Original subtitles

Stay!

Who are you?

Corin.

If you intend to go around attacking people like that, I suggest you take a few lessons.

Oh, from you? That�s why I�m here.

I just wanted you to see how bad am I.

Everyone knows of your reputation as a warrior, Arthur.

Thought I should learn from the best.

Couldn�t your father teach you?

Father�s dead.

What about the other men in your village?

They�re all as good as I am.

As you saw for yourself earlier on, I couldn�t hold my own against a newborn calf.

This village of yours. It�s way to the north.

Across the hills. Then six... seven days� ride.

That�s almost to the land of the Picts.

It�s close. Too close.

They�re always attacking and plundering the village.

And every time we must flee to the darkness of the forest,

where we can only watch as they slaughter our livestock and burn our houses.

Teach me to fight.

You cannot learn that by sundown, it takes time.

I�ll practise night and day.

Even the greatest warrior needs sleep.

Even the greatest warrior needs help against the Picts.

Teach me to fight and I will return to my village

and teach them what I have learned.

Then instead of being weak sisters,

we will be a granite stone in the wall of your defences.

You�re fast.

Shouldn�t take long to make a warrior of you.

Stop. Your wrist is too tight.

Keep it loose.

Flexible.

That�ll give you control and direction. Come!

Here.

Just here, under the breastbone.

Don�t draw back!

That tells your enemy your mind.

Come straight into the lunge, straighten your arm.

At me, come.

Again, come.

Again.

Better.

Again.

Good.

Again.

No! The axe is different from the sword.

It�s heavier.

Its angles of attack are less varied.

But when it strikes, its bite is usually more fatal. Again.

You just lost an arm.

You must hold your shield arm higher.

Your shield arm should be as deft and quick as the one that holds the sword.

Good.

But the axe man is vulnerable.

To strike a blow, he must draw back his arm.

And that is when he�s open.

Now!

You see? If I�d been slow on my feet, you�d have killed me.

Again.

Not bad.

You mustn�t let the enemy read your mind. Now see.

Watch my eyes.

Yeah.

You must anticipate.

You tried to watch the flight of the spear.

You do that with a seasoned warrior, and you�re a dead man before it leaves his hand.

Now.

Good!

You had the strength,

but not the angle. Try again.

Good!

An hour�s practice with that youngster feels like fighting ten battles.

He�ll be good. When his strength matches his skill, he�ll be the one to bind his axe.

And that time won�t be far off. He grazed my arm with a spear this morning.

That came from the forest. He�ll wear himself out.

I tell you, there�s something wrong with the boy.

He�s keen. Enthusiastic. Dedicated.

And you can�t fault him for that.

You didn�t see him last night. I did.

He�s made more progress than anyone of his age I�ve ever known.

That�s good enough for me.

You must use the sword and the shield together.

Watch.

The shield can be a weapon too.

Watch.

Father!

Avenge me!

Who was he, father? Who was the man?

I didn�t see his face!

Avenge... me...

Corin. Now you try.

Now. Sword and the shield together. Try and get the rhythm.

Come.

Relax.

Try and feel the sword, it�s part of your arm now. Come.

What are you? A nursemaid?

If you can�t do better than that,

I�ll send you to play with the girls.

Victory!

Come.

What are you? A tortoise?

What�s the matter? No sleep last night?

I was thinking.

Thought�s good in a warrior.

Not if it keeps him awake.

Good.

You mean business today.

Now remember.

Change the attack. Vary the angle.

What must you remember?

Look to the knife.

Thrust your enemy�s sword arm upwards. Get in close, and upwards with the knife.

What else?

Always try for surprise.

You�re too good to take liberties like that now.

A fighting man in practice has a duty to be careful.

I�m sorry.

Now!

You must expect the unexpected.

Enough for now.

That trick you did yesterday, with the sword.

I�d like you to show me how you do it.

Arthur.

One moment, Llud.

Well, when you�ve lost your sword,

again, an unexpected move.

Again. � Enough!

Enough for now.

Go and practise the trick yourself.

I�ll see if you�ve mastered it tomorrow.

I told you there was something wrong with that boy.

You haven�t created a warrior to defend his people.

But a man with enough hate in his heart to kill you!

He would�ve killed.

But he made the same mistake... as his father.

I killed Mordor myself.

With that trick, with the sword.

I remembered today, when I did that trick again.

Corin came at me, with his father�s hatred

and his father�s mistake.

Corin�s Mordor�s son.

And he knows I�m a man who killed his father.

But you slew him in battle.

That makes no difference to Corin.

The young man seeks revenge.

He waited till he was old enough.

Then came to Arthur to teach him to kill his father�s slayer.

And then he discovered his teacher,

and the man he wanted to kill, were the same.

His father was a murderer. A butcher.

Corin was only thirteen years old when Mordor was killed.

In his eyes, his father�s a hero.

And will be, whatever I say.

Then you must send him away.

And make an enemy of him? For the rest of my life?

So what do you do? Go on training him to kill you?

Until I can find a way to reach him. Yes.

Tonight we talk about the mind of the fighting man.

It�s just as important as his sword arm or his shield.

Can you tell me why that is, Corin?

Because a warrior has to be cunning as well as strong.

True.

But not only that.

Skill at arms brings a great responsibility with it

never to wield a sword slyly... or ignobly.

Be clear in your heart that your cause is just.

You understand that?

Yes!

Hate and malice are bad counsellors for the fighting man.

In the end, they will destroy him.

Yeah!

If a man has a quarrel, he must state it openly

and not strike like a snake.

His enemy may have things to be said on his side, too.

I see.

Can we... um... practise the trick now?

Very well.

You�ve dropped your sword.

Now pick it up.

It�s absurd! Twice today he nearly killed you!

Tomorrow we�ll be digging a burial mound.

I won�t be here tomorrow.

I�ve to go and see Herward.

I need you with me.

Kai, you�ll stay here. We�ll be back by nightfall.

I can�t have you idle, Corin.

Since your normal tutor�s away, you�ve got a chance to catch up on your axe work.

Yeah!

Right, now let�s see what you remember.

Good. Again!

Again!

Again!

Again! Again! Come on! Show me what you�re made of.

Again!

Don�t forget this move! And that one!

You thought you lost an arm there.

Kai! What is it?

It�s different today, isn�t it?

It�s always different when you�re fighting for your life.

My life? Why?

I�ve just found out who you are.

You�re the whelp with that butcher, Mordor.

Mordor was my father, yes, but he was no butcher.

He terrorised the whole province for five years!

Killing and burning!

My God!

That�s not true!

I�ll have you know of your father and the villages where he left his mark.

Nothing but pain and death! Women and children slaughtered!

Surrender and misery.

In one of our battles he killed a very dear friend of mine.

A good man. Companion in many campaigns.

I swore I�d be avenged against Mordor�s kin if I ever found them.

I never dreamed I�d be lucky enough to find his son.

That�s a trick I didn�t teach you.

No! Wait! You say my father killed your friend in battle!

He did.

Then it was a fair fight! Your friend must have been trying to kill my father!

My father killed him in a fair fight!

That�s right, Corin.

Just so did Arthur kill your father.

I�m a man.

You could have talked to me like a man. Didn�t need play-acting.

Yes, you are a man, Corin.

But if men always thought as men,

it would mean that we were already in paradise.

I know I was wrong.

But ask yourselves a question.

If one of you were slain, what would the others do?

Well?

I don�t know.

You?

I don�t know.

Llud?

Vengeance?

You�ll never know until you lose someone very close to you.

Someone you love.

And then a terrible hate burns inside you.

A hate that pushes out reason.

Consumes you... Just hate... Anguish.

Son... my son.

Wife! Wife!

Llud.

Saxons.

More came.

Behind the village.

Llud. Llu...

Wife! Wife!

Where�s your father, Saxon?

Where?

Get back to the animals you belong to.

Get back to the she-wolf who mothered you.

Go away. Go way from me!

Is your mother alive?

Would I kill for vengeance?

I answered that question a long time ago.

I just wanted to make sure you�ve remembered everything I�d taught you.

Just as well I did.

You didn�t ride all the way out here just to test me?

No.

I came to continue the lessons.

I will ride with you as far as your village.

My lessons?

You�ve learnt only the half of it.

I taught you how to fight,

now you must learn when, and why.

Then you�ll be a man.