The Pendragon Cycle: Rise of the Merlin (2026) s01e05 Episode Script

1
Vortigern is dead.
No doubt aurelius will
claim the throne for himself.
Aurelius's life is in danger until the
kings of britain recognize his claim.
We're not exactly
neck-deep in volunteers.
You will not be able to repeal
the barbarian on your own.
700 men is not a man
too many to face hengist.
Before the summer is through he means
to take the throne and he will have it.
If we are too busy squabbling
amongst ourselves to take up
arms against him you could be
a most valuable ally to hengist.
The Saxon.
They say Merlin slew 70 men with
his own hands within these very gates.
At cathay he slew 500.
At the world burned and the
ground trembled at his wrath.
No man is capable of such a thing.
No mortal man.
He is nearly an otherworldly being.
Morcad!
There will be no victory without
the kings of britain by our side.
Without Merlin by our side.
Pius and I ride north to gothay.
Does castanen still rule kill at hon?
His atlantean blood is strong but
we we would not be welcome here.
If you return north, castanen will kill you.
There is no other way.
Look upon them, shining proud.
They say you are most powerful.
Why did you order one of
their sacred stones to fall?
Will you be the man to raise it?
Hawke.
My brothers, I greet you in
the name of the great light,
whose coming was foretold
within this sacred ring.
You resent my greeting.
Why?
If my brothers are silent, perhaps it is
because they are no longer certain who it
is that addresses them as
ark, druid of the sacred grove.
Who says these things?
We have heard it said that you have
left the old ways to follow a new god,
a foreign god.
From ancient days, we
have sought knowledge so
that we might learn the truth of all things.
Is this not so?
It is?
Then how should we be slow to grasp
the truth when it is proclaimed before us?
We know many truths, master.
Which truth is proclaimed this day?
The final truth!
Then you have become
a follower of this yezu.
He is the great light of
whom our forebears spoke.
He is the one we have always sought
to find and worshipped unknowingly.
And it is his priests who cut down
our groves, toppled our ancient places.
Men act in ignorance,
yet the truth remains.
We all know from
whence these ideas came.
We all know who it was who
led the great half-gan astray.
Taliesin was the greatest
bard who ever lived.
He betrayed our brotherhood.
He gave our brotherhood
its greatest vision.
Lies!
You do not deserve truth!
Sacrilege!
How is this?
Betrayal!
No one may set their
foot on the sacred seat.
Not even the archdruid himself.
Servants of the truth, hear me!
Why do you wonder that the wisest among
you should greet you in the name of yezu?
The one who called
himself the way and the truth.
How is it that you, who seek the truth
in all ways, should be blind to it now?
You believe this grove is sacred?
These stones?
The new ways?
The old?
I say, he who created the stones and
the trees is greater, as are his ways.
Enough, miltan!
Miltan!
Enough!
Merlin!
King taldrig's steward gave me a
pick of the kitchen before we left.
We have some raw onions,
raw parsnips, raw leeks.
Cheese.
Carrots.
Also raw.
Barley bread.
And plenty of plums to help digest it all.
You've been here before.
Once.
Long ago.
We must be alerted we're
near kustanin's border.
You know as well as anyone
alive what grief can do to a man.
Yes, I suppose I do.
God's taking you really is what killed you.
Counting like that I think the whole
Saxon army could have crept up on you.
Shouldn't knock you on your kingly arse.
See?
The fair foot returned me.
Pale and whole and
free from enchantment.
Aye.
How many?
More than ten thousand.
But your meddler came through.
Men of the west are with us.
I saw them in camp this morning.
Brave hearts everyone.
I was hoping for more.
They fight mountains.
One of the warriors is worth
at least three Saxon on foot.
Where does that leave us?
I was hoping for more.
We have come from king loth of
orkney, allied to the great hingist.
The gods are willed
that they will fight for us.
It is fortunate for you that you have too.
My lord hingist.
He's not a lord.
He's brettwalder.
Lord of all lords.
Brettwalder.
I've come bearing gifts.
From my father, king loth.
And his wife.
My thanks to your father, mother.
The lady morgian is no mother of mine.
Not the witch's flesh and blood.
Be careful, boy.
You do not want to outlive
your usefulness to her.
Or me.
By Zeus and new
blood, you're back, bro.
There's no titan's task, trying to keep
these bastards from killing each other.
We've got these demeteri pagans.
Mithras worshipers.
Christians.
There'll be plenty of killing soon enough.
Just imagine the glory we'll earn.
Whatever glory there is in slaughter.
I've had my fill.
Whose words are these?
I learned much while
I was at anis-avalak.
Of course you did.
I spoke with the Fisher king.
He told me of the western land
from when the fair folk came.
He told me of his realm and
the thousand years of peace and
how war amongst their kings
nearly destroyed their people.
They spin tales like old
women spin flax thread, brother.
King-making requires blood and sweat.
You know this, brother.
I learned more there.
I learned to pursue the Christ.
And I have become his follower.
What does it matter?
Take a new god.
Take a dozen for all I care.
Better our chances.
It is more than that, uther.
I've seen what the
Fisher king and his people
have done for the week in the suffering.
I've seen their mercy, and it is
stronger than the strength of armies.
It is the future of britain,
and it must be our future, too.
Are you out of your mind?
Uther, I brought brother
Aaron from inis evelach.
He's come to instruct
you in a catechism of the
church and baptize you
in the name of lord yasu.
Baptize me?
I will do anything for you.
I will lead your war host.
I will kill your enemies.
I will bend the knee and call you king.
But please, do not ask me to do this.
Look at them.
Boys playing the game of kings.
They've played it well,
as vortigern can attest.
They may have rooted out
that usurper and settled their
blood debt, but that does not
make aurelius my high king.
Careful now, my friend.
There are some who would misunderstand
and consider those words as treasonous,
especially now the
Saxon host draws nigh.
I know you two are,
morcambe, to believe
you're willing to bend
your knee for any man.
Orwebs, are you weaving
in that spider's mind?
The brothers defeated vortigern
with the help of their kinsman's army.
An army that even now sails for amorica.
How many men are
left for them to call upon?
And you will openly move against them?
With the saxons marching against
us, do you take me for a fool?
But who's to say on the
day of battle whether they're
the ones to lead us to
victory and gain the glory?
They say they have
the Emirates with them.
I and Magnus Maximus,
taliesin, blessed bran himself.
I've met this so-called Emirates of theirs.
And the Merlin died long before you
and I were born do not, if he ever lived.
Now, those boys are on their own.
I'm fine.
Truly mother, you should eat
something for your strength.
He's been divided in
his heart for a long time.
I think, now that it is
over, he finally feels free.
Divided?
Between yesu and the old gods.
But how can he be happy?
The brotherhood still
refused to believe, even after.
Not every man will choose to believe
and follow the light, my little hawk.
Dead men rise and
stones dance in the air.
And nothing you or anyone
else can do will change that.
The daylight is waning Merlin.
Go.
What kind of man is this?
Who can stand against such power?
Behold!
I
Am the greatest druid who ever lived.
Prince of jyns avallac' and
champion of the summer!
Mother!
Haakon!
Mother!
Haakon!
Haakon!
Hurry.
I don't want to scare you.
Even one night.
Ishmael.
Ishmael.
Ishmael.
Take this.
Take this.
Let's go, and eat.
Let go of me!
Let go of me!
The most I will dwell under
the shadows of the arts.
I will save the lord.
He is my refuge and my comfort.
And I got him here.
Great lord!
Your turn!
I spent six winters with the
hill folk of the hawk Fane.
Learning the ways
of earth's first children.
When I eventually mastered
their tongue, they told me
of a cloud shaped like a
hand that stopped the blade.
At first, I looked to make myself escape.
In time, however, I began to sense a
purpose at work in my presence among them.
A purpose that would
eventually make itself known.
We should send an emissary east.
Only the legions can defeat such a force.
There are no legions.
It's a scare thieving run.
Vortigern invited this doom upon us.
And yet, the saxons stayed in their
lands and honored their treaty with him.
Until he was killed.
The Saxon will honor a
treaty while it suits him.
Whether vortigern had lived or not, they
would have turned their
eyes to us eventually.
King golas.
Vortigern is gone.
Rome is gone.
The Saxon is here.
What more is there to
say than the canovial fight?
Aye, but who will lead the fight?
My brother is high king.
Your brother commands
no army of his own?
We men of the west recognize
aurelius as the lawful high king.
And we offer him our armies.
Every horse, spear man and Archer.
We all acknowledge aurelius's claim.
High king, he may be.
May be?
But leading an army requires training.
Skilled.
You bastard.
I have named my brother.
The dux britanniorum.
Battle chief of all the armies
of the island of the mighty.
Well, there has not been
a dux britanniorum since
since Maximus marched to Rome.
And yet there is one now.
Uther is a match on the battlefield.
And is a keen strategist.
As I believe you yourself can attest.
The carnovii swore no
oath to you as high king.
You swore an oath to our father.
Your father is dead.
You ask my opinion, I give it now.
Your father did nothing
to make us stronger.
He took more from our
harvest than any Saxon raider.
And vortigern, he sold
us to the barbarians.
And betrayed our brothers at
the treason of the long knives.
Or you cowered behind your walls.
I will not suffer insult from
a half-Saxon bastard boy.
No matter who your father was.
I will fight the barbarians.
But I've had enough of high king's.
You've spoken many words in haste.
Some not so easily retracted.
And you are not my tutor
that I would be schooled.
Do you not realize the
damage you just caused?
Do you not realize those vipers
are openly moving against you?
If you give them the
right to name the ducks,
you might as well give them your crown.
I have no crown.
I have no kingdom.
And Alfred, you won't stop the Saxon.
I won't even have a people.
How many men did squalor's command?
Four hundred twenty from daemonia.
Quarter of a force.
Thank you.
You told me earlier you'd
do anything else, have you?
That you kill my enemies.
Bend the knee.
You have got to say the word.
I want you to find all us.
I've told you what needs to be done.
Peter, I've got to do it.
Golos!
My lord, you cannot enter.
Golos!
Can you just speak a word?
I give you good greetings, my lord.
Uther.
Is king golos there?
He will return presently.
Perhaps you would
like to sit while you wait.
Would you care for a
drink as well, lord uther?
That's close.
Cornovia not famed for their wine,
but I hope you'll find it pleasing.
You must be one of lord aurelius' men.
He's from amorica, then.
I've heard it is a beautiful land
full of apple trees and white cliffs.
Aye, it is.
The forests there are
big and full of game.
Fields perfect for tilling crops.
But no country is as
beautiful as this one.
I'm afraid I didn't catch your name.
Igerna.
By Christ and his saints.
Father.
Does your offense know no bounds?
Perhaps across the sea
in the Roman war camps.
They taught you to prey
on the young and naive.
Lord uther sought you, father.
I was merely extending him your
courtesy while we awaited your return.
Then speak, boy.
What do you have to say?
Your journey was long.
I came from eunice avilach.
The road has fallen much from disuse.
I was not speaking of the miles.
Your haul has changed
little these past fifty years.
Did you think to find it so different?
Merthen wilt.
We do not forget who we are.
Or what has been done to us.
Vortigern is dead.
The saxons overrun the eastern shore, and
the kings of britain rally to oppose them.
The kings of the south are fat and lazy.
If they lived beyond the wall,
fighting picty and Irish every summer,
they would never have allowed
the barbarian a foothold in this land.
And yet, what the barbarian
has taken can be won back.
There is to be a new high
king, son of con stance.
Or rather, two sons.
One to rule, and one to
lead the war host as ducks.
It is they who have rallied
the kings of the south and west.
They are the ones who
would oppose the saxons now.
I have come to ask the
northern lords to join with them.
You enter my home once again.
Then the first words out of your mouth
are to ask me for this.
The brothers have named
me their high counsellor.
They have asked me to raise an army.
You know of what I speak.
Fifty years, and never once a word.
Fifty years, and not
so much as a thought.
For those left behind, if there is
such need, why do you not go yourself?
Join the fight!
Ride forth against the barbarian,
and lead your high king to his victory.
I cannot.
You cannot?
And what prevents you?
Are you not strong enough?
Are you not the mighty Merlin?
Terrible to meet on the field of battle?
You know I cannot.
I've seen what you can do.
Why don't you summon
the battle, are we?
Then you can single-handedly
slaughter the entire
Saxon host until the
blood soaks the earth.
You know I cannot.
What I know is this.
You parade yourself as a prophet.
A warrior bard.
A champion of light.
Yet when the day of trouble comes, you
cannot even save those who trust you most.
The gods favor you tonight, lads.
Sorry for you.
Hopefully the wrinkle is
generous in the Saxon?
I send you to speak on my behalf.
Anna, I find you here playing games.
Boys, I'd rumour there was nail
halves in the next valley, over?
Fetch a sibera or two, yeah?
Wow.
You've much learned
about fighting, then, brother.
And your lord asked you a question.
And my lord should use his wits.
What do you see there, brother?
Half those stripes hate each other.
But tonight, they think they're brothers.
And they all stand united behind you.
So you're welcome.
And is gaulas behind me?
You prepared my speech like you asked.
And?
And it went poorly.
By the bones of our father,
I give you one single task.
He's an arrogant old fool!
That arrogant old fool is the
most respected fighter in this camp.
He has faced the
saxons before and won.
Raiding parties.
Which is more than you have done.
I don't question your
skill and bravery in battle.
Like the other kings do.
And if gaulas withdraws his war
band, they will most certainly follow.
We cannot let our forces be divided.
Not even by one man.
If we do, the enemy will prevail.
And britain will be lost.
Without even a fight.
Not exactly the reception
you were hoping for.
It was exactly the
reception I was expecting.
Forgive me then, my lord,
but why did we come here?
I must go back the way I came.
All the way to the beginning.
Without the north, the kings of britain are
not strong enough to repel the invaders.
Even you may struggle to persuade
a king who hates you, who blames you
I know what he blames me for.
Then you know how
hard this is going to be.
And you may not have noticed, but
we are currently locked in a dungeon.
I had noticed.
Custinin's anger is fierce, but it will pass.
We were bound together once.
That bond will not fail.
He is still the man I knew.
Are you certain?
You are now the king of the sea.
The king of the sea.
And the king of the sea.
And the king of the sea.
In the name of the god of the sea.
In the name of the god of the sea.
And the name of the king of the sea.
It is our gift,
and our curse.
All men change, lord.
Even us.
It is an insult to all of us.
No matter the father.
The boy should have consulted us
before naming his brother the ducks.
Perhaps in our morica one king
lords it over another as he wills.
But that is not how it is done here.
You've always had a sober tongue.
Spitto this thing that
you're trying to end up.
Only that I took an oath to
aurelius, not to his fool of a brother.
We must have a battle chief
who can lead us to victory.
And that dunlop is right.
If there is to be a ducks
britanniarum, let us decide it in council.
We are all kings, are we not?
Do we not all supply and
train our own war bands?
Do we not have a say
in who would lead them?
And if aurelius refuses
to heed our wisdom?
Then he must be challenged.
You said yourself, you
swore an oath to the boy.
And as you have said, you have not.
They are two slithering snakes.
I know.
Then why do you entertain them?
Because they are kings of britain
and because they speak the truth.
The brothers are honourable men.
Aurelius, perhaps.
But he is young, untried.
At war with the Saxon, there's
no place to learn how to lead.
You learnt in battle.
How much like your mother you are.
Whenever a foul mood would
fall, she would speak to me thus.
Your tone, father, I can see it.
Sometimes honour makes demands
of us that it would be foolish to fulfill.
This is the way of a king.
It is not your way.
Have my dungeons given
you time to think, Merlin?
They have.
Time I much needed.
They have for me as well.
You know, truth be told, I did not
believe I would ever see you again.
Once,
there was much I wanted to say to you.
So many things.
But now, after all these years,
I find there is nothing
left in my heart but justice.
You were a father to me.
And you were a son.
I tried.
You failed!
And now I will exact your
father's price for that failure!
And with greatest
regrets, that in the hour of
tribulation, the distance
between our realms is too far.
Further, as the Irish raids
increase that's enough!
The cowl isn't coming.
Have we received any
replies to our other letters?
Both ask pardon because
they are unable to send aid.
And with the loath of our kiddie,
we have heard no word at all.
Cowlings and traitors!
I should hang every last one of them.
Thank you.
We send a reply thanking
them for their answers.
Even with all the war
bands here, we still don't
make up more than
half a legion in strength.
Our enemy is disorganized
and undisciplined.
Forgive me, lord aurelius, but our
enemy grows stronger by the hour.
Every day, more ships cross the
sea bringing saxons, angles, jutes.
We are outmatched five to one.
The emrys is rallying
the kings of the north.
The war bands could be
riding to orade even now.
Could be.
The north do not care if we
live in peace or burn at the torch.
Let us speak truthfully
among ourselves, brothers.
Not since the days of
the legions have so many
foes gathered in the island of the mighty.
If we are to have any hope of victory,
there must be nothing left to chance.
I call on us to name king
gorlas as dux britanniarum.
You bastard.
I second this choice.
This is treason.
Your brother is not king yet.
And who challenges his claim?
I do.
And before we play king-making,
there is a war that must be won.
The choosing of the ducks could mean
the difference between victory and defeat.
I ask you and your brother to
step aside and let another lead.
You bastard!
To follow you would
not only mean the death
of many, it would mean
the death of britain.
If death comes, it comes to you first.
Enough!
Enough!
Steady, brother.
We cannot afford to lose one man.
Will you follow me into battle?
I will not send the sons of my lords to die
behind two undisciplined
and untrained boys.
Then we will settle this the old way.
So we must.
Fetch my arm and shield before
this old ox changes his mind.
No, no, no.
They are challenging me for the throne.
If I am to be high king,
this is a fight I must win.
Do you know what the
punishment was in Atlantis?
For betraying a king?
I know your grief, lord.
It is my own.
Though I bear it not as you.
You bear it not at all.
But you will.
What are you doing?
Peles had nothing to do with that day.
He followed his master.
And he failed my child.
Castinus, stop this madness.
Your quarrel is with me.
No.
Watch and suffer like I suffered.
Look at you.
You're just going to
let him die, aren't you?
Like you let her die.
Castinum, please.
All you've got to do is slay me.
And save him.
Like you could have saved her.
Show me you could have saved her!
Finish it.
Go on then!
Finish it!
Finish it!
This is the second time you've found
yourself beneath my blade, king castanen.
You will not be a third.
Do not waste your strength in this dog.
I am your battle chief.
Let me be your champion.
I cannot.
This is their scheme at work, brother.
He seeks to dream you.
Do not give in to them.
Please, brother, let me fight.
He is a great warrior.
A seasoned warrior.
He will kill you.
This is what it must be.
The soul is in god's hands.
God's a fickle, brother.
Not my god.
The sword is britain.
I will not stay in this noble
blade with British blood.
Here, give me yours.
He is strong, but slow.
Weigh him down and
strike without mercy.
I will say this once
again, in the hearing of all.
Yield your claim.
Many words were spoken in anger.
I will yet forgive if you
agree to bend the knee.
So be it!
Your blood be on your own head!
I must not be carried.
She was never a maid
given to soft things.
Like ribbons and flowers.
You made that change, you know.
You didn't bring her in.
No.
It seemed right.
That she should find her rest here.
I tried to save her.
With all my strength, with all
my power, with everything I had.
Tell me about these
brothers that you now serve.
Raelius is of noble stock.
He is a man of both
Roman and British blood.
Though young, he has a
wisdom beyond his years.
I've seen his future in the fire.
I've seen him lead an army.
I've seen his courage in battle.
I've seen him administer
both justice and mercy.
I believe him to be the
high king this land needs.
And the other?
Great darkness is falling upon this land.
Right or wrong, these brothers
are our only hope to stand against it.
Not our only hope.
The kings of the north
shall ride to their aid.
You have my word.
Drink this.
Easy.
Easy.
Drink.
The kings.
Did you see the kings?
Will they follow?
The gods take the kings, raelius.
The men.
The men, brother.
After what they saw, they
bore you into Hades itself.
You do not let them hear me scream.
Stay.
I am kestenin, king
of gothay and kelithon.
You've met my daughter, ganyeda.
Ganyeda?
I find myself endlessly
curious about you, Merlin.
I hate you.
You don't reveal your secrets.
I will ask you to winter here with us.
You forget that I knew your father.
You have his presence.
Stay.
I sense danger in this place.
Ganyeda?