King & Conqueror (2025) s01e03 Episode Script

BABY CRIES
WAVES CRASH
We can't sail against this.
Even with your father's
blessing to return to England,
it could be like this for weeks.
She might not have weeks.
BABY CRIES
Hey, it's all right.
Come on. Come on. You're all right.
They're missing their father.
They miss their mother.
- Hangover?
- Ugh
So this is your
..newest recruit, is it?
I've got you.
What's that supposed to mean?
How many housecarls have you conned
into joining your noble
quest back to England?
Oh, come on, Harold.
It's all over your face.
I want to come with you.
You want what?
Father will listen to your plan
if we agree to
Sweyn, we never agree on anything.
You know Father will be
more likely to give his blessing
if we stand together on this.
Fine.
Are you ready to go?
We set sail as soon as the wind changes.
So you know where Edith is?
She's in our stockade.
What makes you think that?
Because the raiders were Mercian,
which means the order
came from Lady Emma.
She wants the Godwins dead. We escaped.
If they have Edith, then they're
going to be using her as bait.
And you just want to walk
right into their trap?
Well, it's only a trap if we get caught.
FOOTSTEPS OUTSIDE
STARTLED GRUN
Yeah
- You little weasel.
- Tostig, what the hell are you doing out there?
I know what you're planning.
I want to come with you.
SWEYN LAUGHS
Absolutely no chance.
Let him make his case.
Have you seen him hunt?
I have seen YOU hunt, which
means you can shut your mouth.
You're getting rather too big
for your boots, Little Kettle.
Harold, please. I want to be
a part of this. I can help you.
Fine.
We need a boat.
Go to Count Baldwin and see
if you can negotiate one.
All right, I will.
Wait here.
That didn't mean you
could come straight back.
I paid for that introduction, Judith.
- You should have at least stayed the full
- Apologies, my lord. - Yes?
- You have a visitor.
- Yes?
Yes?
I'm Tostig. I
- And?
- And you were talking to me. We are not finished yet.
Wait.
Who are you?
Tostig Godwinson, son of Godwin.
And what can I do for you,
son of Godwin?
Hello, I'm over here.
Me and my brothers need
use of one of your boats, sir.
- A return trip to Wessex.
- Mm.
Sounds risky.
Judith, this is Tostig Godwinson,
son of the Earl of Wessex,
currently in exile.
Nice to meet you, Tostig.
Tostig, this is Judith. My niece.
My very eligible niece.
Are you married?
Me? No.
No? Any reason why?
Hm? You're all there, aren't you?
Of course.
Er
Just, marriage is a lot to consider.
Why do you say that?
Well, I see happy people get married,
and then they have children
who make them unhappy,
and then they fight over them for
reasons they should have resolved
before they had children
in the first place.
Ah. A philosopher.
Sorry, was that out of turn?
Does your father know you're here?
No.
Your secret is safe with me.
Or let's say you owe me a favour.
And a boat, if you lose this one.
Thank you.
Of course.
- Nice arse.
- Patience.
King Henry's court's
filled with suitors,
and you've been mentioned by name.
Are they as rich as the English suitors?
Even the ones in exile?
Good question.
Flanders remains neutral, Your Majesty.
If you attack, there's not a country
in Europe that'll stand for it.
I'm not here to start a war.
I'm here to prevent one.
The outcome of that
is in your hands, William.
War or peace.
I offer you the choice.
Just like you
offered my father a choice.
Your father chose to betray me.
And you betrayed me ever since.
What did he do to you, Henry,
that runs so deep?
What did he do?
He allied to another crown.
Maybe he discovered your secret.
You keep your allies fighting each other
so they don't stand against you.
I gave you every chance to rule in
Normandy, with you and I as friends.
Now Normandy is mine,
and who would follow a bastard
against a king to get it back?
Stay in Flanders. Accept defeat.
Why did you keep me alive?
Easier to control a child
than an uprising?
Did you really think you were
the only bastard I had use for?
I've buried your kind all over Europe.
And now I hear you have a son.
What a sad little bastard
he'll grow up to be.
If he makes it that far.
I can't wait to meet him.
Don't. Don't give him the satisfaction.
There's only one sad bastard here
and we're looking at him.
You are nothing,
William the Bastard.
Just like your father.
You are nothing without me!
We are outlaws
..and if you're caught,
it will be an act of treason.
Edward will have you slit from
your throat down to your balls.
Father, I won't get caught.
How can you be questioning this?
She's my wife.
But you don't even know
if she's still alive.
I don't know that she is not alive.
You think that's enough reason
to risk my men?
Well, they're all ready, Father.
Why are you so keen on this?
What part do you play?
Well, I'm I'm in charge, Father.
Well, that's good.
Taking responsibility.
That's very good indeed.
Father, this is my responsibility.
- But Sweyn is the eldest.
- Edith is my wife.
Yes, and I will bless this
so long as Sweyn takes command.
Sweyn, you're seeing straight,
thinking right.
What about me?
What ABOUT you?
Tostig wants to come as well.
Absolutely not.
- Mother
- He's not ready.
I AM ready.
I'll be the judge of that.
Tostig stays here.
Should be my choice.
It's my choice,
and you will remain here
with your mother and me.
- Doing what?
- As a guarantee.
SWEYN: - And you thought
you didn't have a purpose, Tostig.
Turns out you're the family's
vital seed carrier. Well done, you.
- Sweyn.
- Yes, sir.
You will command the mission,
but Harold will lead the raid.
What?
He's in charge of the best bit?
Edith's fate rests
on Harold's shoulders.
It's best for all concerned.
Because if Edith dies,
you'll never forgive any of us.
That's my decision.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
Are you thirsty in there, are you?
Drink up, Wessex scum.
MOCKING LAUGHTER
Do you think they'll kill her?
I tell you, that would be a shame.
- What do you mean by that?
- Have you seen her?
So this is the little man
your father's been going on about.
Cousin.
Has your father tried
to marry him off yet?
Is that where he's had you?
Yes.
Sent to the Duke of Pavia
for inspection.
All that prodding and poking
and grabbing your teeth
makes you feel like a horse.
I don't suppose you've got any
spare men lying about the place.
Hasn't your William got
some sort of a half-brother?
Oh! You're not that desperate.
Shame.
But what do you know about these
Englishmen who've shown up?
There's a curious one.
Taking a definite shine to me.
Exiles.
Are things that bad?
I just don't fancy being groped
by some rancid Italian skeleton
for the next 20 years.
Man's about 300,
and he wouldn't match the dowry.
How's that supposed to make a girl feel?
Shitty.
You got to choose the man you married.
How'd you manage that?
Told suitors exactly
what I thought, and kept doing it
..until the right one came along.
They were scared of you.
No.
They were scared of my father.
William wasn't.
William wasn't.
Well, apparently King Henry
might have some suitors for me.
Oh, joy.
How do you know?
Your father told me, just now.
He's been in contact with Henry?
That's what he said.
When?
Well, I don't know. I'm not his keeper.
William, my father has been lying to us.
He's been in contact with Henry.
He's kept it from us.
He's betrayed us?
No. I'm certain he hasn't.
You wouldn't be here otherwise.
He's just playing both
sides of the game,
making sure he's on
the winning side, no matter what.
Does he know that you know?
I don't think so.
Well, then we can use this.
If your father's in contact with Henry,
then he's going to help us
whether he knows it or not.
And Henry will believe every word of it.
I'm going to kill Henry.
Robert will be free.
It's the only way to ensure he grows
up without a target on his back.
Huh. So you washed up in Flanders too?
Sorry about your wife.
- You heard about that?
- Well, it's Flanders. News travels.
Is she alive?
I wish I knew.
What are you going to do now?
Without her
..might just kill every
living thing in the world.
Hm.
But she wouldn't want that, so
Mine would.
William, you have to help me.
- With your wife?
- Emma and Edward ordered the attack on our stockade.
He's your cousin.
Surely you can tell me something.
Harold, I can't help you.
The man is mad, and I hardly know him.
Maybe it's better
..not to be in each other's debt.
You trust your wife.
That's
..a difficult thing to lose.
She might be the only one I trust.
I used to have people I trusted.
When I was young.
They betrayed me. All of them.
But I do
..I do trust my wife.
There has to be someone in here, right?
Mm.
Where would you be without that person?
Mm?
No.
What would YOU be without any of them?
Hm.
Well, I would be earl.
And you'd make a good earl.
You think?
Well, from what I see, you seem worthy.
And what about you?
Without any one of them,
those people who have been
there from the beginning.
What would you be?
Without Henry
..I would be free.
It's difficult to fathom.
Standing beside someone for so long.
I've looked up to him my whole life.
Maybe you're just better than him.
Maybe you and I
are better than all of them.
Maybe it's that simple.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
SHOUTING
MAN SCREAMS
The dagger!
Who did they come for?
BOTH: For me.
SWEYN: - Gather round.
This
..is a noble quest
..and it is my great honour,
as your future Earl of Wessex,
to lead you on it.
Look, if any of you want to
turn back, now is your chance.
Come on!
Your brothers have left.
I know.
You feel left out?
Never been in.
Well, I, for one,
am happy you're staying behind.
What?
No, it's just when
..I saw you before, I
- I
- What is it?
You're just so
..beautiful.
That's it?
That's your big gambit?
It's true.
All right.
How beautiful?
Like
Like a cherry stone.
Like you were a part of me from the
..beginning. Part of my
..flesh growing
around this this seed
..that I never knew how to find,
not until I saw you.
Just
I see you.
I see you, just
..beautiful.
Beautiful.
Do you always talk like that?
I do when you're around. I
I wonder
Wow.
THEY LAUGH QUIETLY
Their last stand
so we could reach the boats.
What a waste of wine.
I'd like to bury the bodies.
Yes.
Yes, of course.
Bury our men.
Bury our men.
Bury them with full honours.
We leave them where they are.
What?
If we bury them,
they'll know that we've been here.
HE CLICKS TONGUE, HORSE WHINNIES
Yeah. Right.
FOOTSTEPS APPROACH
SHE GASPS
LAUGHTER OUTSIDE
Be ready with cover.
I still say we should
attack from the front.
Sweyn, enough.
We're doing this my way,
just as Father told you.
Do you hear me?
How many do you count?
Maybe a dozen.
A dozen?
We can take a dozen.
We've got the element of surprise,
and we can create a diversion
for Harold this way.
My Lord, your brother's orders
were very clear.
My brother's orders?
Sneaking about in the shadows?
Did King Alfred take his victory
by just sneaking around?
Actually, my lord, that's exactly
No, exactly. And neither shall I.
SHEEP BLEATS
THUD
Follow me!
SHE CRIES OU
Raiders in the stockade!
BELL RINGS
Oh, Sweyn!
MEN SHOU
BELL TOLLS
BIRDS CAW
NEW PRISONER BREATHES SHAKILY
I can't keep withdrawing
from the Royal Treasure
without the King's permission.
I am the King's mother -
we don't need his permission.
- Your Majesty.
- I see you.
What's your game?
I know what you did in Wessex.
I know the order to attack was yours.
Earl Morcar doesn't have the liver
for such things.
So you and I, it seems,
are playing the same game.
Only now I am very clear on the rules.
I will see you later at table.
DOOR CLOSES
Mother?
Is everyone lurking
in the shadows today?
Are you coming to Mass?
DISTANT SINGING IN LATIN
Edward,
I'm beginning to wonder
if the wellbeing of your wife
wouldn't be better suited
to the safety of a house of God.
This IS a house of God.
A nunnery.
Surely that girl is of
no further use to us here.
She is my queen and God made her so.
- I cannot disobey
- You're not listening to me.
No.
No, YOU are not listening to US.
God didn't put you on the throne.
I did.
You will not forget that.
DOOR OPENS
Where is Edith?
Where's my wife? Is she alive?
If you have done
something to her, Morcar
So this is what you
got for betraying us, Morcar?
Control over Wessex?
Lady Emma made her feelings
about your father very clear.
You never stood a chance.
I simply took advantage
of an opportunity,
and, in return, for playing my part,
I got what I was promised.
We saw what you did here, Morcar.
Our men slaughtered on the road
and left to rot.
Where is my wife?
Where is Edith? Is she alive?
She's alive.
Where are the rest of our people?
I don't know. Bristol, Dublin, maybe.
- The slave markets. Is that where Edith was sent?
- No.
I sent her to London.
Lady Emma will choose her fate.
You gave Edith to Lady Emma
to keep her sweet?
How long do you think that will last?
If you're afraid of Lady Emma,
then she feeds off it.
- You will never be rid of her.
- I'm afraid of nothing.
Ah, well, then you're a fool.
I'm the only one who can
protect you from her, Morcar.
Who would you rather deal with,
Lady Emma or the Godwins?
Your father swore never to return.
My father is not standing
in front of you right now,
offering you a deal.
- I am.
- Harold
Shut up.
Wessex and Mercia
do not have to be enemies.
Morcar, I'm offering you a fresh start.
Free of Lady Emma.
Imagine that.
Say I did agree
..what assurances would I have?
I'll give you half the plunder
from the Royal Treasury.
And you swear to this, do you?
On your children's lives?
Yes.
All three of them?
All three of them?
Oh, my.
He didn't know.
I have to go to Normandy and
speak to the barons in person.
To fight Henry,
I'll need their allegiance.
Do not let Henry catch you.
Come back.
I can't live without you.
- Yeah. It's good.
- You like it? - Yeah.
It's very good. It's very good.
INAUDIBLE SPEECH
The dowry?
Acceptable.
The land?
Agreed.
- And the wedding?
- Soon.
But let them both think
they're leading this.
It's smoother in the long run.
Great.
Good.
Don't you think Judith knows
you're putting them together?
What does it matter if they're happy?
Hm?
There's no free will
when it comes to love.
It all comes down to
circumstances and timing.
My marriage to William,
you had no hand in that.
Right?
Of course not.
No-one can tell you what to do. Hm?
How does it feel to be home?
It's not home yet.
Not while Henry's still alive,
roaming the place.
We need to make sure
Henry's spies know we're here,
in Normandy, gathering support.
A trap.
Henry's the one
who'll be setting a trap.
You remember the estuary
at the mouth of the River Dives?
Henry has to believe I'm going to
cross the estuary with an army.
All my forces in one place
at the same time, vulnerable.
He'll only break his cover
if he thinks he has
the element of surprise.
If he's convinced of victory
before the fight has even begun.
Henry is cautious, but he'll
always go for the easiest kill.
So, yes.
Henry will think he's setting a trap
But his arrogance will blind him.
Exactly.
Send word to the barons
and set up a meeting.
Tell them to come alone.
We should return to Flanders
first thing in the morning.
I'm not going back without her.
She is alive.
She is with child.
My lord
Listen to your brother.
An attack on London itself is madness.
None of us would survive.
Your wife and child included.
That is why we are not going to London.
But we're not going to Flanders either.
If they have Edith, then what they
expect me to do when I find out
is to attack London without hesitation.
That is what they want me to do.
And you'd be dead
before you pass the gates.
I would be dead before I pass the gates.
There is only one way to get to Edith.
And I need the earls to do it.
- Harold
- It is the only way, Sweyn.
We have Mercia's backing.
Morcar gave us his word.
And you trust him to keep it?
You saw the fear in his eyes.
That was not an empty promise.
We have Mercia.
All we need is Siward in Northumbria.
Mercia is one thing,
but Northumbria?
Siward is a northerner, Harold.
Have you ever tried to
talk reason to one of them?
It's like
It's like juggling mud.
But if I CAN convince him,
then we will have all three
earldoms united behind us.
That is enough power to unseat the King.
Or force him to give us what we want.
You're assuming the people of Wessex,
under the yoke of the King now,
will just
..fall into line.
They will follow an earl.
And you would tell Father that?
You would tell him
that Wessex needs a new earl?
That is exactly what I will tell him.
Northumbria, then.
Northumbria.
WILLIAM: You are the barons,
the strength of Normandy.
Henry has kept us all at
each other's throats for years.
Because he fears our power.
Kept us divided for too long.
Well, I, for one,
will no longer be his fool.
And if Henry came for me,
it's only a matter of time
before he comes for all of you.
I'm offering you the chance
to change everything.
United, we are stronger than Henry.
All of us, together.
Are you with me
..or against me?
Fuck him.
Richard,
I will win.
If Henry falls for your trap.
The Duke's plan will work.
It's not that many of them.
There will be ten times more
hidden among the rocks.
Earl Siward.
Which, uh, Godwin are you?
- Harold.
- Sweyn.
Tell me, why would the great Earl Godwin
send his children to plead his case?
He didn't.
What's that around your neck?
You are married in the Danish way?
So Godwin does remember who he is.
Godwin kept the King's peace.
He was betrayed.
But then you know that.
I've heard the whispers.
You also kept the King's peace.
You still share common ground.
Do we? And what ground is that?
King Edward lied to all of us.
Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria.
You think I give any interest
in what that suckling says?
So why did you ride south
to stand beside him?
Because it pleased me to do so.
Or the King's mother bought you.
So
..what can you offer me
that Lady Emma did not
..Harold Godwinson?
The truth, Earl Siward.
Lady Emma lied to you,
just as she's lied to us.
She wouldn't dare to betray Northumbria.
Not while I'm alive.
And what about when you're dead?
Think of your kin.
This is the only way
to protect them from Lady Emma.
My health may be failing,
and I'm old enough to have seen
every son I sired die in battle.
My future now is a handful of
grandchildren, far from ready.
Tell me, when I'm dead,
can Wessex offer Northumbria and me
a future that ensures their safety?
It can.
I give you my word, as a Godwin,
that while Wessex lives,
Northumbria lives.
My brother and I can ensure
your legacy, not Lady Emma.
Your family will be protected.
We will place a Godwin earl
in Northumbria,
but only until your grandson is of age.
Then, perhaps,
if I had the call,
riding south to stand beside King Edward
may not please me a second time.
Why?
Who else will do it?
I was like you.
But then I wasn't.
To become
To become a part of something so whole.
To feel two hearts beating inside.
Two souls.
I'll treasure it always.
Protect it.
An assault on London
is a suicide mission.
We have Mercia and Northumbria
on our side, Father.
We have control of the earls.
I gave my word I would never
return to England as Earl.
I gave the King my word.
But you
..never gave him mine.
You?
No. What? I'm the one to be earl.
We are heading towards war, Father.
I'm the only one
who can get us through this.
The men won't follow him. I saw it.
That's bollocks!
Our people are scattered.
I can raise an army big enough.
Father, I cannot believe
you're listening to this.
Wessex will rise again,
but only behind an earl.
The people of Wessex will not follow
Sweyn. Father, you know this.
This is madness.
Wessex loves me.
I love Wessex!
Father, I'm your successor.
You promised me.
I never said that.
You never stopped me from thinking it.
That that's the same as
a promise. It's still a promise!
Sweyn, you've had every opportunity
in the world. You're not up to this.
I just risked my life trying
to save you and your wife.
No, you didn't. You risked your life
so that you could tell everyone
that you risked your life.
- Fuck off, Harold.
- Look where it got us.
Nearly got everyone killed on that raid.
You lost your mind
during the coronation.
Everyone knows you take
advantage of your position.
Father, as earl,
I am the one that makes sense.
How long have you been planning
this behind my back?
And you?
Have you been encouraging this?
This travesty?
Oh, I see all sorts of things
in your faces.
Now I can see it! Now I see!
Sweyn!
Northumbria will be yours.
What?
When Siward dies,
you will get Northumbria.
A stand-in for Northumbria?
Brothers do not betray each other.
What am I to do, Harold?
Is Sweyn right?
Has this been in your head
from the start?
You think that I want this?
To to step over my brother?
Father, I'm doing this
because I have no choice.
And is this really for Wessex?
For Edith?
For our future?
Edith, the children - they ARE Wessex.
You be careful, Harold.
I am doing what is right.
Then so be it
..Harold, Earl of Wessex.
Go to England,
confront the King,
take back what's ours.