Original subtitles

There will be eating, I hear.

Feasting and drinking, beside the gaming and the sport.

Well, perhaps Arthur thinks Mark and his Cornishmen prefer meat and ale,

to going home champions!

Come!

It isn�t only your athletes he�s out to beat, you know.

It�s you.

Hold games, invite the chieftains and kings

to celebrate his special alliance.

And then, with all his new Celtic alliances sealed,

what of you?

What of me, Herrick?

Aah, you will win your wrestling match when Arthur�s Games convene.

But what will you lose?

Well, I suspect you�re about to tell me.

Who is the most powerful king in the West?

You. � Yeah.

But let there be an alliance sealed between all the other chiefs and kings,

and they together, will be stronger than you.

You forget, I am part of that alliance.

If you behave yourself, and do not cross Arthur.

Argue with him, and break away,

and you will find yourself facing a far greater army than you can raise.

With Arthur at its head.

The alliance is, in itself, a good thing.

You�d agree, Herrick?

To join forces against our common enemy the Saxons

must be a sensible plan.

But perhaps we�re not quite ready for it,

just yet.

A line to mark the jumping-off place is no good.

Two or three contestants, and it�ll disappear, there�ll be arguments.

Sink in a narrow log instead, here.

Yes. And we�ll mark the distances with a pole, not a rope.

Arthur! Llud!

Welcome, Mark! � Thank you!

Hey, you�re not entering the hand-to-hand combat

with the advantage of that iron paw!

No, I�m disqualified from those contests.

And count yourself lucky, because without this silver hand,

you might as well go home, for all the contests you could win.

And you, Arthur, are you going to give me the pleasure

of rubbing your nose in the dust, in the wrestling?

I prefer the more skilful competitions.

Will you be riding? � Neargh!

Games for women and children.

If you decide to join the men,

you�ll know where to find me.

One contest he must win.

The wrestling. � Perhaps.

But no one can touch him at the singing.

Singing?

Yes! His own praises.

There... big fat Yorath himself!

I didn�t know that you had another daughter.

She bears a remarkable resemblance to Rowena.

My humblest apologies.

This must be Trederne, your champion wrestler!

Save yourself the embarrassment, Yorath.

Send him back to play... with the children.

Father!

Yorath is easily baited.

If Arthur and his followers would rise as easily, our task is simple.

They will, they will.

If what Kai says is true, Arthur,

you can call it a... an old hunter�s instinct, here, if you like.

Mark doesn�t care if Herrick exists or not.

They�re the elephant and the flea.

But if, with a few flea-bites,

Mark could be persuaded that the Games

and what they stand for are a threat to him.

And Herrick? What does he stand to gain?

As you say yourself, he bears no love for you.

I would dismiss it, but for Llud�s nose.

When that twitches, there�s trouble ahead.

Shouldn�t you be going to bed early tonight?

Hmm?

The Games tomorrow.

Sleep will not come to a man whose thoughts are as troubled as mine.

Thoughts of you.

Thoughts of me?

Thoughts of you.

And of how you could help me.

And of the valuable information you could discover for me.

Information?

It�s a simple task. All you must do is...

Task!

Someone is planning to disrupt the Games.

I might have guessed!

Mark and Herrick. They�re plotting something.

I hope it�s to break your neck!

By the gods, if these dice are falling true,

then there must be a curse on them!

Probably the gods are punishing you for your sins!

Like stealing that stallion of mine.

What d�you mean by stealing? I borrowed him.

You stole him!

I borrowed him to breed with one of my mares!

I gave him back, didn�t I?

After I brought my army to the very gates of your village!

Why, you... � It�s forgotten!

It�s forgotten.

You see? You see? It happened only once!

What?

Yes, but...

Neargh!

Well?

I want to go home. � Home?

I have been insulted. � By whom?

Oh, no. Don�t tell me. Arthur, hmm?

You�ve had one of your usual stupid quarrels, and for that you disturb my game.

If you don�t take me, I�ll ask Trederne.

You�ll do no such thing!

He�s my champion wrestler!

Alright. What has he done this time?

He wants me to spy for him, on Mark of Cornwall and Herrick.

Tcha!

Why not?

Why not?

You�re as bad as he is!

Am I Arthur�s slave, to be ordered to do this or that

whenever he snaps his fingers?

To hell with his alliance.

And his stupid games!

Listen, Rowena.

Tonight we drink, and cast dice.

Not long ago, it was a different sort of game.

It was the ring of swords and the screaming of men dying.

War and armies, year in, year out.

If Mark and Herrick, that toad,

if they�re up to no good, and you can flush them out,

you�re doing all of us a service.

Not just Arthur, all of us. Eh?

I suppose you�ve come to plead for that girl-child, Trederne �

to beg for his cracked ribs?

I came to beg for myself.

I want to help. � Help?

Help with what? For whom?

Help you. Help against Arthur.

Arthur? Huh! What�s he done?

Or is it more what he hasn�t done?

If there�s a knife to be thrust, let me thrust it.

Let me be the first.

Here�s a knife.

And there�s Arthur!

Is that what you want?

No. � Neah. Neah.

Just like a woman.

No action, and all talk.

I trust I am not the cause of your unhappy face.

Not you, but your leader Mark.

He�s a fine warrior,

but not always as gentle with women as he might.

I question his sense, not his manners.

I would help you in your plan against Arthur.

But he will let me have no part in it!

But Mark is right, Rowena.

A woman has no place in this business.

You talk as if I were helpless!

I can ride as well as anyone. Better than you, I warrant.

What good is riding when swords are drawn?

Once we have provoked Arthur,

do you think your little dagger a match for his sword?

Or Kai�s axe?

Provoke? Just that? It would be easy for me!

But Arthur or any of his men would be chivalrous with a woman.

Not so us.

Provoke?

How?

I�ve told you all I know.

You will be pushed into losing your tempers,

so it will be you who first draws a sword.

The Games will be ruined,

and you will be discredited.

Along with the alliance.

How did you find this out?

You have your information.

From whom? Mark?

It could be.

Or was it that young warrior of Mark�s I saw you walking with?

Perhaps.

How?

How did you find it out?

What did you have to do to get this information?

I demand to know!

Demand from your soldiers.

From me, you can only ask.

Very well. I�ll ask you.

Will you tell me where you got this information?

No! � Come back at once!

Perhaps it was only her quick tongue

that managed to wheedle the information.

Certainly it was.

But I couldn�t spoil her moment of triumph, could I?

Child�s play!

Hey! In my day we leapt rivers, twice that distance,

and were still on our feet at the other side,

ready to cut the throats of... of brigands like him!

Come on, Grandad!

You couldn�t even leap over your own left foot!

I wonder when the provocation will start.

Soon enough.

When they do provoke us, we smile,

and hold our temper even if it�s fit to burst.

They will not destroy everything we�ve worked for all these years.

Well run, Barth!

Well run, Friend.

I always heard they could run like the wind in Cornwall.

Now it�s proven.

There was an incident! � Incident?

You fouled my man. You nearly cost him the race.

Oh, that. Huh!

Clumsy oaf that I am. My deepest apologies.

Hey there! Wine for Barth of Cornwall!

Get ready...

Now!

I�ve got an old donkey that I keep for packing.

Perhaps you�d feel safer with him!

Don�t feel badly, Friend, the air is chill,

and perhaps you do not have the habit of horses.

Oh, I know horses very well.

But not mine. Fool beast that he is.

Frightened by a simple thing like an honest fellow�s cloak.

Don�t take it too hardly, my friend.

The gods were against you.

I tripped, and baulked you.

You will surely win next year.

Hasn�t worked with Llud, either.

They must have found out, they were ready for us.

In the hand-to-hand combat we tripped their man twice.

In the tournament we loaded our man�s stave, and let Arthur see it.

He called it �an interesting reinforcement�.

Blast him for a fox, he�s put us down!

We�re not too late. There�s still your final bout with Trederne.

So?

A simple thing. A gouged eye, an elbow.

Anything to inflame that temper of Yorath�s.

Yorath is laying odds on Trederne winning the wrestling.

A clenched fist from you, and he will be forced to call you a cheat.

His sword�ll be out before Trederne hits the ground.

Arthur�ll be in there to support him.

Their treaty calls for mutual defence.

What about my championship?

Ah, that�ll have to wait till next year. Meantime...

�Meantime�, get this through your scheming head.

I am the strongest man you�ll ever see.

I�ve been practising for half a year

so that Yorath and his champion can learn that the hard way.

Smash Arthur, yes. Disrupt the Games, yes.

But find another way!

I don�t need to cheat, gouge, knee or punch anybody.

I�m the greatest wrestler alive!

You! Did you bring your broom?

For afterwards sweeping away your leader�s splintered bones, eh?

Ha! Hark the Mountain of Fat! Gyah!

No! That�s not right! Stop this!

Come on! Break his neck!

You took him by surp...

Next year, you�ll...

We�ll see. � We�ll see. Yeah!

Well done, Mark.

A fitting end to the Games.

What better way to strengthen our alliance,

than a great victory by a great king?

Perhaps Cornwall will be host to next year�s Games!

Yeah. Perhaps.

Perhaps.

At any rate, you and your men

must stay the night with me as my honoured guests.

Very well!

Come on, Mark!

There�s another chance! Tonight! At the banquet!

What do you think?

Next year�s Games, in Cornwall!

Arthur!

Will you stay a little while longer?

There�s a man in the longhut I�ve got to see.

One of Mark�s men.

I promised to teach him how to put on his cloak

without frightening my horse.

And there are others who have lessons to learn. Stay.