All language subtitles for The Great (2020) - S02E05 - Animal Instincts (1080p BluRay x265 Silence)-eng(1)

Something came.

- It's from...
- I know who it's from.

What's it made of? Butter?

Mm. "Because you melt in my..."

Enough. Thank you.

Is it supposed to look like you?

Shit.

Pineapple.

At first lick, that
sweet, sharp taste.

And then the longer it went,

it grew into a sherbet
of pine and raspberry.

I've heard I taste of
cherries and custard.

What do you mean you've heard?

- Well, didn't you tell me that?
- No.

I felt a bit strange doing it.

I thought Paul might be
worried by her agitation,

so was whispering as I licked.

"It's okay, Paul. It's
okay, Paul." Yeah.

We must still
unthrone her, my point.

The great love story aside.

She may sit on your face,
but not on your throne.

It was a joke.

And once it was
an acceptable jape,

but my love is strong and my
instinct to protect clearly sharp.

Apologies.

Arkady and I have
been strategizing.

- He has made a board.
- Oh.

It works better on a wall.

We've made a list of
factions for you to win over.

The nobles, the military,
the Church, rich merchants.

Cherries and custard.

Maybe the emperor said it
to me when we were young.

You did feast on me
like a starving man.

And Catherine's
aura after the moment.

A sunlit haze seemed
to hang around her.

Did something happen between
you? I hadn't heard about that.

Rabbit.

Not to be critical,

but can you actually focus
on the unseating-her plan?

I did not leave George to be trapped
in your rooms the rest of my life.

Relax, Grigor. I'm on it.

Actually, should we not be
worried about being out here?

You are technically escaped.

It is in hand.

Mm.

Marvelous. You may go with
my many, many imperial blessings.

And your arse is a
credit to our country.

Pugachev, do not steal from us.

An opportunity presents, I take
it. That is just common sense.

To not would mean
I'm a fucking moron,

and I is not that,
dear auntie aunt.

- Where is he?
- Hunting.

He'll be gone awhile if
you'd like me to fuck you.

Once was enough.

I thought it would be interesting,
but it was too weird, even for me.

Might I suggest, just to be
helpful, I do you from behind,

so you don't see my face, you
merely register my sensual power

while I whisper filthy Cossack
oaths in your delicate ears.

Oh, you're incorrigible.

But no.

Are the guards fooled by you?

I made the tall one give me
a hand job, so it seems so.

Oh, aunt! Look at this.

A partridge, which I shot as
it was sitting in a pear tree.

What are the chances of that?

Pugachev, you can fuck off.

Empty your pockets as you go.

Fucker.

Still, the only good one I have.

Has she been back for more yet?

She has not, but when she comes,

I am ready with a wave of love
that will bring her to her knees.

Look.

A heart made out of rubies.

I also had some pineapple-based floral
arrangements sent to her this morning.

I am now toying
with love sonnets

but trying to get anything to
rhyme with "indescribable lust,"

other than dust, is
immensely difficult.

Her body is saying yes.
Now her mind must follow.

- Say more.
- This is a brilliant woman

whose mind is always
seeking answers.

You must create a question mark.

A mystery.

She has an idea of you,
and that idea must evolve.

You are a befuddling,
strange creature.

Everything you are
saying is ridiculous.

At the moment, you're
playing hard to want

when you should be
playing hard to get.

Seems a bit strong. She
came to me unbidden.

And that is a battle
won, but not the war.

Did I capture your father?

- How, you ask?
- No, I did not ask that, and I never...

I knew my body
had caught his eye...

Is this some annoying story
where he ends up sodomizing you

in a boat or some such?

I will not listen to it.

It is an illuminating story.

He wanted to fuck
me, I knew that,

but I also knew that
would be nine minutes

of a busy day for
him. Quickly forgotten.

I wanted him to want to know
me and feel like he never could.

- What did you do?
- At dinner one night,

as he regaled the rapt room
with tales of his derring-do,

I plucked a moth from the air.

He kept talking and as
he did, I smiled, bemused,

and then slowly picked the
moth apart and ate the pieces,

bewildering and beguiling him.

- A moth?
- Then later that night,

- he sodomized me in a boat.
- Oh, Jesus!

It is a jest. He did not.

The point is, you
must make her believe

there is more to
you than there is.

More? Fuck me. I'm the full
buffet. What do you mean more?

I mean, let her in to the
new man you're becoming.

Demonstrate kung
fu, for instance?

She values ideas, so
show her so do you.

Hmm.

Shoo.

Shoo.

Shoo!

I have been asked to
speak to you by the empress.

I know some of you now.

I've made love to many of you.

Some softly, some savagely.

This marvelous...

Are they the scientists
you bribed to come back?

They were excited
to join the new Russia.

And yes, to be paid well for it.

A dreamer, perhaps. Perhaps not.

Probably so.

But dream we must.

The Enlightenment is
warming nations across Europe.

Reason has opened
a new world to us.

Who knows what marvels
that change the world will erupt

from the inside of
these people's brains?

A cure for syphilis perhaps.

I, for one, hope so.

How exciting were
Voltaire's words?

And that Olga's explanation of
wind power uses in the Netherlands?

Mm. My face was literally
numb with boredom.

Marial, if we are to
change this country,

we must change the
way people here think.

You could just tell them what to
do and shoot them if they don't.

Well, just saying. That is
the way we've always done it.

Which is why we need Voltaire.

I cannot free the serfs and
give women rights and education

if people do not believe

in the inalienable
rights of all, for instance.

And that reason overrides
greed and tradition.

And I have a more
personal issue to discuss.

Or no, I will just act.

Apparently, the girls'
school saw a big lizard.

- A lizard? Great.
- I heard it might have had wings.

What are you both talking about?

- The lizard.
- I shall leave you.

I must go riding.

We have a problem.

Apparently, Ambassador Sunduk
arrived home, but without his head.

What do you mean
without his head?

I mean he had it, but it was
no longer attached to his body.

Our treaty proposal
stuffed in his neck hole.

What?

They have, unsurprisingly, taken
this as an affront and a "fuck you."

We didn't do it!

I will send our ambassador
to make that point.

Bandits, I assume. Those
roads are a nightmare.

But they already
had a dim view of you,

so this does not help.

They will be making plans to
war. We should attack them.

Soon as possible.

No. I will not be dragged into
a war that makes no sense.

Let me run this.

Your war is my business,

and you agreed I could
run it as my business,

"all guns blazing"
you said to me.

And when we are at war, you shall
have your way with our blazing guns,

but we are not.

Send the sultan a
carriage full of gold bullion

and ask for an audience with me.

I will meet him.

Well, why don't you just
tell him you fear a fight?

Let him take Orlo back to
Constantinople to eat in a salad.

You have made your
feelings known, Velementov.

No, I feel I have
barely started.

And I feel you have
finished, so you have.

Orlo, I have something to do.

Do you want to talk to the
parents about the lizard?

Am I the Empress of
Russia or a gamekeeper?

I have something to do.

Which I must do. I just must.

And so, I will.

This is madness.

- No, it's clear who did it.
- What?

They did it themselves.

To justify a war and
rile their people up.

Open your eyes, Orlo.

General.

Good morning.

Morning.

I wanted to talk to you
about the party last week.

Sorry?

The, um...

- Are you reading?
- Galileo. Interesting.

Right.

What is your topic of concern?

The events following the party.

The fight between Bulkov and Yakov
where Yakov bit Bulkov's nutsack off?

No.

Your tongue on my bud.

I recall it, yes. What of it?

I just don't want you
to get the wrong idea.

In what way?

In what it meant.

I am a busy empress with
few activities beyond my work,

and a line between
me and the court

that must be preserved
to maintain my power.

And I was also very hungover
with a terrible headache,

so you seemed the most
efficient way to get my needs met.

Seems ruthless and
clever. So very you.

- It was in no way personal.
- Disagree.

I'm sure you have
fucked a hundred women

who meant nothing
but the sating of longing.

As we are in love, it
is not an apt analogy.

We are not in love.
You are my prisoner,

and I perhaps overstepped the
boundaries of our relationship.

Apologies.

This is what will
one day happen.

You will walk in here,
weeping, fall to your knees,

broken by your noble
failure to change Russia.

I will lift you from the
ground, look you in the eye,

tell you I love you, kiss
you softly on the mouth,

feel you press your
lips back against mine.

Our bodies will harden
against each other

as we feel passion
break free within us.

And we will rip at
each other's clothes

like time itself is about to end

and we cannot get to
each other before it does.

Then, I will lift
you onto the table,

and for a moment
we will just stop

and feel our hearts beat
and the air around us still.

Then, as I enter you,
we will feel a rush,

that of ecstasy,
that of being home.

For that is what we are to
each other, and you will know it.

As I already do.

Ah...

You are the funniest.

You have cheered me.

My point. It was a one-time
thing fueled by practicality

and confusing pregnancy
fluids unbalancing me.

I hope you understand,

- I don't mean to...
- Shh.

Reading.

I have no idea how that went.

- Yes?
- I just wanted to look at you

and remember all the
terrible things you have done.

Remember when you
nearly drowned me?

Nostalgia indeed.

And yet look at us now.
Happily at table together,

our baby resting in your
belly, an orgasm in your throat

ready to unleash at
the flick of my tongue.

I don't want that. Thank you.

That was my
fucking point earlier.

If words could actually
penetrate your delusions.

Of course. But know
that I am at your whim.

I have no whim. I am a
creature of reason, not whim.

Just to say, if it makes
you happy, I'm all for it.

Good day!

- How big though?
- Ten feet.

And it just stared at me.

Can't blame it for that.

Are you flirting with me?

I don't know.
I've never done it.

Am I?

- It's a weird time to do it.
- Sorry.

Distracting though.

In a good way.

Miss.

It had wings and I shot at it,

point-blank and nothing.

Its hide like a dragon.

That's what he said
when I found him.

What the fuck are
you talking about?

There is a dragon in court.

There's an idiot too.
I'm looking at him.

I saw it.

Its eyes dead and staring,
but somehow speaking.

Speaking eyes.

- But not.
- Mm.

He has the DT's.

I have seen monsters many times.

He needs four shots of
vodka and a light pounding.

I know what I saw.

Drink.

I know what I sa...

- Are you with us?
- It was a winged monster.

A fucking demon from scriptures.

The girls saw it too.

- Father, have you heard?
- I have.

- A lizard?
- It's a demon.

It looks like demons
you see in books.

Tell me what it looked like.

Lady Marial.

A delight to have
you ride with us again.

Ah.

Shakey.

Marial?

Lady Marial?

- You made it back.
- I did.

It's good to see you.

Is your hair supposed to
be a humorous talking point?

Don't throw stones when
you look like a tiny turnip.

Want your fucking horse or what?

My apologies. She
is a useless cunt.

I know.

I used to bunk with her.

None of the
ladies will have her.

So, we're stuck with her.

Orlo, what is going on?

The lizard.

People think it might be an
omen as well, so a bit of panic.

An omen? What the
fuck are you talking about?

It's a winged demon, Orlo.

- Why are you deluding yourself?
- What?

Empress, we have a problem.

I believe this, or
something like this,

is what they have seen.

- The lizard?
- It looked like that.

This is what the girls drew.

I believe it is an
omen. It is written.

I need prayer groups all over
the palace in clusters of ten.

They need to be burning
sage and chanting.

- An omen?
- Or it is straight devilry.

It may just be the devil.

This is fucking
ridiculous. We just hunt it!

The first to kill it should be
gifted 1,000 rubles and its head.

Empress, what say you?

I say everyone calm down.

Calm down.

An animal of some sort is loose.

What do we know?

It has not attacked anyone.

It is unknown to
those who have seen it.

Let us apply science
and reason to the situation.

I will get the scientists
from the academy

to interview all
who have seen it,

and try to ascertain
what this animal is

and how to deal with it.

The lizard, if
that is what it is,

will be found and
dealt with, rest assured.

Velementov, get your men to
go through the palace and find it.

Yeah, um...

Half my men won't go
after it in case it is an omen.

- This is insane.
- Not really.

I've had many omens
on the battlefield.

My first victory, I was on my
way to attack through a ravine.

Poof, straight down the middle.

That night, I awoke to a sound.

I went out into the night...

a donkey was throwing up blood.

I sent a forward scout.

He discovered that they were
ready for an attack from that direction.

We rerouted. Pincered them.

That is not an omen.

If a donkey vomiting blood
is not an omen, what is it?

A very sick donkey.

My mother told me that in
the week before I was born,

a dozen white doves
landed outside our house

and stayed there until
the day I was born.

- The whole village still talks of it.
- Orlo?

I don't think it was an omen,
but, I mean, some villagers did.

Like I was special.

But we had a pecan tree, so
sometimes in season birds would...

Velementov, go
find it and kill it.

Attack the lizard,
ignore the Ottomans.

Understood.

I'm worried his love for
Catherine is a brake on our plans.

And we cut a man's head
off for nothing if we do not win.

And that was so much
harder than you would think.

- It was the bone.
- Oh, nightmare, neck bones.

He needs to be got off
Catherine and back on plan.

He needs a distraction.

A lover maybe.

Could we not just
have our own plans?

Like find him a lover.
Someone we trusted.

That was almost one of us. Hmm?

If we just kill her,

he has some grief,
cries about it for a bit.

You kill her, you'll
have some grief

from him stuffing your
eyeballs up your arse.

We just look for opportunity.

Seen a lizard?

A what?

Now, Manchego or Brie?

Well, you decide.

Oh, hello.

Who are you?

What are you?

I don't like that look.

Is that for me or the mouse?

So many ideas we must
unpick in this country.

- I mean, omens, really?
- Crazy.

Usually they're
much more specific.

Like, before my
mother got smallpox,

I saw a chicken covered in bees.

And I knew someone
I loved was in trouble.

Right.

Here's a small thing I may
have inadvertently not mentioned.

After the party last week...

I did something.

Well, had something done to me,

but at my behest, an order
really, and obviously very hungover,

most likely still drunk actually,
and also, I am pregnant

and apparently that does
things to your bile and blood.

Oh, is that a rose?

Hmm. Hmm.

Cravings.

What did all that mean?

I got gone down on.

By Peter.

- What?
- It was a one-off thing,

driven by a number of
the aforementioned factors.

I have spoken to him
of its one-off nature.

- Nipped it in the bud.
- So to speak.

Funny.

Uh, there was only one
problem with the whole thing.

Only one?

My desperate desire
for him to do it again.

Oh. He's a fucking monster.

Marial...

It is like being shot from a
cannon into the darkest sky

and watching stars blink on
in their thousands around you.

Oh...

A very lot of unexpected
revelations going on.

I'm stunned.

You hate him.

I'd say he's evil,
except he's too stupid.

Find it?

It found us.

Elizabeth, are you all right?

I am fine.

Took a chunk.

- Opium.
- Opium?

I haven't had that
in a few years.

That is a deliciously
dreamy sedation.

Take some and then three lovers,

and it is quite the experience.

Who is on me? In me?

Oh. Am I at sea?

In a tub, wearing fur.

What did it look like?

It is a beautiful
beast to behold.

I have my scientists
working on what it is.

Oh, it's a crocodile.

What? How do you know?

Well, at first, I was so shocked
I didn't know what it was.

And then I realized I have seen
them in books of the Americas.

Fascinating.

There's a book on the table.

A crocodile.

Thank God it did not kill you.

I thought he would, but it
seemed he preferred my mouse.

Alas, little Orestes...
swallowed in a snap.

Then, off he went.

Orlo, gather the court.

- Why?
- We know what it is,

so we must go tell the
court we know what it is

and put this omen
business back in its box

with everything else
from the 15th century.

They may feel safer
to gather outside.

However.

Basil, stand with me.

Of course, Empress.

The scientists at the academy

have identified this
lizard as a crocodile.

A species of North
American river animal.

It eats small creatures,

and can only be killed
by stabbing it in the eyes.

- Oh.
- Velementov is searching

for this lost creature, and
I assure you he will find it.

But above all, know
it is a real creature

and not an omen or a sign.

Father Basil, don't you agree?

It seems it is real and that
we know it is a crocodile.

That doesn't mean it's
not an omen, of course.

That is in fact
exactly what it means.

- How did it get here?
- And why is it here?

- This is why it suggests omen.
- Let us just deal with the fact it is.

That is the only
actual fact here.

God sends signs that will
make us sit up and take notice.

He is speaking to
us, and we must listen.

No, we must be rational people

not driven by superstition
and foolish ideas.

We must be led by
science and reason.

Could it be to do
with the empress?

She is new.

The omen has appeared
shortly after her reign begins.

It's not an omen!

The new archbishop says it
might be, and he speaks for God.

No, he doesn't.

Let us all calm down.

Exactly.

Let me speak to this a moment.

There are such things as omens,

and there are such
things as crocodiles.

And sometimes a
crocodile is just a crocodile.

I believe this is what
you are saying, Patriarch.

Which is this?

Who is to say? Only God.

And as Patriarch,
the only one among us

who has a direct
relationship with God,

I will go find out
if it is an omen.

Perhaps relating to
our new empress's rule,

and the fact that she is an
interloper from elsewhere

come to wreak havoc on Russia.

Which is one
possible interpretation.

Or perhaps, it is
something else.

Merely a lost creature who was
lost on a boat from the Americas,

and somehow, illogically,
ended up lost in our court.

I will go and commune with God and
let you know when God has spoken.

Calm yourselves,
lock your children away

and pray relentlessly,

as that is the only real
protection from his wrath,

and I will reveal all soon.

- Amen.
- Amen.

You!

Oh, hello.

I thought that went well.

Basil did a good impression
of Judas, didn't you think?

A simple backwoods
priest out of his depth.

- You brought it in here.
- A crocodile?

Where would I get a crocodile?

Put it in a carriage
from America?

I imagine it wasn't
always that size.

It's a shame we're always
trying to destroy each other

when we're really the only
truly brilliant people here.

- Bastard.
- Mother never used that exact term,

but not inaccurate.

- How?
- It's a funny story.

Years and years ago, a monk
missionary brought it back as a baby.

Lives in a hermit order
up in the Caucasus.

Raised it, fed it
mice and rabbits.

Lived happily
together apparently.

Power of love and
all that, I suppose.

Touching, when
you think about it.

I'd forgotten all about it,

but I was thinking how
I could deal with you,

and it popped into my head.

A vision from God.

What do you want?

It's not me. What does God want?

Fine. What does God want?

Three things.

One, you get rid of Basil
and agree never to kill me.

Two, you make the Russian church
the only church in Russia again.

And three,

you come and meet God.

Repeat three,
because it seemed mad.

Everything you say seems mad,

but this had
another level on it.

If we are to live in
uneasy harmony...

I would like you to know God.

And he's coming
for tea soon, is he?

- We will go to him.
- Of course you will.

How rude of me.

Or I come in here tomorrow,
having communed with him

and destroy you in the
eyes of half the court,

and let the word filter
out to the regions.

It will not unseat you, but
no one will follow your agenda

as it will be the
devil's agenda.

And it will erode you

until you are pretty
dust on the wind.

Archie. Always does
love the extreme.

He's showing you his strength.

The Church has power in
that it holds the people's minds.

But he doesn't seem
to want to destroy me.

Just push me back.

He did try to make
peace, I suppose.

Cute.

It's pretty simple how
we deal with it, isn't it?

We kill him.
Let's kill Basil too,

because he threw you
under the carriage out there.

I cannot kill Archie.

It will look like
the omen was right

and I was trying to
stop him revealing it.

I cannot kill Basil as
it will look the same.

He has us in a pincer movement.

We can wriggle, but
how do we break free?

I thought the answer was next.

More a summation
of the position.

- Helpful.
- Thanks.

- Sarcasm.
- Understood.

We need to find
and kill the crocodile.

Velementov.

On my way.

Elizabeth...

can you teach someone
else the tongue trick for me?

- Why?
- I let him do it to me.

Gosh.

What exhilarating
and surprising news.

Now I am reacquainted
with the taste,

I long for more.

Marvelous. Good for you.

But not from him.

Why not from him?
He is the safe choice.

He has unnerving
ideas of our love.

But you are not
in love with him.

A woman should know how to
let a man suffer his delusions,

whilst harvesting the fruit
she needs from his farm.

Give in to your body.

Your mind is safe.
Your heart impregnable.

So why not?

You are up?

Yes.

I'm making Galileo planets
out of boiled eggs for Paul.

Chicken egg for Mars,
ostrich egg for Jupiter.

We can hang them up.
Then, when he is sick of them,

- make a sauce gribiche.
- Cute.

- What brings you here so late?
- I could not sleep.

And wished to tell you in
case you had not heard,

it's not a big thing, but there's
a crocodile loose in court.

Oh. I heard about that.
Probably an omen from God.

It is not an omen from God!

He might be mad his
chosen one is not in charge.

Why are so few people
in this court led by reason?

You seem tense,
verging on overwrought.

Heavy is the crown.

- You mean "uneasy."
- I do?

"Uneasy is the head
that wears the crown."

It is a piece of Shakespeare.

No, I actually mean "heavy."

Often if I wore the crown, it
would hurt my neck and back

and give me shooting pains
all night. Wondered if that was it.

- It is not.
- Hmm.

It should not be so hard.

I'm just trying to
get people to...

Think like you.

Yes.

Your arrogance is breathtaking.

My ambition is breathtaking.

You could just shoot a few people,
then the others tend to follow.

Thanks for the advice.
Clearly served you well.

Father used to say you
must lead by instinct.

But what is instinct?
It is heart and head.

Neither should ever
lead. They must be fused

like a two-headed turtle.

I however, led by
cock and sword.

Which is why you failed.

Indeed. An interesting insight.

I will note it down.

Are you actually noting it down?

I am.

Anything else?

It would be for
the good of Russia.

Calm me for the
decision-making process

to be as well thought
through as possible.

What would?

I need exact words as
I am not a smart man,

as oft pointed out by you.

You understand it would be a purely
physical action of cause and effect,

not to be misread
as anything else.

Well, as soon as I know
exactly what it is you're saying,

I am at your whim.

It is not a whim.

It is a rational response to a
confluence of circumstances.

And by that, you mean...

Lick me.

Needed a cherry.

You're not scared
to walk the halls?

Danger lurks, apparently.

Not afraid of danger.

Really?

Going to kill it, Smolny?

It's a prize. Just fuck
knows where it is.

It's peaches.

Remarkable.

No need to talk.

Must go.

Could you kill it?

What? The crocodile?

Yes. If it is just gone,
disappeared from court,

the idea disappears too.

Well, who kills better than me?

Exactly my thought.

And the irony of suddenly
wanting that talent?

Swallowed whole for expedience.

The scientists say you
must stab it in the eyes.

Fun.

I can just come find
you when I've done it.

I would like to see it

and not have you
roaming the palace alone.

Hold my hand.

I'm not scared.

And I'm not holding your hand.

Well, if we see it, I will
have a split second to act.

If I'm not sure where
you and Paul are,

I will spend that split second
making sure you're all right

and will be killed.

If I have your
hand, I will know.

I will act on instinct.

Soft hands.

I remember that from
when we first danced.

I remember how much I hated you,

and yet, you could dance.

Mm. Killing, dancing,
eating. My many talents.

I meant pussy,
by the way. Eating.

I know you did.

Hmm?

Patriarch.

Father Basil.

Shouldn't you be outside,

burning sage and
reading scripture?

I have several vigils
running all night.

Good to know. Very reassuring.

I feared I angered
the empress today.

Merely wrong-footed
her with the truth.

What else are you here for?

Should I apologize to her?

Personally, I wouldn't.

Your truth is everything.

I was not backing down, just
seeking peace between us.

Would you like to pray together?

Not really.

You should go tend
the sage-burning vigils.

Those fires can get out of hand.

I am happy to roam
around all night.

I will eventually
find the fucker.

No, you tried. Archie has me.

- It's like the raven.
- Exactly.

You saw that all
the time, didn't you?

Of course. I think like
an emperor. Strategy.

Surprising, but seemingly true.

What would you do?

- You want my advice?
- So I can do the opposite.

I would kick the
shit out of Archie,

burn down the entire palace

with him and the
crocodile still in it,

thereby letting everyone
know not to fuck with me

and there are no limits
to my fucking rage.

And then rebuild the palace
with less gold and bigger rooms

so we could ride horses inside.

Love it.

I'm always here for
you and Paul. Know that.

Strangely enough...

I believe you.

Okay.

I'll go meet God.

Mm.

Velementov.

Last truffle of the season.

- I thought you'd enjoy it.
- In-fucking-deed.

Fine fellow you are.

If I gave out medals
anymore, you would have one.

I think... I think
I'm hallucinating.

Before, I thought I saw you
walking the hall with the empress.

Ah, yes,

the wife and I enjoy
a nighttime stroll.

She needs my sage advice.
Matters of state and whatnot.

Bullshit.

She... She doesn't
listen to anyone.

I jest, of course.

She came to me to get
me to kill the crocodile,

as I'm well known as the
best strategic killer in the land.

I'm a killer.

I'll kill the fucking
crocodile! She doesn't...

Does she not think I can do it?

You are blusteringly
drunk and smell monstrous.

Huzzah. Eat a fig.

Any word on how Sunduk
spoke to the sultan of her?

He didn't speak of her because
they cut his fucking head off.

They cut his head off?

Oh, poor Sunduk. Lovely guy.

Fucking hell.

So, they will war with us.

Are you planning an
attack before they do?

We should be.

My father always said,

"As the other man gets the first
inkling there is a fight in the offing,

"you should have your knife in
his liver and your knee in his balls."

Ah. Peter the Great.

Great by name.
Great by fucking name.

- To Father.
- To Father.

To Peter the...

I...

I may... I may lie down.

Just a little lie.

Thank you.

Unhappy, you say?

Generals need to
be fighting someone.

You do not give
them someone to fight,

they'll fight you.

That's very pithy.

Mm. I'm writing new
sayings down all the time.

And you thought I wasn't
on my game, Grigor.

I was wrong to doubt you.

Fucking wrong. I
am in inspired form.

We will shake her from her
pedestal, and she will fall into my arms.

Did I tell you how
soft her hand is?

You. Come with me.

Marial. Perfume stinks.

As does yours.

Don't play dumb with me, Shakey.
You know what you've done.

Your little bit
with the limping.

Walking out into the
middle of the courtyard

to eat crotch
bread in front of me.

A good summation of
my day. But your point is?

You're annoying me.

You used to eat
crotch bread yourself.

I know.

So, we go to meet God?

Indeed.

I am actually excited for you.

The idea of God at work is
what has grabbed our people.

And it did not grab
them, they grabbed it,

for it is in them
and they know it.

The crocodile is merely an idea

that there is something
beyond ourselves.

Okay, where's God? Or am I to
be lured somewhere and attacked?

- Let me tell you a story.
- Must you?

My mother was
extremely, extremely fat.

Huge. Enormous woman.

Special furniture
had to be built,

our carriages braced,

and to see maids wrestle her
into a gown the size of a tent

was like being
at a French farce.

Her hands never touched
me that I did not walk away

smeared in chocolate or pâté.

Picture painted.

See, she couldn't
feel full, ever.

No matter what she ate, how
much, always she felt empty and sad.

But I would look at her knowing
I had a love she could not see

that would fill her in an
instant if she could've seen it.

And then I was a man at court

in a rabid whirl of sick
and savage consumption.

Alcohol, women, men.

Desperately filling my nights

and waking each morning
untangling myself from someone

and feeling the emptiness

like a cold shadow
breaking through me.

And I heard a voice
telling me to come home.

God.

And I realized God would fill me,
and I would never have to search again.

I only wish my mother were
alive to share that feeling.

Shall we?

- Here?
- Here will be fine.

Eat the key to the doorway.

- Now what?
- Now we wait.

Are you actually excited for me?

- I am.
- You are the strangest of men.

You don't even
know the half of it.

Did you see him?

I saw a oneness.

A unity of things.

I was a plant and an ant.

No, but did you see him?

I saw that there is love and
we are all a part of that love.

- Like that, you mean?
- No.

An old man with a beard,

and he... he shimmers,

and when he speaks, his
voice booms like thunder.

I didn't see that.

I saw shining light.

Yes. An old man and
his heart pours forth light!

No. Just light.

But I saw love.

And I see your love for God...

and for me...

which I never saw before.

And I have disrespected it.

Perhaps we are
each guilty of that.

We are fighters.

Perhaps that hides the
truth of us both at times.

They love God, my people.

You showed me that.

Thank you.

But their thinking
should not be controlled

by these ancient terrors.

There's a modern world, Archie.

Your church could be part of it.

God wants me to serve you.

It's strange and at
times inexplicable.

Together, we
would be formidable.

We could be the grit that
makes the pearl for each other...

and I need you.

You know them, and
you truly love them.

I will not kill you.

You have seen the light.

Even if not God.

Now,

how do we get rid
of this crocodile?

You must have had a plan.

Well, I had faith God
would provide one

when the time came.

Not really a plan though, is it?

So that was 11 dead
patients in a day,

which was definitely a
blow to the confidence.

But it sounds like
only six were your fault.

True.

Well, it's good of you
to feel bad about it.

Foolish really. Everyone dies.

I can just stave
it off for a bit.

The whole doctoring thing is actually
fucking up people's view of death.

People are starting
to get this attitude

that death's a tragedy.

Childish.

Indeed.

In light of the
inevitability of our deaths,

shall we take some opium, and
indulge in a little light bondage?

Why not?

Elizabeth, I was walking
back and realized something.

It chose the mouse
and not you, did it not?

It did.

Vinodel, I need
some of that opium.

Sorry for my curt response
to your reluctance to go to war.

Apology accepted.

It is not a lust for
blood. You know I...

I feel for the soldiers lost,

but I also understand war is
a place where men are found.

They look at death,

they understand life
deep in their marrow.

They...

They are asked questions with
impossible answers and yet find them.

They embrace the dark
in themselves, and so...

so understand the light.

And a country...

well, it's the same for it.

It will define us.

Not going also defines us.

I just know it is
my fate, that battle.

I've known it forever.

Perhaps I will bring
you a new fate.

Wouldn't call it fate if
there were new ones.

Now we kill it?

No. Not the animal.

But we do kill the idea.

Court, I have communed
with the Lord, our God.

And the crocodile
is indeed an omen.

It is an omen of what
we face to change Russia.

A prehistoric creature, all anger
and thoughtless disregard for life,

anarchic and selfish,
lacking reason.

These are the things we
must face down metaphorically.

And I have the crocodile.

This is a victory for
reason and science.

Reason: The crocodile
bit Duchess Elizabeth

but preferred her mouse.

Science:

We cannot get close
enough to stab its eyes,

and it is otherwise
virtually impregnable

unless it has eaten
34 opium-laced mice.

Then it is sleeping like a baby.

Huzzah!

This is the Russia we create.

It will be taken
back to its home.

- We will go about our...
- Its eyes are open!

Get it!

Get it!

Kill it! Kill it!

Huzzah! Catherine
the Great! Huzzah!

Huzzah.

- Are you sure about this?
- Of course.

Really? Just
because you feel bad?

It's crazy, I agree.

Call if you need.
Which you will.

Thank you, Shakey.

We will have to work on
those tea-pouring skills.

I can safely say they're
not going to get better.

I like cakes and
cream for breakfast.

And men like thin women.

So, rethink that.

I thought you'd want to
know we got the crocodile.

I heard. It was God's plan.

Perhaps.

Can I ask a favor after?

I am not returning the favor.
It is clear accommodation.

No. I just miss some
things by being in here.

As you know, I am a
powerfully brilliant dancer

and am unused to not
exercising this brilliance.

You wish to dance?

If it pleases you,

and sort of even if it doesn't.

We would need music.

I have music in my head.

That does not help.

- You are...
- You don't like it?

I have different pieces, but
I felt like something lively.

It is fine.

Something lively is good.

Shall we do that first?

Brilliant.

Enough.