Original subtitles

I knew your father.

I am yet convinced that he was not of this world.

You have his presence.

I've seen the land shining with goodness.

It's the kingdom of summer, and I will be its king.

Vortigern is gone. Rome is gone.

The saecsen is here, but who will lead the fight?

My brother is high king.

Your brother commands no army of his own.

Yield your claim.

I will yet forgive if you agree to bend the knee.

Will you follow me against the saecsen?

We recognize aurelius as the lawful high king.

Fisher king's sword.

Your sword, the sword of a high king.

What was it like, Merlin, to be alone with god?

Is that who you think I was alone with?

Who else?

I do not know if god was with me in caer efon

all these many years, grandfather, but I know morgian was.

You would've drowned on the shores

of sores if not for me.

And am I to thank you for this life that I have,

ignored and forgotten?

Arian, you must hurry along to your studies with caius.

Your mother knows what's best for you.

A gift for hengist.

Great darkness is falling upon this land.

These brothers are our only hope to stand against it.

The kings of the north shall ride to their aid.

You have my word.

Hail the wild man of the wood.

I bring you greetings from the world of men.

Your work is not finished in the land of the living.

Your salvation is at hand.

But you must go back the way you came.

I won't go back. I won't go back.

Do you remember the last time you tasted wine,

warm food in your belly, Merlin ambrosius?

How do you know my name?

Drink.

50 years is a long time to live on locusts and honey.

Has it been that long?

I am not going back.

So you say.

I am happy as I am.

No one is happy in hell.

Leave me.

I have not come to take you away.

You have carried your burden long enough.

It is time to lay it down.

Burden it may be,

but it's all I have left.

No, Merlin, not all.

The time has come, my son, to be reborn.

Madoc's archers arrived last night.

We estimate about 2,000 with another 500 mounted.

How many are there now?

More.

We grow our army by twos and threes,

and every day, a new warship arrives from saecsenland.

Do we grow?

Some of the dumnonii slipped away last night.

Leave the quarrels outside this tent.

We all know the enemy is strong.

Their ranks are more numerous than our own.

It was our weakness and division

that let the barbarians gain a foothold in this land.

If we are to drive them out,

it must be by our strength and unity.

And how are we to drive out

15,000 saecsen

with only two and a half thousand men?

Hengist's arrogance will be his downfall.

Take those blades over.

The boy is a fool.

5,000 could not hold that fort,

not even if they were the finest soldiers in the world.

You must talk to him, attempt to impart some reason.

Speak if you will. I've had my fill of talk.

What are you saying?

Look around you. If we stay, we're doomed.

And if we retreat the saecsens will rape

and pillage this land.

Let them rape and pillage.

The walls of my fortress are high,

and I intend to live to see another summer.

I didn't figure you for a coward.

Since when does a king need permission

to ride among his troops?

Don't lie to me, morcant.

I do not lie.

You would abandon your brothers on the Eve of battle.

I would save my people from destruction.

So should you.

A saecsen army could never breach the walls of tintagel.

Send your men back to their beds,

and I'll say no more of this offense.

No one commands my men but I.

Faer folk.

King aurelius.

I present to you the lord of the north.

Greetings, my friends.

You'll find a warm welcome here.

I hear you've brought us some saecsens to kill.

That's welcome enough.

Steward.

Battle chief.

Are we late to the battle?

The enemy's before us, not behind.

I heard the faery of the north are great warriors.

Did the saecsens take your arm?

No, it was my daughter's husband.

My lord, there's someone waiting for you.

Mother.

What are you doing here?

It's not safe.

I've come with some brothers from the shrine of St. Joseph

to ease the pain of the wounded

and the passage of the dying.

What is it, hawk?

Not long ago, you offered me the Fisher king's sword.

I would gladly take it up now.

I did not bring it.

I have offered that sword to each

of the three great men in my life.

Your grandfather refused it.

Your father refused it, and you refused it.

I have always believed you were meant to be high king.

Your father prophesied it. Hafgan declared it.

Perhaps they saw through me to another.

And perhaps, perhaps you were meant

to wield a different weapon.

King gorlas's daughter.

Does your brother know?

My brother has more important matters to attend to,

as do we all.

The river is too far and too deep.

It's not too far on horseback,

and it's not too deep if it's unguarded.

As soon as we march our armies north,

hengist will turn to us.

No, he won't because the main body of our war host

will already have engaged him.

Here.

Make an easy target.

Make him commit his war host.

Aye.

And I will lead the mounted troops to the river,

cross, and attack hengist from behind.

You?

It must be me.

If you can kill the bretwalda himself,

his armies will collapse.

Then you think it's a good plan, king gorlas?

I think it's a desperate plan and foolish.

But I can see none better.

Then the die is cast.

Tomorrow, we make war.

For britain.

And what happens when we cannot hold the river long enough

before aurelius makes his crossing?

We won't need that long,

just long enough

for myrddin to remember his calling.

You've kept your promise

and brought us the men in the north,

but it isn't enough.

What does aurelius say?

His new faith has clouded his judgment.

He's waiting on a miracle.

And why do you tell me this?

Because I think you can give him one.

They say that when the battle awen is upon you,

you become an unstoppable force.

Ride with us into battle tomorrow.

We face 15,000 saecsen.

What do you ask? I know what I ask.

If I lead you into victory, uther,

the men of britain will proclaim me king.

Yes.

But at least there will be a britain.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Not by my power, jesu, but thine.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Not by my power, jesu, but thine.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

The men are ready for battle.

Not by my power, jesu, but thine.

For the soul of britain,

the battle has already begun.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Not by my power, jesu. The power is thine.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

A war camp is no place for a lady such as yourself.

A lady is never safer than with the battle chief

of britain watching over her.

Forgive me if I've overstepped.

No.

Ygerna.

Jesu behind.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

He seeks our deliverance from god-

jesu behind.

When he could so easily just give it

to us with his own hands.

Not by my power, jesu, but thine.

Jesu behind.

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

That is why he seeks deliverance from god

and not by his own hands. Jesu behind.

Old one-eye approaches.

You are lady of the lake?

And you are king gorlas of tintagel, yes?

This is my daughter, ygerna.

I would entrust her into your care tomorrow.

Can you help bind wounds and fetch water for the dying?

I will do whatever I can to aid the fight.

In the days of your father's fathers,

before the treachery, before the conspiracy.

When the eagle still flew above the emperor's wall

and the Roman peace still held in these lands,

a babe was fetched from the waters beneath yr widdfa,

and that babe a bard,

and that bard a prophet.

Hear then, if you will,

the vision of taliesin ap elphin ap gwyddno garanhir,

and this is the way of it.

There is a land shining with goodness,

where each man protects his brother's dignity as his own,

where war and want have ceased,

and all races live under the same law of love and honor.

It is a land bright with truth,

where a man's word is his pledge

and falsehood is banished,

where children sleep safely in their mother's arms

and never know fear or pain,

a land where kings extend their hands in justice

rather than reach for the sword,

where mercy, kindness, and compassion

flow like deep water over the land,

and men revere virtue, revere truth, revere beauty

above comfort, pleasure,

and selfish gain,

a land where peace reigns in the hearts of men.

Faith blazes like a beacon from every hill,

love like a fire from every heart,

where the true god is worshiped

and his ways acclaimed by all.

There is a golden realm of light, my friends,

and it is called the kingdom of summer.

Nice work.

Good luck.

Be strong. Be resilient.

This is an honor, father,

to ride with you into battle.

And we both earn names the bards shall speak of

throughout the ages.

And may god in heaven deliver us.

Sire, allow me.

Your song last night, I've never heard anything like it.

Greater rebuke you could not give me.

I mean no rebuke.

On the contrary,

I've never seen the souls of men stirred so.

But that is the rebuke, king.

I have failed you, aurelius.

Failed?

I sit at the head of an army of your making.

While I've been playing kingmaker and politician,

while I've been wallowing in my misery

for a lifetime or more,

while I was busy being king in maridunum,

fhain-brother in the north, and dreaming away my youth,

I should have been focused on my first calling,

my true calling.

I am Merlin emrys,

son of taliesin ap elphin ap gwyddno,

and I am the last true bard of the island of the mighty.

I will uphold you in battle, as the bards of the old did.

The fate of britain ever rests

in the hands of the great light.

Then I'll see you in the battle is won.

If your prayer should fail.

Are we not riding with them, lord?

No.

We must fight a different battle.

Men of the island of the mighty,

long have your tribes fought alone

against the Irish, pict,

scoti, and the saecsen,

at times, against each other,

east and west, north and south,

cymry and brigante, cornovii and demetae,

belgae and dumnonii.

Since bran the blessed, you have only known peace

when it was given to you.

You have only known unity

when it was forced upon you by stronger kings,

but today, you stand together.

You stand as britons.

You stand as one, or you will surely fall.

Behold, the sword of Magnus Maximus,

emperor of britain and Rome,

who held this land against the barbarians so long ago.

Now behold your battle chief.

You must hold the line, brother.

You must hold britain.

The sword is britain.

For aurelius.

For britain.

Hold your formations.

Hold.

Any man who runs, dies.

Hold. Hold.

Hold your formations, men of britain, please.

Hold.

Hold the line.

Well done, uther.

Belgae, ready yourselves.

Now.

Ya, ya.

Where is he going?

Jesu before us. Jesu behind.

Hold.

Hold.

Uther.

Archers.

Do it.

Now.

Hold the line, hold the line.

Don't go back.

Push.

Go. Take them down.

They are breaking through!

Hold the line.

Push them back, push them back.

Well done, battle chief, well done.

I would urge you to be cautious.

Ygerna, ygerna.

Hold the line.

Great light, deliver your people.

Great light, preserve our king.

Great light,

we are lost in unless we find ourselves in you.

Will your great light save you

if you have the power to save yourself, my love?

Jesu before me. Jesu behind.

Not by my power, jesu, but thine.

Why does the champion of summer devote himself

to prayer when the battle is before him?

Why does he let others suffer when his sword arm is strong?

Well, you know suffering, don't you?

Morgian.

At last, my dear nephew.

I'd begun to fear you had lost your wits.

Father.

Why do you not speak, my love?

Does fear bind your tongue?

You are right when you speak of fear, morgian.

I do fear you full well.

And yet, if not for me,

you would have been killed long ago.

I interceded for you, nephew.

You owe me a debt. You owe me a father.

Taliesin's death is bitter to me.

My arrow was never meant for him.

Those are the first true words you've ever spoken.

Charis never spared a thought for me,

savior of her people.

I would've given the world than everything in it

to have taliesin smile at me the way he smiled at her,

to have avallach smile at me the way he smiled at her,

to have anyone smile at me the way they smiled at her.

But I was young.

Such things mattered to me then.

What matters to you now, mistress of lies?

You, nephew.

Your unreasoning hatred of the old ways,

of your own past and power, cannot continue.

It will not be tolerated, Merlin.

But it does not have to be this way.

Britain does not have to perish.

The saecsens do not have to prevail.

My god will preserve us.

Your god.

Or your aurelius?

Did you think your juvenile plan would not be known to us?

Did you think we would not be prepared?

Just as your witch mother foresaw.

Loose the arrows.

My men are down there.

The witch foresaw their deaths.

You will be rewarded.

Today, britain dies.

Great light, uphold us.

The waste of it all, the senselessness.

How many lives must be lost

before you accept the power you were born to wield?

Great light, uphold it.

Great light.

Great darkness.

What separates day from night?

Only a handful of hours, turn of the earth.

We are not so different, you and I.

We're overrun.

Tell them to retreat, or we're lost.

You know what you must do.

Why do you falter?

They need you, Merlin.

They need you now.

Feel the power in your arm.

Feel the strong steel in your hand.

Take me up.

Remember what they did to me, my love.

Meurig!

Charis.

Close the ranks!

They are dying, myrddin.

Britain is dying.

The vision of your father is dying.

Your battle chief is dying,

and your king is dead.

Great light, forgive me.

You do not need forgiveness, just the will to power,

and when you have vanquished your foes,

we will rule together,

the king and queen of the kingdom of summer.

Jesu!

I've already been baptized.

I know, my son.

It's been a long time since you were clean.

Your work is not yet finished, Merlin.

The great darkness we've long feared

has gained a foothold on the island of the mighty.

You should have let me die.

You sang your life into me.

Would that you had remained instead.

I had my time.

I completed my work.

You, you were my vision, my son.

I have failed.

Then you must start again.

You must go back the way you came.

What does that mean?

That is for you to discover.

It's a father's right to give his son his first shave.

That right was stolen from me by the one you fear most.

Morgian.

And yet the swift sure hand has given us this moment

to make right that loss.

Let her go, my son.

Go forth. Meet the day.

It's time for us both to leave this place.

One comes whose prayers have carried you

further than you know.

We'll dress you in clothes appropriate to your rank.

I'd rather stay here with you, father.

I have ever been with you, Merlin.

Myrddin.

Myrddin.

I am not the king of the summer kingdom, morgian,

and you are only the queen of air and darkness.

You fool, still clinging to the promises of a god

who has abandoned you.

We're not abandoned, not yet.

Hengist is dead.

Orcadians.

For britain. For britain.

One battle, one war,

men's heart remain unchanged.

And yet...

When I consider what you must have sacrificed,

only to fail-I sacrificed nothing.

My power comes as easily as yours, nephew,

and as your father's.

I will see you again, myrddin.

I'll see you again, morgian.

Nice work.

All hail aurelius,

high king and pen dragon of britain.

Aurelius!

King aurelius, ygerna, my daughter.

Is ygerna here?

Ygerna.

Uther.

It's you.

What you said. Uther!

Master.

Great light, we are not equal to this fight.

Myrddin, what is it? What have you seen?

Our doom.

We all have the right. We're kings of britain.

Shut up. This is executive council.

Don't you shut me up. Come now.

I have every right.

I have the right to say this.

What gives her the right to the sword of britain?

What gives you the right?

Quiet, quiet.

This is executive council.

Don't you shut me up.

I have every right.

Quiet, quiet.

You leave with-quiet.