Original subtitles

I think about it,

That's it.

All that passion and romance,

and she ends up in a lonely corner of a mass

grave along with the other plague victims.

You know, I could build her a little shrine, if you like.

Or maybe a big marble mausoleum.

Perhaps we could bribe the Pope into canonizing her.

Saint Katrina. Save your taunts.

They're wasted on me.

Oh? And why is that?

I feel nothing now.

Not for Katrina, not for you, not for God, and certainly not for myself.

Well, my compliments on your thoroughness.

I suppose that means we can get started right away on your training.

Training?

As a collector. I'm really quite excited about it.

I've never had a little helper before.

I'm the first. I know. It's an honor.

Why me?

Why now?

Oh, there goes Wilhelmina. I got her sold the day after yours.

She made a deal with you too? Yes, it was very sweet.

She wanted me to kill her father with leeches. Nasty man.

Funny part is, she forgot to say when, so I only just killed the man last week.

I'm afraid, well, I mean, his ten years weren't very pleasant.

Ten years?

The same for everyone. I'm nothing if not fair.

What was the bad luck that balanced her deal? Gout.

Gave it to her whole fam.

Leeches got indigestion.

That's all we are to you.

A joke.

What isn't we anymore, dear boy?

No, no, no.

You're with me now. You're the junior partner in an enterprise

stretching back to the origins of time itself.

How old are you?

Oh, Morgan, if I can only tell you. I was here before Jesus Christ,

before the pyramids and the hanging gardens of Babylon.

I've been around since the first time something that could be

called a human had something that could be called a desire.

Of course, I've been around a very long time before that, too,

but that's another story. Shall we?

Where are we going?

Begin your training.

I think the best way for you to learn is on the job.

I've got a soul coming up for collection in three days.

I think it would be perfect. I don't want to collect a number.

Bad memories, huh? Still feeling a pinch of grief in your privates?

I don't really want to be here.

No problem. Actually, I was thinking of basing you out of Berlin.

Berlin.

Say goodbye, dear boy.

It's time to go.

Do you like it? I furnished it myself.

Just because I'm evil doesn't mean I have to have bad taste.

Everything you need is here, which is to say nothing.

You don't need to eat anymore, though. You can if you'd like.

Got some manuscripts here, like a few of them have racy pictures.

I don't feel like reading. Oh, I think you'll change your mind.

The nights can get very long when you no longer need to sleep,

but I suppose you'd always just stare into the fire and think of Katrina.

I feel much better.

What else could it be?

We must leave right now.

Destiny takes us.

Thirty pieces of silver. I believe that's the going ring.

I found this under the pillow. There's 29 Groschen in here. Is it yours?

Where did you get it?

My father left it to me when he died.

My uncle sent it to me, and I've been saving it for our life together.

Well, we'll have to visit your uncle and thank him for his honesty.

Sometime.

But for now, breakfast.

I spent so many years as a servant with no hope, and now God has blessed me.

With apples.

With you.

I found a tailor in town who made this for a local prince and his wife.

Apparently, they were beheaded before they had a chance to pay for them.

I'm gonna dress like a princess.

You've given me so many gifts, and I have nothing for you.

No.

You are my gift.

Well, I'm going to make up for it by giving you a haircut

and making you look like the prince that you are.

How was I so bold to fall in love with a monk?

What are we doing here? I want neither food nor drink.

We're not here to dine, dear boy. We're here to collect.

I went easy on you in your last two days,

but I usually like to have much more fun with

my clients as I strip away their little gifts.

Most of them don't seem to see the humor in it,

but maybe this fellow might be different. He certainly enjoys a good laugh.

Johannes Mueller. He was so sad when I first met him.

He asked for nothing more than a rollicking good time for ten years,

and I think I've come through.

But now it's time to deliver the check.

Hello, Johan.

May I introduce my apprentice, Morgan Pym, and the assisting maid?

Please, don't take me. I want to live.

Well, I have good news and I have bad news.

The good news is you still have two days left.

The bad news is your only choice is to go then or now.

To hell?

Why would I want to go there early?

That's a little game I like to play with my clients, you see.

If they ask to go early, I win.

If they wait till the end...

I win.

So actually, it's not much of a game, but I still enjoy it. So the question is,

do you wish to cling to life and see everything

precious to you destroyed before you go?

Or go now and avoid the spectacle?

If I still have two days, perhaps there's still time for me to save myself.

Hope springs eternal, I suppose.

Yes.

Yes.

I'll save myself, and you'll never get me.

Never!

Shall we?

You know where he's going?

Same place they are.

Please, please. Please save me, Jesus. Please save your pitiful servant.

Please, please save me.

Please.

You can't come in here.

This is a house of God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, I cast you out.

I shall smite you and all of your demons.

Oh, don't be an idiot, Johannes!

When are you people going to get it through your thick skulls?

Once you make a deal with me, Saint Peter scratches you out of his little book!

Get back!

I'm not from hell.

I'm from Nuremberg.

I'm a man, or I was two days ago.

Please, please, beg me, pity on me.

If you're a man, you know the temptations of the sins of the flesh.

In the name of God, please, please help me.

Get off your knees, Johannes.

God is not listening, and Jesus appears to be indisposed.

Do you really think God would forgive all of your debauchery?

Or would he be glad to send you to hell and see the flames peeling

the flesh off your body over and over for all eternity?

I think he'd forgive me. Doesn't God forgive all sinners?

If there is forgiveness in God's heart, he spared none for me.

Now, now, Morgan, don't be a sourpuss.

Just because God had no sympathy for you doesn't mean that he buggers all sinners.

After all, you were a monk.

A monk?

I loved God.

He's the one that didn't care for me.

But I did.

Just because I no longer love God doesn't mean that I love you.

Aw, you break my heart. But perhaps in time I'll grow on you.

After all, she learned to like me.

But vile.

It will never scare Mueller if he senses disunity in the ranks.

Why toy with him like this?

Why not just let him alone to make his peace, or take him now and be done with it?

Ten years, that's the deal, not a day less.

But what everyone say of the devil when around cheating people,

it would ruin my reputation.

If you feel it be more merciful to dispatch him now, be my guest.

Please. Please.

Please, I don't wanna die.

Now, now, be brave, be brave.

After all, what's the point of carrying on without hope?

Unless, of course, I decide to let you off.

What are you saying? You're gonna let him go?

Why not?

Just because God shows no mercy doesn't mean that I can't. The question is,

does he deserve it? Tell you what, why don't you go after him?

See if there's some reason I should spare him.

Why should he be showing your pity when I receive none?

So you think you're self-worthy of absolution?

I love you. And I love the joining of our bodies.

Are you having regrets?

You want to make confession?

Will you come with me?

No.

Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned.

Well, I should say so.

Peek-a-boo.

I must say, it was priceless watching you come through that church door.

Didn't you think you'd burst into flames as you crossed the threshold?

How could you violate the sanctity of the confession?

Well, the robes held. It turns out Katrina was feeling

a little guilty about all the fun you've been having.

Catholic hangover, I call it.

You have no right to be here.

You should thank me for being here.

If you'd have come in here and confessed your little bargain,

both you and the priest would have gone straight to hell.

But let's not fuss. Katrina confessed some very juicy tidbits.

Apparently you're quite the stud. Would you like to hear about it?

No, not so fast, young man.

It's time you and I discuss the birds and the bees.

What?

Babies. If you two keep rutting at the rate you've been doing,

you'll have a dozen little brats running around by

the time your deal is up. Is that what you want?

I haven't really thought about it.

You'd better.

Pope recommends the rhythm method, but...

Frankly, it's a miracle if it works. If you prefer,

I can take care of that for you. Trouble-free sex for all your remaining days.

You're right.

I do need to take care of this, but I can handle it myself.

I know of some herbs.

Suit yourself.

There is one thing you might want to know from her confession.

She hasn't forgotten about your promise to marry him.

Morgan!

I just heard from a woman in the street.

The plague, it's spread to Magneburg. We have to go there.

Katrina, we've had our brush with it. Let others fend for themselves.

Morgan, my brother's there.

Have you come to kill me?

The devil sent me to discover if there's anything

in you that is worth sparing your life.

Yes.

Yes, there's good in me. I've done good things.

I've given money to the poor.

I've taken care of my friends. I'm not a bad person.

I only made a deal with the devil because... because I was in such despair.

Over what?

I was lonely after my wife died. I couldn't bear life without the woman I loved.

Without the woman I vowed to love forever.

How long were you married?

Ten years.

Ten wonderful years.

What did she die of? The plague.

This song reminds me of my wife at the end.

Do you see?

There is beauty in me.

Yes.

I made a deal with the devil.

Yes, I caroused and wasted the precious years of my life.

But isn't it possible to be a sinner and a good man too?

Katrina!

Ah, I swear, by Christ, it's good to see you.

You were a foot soldier last I saw you. Are you really a marshal now?

Aye. It just goes to show all you have to do

to be promoted is live long enough, huh?

And who's this? Have you brought me a new recruit?

Heinrich, this is Morgan.

I thank you for bringing my sister back to me. It is my pleasure.

I shall make arrangements for you to stay here with us.

So you live in a castle now?

My, it belongs to the Bishop of Magdeburg.

The humble abode of a priest.

We've been working for him since we came back from fighting the Turks.

You've been on a crusade. Ah, you can hardly call them that anymore.

That new pope, Clement VI,

hasn't got the stomach for doing what's needed

to rout the pagans from the Holy Land.

So we spend our time building fortifications to keep out the Poles

or the Lithuanians or whoever's next in line to invade the city.

Well, you'll always be a brave knight to me.

A brave knight? Haven't you heard?

Knights are a thing of the past.

Honours, old-fashioned, chivalries, dead. This is the age of romance.

Pledging your life for true love.

Not my world. I pledge my life to God and protecting those who believe in him.

I'm killing those that don't.

It will take more than beautiful music to prove

yourself worthy of salvation. What then?

You damned your own soul.

Have you ever made up the balance?

Could there be another soul you've saved since you made your deal,

someone you've steered onto a better path?

Yes.

Yes, there is.

Rupert! Rupert!

He was a brute once, but under my tutelage he's become a gentle man,

one who can easily win the heart of a child.

I think God should be able to recognize that I've performed a miracle.

Rupre!

Rufrecht, it's me, your friend.

I was hoping you could tell this man how much I've helped you.

You know, friend, your sorcerer, he's kept me under some kind of spell for years.

Making me follow you around and run your errands!

You've ruined me! But now, by God, I have my revenge!

You are a demon. No.

I'm not.

I'm human.

I mean, I was.

Go home.

It's getting dark.

The benefits of your deal are clearly winning.

Get some sleep if you can, and I'll discuss your deal with the devil.

Lift your sword.

That's it.

Watch my eyes, Morgan.

My eyes anticipate where I'll hit.

This is life, Morgan.

Brutal and quick.

Kill it before it kills you.

Never, ever stop fighting.

You think the Muslims showed us any quarter? No. And

they were damn good warriors. Do you know why?

Because they were fighting for what they believed in. Not the Pope or a king,

but for Allah, their healing God.

That's how belief conquers all, Morgan.

With a sword.

It's a technique we use on heretics.

A little bit of this and they'll confess to anything.

Well, Morgan, anything to confess?

Quite a tolerance for pain. Where'd you get it?

I was a monk, part of an order of flagellants in Nuremberg.

A monk?

My sister snared a monk?

Well, monk, we both suffered in our service to the Lord.

At least my wounds were inflicted by others, and I gave back a hundredfold.

But whipping yourself, it's madness. If God wanted us to suffer,

then why did he make so many beautiful women?

Love isn't free.

Everything has a cost.

And do you love Katrina? More than my soul.

Then why haven't you married her?

Don't fret, Monk.

I've never married, and I've enjoyed the favors of a woman or two.

But I've never been in love the way Katrina loves you.

You're a lucky man.

You shouldn't be here. You're tempting fate.

I think it was fate that brought me here.

You can help them.

You can cure them as you've cured me.

No, it isn't possible.

I don't have my arms.

They can all be found here as well as in Nuremberg.

You're not gonna spend the rest of eternity pining for her, now are you?

Now, now, I'll let you play your little game. Won't you stay and play one of mine?

You didn't tell me about your little talk with Mueller.

Don't you already know?

That you both lost a woman you loved to the plague. It's a common story these days.

I don't think you chose him by accident.

He didn't sell his soul to save his beloved.

Do you judge him, though, for that?

Everything went wrong from the moment I tried to change destiny.

Destiny.

Destiny, a fiction of the strong to help the weak accept their lot.

Everyone has a choice, dear boy.

Choices that are influenced by you.

Oh, Morgan, you've read the Bible. Look me up in the Book of Job.

The Jews knew I was only doing God's work, throwing in a few obstacles,

testing their faith. They burned Job's sheep, killed his whole family,

smote him with boils from head to toe. It all worked out for the best.

If God uses you to do his bidding, then he is more evil than you are.

Don't give him too much credit. You'll make me jealous.

You and God, you both play with people's lives,

just as you're playing with Mueller's now.

Do I detect a note of sympathy?

You're not going soft on me already, are you?

Perhaps I just need to find out if others are more worthy of salvation than I was.

Be careful, Morgan. Be very careful. In the soul-collecting business,

one must maintain a professional distance.

Let's not get too emotionally involved with the client.

Ooh, checkmate.

Surely you remember the harm that can come from doing good.

You know where she is?

She went into the village to buy food.

And she was recognized there by some people who'd heard of her

claim that you can cure the plague and your refusal to do it.

But I can't cure it!

They don't know that.

There's a mob after her right now. They want to kill her and you.

Leave us alone!

We can't help you!

The strangers did not bring this plague! It was the Jew!

This filthy Jew, the one who lends money!

He brought the plague upon us by using the blood

of our children to make his matzah bread.

He wants us dead!

In order for us to rid ourselves of this plague, we must kill the Jew.

Take him.

He didn't bring this plague. He'd committed no crime.

He's going to kill Christ.

How could you, of all people, kill an innocent in Christ's name?

Have you forgotten, Albert?

How many hours is it now?

One day remains to you.

Did you talk to him?

Isn't there anything I can do to save myself?

He says he wants to make you another bargain.

But he won't tell me what it is.

Teresa, your whore looks delicious, Mueller.

However did you keep from tasting her? I never did. I've just taken care of her,

fed her, given her presents, given her money. When I took my wedding vows,

I swore never to touch any woman but my wife.

And even though she's dead, I never have.

I swear it. My, my.

Isn't it inspirational to meet a man who actually keeps his vows? Why are we here?

Why, to test, my dear boy,

to test what I have learned from your unending passion for Katrina.

So you plan to play with love now?

Nothing is its equal at making a man miserable enough to leave this mortal coil.

Oh, I do like that one. I'll have to give that to a writer someday.

Is Teresa to be my salvation?

Do you love her?

With all my heart.

Then all you have to do to save your soul...

You mortals. You're so attached to your women.

Katrina, I'm sorry.

Even if I had the same herms,

I could not cure the others of the plague the way you were cured.

Why not?

Because the cure didn't come from me.

So it came from God.

Meaning God looked down and singled me out for his favors amongst so many others?

Am I so deserving, I who tempted a monk away from his vows? I who live in sin?

I who forsook my city in its greatest time of need?

Is God so perverse, so arbitrary?

There is more to you than your sins.

And this God who sees beyond my sins still sees fit to kill that little boy?

What did he do in his short life?

It was so much worse than the sum of my transgressions.

I don't know why God takes one life and spares the next.

I don't know why he answers one prayer and is deaf to another just as deserving.

I spent my life in that monastery on my knees, waiting, listening,

hoping just once to hear God's voice in my ear,

to feel his comforting hand on my shoulder,

to tell me that life is full of meaning and

that everything will be right in the end.

And I never did.

I never did.

And now this plague comes, and it seems that nothing will be right in the end.

But I was blessed with a miracle.

I was blessed with your salvation from death, and I cannot,

I will not question the goodness of that.

I'm sorry, I question a gift when it should make me love God more.

I want to have faith, I do.

But that boy in the hut reminds me of another.

Valbert.

I heard you say his name to Heinrich.

He was our little brother.

Holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God,

hasten to our call for help and snatch from the clutches

of the devil this boy made in your image.

Do you renounce the devil, Albert? You must

renounce the devil! Say the words, Albert!

Say them!

I will see you dead before I see you in hell.

And that was the last time I saw Albert alive.

Was the exorcism successful?

He wasn't possessed, he was...

He was just different, and didn't God make him that way? If they still killed him,

they tortured him to death in God's name.

I'm going to bed.

What a terrific campfire story.

Full of laughs, tears, fun for the whole family.

Have you nothing better to do than to spy on us and mock us?

No, no, not really.

It was fascinating, though, wasn't it?

You think watching the Inquisitors torment her little brother might have

had a teensy tiny little bit to do with her choice of soulmates?

After all, what better way to get back at God than to convince

one of his helpers to break his vows and go live in sin?

Then she will live and sit no more.

I'm going to marry her. Oh, bravo. Nobly said.

But your timing stinks.

Invaders! Sound the alarm! Let's break the wall!

Take care of my sister.

Well, well. Interesting.

You have a knack for killing.

Morgan, what's happening?

The city's being invaded. There's hundreds of them.

You fought them?

We have to find a place for you to hide.

I have to. I can't just stand aside.

I have to try.

Your lessons weren't wasted on me. I killed one of them.

You're not a better man for that.

If you would do me a service and take my sister to

safety and live a long life together and love her, please.

This tunnel leads out of the city.

Go into the woods and head east towards Berlin. They won't find you.

We will see each other again.

You can be sure of it.

Thank you.

Drive them back!

Don't let them reach the castle!

Well, at least somebody around here is paying for their sins.

I have to get back. I have to fight. Don't be a fool. Katrina was right.

You'll be slaughtered in two minutes, go straight to hell,

and never get the years you bargained for.

The end will come soon enough, dear boy. Don't rush it.

Yesterday you played beautifully.

All the beauty that was mine is not mine.

Every gift I had was a gift from him.

Wheeler, what have you done?

It's for the best. For the best. She'll no longer live in sin. No.

I had to.

It's what I had to do to save my soul.

I'll... I'll confess.

I'll repent. Who are you to tell me what price to pay?

You who bought your time at the price of mine.

He's done what you asked.

Let him go. Let him go?

Let him go?

Why, Morgan, he killed that girl in cold blood.

He only did your bidding.

He'll have to live knowing that he killed the

only thing he loved. He's suffered enough.

Has he?

I know what I see, and what I see merits mercy.

Then you have not seen enough.

No, no!

I've done everything he asked!

Is that enough?

Yes, it's best if you see. We must thank the children.

What's to become of them if he takes me?

Are they to be left here to starve?

Why are these children in your cellar? I kept my wedding vows, you see,

I promised to never touch any woman but my wife, and I never did.

Even after she died of the plague,

I touched only her until there wasn't much left to touch.

But who was I to touch then? Not another woman! That would be a sin!

I had Ruprecht find them for me.

You brought them here to use them.

Yes.

They didn't remind me of my wife at first, but then...

One of them got infected, and then pretty soon they all had it,

which was dangerous for me.

But then I had my deals, and I wouldn't catch it.

I like the poxy ones the best.

They're the nicest.

What are you doing? Let me go! Johannes Miller,

you have condemned your soul to the front steps of hell.

The pain you're feeling won't end until you ask to go.

Take me home.

I believe you found your calling.

Never fool yourself again, Morgan.

You may have had some noble purpose for selling your soul,

but the others who've done it are vile, wretched, the worst of the worst.

You're unique. From now on, you'll help me give them what they deserve.

Forget about them.

They'll all be dead soon.

I, Morgan, take you, Katrina, to be my wedded wife.

To have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer,

for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part.

Heavenly Father, hear our prayers for Morgan and Katrina.

With faith in you and in each other, they pledge their love here today.

May their lives always bear witness to that love and

what God has joined here today. Let men not divide.

In the name of Almighty God, Father, Son, Holy Spirit,

may these blessings remain with you both for as long as you both shall live.