- Yeah.
Rogue priest readin' rites
over an excommunicado.
Damn dirty job,
but someone's gotta do it.
Well, cheers.
To the last of the Carolingians.
You and me.
Cheers.
What just passed
through here, Alex?
Demon spawn
in the guise of children.
Nothing I couldn't handle.
- Who summoned those nasties up?
- Dominic, I think.
They were camped
outside his apartment.
Oh, speaking of the apartment,
I met your girlfriend.
She's not my girlfriend.
Well, she should be. She said
you'd be at the Concezione.
You told her it was a restaurant?
- Well, she would have come with me otherwise.
- Oh, women.
Can't live with 'em.
Can't live with 'em.
- Come on.
- Sin eater.
"In absolution, the burden of guilt...
"would be transmuted
to the sin eater...
as would the knowledge
of the transgressions."
Wait. You mean he'd know what
your sins were? Even the details?
He'd know them
and feel the burden of them.
He'd spend sleepless nights
over things others had done.
He'd have the ascendancy
to free a man's soul.
And damn his own.
We're Carolingians, Alex and I.
Now, in a way,
that makes us responsible.
They say the practice of sin eating began
with banished members of our order.
Come on. That's like
saying that sheep...
are responsible for the sweaters
that get made from their wool.
Maybe they are, Mara, girl.
I found the vellum Dominic bought.
I'll translate it for you.
Okay...
"Place the instrument
of delivery over the heart."
It must be some kind of weapon.
And then look.
"Barath-mae, barath-sec. "
Blood in, blood out.
"And drive into the heart."
Now, the rest is missing.
- Still, you get the idea.
- I'm not sure I do.
Well, they're instructions...
on how to kill a sin eater.
Dominic trained us to deal with ghosts
and demons and all manner of undead...
but this sin eater,
he's a living man.
Well, whatever he is,
he killed Dominic.
Maybe, maybe not.
I've seen another copy
of this somewhere.
So, we meet again.
Jesu, the fuckin' cavalry.
So, how are you finding our city
of emperors, our city of martyrs?
Would you care for a beer, Your Eminence?
Or something a little stronger?
- And you are?
- He's Thomas.
- She's Mara.
- We're the Catholic Pete, Linc and Julie.
Well, I am Michael Cardinal Driscoll,
and among other things...
I'm head of
the theosophic council.
A bit like the dead letter department
of the post office, I'm afraid.
I believe Michelangelo
went blind from candlelight.
Dominic didn't believe
in electricity.
Yes, but a sin eater? You couldn't have
shocked the bishop more if you'd said...
you'd been possessed by some Phoenician
demon and then demanded an exorcism.
- The exorcism was on Friday.
- Well, today is Monday.
And yet, I think there may be
credence to what you say.
Matter of fact, I know there is.
A sin eater-
a renegade who provides a path to heaven
outside of the church, outside of our savior.
If you believe such things,
he has the power...
to grant redemption
to the unrepentant.
Sort of a heretical wrench in the cogs
of our Catholic machinery.
You two were Dominic's chosen. What do
you know about his excommunication?
Nothing.
- He wouldn't speak of it.
- Well, Dominic believed this other...
this man was based right here in Rome.
Now, that's all I know because
that's all he told me...
and I assume that the two of you
plan to seek him out.
Otherwise, I am just spinning
my wheels here.
Sadly, the church no longer
has the will to dispatch.
Thank God we still have the tools.
The instrument of delivery,
if you will.
Now, if you'll excuse me...
there are even more pressing matters
weighing on the Vatican tonight.
Signorina.
What could be more
important than this?
They say the pope is ill.
In fact, they say that he's dying.
And that man, Mara, girl,
that American is front-runner for the job.
That man that just asked you
to kill somebody?
Left it to our discretion, I'd say.
Where'd you get that?
Last year. Got drunk,
woke up with it.
That's very strange.
Sailors get anchors, so I'm a priest.
It's still strange, Tommy.
I'm glad Dominic
believed in bathrooms.
I usually just open the window
and lean out.
What's strange is that you're a priest
sleeping on the couch...
instead of a man
sleeping in bed with her.
Thomas, two days ago,
she was in a mental institution.
So, she's crazy about you.
Can you look me in the eye and tell me
you still wanna be a priest?
Can you?
There are other ways to serve.
Hmm, to serve.
- It's knowledge I'm after.
- Knowledge.
When I look under a rock,
my gut reacts to what I see.
I don't wonder how it got under
the rock to begin with.
You guys tired?
Go upstairs and get some sleep.
- Good night.
- Night.
- Sweet dreams, yeah?
- You too.
I know who she is,
but who is she?
Tell me something about her.
- Hmm.
She's a- She's a painter.
Really good too.
I don't know, there's something
about her that-
She sees things differently.
She feels things differently.
I wish I never saw her face.
Alex, you're a fool.
Same as you were once.
Alex,your head rules your heart.
- Oh, and what rules yours?
- Laughter, of course.
Hey, hey, you laugh
to keep from going mad.
- You laugh to keep the wolves at bay.
- It's still laughter.
- As for you, SpaghettiO, choose life.
- Right.
Let your heart wear the crown,
not your head.
Here we are.
Time to see Chirac.
Who is he anyways?
A rising darkness.
A rising darkness?
We're looking for Rosalinda.
Sure. She's over there.
Girl with the faraway eyes.
We need you to take us to Chirac.
Don't start your posturing,
you pagan worshipping pig.
You owe me a debt.
My friend and I
are looking for the other.
Just what does he mean
by the dying?
-
-
Ask him.
Oh, shit. Uh-
Where- Where can I find the sin eater?
The other will find you.
Upon the stone where all is built-
he brings you claves...
regni caelorum.
Claves regni caelorum?
The keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Upon the stone
where all is built.
Upon the stone
where all is built.
Ah, I hate riddles.
Petrus, stone. Petram.
Peter is the stone upon which all,
right, the church is built.
St. Peter's.
Well, the other will find me then.
St. Peter's. Doesn't anyone
just meet for coffee anymore?
- And he will bring you claves regni-
Alex!
Come on.
Let's get out of here.
Thomas.
Thomas.
No point in hangin' around.
Thomas!
Tommy, love.
How long have you
been a priest, Thomas?
Certain pleasures
are forever out of reach.
- Denied.
- Thomas!
Leave it for a sunny day.
Come on.
All mouth and no trousers.
Remember that girl
in Dublin? Megan was her name.
Did you feel foolish, Tommy?
In love with a whore.
Thomas?
It's personal. Ignore it.
The first and only lesson, remember?
Tommy love. Oh, Tommy.
I love you, Tommy.
- Come on, mate.
- Never give them an inch.
- Tommy.
- Not one fuckin' inch!
Thomas? Thomas! Thomas!
In the name of God
and Jesus Christ...
to hell with you!
I love you, Tommy.
I'll pray for you, Tommy.
- Thomas!
Shit!
I said there was no point
in hanging around.
You never laugh, Alex.
It's not good for the soul.
I thought you might
be the nurse.
- Thomas, what happened? Where's Alex?
- He's off in search of coffee.
As for me, I was hoisted up
by me own petard.
Mara, if I can ask...
what happened
between you and Alex?
It's okay.
If I was embarrassed,
I'd wear bracelets.
My little brother was murdered,
and they brought Alex in to consult.
The Filmore murders.
Dominic sent Alex.
That was his first time on his own.
Mara, I hear confession all the time.
Nightingales.
- What about them?
Those are the birds
that I'd hear singing...
right before
the headaches started.
These headaches,
they'd go on for weeks.
They were... blinding.
So, I did this,
and even that didn't help.
Alex performed an exorcism.
Yeah.
Alex took away my pain...
and I fell in love with a priest
who couldn't love me back.
Love.
You traded one pain for another.
Something terrible is gonna
happen to Alex, Thomas.
I don't know what it is...
but I know that
it's worse than death.
Am I the answer to your prayer?
My friends call me William.
William Eden.
- I'm not your friend.
-
That remains to be seen.
I know what you're feeling, Alex,
and you're right.
God exists.
He just doesn't give a damn.
Magnificence.
Flesh rots.
St. Peter's remains.
This impossible dome, Alex...
it was raised by my brother
when I was still a boy.
Blood and sweat built this...
not faith.
It was Michelangelo who drew
the dome on a piece of paper...
but it was left to my brother
to figure out a way...
to raise it halfway to heaven...
and it was my honor, each day
to bring him something to eat...
- and ask him of the world outside of my own.
- Papa?
Hey, William.
You brought some food.
Thank you.
Tell me a story, Phillip,
a story ofJerusalem.
Jerusalem?
- Phillip!
Phillip!
Phillip!
He's dying.
I can give no absolution.
He was excommunicated
last year in Jerusalem.
Good enough to
build God's house...
but not to let him
enter his kingdom.
Is that it?
William, go.
Fetch the sin eater.
In Jerusalem, my brother gave
a dying Arab a drink of water.
There was no well,
so he gave him holy water.
My brother gave the church
his youth in Jerusalem...
his blood at St. Peter's,
but when he lay dying...
they deserted him.
When his soul stretched out,
caught between heaven and hell...
it was the other
who delivered him.
It was the other
who gave him peace.
I always loved
my brother, Alex...
but the church I grew to hate.
This... is the other way.
I can teach you...
if you are willing.
I was willing.
And so, I was taught.
Did you kill Dominic Sousa?
The church killed him.
He died when
he was excommunicated.
His body continued on a while,
but his spirit was dead.
That's a lie.
He was, Alex. He was ruined,
broken, not playacting.
Don't talk to me of lies.
I lost it in 1602.
I had dinner with Caravaggio
and drank too much wine.
It's a means-
an instrument for ridding the world
of the other.
Answer my question.
Did you kill Dominic?
He killed himself, Alex,
after the church abandoned him...
after they took away
his reason to live.
They did to him as they did
to my brother, Alex.
And you know what I did?
You know what
I did for Dominic?
I gave him absolution.
I took on the burden of his sins,
and I gave him peace.
Not the church- I.
So don't talk to me of lies, Alex.
Dominic was like a father to me.
I'm just trying to understand.
Come with me.
Every fear hides a wish.
Don't you think?
So what is it
to be a sin eater?
What is it not to be one?
I know of no other way to be.
It seems beyond a man's judgment.
Forgiveness is God's domain.
I'm just an instrument.
Like any great power,
it depends on how it's used.
- And how do you use it?
- As I see fit.
I'm not a threat to the church.
I'm an insult, an embarrassment.
But you're a Carolingian.
You know how it feels to be outside.
I serve the church.
Serve yourself.
Get Alex some fresh clothes
and a hot bath if he would like.
And then take him someplace quiet
where he can sit.
If you would like anything,
anything can be arranged.
- How long have I been asleep for?
- A few hours.
What is it you want, Alex?
- I want to learn the truth.
- Truth?
The terrible thing about searching for
the truth is that sometimes you find it.
Not to mention it makes you
very unwelcome at parties.
It makes you unwelcome anywhere,
even in church.
Who are you?
I'm all that remains when
everything else turns to dust.
But to put it simply, Alex,
I'm very, very tired.
Are you a man?
I shit. I fuck.
I shave. Does that
make me a man?
Can you die?
You tell me.
I laugh. I cry.
Once, I loved.
Does that make me a man?
I don't know. What about you, Alex?
Are you a man?
- I'm a priest.
- You understand the difference...
the truth of it.
Good.
Do you remember what Keats said
about the truth?
"Beauty is truth. Truth is beauty."
Keeping that in mind...
my original question,
what is it you want?
The truth...
or something beautiful?
Something beautiful.
Beauty is truth, Alex.
Does your oasis have a name?
Mara.
- Her name is Mara.
- So say it.
Say what you want, Alex.
If it's the truth, then
why be afraid? Say it.
I want Mara.
Then you're a man...
and not a priest.
And if Mara's what you want,
then you should go and get her.
-
- Shh. You'll wake her.
She might be dreaming.
How we run
from the things we need.
He's dying.
That's why I'm here.
Rembrandt did some
remarkable things.
This isn't one of them.
It's a de Gelder.
But only I'll know that.
Put it in the car.
- Your services don't come cheap.
- No, they don't.
What did Dominic give you?
I mean he, uh-
he had nothing.
That's not true. He gave me friendship
once, and I returned it.
What do you think
you can do for him that I haven't?
I am the conductor
of the night train.
The answer to your question
is infinite.
- Science, medicine.
-
You give people
nothing to hold...
except words they can't pronounce.
Cancers that act capriciously.
You measure life with a ruler...
and a bathroom scale.
You take away...
you kill the mystery
that makes life mean something.
And you pretend
to understand it all...
when you understand nothing,
when you are nothing...
when your dust has
more value than you do.
Christ on the cross...
he gave forgiveness to a thief
being crucified alongside him.
The church would not
have allowed it.
- But Christ did.
- I know this man.
That's Marcus Burnham.
I read about him.
A lost sheep.
A man full of regret and fear.
Such fear.
They say he got away with murder.
That remains to be seen.
"Blood in."
"Blood out."
From Jerusalem- my brother said
it held a splinter from the true cross.
But the world is rotten with lies.
Bread for the host.
And salt for the blood.
Are you ready to make
your confession?
Uh-huh.
Forgiveness for the unforgivable.
Breathtaking.
- I forgive you.
-
I'm- I'm free.
My cross. Alex,
give me my cross, please.
So, what do you think
of what I do?
It's not immortality, Alex.
You will grow weary.
But 500 years? 1,000?
Imagine what you could accomplish
given that time.
Imagine the knowledge that waits.
What are you saying?
I'm used up.
My time is done.
But I believe in
the legacy of it all.
I should not be
the last of my kind.
There... should be another other.
But why me?
In the end, Alex,
like recognizes like.
- I'm not like you.
-
Alex, you buried an excommunicated
priest in consecrated ground...
after the church
had forbidden it.
You went around
their authority, Alex...
the same as I do.
You're exactly like me.
I hope you like sunflowers.
I love sunflowers.
You know that.
Why?
Why do you love sunflowers?
Because I always thought that...
when God was making
beautiful things...
he messed up with sunflowers.
How?
Well, 'cause they look like-
I don't know.
They look like crooked teeth around
a mouth that's too big, kind of.
Yeah.
But...just when he was
about to start over...
he realized that's what
made them beautiful.
They were a brilliant mistake.
Like you and me.
Where did you go?
- William Eden...
-
offered me the world last night.
When I saw these, I knew.
Knew what?
That all I want is you.
Tell me what it is.
It's you and me.
It's you and me till the wheels
fall off.
Yeah. That's right.
I hadn't expected you so soon.
How are you feeling?
Formal. The pain has passed.
All that remains
is the knowledge gained.
I brought you this, because
I believe it's yours.
And I have an answer for you.
Haste. That doesn't bode well.
My answer to your offer is no.
I don't want to be your successor.
Was I that wrong about you?
We have a lot in common.
I'll give you that.
Can I ask you a question?
Of course. Go ahead.
Yesterday you said
you once loved.
Were you ever married?
I've had many wives
over the years.
But my love,
that was centuries ago.
They grow old, and they die.
And I remain.
Maybe you'll understand, then.
Mara- I love her.
Well, that's fine.
Have it all- Mara too. There's no need
to choose. You're not a priest anymore.
Don't you see? I-
I don't want Mara
to grow old without me.
Alex, the greatest truth
of all is that love cannot last.
You'll grow tired of it. Bored.
I'll still be here.
And so will my offer.
Yeah.
Good-bye, William Eden.
If I've learned one thing, Alex...
it's that only in death
do we ever really say good-bye.
You want to know what I think?
Do I have a choice?
I think he's evil. I don't think you
should have given him the dagger.
And mostly, SpaghettiO, I don't think
he's gonna take no for an answer.
It's the only answer I've got.
Dominic trained us for what?
- I'm not a priest anymore, Thomas-
- For what?
- To dispatch ghosts, demons and all manner of undead.
- That's right.
- You said so yourself- Eden's a living man.
- Well, I was wrong.
And as soon as I can move,
I go back underground...
see if Chirac knows where
we can find the rest of this.
It's time to walk away.
Let it go.
No walking away, Alex.
Take Mara and run.
Get as far away from here as you can.
Lose yourselves somewhere-
- Thomas. Thomas, please.
-
Please, get some sleep.
Eat someJell- O. Do something.
I'm- I'm gonna go visit Mara.
- I'll be back here later.
- Alex, I'm serious.
Yeah, and I'm starting to laugh.
Just like you told me to.
Get some sleep.
Is it dark where you go, Mara?
Is your pain shapeless...
or does it take form?
What are you doing here?
I came to see you.
I thought we should finally meet.
I've heard many confessions.
I never made one.
Did you know Alex's
mother killed herself?
Has he ever told you that?
How do you know
about his mom?
I was there.
His father died
in a car accident.
I was there then too.
Like me, Alex was defined...
by specific events in his youth.
In his case, they were too important
to be left to fate.
You killed them?
-
- And Dominic helped me mold him.
Dominic gave me Alex.
That was his sin.
You still haven't answered
my question, Mara.
Is it dark where you go, Mara?
When the nightingales sing?
Hmm?
I brought them to you.
I placed you in Alex's path.
Your love is my creation...
manufactured like an automobile.
You don't need to worry.
Alex will be fine.
I'll see to it.
I'm sorry, girl...
but this world
is too much with me.
I'll take you to a place
where it isn't dark anymore...
where the sun
shines all the time.
I'm sorry.
Mara?
Oh!
Ohh! Ohh! Ahh!
No! No! Oh, no.
Mara. Mara.
Mara, baby. Baby.
Baby, I-
Baby. Oh!
In nomine Patris, et Fili-
Oh, God.
I'm sorry. I can't.
I can't.
I'm not a priest anymore.
I can take you there if I-
Baby, oh, hang on, okay?
Hold on, okay, please?
No. I-
Baby. Now-
Buon giorno, Mr. Alex.
Eden!
He's not here.
Where is he?
- We thought you would know, Mr. Alex.
- Eden!
He said to say good-bye.
He told me to tell you
that everything's in order.
Everything that once was his
is now yours.
What's going on here?
What's going on here?
"Barath-mae, barath-sec. "
Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
And watch your language.
It's a set-up.
Now...
kiss the ring...
and I'll spare your life.
Blasphemer.
Blasphemer.
So...
has the world gone mad?
No. It still makes deals.
Mine was with William Eden.
I opened the Vatican vaults
and retrieved the dagger...
William Eden had
lost 400 years ago.
In return, he compromised
certain votes...
of certain cardinals.
For my deal with William Eden...
I will become pope.
A warrior pope.
A pope of a church
that will reclaim its property...
and its sanctity and its power.
Blasphemer!
Aaah!
Pagan-worshipping blasphemer!
I need to speak with Eden.
You know what I mean.
The other.
No. I'm asking you.
I seek the other.
He ends where he began-
in St. Peter's.
We hang priests here!
The weak ones!
Mara died.
Slit her wrists.
I've got to go.
I've got to go.
Alex.
Am I the answer to your prayer?
You just might be.
I performed the ceremony...
found Mara dying.
I did it to set her free.
How did it feel?
Like I was God.
What about her sins?
Do you have knowledge
of them too?
Yes. There weren't many.
Hmm. She was a good girl.
One thing about it
troubles me, though.
Don't intellectualize
something so visceral.
It's just, in the church,
suicide is a mortal sin...
and I didn't feel it at all.
Maybe the church is wrong.
No.
She was murdered.
One day, you will realize, Alex...
that because of what I did...
in your heart,
Mara, your love...
will live forever.
- No!
Barath-mae-
- Barath-sec.
Now you'll know
what I know, Alex.
Time to look into the abyss.
There are wonders there.
I feel like I'm...
10 years old again.
I'm home.
I...
understand.
God save me, I understand.
The parchment-
it's not how you kill the other.
It's how you become the other.
I'm sorry.
I found out too late.
I won't leave you like this, Alex.
There has to be another way.
When I learn what it is,
I'll find you...
even if it's to kill you.
Morning.
I sent for the sin eater.
I am the sin eater.
Huh.
So Eden gets what he asks for...
and you and I are left behind.
What you told the Vatican
has ruined me. Did you know that?
Deposed...
and degraded.
It was you, wasn't it?
I learned a lot
in a very short time.
And in the end...
the only secret people keep
is immortality.
You ready?
It's the confession, not the priest...
that gives you absolution.
Do you understand?
Yes.
Are you ready
to make your confession?
Yes.
She was like a sunflower.
God's beautiful mistake.
Choke on your own filth.
And now it is I.
I have been blessed and cursed...
for now I possess the keys
to the kingdom ofheaven.
I will forgive those
who deserve freedom.
I will damn those
who have damned themselves.
I will learn to live
after love has died.
I am the sin eater.
Due croci.
Due croci.