1
00:01:55,653 --> 00:01:58,088
The time is 2,500 years ago.

2
00:01:58,779 --> 00:02:00,627
The place is Persia.

3
00:02:01,539 --> 00:02:04,805
The man is Ahasuerus, king
of the Medes and the Persians.

4
00:02:05,094 --> 00:02:07,595
Ruler of 127 provinces.

5
00:02:07,625 --> 00:02:09,447
The most powerful man on earth.

6
00:02:10,858 --> 00:02:14,587
The army of the conqueror of all
the lands from India to Ethiopia.

7
00:02:15,357 --> 00:02:18,483
They are returning home now
from fresh victories in Egypt.

8
00:03:12,540 --> 00:03:14,587
We'll encamp over there by the water.

9
00:03:18,474 --> 00:03:20,777
Then only two more marches to Shushan.

10
00:03:20,822 --> 00:03:23,153
Shall I send a messenger
to herald my king's arrival?

11
00:03:24,905 --> 00:03:26,096
Perhaps not.

12
00:03:26,434 --> 00:03:29,182
It would give disloyalty
time to put on its mask.

13
00:03:29,607 --> 00:03:31,902
However, I already know
someone who wears the mask.

14
00:03:31,932 --> 00:03:33,158
Send your messengers.

15
00:03:57,901 --> 00:04:00,580
Well Simon, my loyal Judean,

16
00:04:01,366 --> 00:04:03,499
you no longer need that
rusty sword of bronze.

17
00:04:03,656 --> 00:04:05,970
I don't understand,
sire. It served me well.

18
00:04:06,103 --> 00:04:07,970
More important, it served me well,

19
00:04:08,086 --> 00:04:09,372
for, in your hands,

20
00:04:09,586 --> 00:04:10,699
it saved my life.

21
00:04:10,860 --> 00:04:12,848
Still, it isn't worthy of you.

22
00:04:18,466 --> 00:04:20,150
The Sword Of The Golden Rooster.

23
00:04:20,385 --> 00:04:22,471
Persia's greatest military honor.

24
00:04:22,628 --> 00:04:24,855
You're free to go home now,
Simon. And when you're rested,

25
00:04:25,022 --> 00:04:27,921
there'll be a place for you in my
honor guard at the palace at Shushan.

26
00:04:27,950 --> 00:04:28,909
Aye.

27
00:04:29,122 --> 00:04:30,958
A royal guard to the king of the world.

28
00:04:31,471 --> 00:04:33,297
My betrothed won't believe
this could happen to me.

29
00:04:33,326 --> 00:04:34,286
Who?

30
00:04:34,376 --> 00:04:35,805
A girl of my village.

31
00:04:36,344 --> 00:04:38,336
We shall be married before I go to Shushan.

32
00:04:44,307 --> 00:04:45,563
A gift for the bride.

33
00:04:45,714 --> 00:04:47,794
And may the gods make her fertile.

34
00:04:48,622 --> 00:04:50,639
May my God bless you, sire.

35
00:05:16,599 --> 00:05:19,651
= Hooray =

36
00:05:30,980 --> 00:05:32,271
Take him to his house.

37
00:05:32,305 --> 00:05:34,311
It is against the will of Haman,

38
00:05:34,422 --> 00:05:35,755
the king's chief minister.

39
00:05:35,808 --> 00:05:38,972
He demands an example to
all who cannot pay their taxes.

40
00:05:39,001 --> 00:05:40,863
Haman's will offends the will of God.

41
00:05:41,103 --> 00:05:42,658
You heard the executioner.

42
00:05:43,034 --> 00:05:44,984
10 of us will die if we remove him.

43
00:05:45,086 --> 00:05:47,059
Yes, I heard them, Nathan.

44
00:05:47,507 --> 00:05:50,077
Would you rather live in
fear for the rest of your life?

45
00:05:50,964 --> 00:05:53,009
Cut him down and take him home!

46
00:06:00,884 --> 00:06:01,844
Esther.

47
00:06:05,956 --> 00:06:07,377
- Oh my Esther!
- Simon!

48
00:06:08,174 --> 00:06:09,134
Oh.

49
00:06:09,831 --> 00:06:10,791
Oh.

50
00:06:15,935 --> 00:06:18,698
There will be no more hanging
Esther, now that the king is back.

51
00:06:19,191 --> 00:06:20,357
He's a just king.

52
00:06:20,556 --> 00:06:23,384
He's given me honors and called
me to serve him at the palace.

53
00:06:23,669 --> 00:06:25,682
Simon, you say this king is just,

54
00:06:26,016 --> 00:06:29,857
but he goes off to fight the Egyptians and
leaves his army here to fight his people.

55
00:06:30,199 --> 00:06:33,385
Does the hunting lion know what
the cubs are doing while he's away?

56
00:06:33,528 --> 00:06:35,802
The lion is the evil one.

57
00:06:38,428 --> 00:06:40,990
If we could only go to
our real home in Judah.

58
00:06:41,019 --> 00:06:42,939
The king of Persia rules Judah too.

59
00:06:43,138 --> 00:06:44,615
You called Judah your homeland,

60
00:06:44,644 --> 00:06:46,093
yet you've never even seen it.

61
00:06:46,122 --> 00:06:47,454
We were born in Persia.

62
00:06:47,673 --> 00:06:49,184
Our home is where we live.

63
00:06:49,213 --> 00:06:51,063
We worship our own god.

64
00:06:51,139 --> 00:06:52,690
But Ahasuerus is our king.

65
00:06:56,998 --> 00:07:00,066
You must admit he's
generous. This is his gift for you.

66
00:07:02,132 --> 00:07:04,237
So he bought your devotion with gifts.

67
00:07:05,824 --> 00:07:07,524
This beautiful thing,

68
00:07:07,553 --> 00:07:10,176
while our people are starving and men hang!

69
00:07:10,875 --> 00:07:13,273
He gives you this from
his bloodstained hand.

70
00:07:17,044 --> 00:07:19,296
Oh, forgive me, Simon.

71
00:07:20,357 --> 00:07:23,584
I've dreamed of the day that you would
return, but the dream wasn't like this.

72
00:07:24,504 --> 00:07:25,895
Oh, I'm sorry.

73
00:07:26,002 --> 00:07:27,361
I'm sorry.

74
00:07:37,236 --> 00:07:39,645
The king approaches with his army!

75
00:07:40,557 --> 00:07:41,848
The king's messenger!

76
00:07:41,982 --> 00:07:43,171
Open the gate!

77
00:07:55,253 --> 00:07:57,518
The king approaches Shushan.

78
00:08:01,776 --> 00:08:02,553
The king.

79
00:08:02,582 --> 00:08:04,168
The king, Queen Vashti.

80
00:08:04,591 --> 00:08:06,103
But not until tomorrow.

81
00:08:06,132 --> 00:08:07,984
I have followed his progress.

82
00:08:08,052 --> 00:08:10,449
He is 10 leagues from Shushan.

83
00:08:24,287 --> 00:08:26,362
The army is not even in sight yet.

84
00:08:26,423 --> 00:08:28,426
Time is still with us.

85
00:08:29,229 --> 00:08:30,275
No, Haman.

86
00:08:30,304 --> 00:08:31,653
Your time has ended.

87
00:08:31,850 --> 00:08:33,185
Ha, my time?

88
00:08:33,832 --> 00:08:35,983
Our time, if that saves your pride.

89
00:08:37,394 --> 00:08:39,718
You know, you might be throwing away

90
00:08:40,650 --> 00:08:42,704
the next king of Persia.

91
00:08:43,853 --> 00:08:46,246
I'm well aware of your ambitions, Haman.

92
00:08:46,882 --> 00:08:48,515
Then why be so final, my dear?

93
00:08:48,573 --> 00:08:51,080
Ahasuerus has no eyes
in the back of his head.

94
00:08:52,147 --> 00:08:55,797
And a secret alliance with me
would be quite useful to you.

95
00:08:55,827 --> 00:08:58,997
As well as to your own
future, my dear Vashti.

96
00:09:00,361 --> 00:09:03,110
Well, no one can say that
the king's chief minister

97
00:09:03,264 --> 00:09:06,572
did not serve him well
during his absence, both

98
00:09:06,798 --> 00:09:10,153
politically and domestically.

99
00:09:10,540 --> 00:09:12,537
I trust you, prince Haman.

100
00:09:12,874 --> 00:09:16,626
If I fall, you will lose your head too.

101
00:09:16,779 --> 00:09:20,493
Ah, but what of your other lovers?

102
00:09:20,991 --> 00:09:23,974
My queen's diversions
have caused much gossip.

103
00:09:24,158 --> 00:09:26,588
But who will stand forth to testify?

104
00:09:26,887 --> 00:09:29,391
Their bloody heads would
hang from the royal gates.

105
00:09:30,477 --> 00:09:31,461
No.

106
00:09:31,619 --> 00:09:34,693
When I hold the king in my arms again,

107
00:09:35,037 --> 00:09:37,675
then who will he believe?

108
00:09:37,945 --> 00:09:40,260
- Hmm?
- I agree, Vashti.

109
00:09:40,946 --> 00:09:44,998
The goddess of nature was
especially generous to you.

110
00:09:45,090 --> 00:09:47,661
And the royal purple is most becoming.

111
00:09:49,673 --> 00:09:51,815
So wear it while you may.

112
00:09:52,350 --> 00:09:56,233
Queens come and go.

113
00:09:59,968 --> 00:10:03,667
Do your ambitions stem
from the dreams that uh,

114
00:10:03,775 --> 00:10:06,481
eastern potion brings
to you, my dear Haman?

115
00:10:07,964 --> 00:10:10,492
Take care it does not loosen your tongue.

116
00:11:08,704 --> 00:11:11,241
Great lord of Media and Persia.

117
00:11:14,087 --> 00:11:16,504
Shaker of the earth, master of the world.

118
00:11:16,631 --> 00:11:19,495
Sovereign of Assyria and Babylon and Egypt.

119
00:11:19,980 --> 00:11:23,683
Conqueror of Siber Asia and
all the lands across the sea.

120
00:11:24,300 --> 00:11:25,769
Your last statement is false.

121
00:11:25,926 --> 00:11:27,649
I have not been able to conquer Greece.

122
00:11:28,006 --> 00:11:30,139
I thought it only a
matter of time, my lord.

123
00:11:30,169 --> 00:11:31,214
Enough, enough.

124
00:11:31,402 --> 00:11:33,170
Save that eulogy for my tomb.

125
00:11:33,313 --> 00:11:34,600
I shall do so, sire.

126
00:11:34,747 --> 00:11:36,326
So you plan to outlive me.

127
00:11:37,295 --> 00:11:39,637
My master knows I would give my life

128
00:11:39,782 --> 00:11:40,741
for him.

129
00:11:40,863 --> 00:11:41,967
I wonder.

130
00:11:42,385 --> 00:11:44,347
And you, my general Klydrathes,

131
00:11:44,656 --> 00:11:47,439
what is the condition of your
army which remained in Persia?

132
00:11:47,600 --> 00:11:48,770
Splendid, master.

133
00:11:48,866 --> 00:11:49,944
Splendid.

134
00:11:51,152 --> 00:11:53,125
Where is uh, lord Mordecai?

135
00:11:53,660 --> 00:11:54,619
Sire,

136
00:11:54,684 --> 00:11:58,470
he is the one councilor whose
cooperation I have not had.

137
00:11:58,831 --> 00:12:01,242
It appears he pays reverence to no one

138
00:12:01,863 --> 00:12:03,980
but his invisible Hebrew god.

139
00:12:15,429 --> 00:12:16,219
Mordecai.

140
00:12:16,249 --> 00:12:17,684
Welcome, sire.

141
00:12:18,033 --> 00:12:20,160
Welcome back to Shushan.

142
00:12:20,721 --> 00:12:23,612
I see my king is well.
Not even a slight wound?

143
00:12:23,642 --> 00:12:25,579
No, Mordecai, not even a scratch,

144
00:12:25,797 --> 00:12:27,255
thanks to your friend Simon,

145
00:12:27,284 --> 00:12:29,000
who saved me from being ridden down and

146
00:12:29,038 --> 00:12:30,713
speared like a wild animal.

147
00:12:31,045 --> 00:12:32,923
I am rewarding him with honors.

148
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:35,143
My strong Simon.

149
00:12:35,458 --> 00:12:38,396
I too am rewarding him by
giving him my niece in marriage.

150
00:12:38,452 --> 00:12:40,529
You are a man of warmth, Mordecai.

151
00:12:41,267 --> 00:12:42,694
That is why I was surprised to note

152
00:12:42,724 --> 00:12:44,230
your absence at my welcoming.

153
00:12:44,386 --> 00:12:47,739
I thought it better to pray for
my king's safe homecoming

154
00:12:47,773 --> 00:12:49,098
than to hail him.

155
00:12:49,131 --> 00:12:51,506
This unseen god of yours is strange to me,

156
00:12:51,540 --> 00:12:53,244
but he does seem to get things done.

157
00:12:53,310 --> 00:12:55,048
His works are sure.

158
00:12:55,280 --> 00:12:58,241
And I have faith that you will
be his instrument for stopping

159
00:12:58,271 --> 00:13:00,195
the cruelties of prince Haman.

160
00:13:01,539 --> 00:13:04,194
I shall examine the
administration of Haman.

161
00:13:04,514 --> 00:13:07,521
I have no fondness for the
man, but he is a politic necessity...

162
00:13:07,918 --> 00:13:09,860
Efficient, though overzealous.

163
00:13:09,892 --> 00:13:10,852
But...

164
00:13:11,838 --> 00:13:14,360
let us speak of something more cheerful.

165
00:13:14,947 --> 00:13:16,003
Queen Vashti.

166
00:13:16,067 --> 00:13:18,512
I trust she has not pined for me too much.

167
00:13:18,542 --> 00:13:20,324
Her beauty is undiminished.

168
00:13:20,527 --> 00:13:22,164
And her behavior?

169
00:13:23,067 --> 00:13:24,027
Still...

170
00:13:24,413 --> 00:13:25,995
Gaily spirited?

171
00:13:26,975 --> 00:13:28,027
Mordecai,

172
00:13:28,056 --> 00:13:30,235
I have called you the eye of the king.

173
00:13:30,904 --> 00:13:32,770
My keeper of the accounts.

174
00:13:33,117 --> 00:13:35,005
My all-knowing minister.

175
00:13:36,891 --> 00:13:38,491
So what have you to tell me?

176
00:13:38,602 --> 00:13:40,163
Nothing, sire.

177
00:13:40,618 --> 00:13:42,799
My vision does not penetrate into the harem

178
00:13:42,966 --> 00:13:44,320
or the queen's apartment.

179
00:14:35,621 --> 00:14:39,506
My king, my beloved
husband, how long I've waited.

180
00:14:40,012 --> 00:14:41,266
Adulteress.

181
00:14:41,607 --> 00:14:42,567
What?

182
00:14:42,731 --> 00:14:43,931
Have you gone mad?

183
00:14:44,277 --> 00:14:46,952
No, I have my senses, or I'd kill you.

184
00:14:47,455 --> 00:14:50,114
You shamed this palace
with your corruptions.

185
00:14:51,037 --> 00:14:52,677
Someone has filled your head with lies.

186
00:14:52,706 --> 00:14:53,666
Truth!

187
00:14:53,881 --> 00:14:55,093
Not lies.

188
00:14:55,708 --> 00:14:57,735
The soldiers of my replacements told me,

189
00:14:57,764 --> 00:14:59,235
men who fought and died,

190
00:14:59,357 --> 00:15:01,160
they had no reason to lie.

191
00:15:01,616 --> 00:15:03,834
Who shares your guilt, Vashti?

192
00:15:03,864 --> 00:15:04,823
Name them.

193
00:15:04,915 --> 00:15:06,190
Name them, I command you.

194
00:15:06,260 --> 00:15:07,626
There are no names.

195
00:15:07,813 --> 00:15:09,260
There is no guilt.

196
00:15:11,914 --> 00:15:13,449
Well, whoever it was,

197
00:15:14,419 --> 00:15:16,089
it's best I do not know.

198
00:15:16,851 --> 00:15:19,700
My pride would fall with
their public punishment.

199
00:15:23,435 --> 00:15:25,742
Therefore, I condemn you in private.

200
00:15:25,974 --> 00:15:26,934
No.

201
00:15:27,040 --> 00:15:29,289
You will be forever dead to me.

202
00:15:29,551 --> 00:15:32,553
Oh no, Ahasuerus, I pray you believe me.

203
00:15:32,727 --> 00:15:35,967
I would rather die a
real death than lose you.

204
00:15:39,251 --> 00:15:41,202
Now send for your lovers, harlot.

205
00:16:07,214 --> 00:16:08,173
Samuel?

206
00:16:11,772 --> 00:16:12,964
Come on.

207
00:16:18,078 --> 00:16:19,038
Aha.

208
00:16:19,293 --> 00:16:20,993
Maybe we'd better hasten the wedding.

209
00:16:21,994 --> 00:16:24,357
I've waited for him
since I was a little girl.

210
00:16:24,502 --> 00:16:26,355
We can certainly wait a few more days.

211
00:16:26,385 --> 00:16:28,458
That would give her time
to be sure that she loves me.

212
00:16:28,867 --> 00:16:30,460
Yes, it's for a lifetime.

213
00:16:30,836 --> 00:16:32,831
And she's only had 10 years to decide.

214
00:16:32,861 --> 00:16:35,998
It's my great worry that she's
never considered any other man.

215
00:16:36,216 --> 00:16:38,238
For how can love untested ever be sure?

216
00:16:38,307 --> 00:16:40,235
Oh, yes, yes. That's true.

217
00:16:40,336 --> 00:16:42,152
I haven't ever looked at anybody else.

218
00:16:42,358 --> 00:16:44,094
Maybe I should have done.

219
00:16:45,865 --> 00:16:47,073
Simon!

220
00:16:48,510 --> 00:16:49,469
Oh.

221
00:16:52,653 --> 00:16:53,676
Simon.

222
00:16:53,706 --> 00:16:55,086
Oh, Mordecai.

223
00:16:58,337 --> 00:17:00,083
Our great soldier.

224
00:17:00,373 --> 00:17:01,862
The image of a David.

225
00:17:02,547 --> 00:17:05,018
The image of a good
husband for your Esther, I hope.

226
00:17:07,411 --> 00:17:08,016
Mm.

227
00:17:08,045 --> 00:17:09,908
We didn't expect you so soon.

228
00:17:09,939 --> 00:17:10,880
I know.

229
00:17:10,910 --> 00:17:14,430
And I'm afraid the business of the
king will keep you from your wedding.

230
00:17:14,459 --> 00:17:15,227
Oh, no.

231
00:17:15,258 --> 00:17:16,464
I will explain all later.

232
00:17:16,538 --> 00:17:18,944
So I made the journey today to bring you

233
00:17:19,145 --> 00:17:22,241
this gift for your house and Simon's.

234
00:17:22,646 --> 00:17:24,015
May I open it now?

235
00:17:28,036 --> 00:17:30,070
Simon look, a Mezuzah.

236
00:17:30,860 --> 00:17:32,432
Thank you, uncle.

237
00:17:33,563 --> 00:17:36,013
Our thoughts will always
be with you, Mordecai,

238
00:17:36,201 --> 00:17:38,359
while this Mezuzah protects our home.

239
00:17:39,394 --> 00:17:41,496
Yes, and I hope that you'll protect him, uncle

240
00:17:41,534 --> 00:17:43,715
while he serves at
that palace of wickedness.

241
00:17:44,842 --> 00:17:47,305
Nothing can convince her
that our king is not a man of evil.

242
00:17:47,335 --> 00:17:48,712
He's a good man at heart,

243
00:17:48,933 --> 00:17:50,802
or at least... he was.

244
00:17:50,885 --> 00:17:51,844
Was?

245
00:17:51,908 --> 00:17:53,021
Has anything happened to him?

246
00:17:53,122 --> 00:17:54,934
Yes, something that has changed him...

247
00:17:54,994 --> 00:17:56,092
A disillusionment,

248
00:17:56,121 --> 00:17:57,306
a despair.

249
00:17:57,718 --> 00:17:59,760
That is why I cannot attend your wedding.

250
00:17:59,874 --> 00:18:02,068
It is imperative that I
remain at the palace.

251
00:18:02,212 --> 00:18:04,960
There are those who would take
advantage of the king's despair

252
00:18:04,989 --> 00:18:06,212
to further their own ends.

253
00:18:06,369 --> 00:18:07,441
If they succeed,

254
00:18:07,731 --> 00:18:10,454
it may mean the end of every
Judean settlement in Persia.

255
00:18:11,561 --> 00:18:13,418
The king is an unhappy man.

256
00:18:13,746 --> 00:18:16,898
In all his majesty, I think
he would actually envy you.

257
00:19:26,401 --> 00:19:30,191
Who is the one who wails like
a she-wolf baying at the moon?

258
00:19:33,381 --> 00:19:35,822
Probably a paramour of Klydrathes.

259
00:19:36,034 --> 00:19:37,477
No, no.

260
00:19:37,524 --> 00:19:40,182
She is the woman of the
keeper of the wild animals.

261
00:20:03,557 --> 00:20:07,292
What court idiot decided to
bore me with this sorry spectacle?

262
00:20:09,037 --> 00:20:11,612
Your chief eunuch, Hegai.

263
00:20:48,229 --> 00:20:49,986
I'm going to the feast.

264
00:20:50,607 --> 00:20:52,053
Prepare me.

265
00:20:52,306 --> 00:20:54,169
Hurry, hurry!

266
00:21:04,972 --> 00:21:05,970
Hooray!

267
00:21:06,007 --> 00:21:07,203
Our king.

268
00:21:07,453 --> 00:21:08,468
Hooray!

269
00:21:08,498 --> 00:21:10,381
To your good health, sire.

270
00:21:12,143 --> 00:21:14,846
Our noble Judean seems to have no liking

271
00:21:14,955 --> 00:21:16,628
for my king's enjoyment.

272
00:21:16,658 --> 00:21:19,141
By your leave sire, we
have much work to do.

273
00:21:19,223 --> 00:21:22,071
I have here the figures you
required on our military strength.

274
00:21:23,804 --> 00:21:26,959
You seem inspired after your
long journey into the country.

275
00:21:27,260 --> 00:21:30,626
Indeed, I believe that even a king
could benefit from such a journey.

276
00:21:30,711 --> 00:21:33,612
Here in Shushan, one is apt
to forget that there are people

277
00:21:33,701 --> 00:21:36,737
without these frenzied aspirations.

278
00:21:37,084 --> 00:21:38,948
People that have their days of peace,

279
00:21:39,201 --> 00:21:45,034
serenity and laughter in
spite of oppression and cruelty.

280
00:21:46,231 --> 00:21:48,970
Uh, who are these people you speak of?

281
00:21:49,306 --> 00:21:51,394
Oh, some of your Hebrew aliens.

282
00:21:51,657 --> 00:21:54,976
Of Israel's religion, yes, but not alien.

283
00:21:55,483 --> 00:21:57,393
We are loyal subjects of the king.

284
00:21:57,743 --> 00:21:59,574
And now, with his permission,

285
00:21:59,901 --> 00:22:02,342
I shall withdraw to attend to his affairs.

286
00:22:13,159 --> 00:22:14,427
Tell me, Mordecai,

287
00:22:15,506 --> 00:22:18,214
are we well-prepared for an
expedition against the Greeks?

288
00:22:18,244 --> 00:22:19,905
The home army of general Klydrathes

289
00:22:19,935 --> 00:22:22,044
has a total of 400,000 men on foot

290
00:22:22,074 --> 00:22:23,952
and 60,000 mounted fighters.

291
00:22:23,982 --> 00:22:24,942
Good.

292
00:22:29,787 --> 00:22:33,613
Now I will stem the ambitions of
that young Macedonian upstart.

293
00:22:34,315 --> 00:22:35,346
What's his name?

294
00:22:35,556 --> 00:22:36,629
Alexander.

295
00:22:37,010 --> 00:22:37,970
That's it.

296
00:22:39,427 --> 00:22:41,469
I'll cut him off in his youth

297
00:22:41,764 --> 00:22:43,361
and annihilate his armies.

298
00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:46,802
I dream of the day sire, when
there will be an end to war.

299
00:22:47,688 --> 00:22:49,322
I have been your counselor

300
00:22:49,351 --> 00:22:51,573
and counselor to your father, Darius.

301
00:22:52,035 --> 00:22:55,098
I have seen death and destruction.

302
00:22:55,340 --> 00:22:56,599
I thought,

303
00:22:56,628 --> 00:22:58,407
how splendid it will be

304
00:22:58,436 --> 00:23:01,932
if all this waste of wealth
and manner could be turned to

305
00:23:01,962 --> 00:23:04,219
building instead of destroying...

306
00:23:04,558 --> 00:23:06,261
The building of aqueducts.

307
00:23:06,468 --> 00:23:08,030
The irrigation of the desert.

308
00:23:08,104 --> 00:23:10,325
The creation of worth and beauty.

309
00:23:10,893 --> 00:23:12,971
The Jew speaks of peace.

310
00:23:13,600 --> 00:23:16,349
Why do Jews always mouth of peace?

311
00:23:16,422 --> 00:23:17,709
Perhaps because...

312
00:23:18,194 --> 00:23:20,419
War has forever driven us.

313
00:23:20,653 --> 00:23:21,968
Dispersed us.

314
00:23:22,888 --> 00:23:25,945
Made of us a people lost.

315
00:23:27,100 --> 00:23:31,769
Seeking always for some haven of peace.

316
00:23:31,880 --> 00:23:35,046
Even at war, Persia has
done well enough for you.

317
00:23:35,756 --> 00:23:36,716
Yes.

318
00:23:37,013 --> 00:23:40,794
She has been more than kind
to a people who spurn her gods.

319
00:23:41,995 --> 00:23:44,678
Who gather in their
private worshiping of a god

320
00:23:44,872 --> 00:23:47,093
who shows no signs of existence.

321
00:23:48,765 --> 00:23:53,771
Stronger and wiser men than
you have felt the power of my god...

322
00:23:53,984 --> 00:23:57,219
The pharaoh of Egypt,
Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.

323
00:23:57,290 --> 00:24:00,756
Beware Haman, do not tempt him.

324
00:24:01,914 --> 00:24:03,735
Let him defend you...

325
00:24:03,766 --> 00:24:06,210
If I decide to cut your heart out.

326
00:24:07,047 --> 00:24:08,457
He will, Haman.

327
00:24:08,705 --> 00:24:10,142
He will.

328
00:24:10,717 --> 00:24:13,672
Don't you ever draw a
blade in my council chamber,

329
00:24:13,826 --> 00:24:16,128
or I will kill you myself.

330
00:24:20,388 --> 00:24:21,770
Mordecai,

331
00:24:22,203 --> 00:24:24,308
inscribe this and place it in the vaults

332
00:24:24,371 --> 00:24:26,836
as our secret strategy against Greece.

333
00:24:28,435 --> 00:24:32,358
And mind you, I shall hold you
entirely responsible as its custodian.

334
00:24:34,912 --> 00:24:38,266
We shall strike against
the Greek coastal fortress

335
00:24:38,716 --> 00:24:39,915
at Athos.

336
00:24:40,136 --> 00:24:41,636
It is the key.

337
00:24:43,365 --> 00:24:44,498
From Athos,

338
00:24:45,102 --> 00:24:48,077
we can cleave their lines from either side.

339
00:24:48,773 --> 00:24:51,970
We shall pour men and
provisions into the fort

340
00:24:53,245 --> 00:24:55,322
from our province of Scythia,

341
00:24:57,488 --> 00:24:59,335
where the might of our forces

342
00:24:59,504 --> 00:25:00,994
will be based.

343
00:25:02,454 --> 00:25:03,739
That is the plan.

344
00:25:07,618 --> 00:25:08,882
Remember,

345
00:25:09,706 --> 00:25:13,314
it must be kept a secret at all costs.

346
00:25:45,874 --> 00:25:46,980
A shame.

347
00:26:33,347 --> 00:26:34,547
= Oh! =

348
00:26:59,132 --> 00:27:02,616
The laws of Persia clearly
state the punishment for a queen

349
00:27:03,034 --> 00:27:04,824
who shames the throne.

350
00:27:05,122 --> 00:27:06,967
That are two alternatives...

351
00:27:06,996 --> 00:27:08,471
Death

352
00:27:08,745 --> 00:27:10,440
or banishment.

353
00:27:11,682 --> 00:27:12,961
Banish her.

354
00:27:12,991 --> 00:27:14,785
This very night, my lord.

355
00:27:19,672 --> 00:27:22,438
I shall return her to her tribe of Aryas.

356
00:27:23,990 --> 00:27:26,064
And also as your first minister,

357
00:27:26,093 --> 00:27:29,334
I shall fulfill my duty by providing you

358
00:27:29,363 --> 00:27:30,772
with a new queen.

359
00:27:30,908 --> 00:27:33,645
That is not your lawful privilege, Haman.

360
00:27:33,876 --> 00:27:36,524
You question my knowledge
of the law of the Achaemenids?

361
00:27:36,554 --> 00:27:39,874
No, but I question your
purpose for distorting it.

362
00:27:39,904 --> 00:27:41,506
But it is written,

363
00:27:41,745 --> 00:27:44,060
by the lawgivers of the great Cyrus,

364
00:27:44,566 --> 00:27:48,398
"Any king of Media and
Persia without a male heir"

365
00:27:48,502 --> 00:27:51,214
"shall not be without a queen."

366
00:27:51,522 --> 00:27:54,239
You quote correctly, but not enough.

367
00:27:54,658 --> 00:27:56,319
It is also written,

368
00:27:56,426 --> 00:27:59,031
"the king's men shall search the provinces"

369
00:27:59,284 --> 00:28:03,722
"that they may gather together all the
fairest young virgins unto Shushan palace."

370
00:28:04,096 --> 00:28:07,840
"And that maiden which
most pleases the king"

371
00:28:08,234 --> 00:28:10,620
"shall become queen of him who rules."

372
00:28:11,420 --> 00:28:15,864
Does that make it plain that she is
not to be of your special choosing?

373
00:28:16,393 --> 00:28:17,832
Quite so.

374
00:28:18,191 --> 00:28:20,693
Dear Mordecai, I thank you

375
00:28:21,095 --> 00:28:24,377
for saving me from error.

376
00:28:24,558 --> 00:28:26,401
The dead hand of the dynasty

377
00:28:27,076 --> 00:28:30,568
trying to thrust on me some unknown female.

378
00:28:31,260 --> 00:28:34,957
I can only execute the
provisions of the law, sire.

379
00:28:36,273 --> 00:28:37,457
So by your leave.

380
00:28:44,931 --> 00:28:46,411
This, um...

381
00:28:46,701 --> 00:28:48,155
Happiness you...

382
00:28:49,135 --> 00:28:50,937
Say you found on your journey

383
00:28:51,098 --> 00:28:52,883
into the countryside,

384
00:28:55,671 --> 00:28:57,409
that would be my true desire.

385
00:28:57,769 --> 00:29:01,042
Mighty power is a burden.

386
00:29:01,473 --> 00:29:04,209
I know but one way to lighten it.

387
00:29:04,873 --> 00:29:06,235
What is your way?

388
00:29:06,476 --> 00:29:08,881
By lessening the burdens of others,

389
00:29:08,910 --> 00:29:11,052
one removes his own.

390
00:29:11,626 --> 00:29:14,208
The joy you will travel a theme to seek _?_

391
00:29:14,383 --> 00:29:16,416
could thus be found in yourself.

392
00:29:16,870 --> 00:29:19,088
And in time perhaps uh,

393
00:29:19,424 --> 00:29:21,139
you will find it.

394
00:29:32,199 --> 00:29:33,159
Gisko.

395
00:29:37,181 --> 00:29:38,951
Go quickly to the house of my woman Keresh.

396
00:29:39,367 --> 00:29:40,954
Tell her to come to me at once.

397
00:29:41,539 --> 00:29:43,136
Yes, master.

398
00:29:44,683 --> 00:29:47,047
You mind if I drink some
of your Syrian wine?

399
00:29:48,679 --> 00:29:51,417
There is another matter
even more important.

400
00:29:52,292 --> 00:29:54,657
It has to do with Queen Vashti.

401
00:29:58,802 --> 00:30:00,063
Yes, master.

402
00:30:07,873 --> 00:30:09,995
Our poor king.

403
00:30:11,902 --> 00:30:13,170
In his sorry state of mind,

404
00:30:13,200 --> 00:30:16,081
he'll not be in any hurry to
inspect his treasury at Persepolis.

405
00:30:16,884 --> 00:30:19,986
Sometimes I feel you
overdo your plundering there.

406
00:30:20,294 --> 00:30:23,762
I could say the same about the abundance
of army secrets you sell to the Greeks.

407
00:30:24,341 --> 00:30:28,272
But then I think how my
store of gold grows in Corinth,

408
00:30:28,867 --> 00:30:30,591
and I attempt to be cheerful.

409
00:30:31,111 --> 00:30:35,077
There is no prospect for danger so
long as we let the king continue to live.

410
00:30:36,339 --> 00:30:38,867
There are more discreet places than Shushan

411
00:30:40,370 --> 00:30:41,945
for what you have in mind.

412
00:30:42,037 --> 00:30:44,207
In time, you will find such a place.

413
00:30:44,932 --> 00:30:46,749
And I shall rule Persia

414
00:30:48,291 --> 00:30:50,200
as the ally of Alexander.

415
00:30:51,845 --> 00:30:54,858
But until then, we're playing this
game on the edge of a precipice.

416
00:30:54,888 --> 00:30:57,080
Not at all... not at all.

417
00:30:57,488 --> 00:30:59,736
In the event, any guile
comes to the king's attention,

418
00:30:59,952 --> 00:31:03,327
I have found the perfect scapegoat.

419
00:31:06,436 --> 00:31:07,416
Who?

420
00:31:08,602 --> 00:31:09,900
Mordecai,

421
00:31:09,998 --> 00:31:12,661
and his whole colony of Judeans in Persia.

422
00:31:58,808 --> 00:32:02,563
Here is the war secret which the king
entrusted to Mordecai's safekeeping.

423
00:32:02,809 --> 00:32:05,475
His plan for a surprise
attack on the Greeks.

424
00:32:05,847 --> 00:32:07,531
I copied it from memory

425
00:32:07,819 --> 00:32:09,187
in Greek

426
00:32:09,336 --> 00:32:10,953
and added in Hebrew

427
00:32:11,023 --> 00:32:13,733
an appropriately traitorous message.

428
00:32:14,178 --> 00:32:15,839
My brilliant Haman.

429
00:32:17,031 --> 00:32:18,639
You will keep these
tables in your possession

430
00:32:18,668 --> 00:32:20,965
until suspicion threatens us. Then...

431
00:32:21,021 --> 00:32:25,879
I'll tell you... how to
turn them... to our use.

432
00:32:28,077 --> 00:32:29,037
Keresh.

433
00:32:30,751 --> 00:32:32,267
My master summoned me.

434
00:32:32,513 --> 00:32:33,766
Come here, my dear.

435
00:32:36,798 --> 00:32:40,000
Behold the future queen of Persia.

436
00:32:40,053 --> 00:32:41,361
You make sport of me.

437
00:32:42,033 --> 00:32:44,004
A bride of the king must be a maiden.

438
00:32:44,468 --> 00:32:47,033
I never heard of one who
had been a concubine.

439
00:32:47,063 --> 00:32:49,075
But you will, Klydrathes.

440
00:32:49,130 --> 00:32:50,255
You will.

441
00:32:50,671 --> 00:32:52,480
This will be history,

442
00:32:53,376 --> 00:32:55,224
for if the perfume of a Rose

443
00:32:55,351 --> 00:32:56,350
is pleasing,

444
00:32:56,793 --> 00:32:59,166
nobody's going to ask
who crushed the petals.

445
00:32:59,926 --> 00:33:01,854
Your only love is danger, Haman,

446
00:33:01,883 --> 00:33:04,456
and you caught it with
the passion of a madman.

447
00:33:10,238 --> 00:33:11,768
My timid general,

448
00:33:11,797 --> 00:33:13,464
here is the royal command for you.

449
00:33:13,494 --> 00:33:15,818
Carry out the law of the
gathering of the virgins.

450
00:33:18,648 --> 00:33:21,604
You need not be too
demanding of beauty or perfection

451
00:33:22,293 --> 00:33:24,920
because the one who will wear the diadem

452
00:33:24,950 --> 00:33:27,260
is already as good as crowned.

453
00:35:25,115 --> 00:35:26,871
Get the one in the wedding gown.

454
00:35:26,900 --> 00:35:28,624
The one in the wedding gown!

455
00:35:28,654 --> 00:35:31,273
Samuel, fetch my golden
sword from the house.

456
00:35:31,448 --> 00:35:33,342
They won't defy a symbol of the king.

457
00:35:36,578 --> 00:35:38,292
- Hey! What are you doing‽
- Leave her alone!

458
00:35:38,321 --> 00:35:40,016
- Oh, let me go!
- Esther!

459
00:35:40,046 --> 00:35:41,538
Let me go!

460
00:35:41,577 --> 00:35:42,537
Oh!

461
00:35:42,569 --> 00:35:43,851
Take her to the palace!

462
00:35:43,961 --> 00:35:46,621
Simon! Simon!

463
00:35:48,969 --> 00:35:50,142
No! Stop it!

464
00:35:50,283 --> 00:35:51,243
Simon!

465
00:35:51,336 --> 00:35:52,295
Simon!

466
00:35:52,380 --> 00:35:53,628
Simon!

467
00:36:30,887 --> 00:36:32,854
For her sake and yours, don't!

468
00:36:34,809 --> 00:36:35,811
Don't let them take you.

469
00:36:35,843 --> 00:36:36,803
Run!

470
00:36:44,872 --> 00:36:46,611
A Judean tried to murder me?

471
00:36:46,704 --> 00:36:48,628
Find him! Bring him to me alive!

472
00:37:06,717 --> 00:37:07,969
Sack this village.

473
00:37:08,264 --> 00:37:10,453
Flog every man, woman, and child.

474
00:37:10,824 --> 00:37:13,456
And let it be done to all
the Hebrew settlements.

475
00:37:37,847 --> 00:37:41,579
There are some here that seem
a bit too worldly for maidens.

476
00:37:44,576 --> 00:37:46,694
There are a few prime maidens here

477
00:37:46,725 --> 00:37:48,947
who might attract the fancy of our monarch.

478
00:37:48,979 --> 00:37:51,049
He isn't quite himself these days.

479
00:37:51,104 --> 00:37:54,472
And it is my duty to
decide what is best for him.

480
00:37:54,502 --> 00:37:56,231
Naturally, prince Haman.

481
00:37:57,826 --> 00:37:59,008
So,

482
00:37:59,405 --> 00:38:00,898
you will remove

483
00:38:01,318 --> 00:38:03,415
the one who plays with the water.

484
00:38:08,477 --> 00:38:10,841
That one, with the fair skin of Circassian.

485
00:38:14,612 --> 00:38:17,187
And the one who sits in the corner.

486
00:38:18,643 --> 00:38:20,509
Your guard may have them, heh.

487
00:38:20,635 --> 00:38:23,818
And after that, you can send
them to the soldiers at the Garrison.

488
00:38:24,152 --> 00:38:26,088
It is dangerous, prince Haman.

489
00:38:26,209 --> 00:38:28,636
Hegai the eunuch is a sharp guardian.

490
00:38:28,666 --> 00:38:31,522
Yes, but you must have
some guards whose lives

491
00:38:31,732 --> 00:38:33,853
you would not mind risking.

492
00:38:33,996 --> 00:38:34,955
Yes.

493
00:38:35,028 --> 00:38:37,632
I have three new recruits
not worth their salt.

494
00:38:37,662 --> 00:38:39,985
Ha, strangers to the
palace. All the better.

495
00:38:40,015 --> 00:38:40,907
Assign them.

496
00:38:40,952 --> 00:38:43,400
Dangle the reward of
women and disclaim them

497
00:38:43,431 --> 00:38:46,105
as lustful beacons, if they're caught.

498
00:38:49,957 --> 00:38:49,958
Only the ten most MightyMike77020

499
00:38:49,960 --> 00:38:51,957
Only the ten most beautiful

500
00:38:52,089 --> 00:38:55,218
will be sent to the king
for the final choosing.

501
00:38:55,547 --> 00:38:58,237
So tomorrow, I will judge you.

502
00:39:04,885 --> 00:39:07,700
Oh, dear God of Israel,

503
00:39:08,944 --> 00:39:14,338
somewhere in Shushan is Mordecai,
who has been like a father to me.

504
00:39:15,636 --> 00:39:18,277
Please let him know what's happened to me.

505
00:39:18,898 --> 00:39:21,023
Please let him know soon.

506
00:39:21,874 --> 00:39:23,380
Oh, please.

507
00:39:31,916 --> 00:39:33,438
Esther? Esther!

508
00:39:33,467 --> 00:39:34,618
Had I told you,

509
00:39:34,973 --> 00:39:38,007
the taking of her was only the
beginning of many horrors for our people.

510
00:39:38,037 --> 00:39:40,495
From that one spark, a holocaust.

511
00:39:41,161 --> 00:39:42,742
Ah, I must find some way to stop it.

512
00:39:42,772 --> 00:39:43,785
But first, Esther.

513
00:39:43,814 --> 00:39:46,542
Simon believed that your influence
with the king would free her.

514
00:39:46,648 --> 00:39:49,809
No, he has become indifferent to
everything but his own bitterness.

515
00:39:50,389 --> 00:39:51,378
Haman,

516
00:39:51,536 --> 00:39:54,964
the chief minister, that
prince of festering corruption,

517
00:39:55,101 --> 00:39:57,142
is now to all intents
and purposes our ruler.

518
00:39:57,178 --> 00:40:01,299
Then I must carry the word
to Simon that there is no hope.

519
00:40:01,772 --> 00:40:03,277
There's always hope.

520
00:40:03,771 --> 00:40:05,267
Give me time.

521
00:40:05,591 --> 00:40:08,162
Time to seek God's counsel.

522
00:40:09,043 --> 00:40:10,705
Where is Simon hiding?

523
00:40:10,735 --> 00:40:12,946
In the ancient ruins
of the City of the Dead.

524
00:40:13,088 --> 00:40:13,929
Go to him.

525
00:40:13,959 --> 00:40:15,486
Tell him I shall come to him.

526
00:40:27,916 --> 00:40:29,008
That's the way!

527
00:40:36,483 --> 00:40:37,903
Pin him down.

528
00:40:40,251 --> 00:40:41,420
Roll him.

529
00:40:45,211 --> 00:40:46,309
Tyriak,

530
00:40:46,927 --> 00:40:48,960
you're the mightiest of us all.

531
00:40:49,241 --> 00:40:51,508
Twirl him on your
shoulders and flatten him.

532
00:40:51,899 --> 00:40:55,500
That'll teach him not to withhold his
strength when he vies with the king.

533
00:41:03,438 --> 00:41:05,585
The old days, they were the best!

534
00:41:06,312 --> 00:41:08,542
Those wild, hard days!

535
00:41:08,694 --> 00:41:10,201
The scorching deserts.

536
00:41:10,231 --> 00:41:12,039
The raging storms at sea.

537
00:41:12,260 --> 00:41:14,926
We conquered the enemies of Persia,

538
00:41:14,955 --> 00:41:16,642
my brave immortals.

539
00:41:20,303 --> 00:41:22,947
A king with the earth for his footstool.

540
00:41:23,096 --> 00:41:25,508
And yet his only happiness is here with us.

541
00:41:50,165 --> 00:41:51,187
Stop!

542
00:42:15,142 --> 00:42:16,403
Ugg!

543
00:42:16,433 --> 00:42:17,619
AHHH!

544
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:30,782
If the king were only such a man.

545
00:42:30,812 --> 00:42:33,432
He's not only brave
but pleasing to the eye.

546
00:42:33,485 --> 00:42:35,429
You'll surely die if you try to escape.

547
00:42:35,459 --> 00:42:37,309
There'll be soldiers behind him.

548
00:42:46,598 --> 00:42:48,024
Uncle Mordecai!

549
00:42:48,395 --> 00:42:49,773
Where's Simon?

550
00:42:49,804 --> 00:42:51,065
Where is he?

551
00:42:52,370 --> 00:42:53,428
Take me to him.

552
00:42:53,458 --> 00:42:55,162
Please, please take me to him!

553
00:42:56,562 --> 00:42:57,722
I can't, Esther.

554
00:42:58,217 --> 00:43:01,613
He fought the king's general, and
now they hunt him like an animal.

555
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,621
At the village, they looted and scourged.

556
00:43:05,323 --> 00:43:08,308
They did likewise to every
Judean settlement in their path.

557
00:43:08,588 --> 00:43:11,699
They hung Emmanuel the blacksmith.

558
00:43:12,426 --> 00:43:14,853
They drove the women and
children into the wilderness.

559
00:43:14,896 --> 00:43:19,125
Our people are now scattered to the winds.

560
00:43:19,993 --> 00:43:22,283
Oh, forgive me.

561
00:43:23,096 --> 00:43:25,679
I was only thinking of
myself, but I'm nothing.

562
00:43:25,709 --> 00:43:27,686
Ah, but you are something, Esther.

563
00:43:27,832 --> 00:43:29,588
You are something indeed that...

564
00:43:29,617 --> 00:43:32,909
Jehovah may have selected us
as a means for saving our people.

565
00:43:33,395 --> 00:43:37,199
It is a wondrous thing how
gentleness can break the swords of evil.

566
00:43:37,245 --> 00:43:39,372
So let it be your gentleness, Esther.

567
00:43:39,402 --> 00:43:41,758
Your beauty of face and soul,

568
00:43:41,788 --> 00:43:46,637
let it sway Ahasuerus to stamp out the
wickedness that Springs from this palace.

569
00:43:46,667 --> 00:43:49,097
You're asking me to strive for his favor?

570
00:43:49,127 --> 00:43:51,309
Yes, forgetting Simon,
forgetting your own small dreams,

571
00:43:51,338 --> 00:43:54,370
forgetting all this but the
deliverance of our people.

572
00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:56,354
I want the life they took away from me.

573
00:43:56,384 --> 00:43:57,336
I want Simon!

574
00:43:57,366 --> 00:43:58,733
Simon is a soldier.

575
00:43:58,858 --> 00:44:01,128
He turned aside from
love when there is war.

576
00:44:01,290 --> 00:44:03,354
This is your war, Esther.

577
00:44:03,595 --> 00:44:05,698
A softer war fought with gentler weapons,

578
00:44:05,728 --> 00:44:08,464
but nonetheless hazardous, for
there are dangers in the venture.

579
00:44:09,045 --> 00:44:10,814
You too would be a soldier.

580
00:44:10,843 --> 00:44:13,826
Perhaps Simon would see
that with a soldier's pride.

581
00:44:13,856 --> 00:44:15,407
He would despise me.

582
00:44:15,437 --> 00:44:17,281
Then his love would not be worthy

583
00:44:17,448 --> 00:44:19,853
if he places it above the
fate of so many others.

584
00:44:22,589 --> 00:44:24,529
But I love him, uncle.

585
00:44:25,116 --> 00:44:27,955
Oh, how can you ask
me to leave him forever?

586
00:44:45,299 --> 00:44:48,966
If I'm chosen by the king, it'll be fate.

587
00:44:49,727 --> 00:44:51,778
I can't use any persuasion.

588
00:44:51,895 --> 00:44:54,008
No, it will be as yourself.

589
00:44:54,824 --> 00:44:56,322
But I must warn you,

590
00:44:57,350 --> 00:44:59,905
do not make known your
people or your kindred.

591
00:45:01,112 --> 00:45:04,827
Never forget that we are in
the camp of many enemies.

592
00:45:04,858 --> 00:45:06,177
Oh.

593
00:45:08,138 --> 00:45:09,920
O Lord God of Israel,

594
00:45:10,399 --> 00:45:11,871
guide me.

595
00:45:13,074 --> 00:45:14,199
Guide me.

596
00:46:00,092 --> 00:46:01,430
Kneel.

597
00:46:03,958 --> 00:46:06,580
Bow, slowly.

598
00:46:09,747 --> 00:46:11,254
Raise your head.

599
00:46:13,405 --> 00:46:16,049
And await the king's decision.

600
00:46:18,325 --> 00:46:20,085
Now we will proceed.

601
00:46:21,191 --> 00:46:22,286
Kneel.

602
00:46:25,696 --> 00:46:26,814
Bow.

603
00:46:28,209 --> 00:46:30,192
Slowly, slowly.

604
00:46:31,685 --> 00:46:36,894
Now, uh, raise your heads slowly.

605
00:46:38,658 --> 00:46:39,995
Arise.

606
00:46:47,443 --> 00:46:50,627
A plain white gown... such simplicity.

607
00:46:50,744 --> 00:46:52,582
Was it your choice?

608
00:46:53,564 --> 00:46:54,459
Yes.

609
00:46:54,489 --> 00:46:59,181
Indeed, one might think you have
no desire to win a queen's crown.

610
00:46:59,271 --> 00:47:01,086
A most becoming modesty.

611
00:47:01,234 --> 00:47:05,931
It pleases me... an unassuming
virtue that needs rewarding.

612
00:47:06,637 --> 00:47:08,713
Fetch me the cloak of gold.

613
00:47:09,242 --> 00:47:11,659
You may rest, my little doves.

614
00:47:31,979 --> 00:47:35,143
I am grateful, but I don't
wish to be so favored.

615
00:47:35,173 --> 00:47:36,207
I will accept it.

616
00:47:36,237 --> 00:47:37,607
Oh yes, yes! Give it to her!

617
00:47:37,636 --> 00:47:39,281
Speak only when you're spoken to.

618
00:47:39,706 --> 00:47:40,938
Take care, eunuch.

619
00:47:41,014 --> 00:47:42,685
I have mighty friends.

620
00:47:42,958 --> 00:47:45,931
In the brothels of the street
of the soldiers, no doubt.

621
00:47:46,100 --> 00:47:47,602
Here, my child.

622
00:47:47,657 --> 00:47:49,861
I ask you to wear it.

623
00:47:50,306 --> 00:47:51,585
Please.

624
00:48:01,717 --> 00:48:02,932
You viper.

625
00:48:03,288 --> 00:48:04,960
I saw you. I heard you.

626
00:48:04,990 --> 00:48:06,590
Your poisoned tongue endangers me.

627
00:48:06,620 --> 00:48:07,957
Forgive me, master.

628
00:48:08,261 --> 00:48:10,777
But I fear the attractions of
the one with the golden cape,

629
00:48:10,944 --> 00:48:12,160
more than all the others.

630
00:48:12,190 --> 00:48:15,283
She'll not be in the way
if you will do as I bid you.

631
00:48:15,312 --> 00:48:15,936
Yes.

632
00:48:16,038 --> 00:48:18,399
The maidens must pass through
the harem's antechamber tonight

633
00:48:18,478 --> 00:48:20,096
to be presented at the throne.

634
00:48:20,920 --> 00:48:23,370
There is a small door
of the slaves in there.

635
00:48:23,540 --> 00:48:24,423
Draw the bolt.

636
00:48:24,453 --> 00:48:25,965
But how? It's like a prison here.

637
00:48:25,995 --> 00:48:27,643
Ah, it is the hour of rest.

638
00:48:27,673 --> 00:48:29,381
Even Hegai will go to his quarters.

639
00:48:29,470 --> 00:48:30,688
Go, go now.

640
00:48:38,962 --> 00:48:40,079
Gisko,

641
00:48:40,572 --> 00:48:43,615
you see the maid with the golden cape?

642
00:48:47,220 --> 00:48:48,669
Remember,

643
00:48:50,657 --> 00:48:54,702
remember well the one
with the cape of gold.

644
00:50:43,860 --> 00:50:46,567
This bear you will be
a blow to my prestige,

645
00:50:46,617 --> 00:50:49,543
but let us have it done with.

646
00:50:49,806 --> 00:50:51,686
You, go forth.

647
00:50:59,244 --> 00:51:01,405
Vanity! Avarice!

648
00:51:01,510 --> 00:51:03,965
That cloak won't hide your wickedness.

649
00:51:45,008 --> 00:51:48,781
Do not grieve that you've lost
the splendor of the golden robe.

650
00:51:48,880 --> 00:51:53,102
Nothing can prevail against the
king's mistrust of female ambition.

651
00:51:53,141 --> 00:51:55,459
What a squandering of beauty.

652
00:51:55,590 --> 00:52:00,347
The fairest from all the provinces, and
now they will be sent home to milk goats.

653
00:52:00,915 --> 00:52:02,843
- Home?
- Where else?

654
00:52:03,015 --> 00:52:06,214
You are children of the
kingdom, not captive concubines.

655
00:52:06,277 --> 00:52:09,392
So it becomes merely a
matter of paying obeisance.

656
00:52:09,429 --> 00:52:11,961
Go, my sweet, and fair well.

657
00:52:44,859 --> 00:52:46,124
You may go.

658
00:52:50,116 --> 00:52:51,106
Wait.

659
00:53:03,670 --> 00:53:05,430
That face of light,

660
00:53:05,587 --> 00:53:06,969
I remember.

661
00:53:09,088 --> 00:53:10,905
The man who fought the guards.

662
00:53:13,204 --> 00:53:15,027
You can't be the king!

663
00:53:15,580 --> 00:53:17,649
I sometimes wish I weren't.

664
00:53:18,337 --> 00:53:19,508
What are you called?

665
00:53:20,852 --> 00:53:21,813
Esther.

666
00:53:23,601 --> 00:53:24,560
And...

667
00:53:25,252 --> 00:53:26,734
You had been crying.

668
00:53:27,372 --> 00:53:29,153
I remembered. Tell me about it.

669
00:53:29,753 --> 00:53:33,019
Your soldiers had just taken me
from the man I was about to marry.

670
00:53:34,982 --> 00:53:36,552
Well, there is the law.

671
00:53:36,790 --> 00:53:38,319
And I too am its servant,

672
00:53:38,974 --> 00:53:40,898
even though I dislike it at times.

673
00:53:42,593 --> 00:53:44,937
You are hoping that I would
let you go, were you not?

674
00:53:47,075 --> 00:53:48,411
No, no.

675
00:53:48,825 --> 00:53:49,988
Not if it's...

676
00:53:52,039 --> 00:53:53,436
Your destiny?

677
00:53:54,861 --> 00:53:57,112
Well, it seems we are both bound,

678
00:53:59,474 --> 00:54:01,468
I by the commandments of my grandfather,

679
00:54:01,497 --> 00:54:03,174
and you by some fate.

680
00:54:05,881 --> 00:54:08,654
I was determined to
flaunt the sacred law by...

681
00:54:08,732 --> 00:54:11,099
declaring every aspirant unfit.

682
00:54:12,248 --> 00:54:13,757
But now...

683
00:54:14,194 --> 00:54:17,373
I honestly cannot Esther,
and be a good king.

684
00:54:19,870 --> 00:54:22,275
I can't deny that in my eyes,

685
00:54:22,426 --> 00:54:25,037
you have fulfilled the decree of Cyrus.

686
00:54:40,388 --> 00:54:43,077
I choose you, Esther,
but I do not command you.

687
00:54:43,388 --> 00:54:45,808
I ask you to remain here for a while.

688
00:54:45,943 --> 00:54:47,527
Let time be the king.

689
00:54:47,666 --> 00:54:50,272
Let it command your heart to go or to stay.

690
00:54:50,436 --> 00:54:53,662
Attend her Hegai, as if
she already wore the crown.

691
00:54:53,707 --> 00:54:55,531
My queen to be.

692
00:55:09,301 --> 00:55:12,378
May I ask which fortunate
maiden my Lord has chosen?

693
00:55:13,898 --> 00:55:15,539
A girl named Esther.

694
00:55:25,624 --> 00:55:26,861
Uhh!

695
00:55:27,462 --> 00:55:28,669
Auhh!

696
00:55:29,281 --> 00:55:30,856
Uhh!

697
00:55:30,885 --> 00:55:31,921
Idiot.

698
00:55:32,450 --> 00:55:33,718
- Idiot!
- Uhh!

699
00:55:34,020 --> 00:55:36,097
- Master of stupidity!
- Uhh!

700
00:55:58,802 --> 00:55:59,853
Esther.

701
00:56:06,151 --> 00:56:09,200
I've just left the king,
and he smiles again.

702
00:56:09,267 --> 00:56:10,395
Often and readily.

703
00:56:10,659 --> 00:56:12,882
Indeed, each passing
day seems another proof

704
00:56:12,912 --> 00:56:15,259
that you were a godsend
to that troubled man.

705
00:56:15,690 --> 00:56:19,151
But I worry about your safety, Esther.

706
00:56:19,406 --> 00:56:21,908
The king is not a patient man.

707
00:56:22,008 --> 00:56:24,188
He is attracted not only by your beauty

708
00:56:24,218 --> 00:56:26,862
but by your integrity and sense of justice.

709
00:56:27,087 --> 00:56:29,560
The qualities that still bind you to Simon.

710
00:56:29,695 --> 00:56:31,875
Yet I fear that same conscience of yours

711
00:56:31,905 --> 00:56:36,524
may in time destroy his patience
and perhaps turn him against you.

712
00:56:36,622 --> 00:56:38,869
I'm in no danger, uncle Mordecai.

713
00:56:39,128 --> 00:56:41,448
So far, he's shown
nothing but kindness to me.

714
00:56:41,478 --> 00:56:43,244
You do not know him as I do.

715
00:56:43,582 --> 00:56:46,475
- His violence can be great.
- You see him as a man among men.

716
00:56:46,505 --> 00:56:49,386
You do not see him as I
do, through a woman's eyes.

717
00:56:49,675 --> 00:56:54,313
Oh, surely such a quick defense
could only spring from affection.

718
00:56:57,918 --> 00:57:03,275
I can't deny that I am attracted to him
by some power that I don't understand.

719
00:57:04,807 --> 00:57:07,036
I've tried to believe that it's simply,

720
00:57:07,600 --> 00:57:09,382
power of admiration.

721
00:57:11,606 --> 00:57:14,629
But then do you think
that it was only admiration

722
00:57:14,659 --> 00:57:16,806
that I felt for Simon all these years

723
00:57:17,225 --> 00:57:19,941
or just the hero-worship of a child?

724
00:57:22,815 --> 00:57:27,364
He said once that my love for him
had never been tested by any other man.

725
00:57:29,177 --> 00:57:31,085
Please, go to him, uncle Mordecai.

726
00:57:31,253 --> 00:57:33,128
Take him whatever he needs.

727
00:57:33,254 --> 00:57:35,084
I go now, dearest.

728
00:57:44,995 --> 00:57:46,487
Simon!

729
00:57:47,389 --> 00:57:48,961
Simon!

730
00:57:50,701 --> 00:57:52,144
Simon!

731
00:57:56,303 --> 00:57:58,044
Simon!

732
00:58:04,863 --> 00:58:07,095
It's Mordecai!

733
00:58:14,054 --> 00:58:15,335
Mordecai.

734
00:58:15,365 --> 00:58:18,817
Simon, my poor boy.

735
00:58:19,212 --> 00:58:20,334
Provisions.

736
00:58:20,372 --> 00:58:24,153
I will see that you're kept supplied until
the men of Klydrathes abandon the hunt.

737
00:58:24,183 --> 00:58:25,422
The hunt will never end.

738
00:58:26,166 --> 00:58:27,327
Why do you say that?

739
00:58:27,357 --> 00:58:30,713
Because I shan't rest until I
take Esther out of bondage.

740
00:58:31,127 --> 00:58:32,729
She is not enslaved.

741
00:58:32,990 --> 00:58:34,791
The king himself is her protector.

742
00:58:34,892 --> 00:58:37,506
Then he prepares her to be his concubine.

743
00:58:38,229 --> 00:58:39,835
His queen.

744
00:58:40,091 --> 00:58:41,577
Hear me, Simon.

745
00:58:41,607 --> 00:58:42,823
I've spoken with Esther

746
00:58:42,853 --> 00:58:45,405
and I've seen what I believe
to be the dawning of a sincere

747
00:58:45,435 --> 00:58:47,327
affection in her for the king,

748
00:58:47,727 --> 00:58:49,358
an affection which

749
00:58:49,555 --> 00:58:51,701
I don't deny I urged.

750
00:58:51,808 --> 00:58:53,141
Because I could foresee in it

751
00:58:53,174 --> 00:58:55,727
the answer that may lead
to the salvation of our people.

752
00:58:55,757 --> 00:58:58,582
Not alone now, but for the ages to come.

753
00:58:58,611 --> 00:59:01,556
So you would sacrifice her
like a lamb upon the altar.

754
00:59:01,647 --> 00:59:02,841
For posterity.

755
00:59:02,871 --> 00:59:04,147
What if the king learns of this?

756
00:59:04,177 --> 00:59:05,943
What then would be her punishment?

757
00:59:06,226 --> 00:59:07,405
No, no.

758
00:59:07,729 --> 00:59:09,448
You can't do this.

759
00:59:09,618 --> 00:59:11,305
I won't let you do it.

760
00:59:19,915 --> 00:59:20,875
No.

761
00:59:21,906 --> 00:59:22,969
No, oh, please.

762
00:59:22,999 --> 00:59:25,328
Take them away. Please leave me alone.

763
00:59:27,110 --> 00:59:28,543
Wait, I'm...

764
00:59:28,851 --> 00:59:30,351
I'm sorry.

765
00:59:31,390 --> 00:59:32,686
You need not be.

766
00:59:32,716 --> 00:59:33,998
I'm only slave.

767
00:59:34,111 --> 00:59:35,800
I'm a slave too.

768
00:59:36,895 --> 00:59:38,932
I don't mean to be unkind, but...

769
00:59:39,497 --> 00:59:40,695
It's just that I'm...

770
00:59:40,725 --> 00:59:42,814
I'm-I'm troubled by this life.

771
00:59:42,844 --> 00:59:45,073
And by memories of another life.

772
00:59:45,975 --> 00:59:47,909
Yes, I understand that.

773
00:59:56,375 --> 00:59:58,314
How dare you come into my room?

774
00:59:58,437 --> 01:00:01,130
Ah, what a rude greeting
for the chief minister.

775
01:00:01,271 --> 01:00:02,854
I am here, officially, my dear,

776
01:00:02,884 --> 01:00:05,577
to bring the king's word that
he will visit you at the 10th hour.

777
01:00:06,193 --> 01:00:09,229
But, uh, there is still time

778
01:00:09,778 --> 01:00:11,740
for us to know one another.

779
01:00:12,022 --> 01:00:13,608
You must be mad.

780
01:00:13,638 --> 01:00:14,919
This can destroy you.

781
01:00:14,949 --> 01:00:16,263
And Ahasuerus also

782
01:00:16,327 --> 01:00:19,930
if you force me to tell him
that you often invite me to share

783
01:00:20,187 --> 01:00:22,445
your lonely evening hours.

784
01:00:23,458 --> 01:00:26,070
You're such a liar. He'd never believe you.

785
01:00:26,818 --> 01:00:28,876
You're no match for
me in this game, Esther.

786
01:00:28,905 --> 01:00:32,148
Mine is a life of hazard so, please.

787
01:00:33,033 --> 01:00:34,980
Do not aggravate me.

788
01:00:36,041 --> 01:00:39,193
Our king is happy with his faith in you.

789
01:00:39,518 --> 01:00:41,080
Let us keep him so.

790
01:00:41,112 --> 01:00:42,492
Well, then, get out.

791
01:00:42,521 --> 01:00:44,578
Get out of here, or I'll call the guards.

792
01:00:46,985 --> 01:00:48,320
You won't.

793
01:00:48,353 --> 01:00:51,407
Because I would tell Ahasuerus
that it was his loyal Haman

794
01:00:51,436 --> 01:00:52,929
who summoned the witnesses.

795
01:00:53,985 --> 01:00:56,653
No, we must be reasonable, my dear.

796
01:00:56,962 --> 01:00:59,969
We must face the fact
that we require each other.

797
01:01:00,066 --> 01:01:01,322
You and I.

798
01:01:06,020 --> 01:01:06,980
You wouldn't.

799
01:01:07,521 --> 01:01:09,205
You would plunge us all into destruction.

800
01:01:09,235 --> 01:01:11,326
Not the king if I can help it.

801
01:01:11,477 --> 01:01:14,302
But you, Haman, I'll
find a way to destroy you.

802
01:01:14,663 --> 01:01:16,726
And I you, Esther.

803
01:01:52,916 --> 01:01:53,988
The golden sword.

804
01:01:54,018 --> 01:01:54,943
The king has summoned me.

805
01:01:54,973 --> 01:01:57,231
I hope he will not be in a dark
mood when he receives me.

806
01:01:57,475 --> 01:01:59,224
The moods of the great
one are milk and honey

807
01:01:59,254 --> 01:02:00,721
now that he has a new favorite.

808
01:02:00,864 --> 01:02:02,002
Follow the upper corridor,

809
01:02:02,032 --> 01:02:03,929
it'll lead you direct to his audience room.

810
01:02:03,959 --> 01:02:05,404
The king has urgent dispatches for me

811
01:02:05,434 --> 01:02:06,774
to deliver to the province of Galan.

812
01:02:06,803 --> 01:02:09,262
Have a chariot at my disposal
in case I'm charged with haste.

813
01:02:27,974 --> 01:02:30,531
A brave lion, the symbol of Persia.

814
01:02:30,561 --> 01:02:33,030
Oh, I hope he's a tame one.

815
01:02:33,059 --> 01:02:35,089
Your gentleness will conquer him.

816
01:02:43,725 --> 01:02:44,685
Oh.

817
01:03:05,866 --> 01:03:08,011
I fear I could never imitate a lover.

818
01:03:08,119 --> 01:03:10,088
My hand was fashioned for the sword

819
01:03:10,118 --> 01:03:12,037
and not the strings of a lyre.

820
01:03:12,601 --> 01:03:13,834
And these feet

821
01:03:14,647 --> 01:03:16,737
were not made to prance to music.

822
01:03:17,687 --> 01:03:19,817
They're uncommonly large, don't you think?

823
01:03:20,682 --> 01:03:23,392
I used to think that, they'd be cloven,

824
01:03:23,458 --> 01:03:25,032
like the hooves of Satan.

825
01:03:25,157 --> 01:03:27,527
There are those who still
think I'm akin to the devil.

826
01:03:28,318 --> 01:03:31,399
I trampled hard on some
who dared to defy the empire.

827
01:03:31,562 --> 01:03:33,060
Yes, you have.

828
01:03:33,194 --> 01:03:35,391
And on many innocent people too,

829
01:03:35,500 --> 01:03:37,627
because of the authority
that you give to Haman.

830
01:03:37,657 --> 01:03:39,706
Oh, I've tightened the reins on him,

831
01:03:39,990 --> 01:03:43,007
thanks to your constant
mentioning of his wrongdoing.

832
01:03:43,229 --> 01:03:45,092
But I sometimes wonder, Esther,

833
01:03:45,358 --> 01:03:46,468
what are you?

834
01:03:46,533 --> 01:03:47,725
My mentor,

835
01:03:48,604 --> 01:03:50,918
the keeper of my good behavior

836
01:03:52,127 --> 01:03:53,624
or a woman

837
01:03:54,135 --> 01:03:57,282
who might someday return
the warmth I have for her.

838
01:03:57,364 --> 01:04:00,611
Oh, but there is much warmth
in my feeling for you as a man.

839
01:04:03,872 --> 01:04:06,366
Then at least I've
gained the outer ramparts,

840
01:04:06,648 --> 01:04:10,497
though you guard the inner citadel
with more tenacity than the Greeks.

841
01:04:11,159 --> 01:04:14,931
The aw of the village girls for
a king is not easily cast aside.

842
01:04:16,508 --> 01:04:18,819
Don't think of me as a king in a palace,

843
01:04:20,192 --> 01:04:21,963
but as a man who moves you,

844
01:04:23,877 --> 01:04:25,319
who loves you.

845
01:04:26,492 --> 01:04:27,805
Very much.

846
01:04:39,057 --> 01:04:40,188
Esther.

847
01:04:41,081 --> 01:04:42,041
Esther.

848
01:04:43,519 --> 01:04:45,080
What are you thinking?

849
01:04:48,637 --> 01:04:50,874
When I was first taken from my village,

850
01:04:51,661 --> 01:04:53,849
I hated you with all my heart.

851
01:04:56,963 --> 01:04:59,480
But now that I've seen
you as you really are,

852
01:05:00,270 --> 01:05:02,351
I find the hatred leaving me

853
01:05:03,373 --> 01:05:05,927
and different feelings taking its place.

854
01:05:07,556 --> 01:05:09,120
Feelings that,

855
01:05:11,079 --> 01:05:12,502
well, that...

856
01:05:12,938 --> 01:05:14,677
That could be love.

857
01:05:18,872 --> 01:05:22,037
My couriers are here from
Nubia and Tangiers with gifts.

858
01:05:22,945 --> 01:05:24,334
I'll be back.

859
01:05:31,252 --> 01:05:33,043
Pearls from the far east.

860
01:05:33,671 --> 01:05:35,474
Treasures from Nubia.

861
01:05:53,344 --> 01:05:54,304
Esther!

862
01:05:55,030 --> 01:05:55,909
My Esther.

863
01:05:55,943 --> 01:05:58,478
- I've come to take you away from Shushan.
- Oh, no, Simon.

864
01:05:58,508 --> 01:05:59,618
Good fortune is with us.

865
01:05:59,648 --> 01:06:01,499
The doors open like
magic, and there's a chariot.

866
01:06:01,528 --> 01:06:03,112
It could take us to Judah if you like.

867
01:06:03,561 --> 01:06:05,842
Simon, you must go!
You're in great danger here!

868
01:06:05,873 --> 01:06:08,543
You're in danger too. And you invite
it, standing alone against our enemies.

869
01:06:08,572 --> 01:06:11,877
Oh, Simon, I had to do this.
The king is no longer our enemy.

870
01:06:11,907 --> 01:06:13,150
You love him.

871
01:06:13,443 --> 01:06:15,717
I don't know. I don't know.

872
01:06:16,823 --> 01:06:18,065
Esther.

873
01:06:18,770 --> 01:06:21,164
Oh, Simon, please. Save yourself.

874
01:06:21,506 --> 01:06:23,594
He shan't have you. I'll kill him.

875
01:06:41,918 --> 01:06:43,271
You're unharmed?

876
01:07:06,353 --> 01:07:07,569
Stop that man!

877
01:07:07,599 --> 01:07:08,559
Stop him!

878
01:07:22,406 --> 01:07:25,148
He's a daring rogue. I'll
see the captain of the guards.

879
01:07:52,988 --> 01:07:56,000
The thief entered the palace by
using the Sword of the Golden Rooster.

880
01:07:56,030 --> 01:07:57,912
I think he stole it for
one of my governors.

881
01:07:57,942 --> 01:07:59,810
And now he's made good his escape.

882
01:08:00,450 --> 01:08:02,489
I will double the guard
for your protection, Esther.

883
01:08:03,543 --> 01:08:05,657
But I'd rather take care of you myself.

884
01:08:08,235 --> 01:08:09,782
How long must I wait?

885
01:08:19,757 --> 01:08:20,969
Esther.

886
01:08:26,654 --> 01:08:28,053
Queen Esther.

887
01:08:29,597 --> 01:08:33,364
But the title of queen is much less
important to me than wife of Ahasuerus.

888
01:08:33,447 --> 01:08:35,590
Then obey Ahasuerus and wear a crown.

889
01:08:36,213 --> 01:08:39,027
And whatever else you desire will be yours,

890
01:08:39,701 --> 01:08:41,486
even if half the kingdom.

891
01:08:41,735 --> 01:08:43,987
But I only want the kingdom of your heart,

892
01:08:44,525 --> 01:08:47,058
with its love and its mercy.

893
01:08:47,113 --> 01:08:48,904
You already possess that Esther.

894
01:08:49,504 --> 01:08:51,058
You rule my heart

895
01:08:52,876 --> 01:08:54,036
and my life.

896
01:09:45,563 --> 01:09:46,644
Arise.

897
01:09:52,395 --> 01:09:56,205
Hegai, have the concubines
sent to the winter palace.

898
01:11:17,505 --> 01:11:18,704
Here he is!

899
01:11:26,598 --> 01:11:29,498
Behold the Golden Sword of King Ahasuerus,

900
01:11:29,672 --> 01:11:31,510
and bear these tidings to him.

901
01:11:31,592 --> 01:11:33,679
Someday it will spill his blood.

902
01:12:51,724 --> 01:12:53,824
I have gathered you here

903
01:12:53,853 --> 01:12:55,726
to pay homage to Esther,

904
01:12:56,404 --> 01:12:57,843
my queen.

905
01:12:58,645 --> 01:13:01,195
She has given me a new vision of my Persia,

906
01:13:01,982 --> 01:13:04,582
which I never before looked
upon with eyes of justice.

907
01:13:04,612 --> 01:13:06,654
Now I see it.

908
01:13:07,636 --> 01:13:08,936
Therefore,

909
01:13:09,710 --> 01:13:11,436
taxes will be determined

910
01:13:11,756 --> 01:13:16,063
according to conditions of scarcity or
abundance and no longer by fixed levies.

911
01:13:18,519 --> 01:13:20,416
General Klydrathes,

912
01:13:21,118 --> 01:13:23,534
will no longer judge without trial

913
01:13:23,563 --> 01:13:25,347
the villagers of the provinces.

914
01:13:26,198 --> 01:13:27,457
Mordecai,

915
01:13:27,841 --> 01:13:32,714
the financing of the kingdom will not
suffer from these new laws of taxation,

916
01:13:33,120 --> 01:13:36,577
for I intend to journey to
the treasury at Persepolis

917
01:13:36,774 --> 01:13:38,760
and draw from its great surplus.

918
01:13:38,857 --> 01:13:40,092
That is all.

919
01:13:40,527 --> 01:13:42,704
My nobleman and councilors,

920
01:13:43,192 --> 01:13:46,527
I have spoken, and it is the law.

921
01:13:47,895 --> 01:13:51,352
I... do not forbid discussion, however.

922
01:13:56,936 --> 01:14:02,781
Sire, I have just recalled a
long-neglected law of king Cyrus,

923
01:14:03,740 --> 01:14:07,652
which would save you the
necessity of a trip to Persepolis.

924
01:14:09,796 --> 01:14:12,004
I quote precisely.

925
01:14:12,583 --> 01:14:16,378
"And so be it that any
subject of Media's Persia"

926
01:14:16,731 --> 01:14:20,562
"who does not bow down to our god Mithras"

927
01:14:21,146 --> 01:14:22,714
"shall be put to death"

928
01:14:23,036 --> 01:14:26,122
"and his good taken by the king."

929
01:14:28,238 --> 01:14:32,824
Now, my lord, there is,
within the confines of Persia,

930
01:14:33,273 --> 01:14:37,271
a people called Judeans who
defiantly worship an alien god.

931
01:14:37,833 --> 01:14:40,482
The law is clear.

932
01:14:41,581 --> 01:14:44,022
They must be annihilated.

933
01:14:45,109 --> 01:14:47,303
And by your command, sire,

934
01:14:47,715 --> 01:14:49,730
I can destroy these people

935
01:14:50,119 --> 01:14:53,236
and enrich you by 10,000 talents of silver.

936
01:14:53,383 --> 01:14:55,024
No, no. No.

937
01:14:55,519 --> 01:14:58,182
This law is of a cruel age.

938
01:14:58,324 --> 01:15:01,270
Long before our king of
justice sat upon the throne.

939
01:15:01,378 --> 01:15:04,179
Deny it, sire. Cast it out. I beg you.

940
01:15:05,467 --> 01:15:07,487
Listen not to him, my lord,

941
01:15:07,590 --> 01:15:08,887
I pray you,

942
01:15:09,062 --> 01:15:12,030
for he is one of the Judeans.

943
01:15:12,089 --> 01:15:13,803
Ahasuerus, Ahasuerus.

944
01:15:13,833 --> 01:15:15,498
The law! The law!

945
01:15:16,520 --> 01:15:17,800
It is written,

946
01:15:18,960 --> 01:15:21,364
for any woman, even unto the queen,

947
01:15:21,394 --> 01:15:23,731
who interrupts royal council,

948
01:15:24,327 --> 01:15:26,127
there is but one decree.

949
01:15:26,927 --> 01:15:28,557
And that is death.

950
01:15:28,662 --> 01:15:30,206
Complete the text.

951
01:15:30,933 --> 01:15:34,605
"Except for her to whom the
king holds out The Golden Scepter."

952
01:15:44,191 --> 01:15:46,191
I dare to speak, Ahasuerus,

953
01:15:46,754 --> 01:15:48,746
because once you gave me a kingdom

954
01:15:48,869 --> 01:15:50,795
called The Kingdom Of The Heart.

955
01:15:51,610 --> 01:15:53,418
Its only power is love.

956
01:15:54,281 --> 01:15:58,873
And today, that love cries out to
you against these old injustices,

957
01:15:59,157 --> 01:16:01,481
and against that man who perpetrates them.

958
01:16:03,320 --> 01:16:05,992
I see you now, the greatest of all kings.

959
01:16:06,967 --> 01:16:08,537
But I've also seen you

960
01:16:08,677 --> 01:16:11,164
simply as a brave man defending the weak.

961
01:16:11,194 --> 01:16:13,295
And I know that you now have the wisdom

962
01:16:13,325 --> 01:16:14,956
to be able to cast out oppression

963
01:16:14,986 --> 01:16:16,902
and intolerance wherever you find it.

964
01:16:23,436 --> 01:16:26,328
The Judeans may worship as they desire.

965
01:16:27,030 --> 01:16:28,856
There will be a new code.

966
01:16:29,839 --> 01:16:31,302
The code of Ahasuerus.

967
01:16:33,261 --> 01:16:36,961
And perhaps it will not be necessary
for you to know it too well, prince Haman,

968
01:16:36,991 --> 01:16:39,724
for there's a governor's
post in the Syrian desert

969
01:16:40,145 --> 01:16:42,698
that requires no such astute knowledge.

970
01:17:09,034 --> 01:17:10,687
Make way!

971
01:17:21,049 --> 01:17:24,891
So he considers retiring
me to a sandhill in Syria.

972
01:17:25,011 --> 01:17:26,523
By all the gods,

973
01:17:26,552 --> 01:17:30,555
I'll make him sorry for taking
counsel from this new queen.

974
01:17:31,143 --> 01:17:32,986
I remind you again that his assassination

975
01:17:33,015 --> 01:17:34,233
has been too long delayed.

976
01:17:34,263 --> 01:17:37,344
And I still remind you that it
cannot be done in Shushan.

977
01:17:38,023 --> 01:17:40,889
But if he goes to Persepolis
as he so announced.

978
01:17:41,912 --> 01:17:44,150
That may be delayed too by a...

979
01:17:45,527 --> 01:17:47,607
By a very important event.

980
01:17:48,411 --> 01:17:50,262
The slaughter of the Judeans?

981
01:17:50,725 --> 01:17:52,566
And the hanging of Mordecai.

982
01:17:53,190 --> 01:17:55,094
The forged tablets you gave me?

983
01:17:55,806 --> 01:17:57,088
When, Haman?

984
01:17:57,348 --> 01:18:00,693
The moment will be determined
by the will of the gods.

985
01:18:02,333 --> 01:18:03,996
We shall cast the lots.

986
01:18:05,096 --> 01:18:07,731
I never join battle
without the casting of Pur.

987
01:18:20,384 --> 01:18:23,264
The red sign of blood
falls on the month of Adar.

988
01:18:23,635 --> 01:18:25,233
And that is now.

989
01:18:25,372 --> 01:18:27,494
Now indeed. It shall be tonight.

990
01:18:28,108 --> 01:18:29,911
And this is how it shall be done.

991
01:19:06,574 --> 01:19:07,761
Look.

992
01:19:12,519 --> 01:19:14,191
You will bear witness before the king

993
01:19:14,225 --> 01:19:16,168
that you saw me remove these tablets

994
01:19:16,558 --> 01:19:19,400
with nothing added and nothing eliminated.

995
01:19:42,387 --> 01:19:43,556
My good king.

996
01:19:43,783 --> 01:19:46,211
We have all the evidence of a traitor.

997
01:19:47,843 --> 01:19:49,474
I charge the Jew

998
01:19:49,644 --> 01:19:49,645
with storing MightyMike77020
war amid the tablets of his temple

999
01:19:49,647 --> 01:19:53,158
with storing your secrets of
war amid the tablets of his temple

1000
01:19:53,431 --> 01:19:56,225
while preparing to sell them to the Greeks.

1001
01:19:58,260 --> 01:20:01,856
I remember well the day
you entrusted him with it.

1002
01:20:03,396 --> 01:20:05,249
Mark you, sire,

1003
01:20:05,278 --> 01:20:09,887
your private plan for seizing the
Grecian port at Athos, copied in Greek.

1004
01:20:10,371 --> 01:20:11,742
And here,

1005
01:20:12,153 --> 01:20:15,112
here, a message in Hebrew
to a Judean in Greece.

1006
01:20:15,142 --> 01:20:17,367
Lies, all lies, my king.

1007
01:20:17,501 --> 01:20:19,869
I am your loyal, your faithful servant.

1008
01:20:20,033 --> 01:20:21,737
He has fabricated all of this.

1009
01:20:21,767 --> 01:20:23,069
How could I?

1010
01:20:23,099 --> 01:20:25,373
I cannot write in Hebrew or Greek.

1011
01:20:26,378 --> 01:20:29,419
But it is well known that Mordecai

1012
01:20:29,624 --> 01:20:32,444
has written all royal messages to Judah,

1013
01:20:32,564 --> 01:20:35,125
as well as your
negotiations with the Greeks.

1014
01:20:35,258 --> 01:20:38,874
These scribes have verified
the treason on that tablet.

1015
01:20:39,039 --> 01:20:40,506
And these soldiers

1016
01:20:40,626 --> 01:20:43,218
will testify that the evidence is the same

1017
01:20:43,249 --> 01:20:45,597
which they saw hidden in
the temple of the Hebrews.

1018
01:20:45,627 --> 01:20:49,453
Any who defile the arc of
the temple swears falsely.

1019
01:20:49,482 --> 01:20:53,079
But I declared against violating
the worship of the Judeans.

1020
01:20:53,408 --> 01:20:54,910
Yes, sire.

1021
01:20:55,283 --> 01:20:56,824
We confess to that.

1022
01:20:57,466 --> 01:21:02,230
But I would not wish to live
and see this glorious empire

1023
01:21:02,337 --> 01:21:04,534
devoured by Alexander the Greek.

1024
01:21:04,935 --> 01:21:06,902
Defend yourself, Mordecai.

1025
01:21:07,169 --> 01:21:09,282
I have no guilt to defend, sire.

1026
01:21:09,312 --> 01:21:12,277
I swear my innocence
on the holy word of god.

1027
01:21:13,287 --> 01:21:16,687
And on what god's word do you swear?

1028
01:21:16,716 --> 01:21:18,196
My god.

1029
01:21:18,268 --> 01:21:20,371
And he will sustain me.

1030
01:21:21,742 --> 01:21:24,244
Our gods will destroy you.

1031
01:21:24,924 --> 01:21:28,275
Ours, sire, for we are Persians.

1032
01:21:30,069 --> 01:21:32,817
And before I brought this evidence to you,

1033
01:21:32,946 --> 01:21:34,865
I cast Pur for guidance.

1034
01:21:34,929 --> 01:21:38,153
Knowing that my king is as
faithful as I to our own temples.

1035
01:21:38,183 --> 01:21:39,143
I am.

1036
01:21:39,649 --> 01:21:41,977
And perhaps I've been
too trustful of Mordecai

1037
01:21:42,007 --> 01:21:44,176
and the strange believers in our midst.

1038
01:21:44,324 --> 01:21:46,800
Much too trustful, sire.

1039
01:21:47,203 --> 01:21:51,214
Even in your choice of a new queen.

1040
01:21:51,314 --> 01:21:55,182
Yes, yes, I realize I
provoke my king's wrath.

1041
01:21:55,261 --> 01:21:58,318
I must, in the name of loyalty,

1042
01:21:59,081 --> 01:22:05,356
for he is unaware that his queen and
Mordecai have been meeting in secret.

1043
01:22:05,848 --> 01:22:10,155
Remember, she risked
death to defend his Judeans.

1044
01:22:10,291 --> 01:22:11,434
No, no, Esther.

1045
01:22:11,464 --> 01:22:14,904
Esther, not Queen Esther.

1046
01:22:15,118 --> 01:22:17,478
The intimacy of conspirators.

1047
01:22:17,771 --> 01:22:20,742
What do you know Esther,
of Mordecai's treason?

1048
01:22:21,771 --> 01:22:24,681
The only treason here,
Ahasuerus, is Haman's.

1049
01:22:25,003 --> 01:22:28,808
He's the one that should be on trial,
but under laws, far above this palace.

1050
01:22:28,931 --> 01:22:31,372
Words, words, words.

1051
01:22:35,951 --> 01:22:38,022
Have Mordecai taken to prison.

1052
01:22:38,736 --> 01:22:41,222
If no defense is presented, hang him,

1053
01:22:41,252 --> 01:22:42,862
and his people put to the sword

1054
01:22:42,892 --> 01:22:44,992
unless they renounce
their leaders and their faith.

1055
01:22:45,022 --> 01:22:48,316
- Dearest, listen to me.
- This judgment will be upon your soul.

1056
01:22:48,667 --> 01:22:50,468
You speak of deceits.

1057
01:22:50,708 --> 01:22:53,204
You deceived me with your
gift of the kingdom of mercy.

1058
01:22:53,233 --> 01:22:55,542
You've given it to Haman, and
he's filled it with wickedness.

1059
01:22:55,570 --> 01:22:57,955
Do you realize, Esther,
that you could be put to death

1060
01:22:57,985 --> 01:22:59,228
for speaking out in this chamber?

1061
01:22:59,257 --> 01:23:00,009
Yes.

1062
01:23:00,039 --> 01:23:02,108
And I don't ask you to
hold our your scepter to me

1063
01:23:02,138 --> 01:23:03,906
because I shall die anyway.

1064
01:23:06,707 --> 01:23:08,065
I am a Jew.

1065
01:23:16,567 --> 01:23:17,771
Esther,

1066
01:23:18,603 --> 01:23:20,543
Esther, renounce your faith

1067
01:23:21,302 --> 01:23:22,262
and live.

1068
01:23:23,249 --> 01:23:27,835
I speak for myself and for my
uncle Mordecai and for all my people.

1069
01:23:28,433 --> 01:23:30,211
We'll still be keeping our faith

1070
01:23:30,240 --> 01:23:34,844
when Shushan is a mound of desert
sand and your gods are forgotten.

1071
01:23:37,172 --> 01:23:40,060
But I can't hate you for
this decision, Ahasuerus,

1072
01:23:40,312 --> 01:23:43,457
because I know that again
you were influenced by Haman.

1073
01:23:45,034 --> 01:23:48,501
Why is he so anxious for
you not to go to Persepolis

1074
01:23:48,809 --> 01:23:52,594
that he brings you this false evidence
the very night before you're leaving.

1075
01:23:53,507 --> 01:23:56,322
Is he afraid of what you
might see at the treasury?

1076
01:23:56,351 --> 01:23:58,169
Oh, please, Ahasuerus,

1077
01:23:58,468 --> 01:24:00,057
for the sake of my love for you,

1078
01:24:00,087 --> 01:24:02,172
don't condemn us until
you've made the journey.

1079
01:24:03,524 --> 01:24:05,298
I do not believe your love.

1080
01:24:07,463 --> 01:24:09,751
However, there is
something in what you say.

1081
01:24:12,049 --> 01:24:14,646
I stay the execution of
Mordecai and the Jews

1082
01:24:14,676 --> 01:24:16,599
until I return from Persepolis.

1083
01:24:29,206 --> 01:24:31,252
He must never reach Persepolis.

1084
01:24:33,233 --> 01:24:33,984
Ha.

1085
01:24:34,088 --> 01:24:36,627
You have been very patient, Klydrathes.

1086
01:24:36,944 --> 01:24:38,604
I restrain you no longer.

1087
01:24:39,087 --> 01:24:42,673
And I offer 1,000 talents of gold

1088
01:24:43,263 --> 01:24:44,561
for his head.

1089
01:25:39,315 --> 01:25:41,672
The king must pass here
on the caravan tracks.

1090
01:25:41,724 --> 01:25:42,887
And remember,

1091
01:25:43,115 --> 01:25:45,735
prince Haman offers a 1,000 gold talents

1092
01:25:45,764 --> 01:25:47,943
to the man who brings me the king's head.

1093
01:26:35,355 --> 01:26:36,314
Ack!

1094
01:26:37,609 --> 01:26:38,606
Ugh...

1095
01:26:41,401 --> 01:26:43,602
You scavenger of Shushan.

1096
01:26:43,764 --> 01:26:47,189
I thank the Providence that
put your filthy life into my hands.

1097
01:26:47,501 --> 01:26:49,725
You plundered your last helpless village.

1098
01:26:49,951 --> 01:26:51,408
Oooh!

1099
01:27:11,625 --> 01:27:14,197
Retreat, then we'll charge.

1100
01:28:17,283 --> 01:28:20,149
Does it surprise the great
Ahasuerus to find he has enemies?

1101
01:28:20,232 --> 01:28:22,026
Count me among them, you king of thieves.

1102
01:28:22,056 --> 01:28:25,100
Simon, captain of the golden
sword, you've joined my enemies?

1103
01:28:25,130 --> 01:28:27,180
No, I declare my own war against you.

1104
01:28:27,547 --> 01:28:30,060
I refuse to fight the man
who saved my life in battle.

1105
01:28:30,090 --> 01:28:31,531
- Why, you're crazed.
- Perhaps.

1106
01:28:31,836 --> 01:28:33,199
Would you not see, if you were I,

1107
01:28:33,229 --> 01:28:36,042
the king had used his power to
steal the girl you were about to marry?

1108
01:28:41,191 --> 01:28:42,410
Now, hold, you fool.

1109
01:28:42,689 --> 01:28:44,073
Esther, was your betrothed?

1110
01:28:44,792 --> 01:28:46,537
Thou shalt be your will.

1111
01:28:56,176 --> 01:28:57,158
Ho!

1112
01:28:57,713 --> 01:28:59,783
You risk your life when
she could still be yours.

1113
01:28:59,994 --> 01:29:02,144
She never loved me,
only the cause she served.

1114
01:29:02,174 --> 01:29:03,302
That is not true.

1115
01:29:03,332 --> 01:29:05,190
On a certain night, I stole into her rooms

1116
01:29:05,219 --> 01:29:07,780
and stood with drawn sword
beside a doorway you would enter.

1117
01:29:08,220 --> 01:29:10,150
She chose your life against mine

1118
01:29:10,500 --> 01:29:12,036
and gave the alarm.

1119
01:29:12,891 --> 01:29:14,404
You were the one she put to flight?

1120
01:29:14,434 --> 01:29:16,835
Her love was yours and is.

1121
01:29:16,943 --> 01:29:18,979
Help! H-Help.

1122
01:29:19,117 --> 01:29:21,053
Klydrathes, the one who
tried to assassinate you,

1123
01:29:21,083 --> 01:29:24,495
- I settled an old account with him.
- Help, oh, oh.

1124
01:29:24,525 --> 01:29:25,484
Help!

1125
01:29:25,647 --> 01:29:26,606
Oh!

1126
01:29:27,821 --> 01:29:28,781
Hel...

1127
01:29:28,882 --> 01:29:30,052
Oh!

1128
01:29:30,373 --> 01:29:31,333
Help.

1129
01:29:31,963 --> 01:29:32,922
Help.

1130
01:29:33,488 --> 01:29:36,545
Master, forgive me. Help me.

1131
01:29:36,743 --> 01:29:38,080
Stop the pain.

1132
01:29:38,140 --> 01:29:39,772
That I will do.

1133
01:29:40,115 --> 01:29:41,075
That,

1134
01:29:41,528 --> 01:29:44,383
or more pain unless
you speak the whole truth.

1135
01:29:44,451 --> 01:29:47,550
I speak, I speak truly.

1136
01:29:47,580 --> 01:29:51,039
Haman was the chieftain
of all our crimes against you.

1137
01:29:52,317 --> 01:29:55,837
Your intended murder,
the thieving of Persepolis,

1138
01:29:56,128 --> 01:29:58,780
the selling of your
strategies to the Greeks.

1139
01:29:59,300 --> 01:30:00,504
He forged...

1140
01:30:00,672 --> 01:30:02,181
the false evidence...

1141
01:30:02,388 --> 01:30:03,201
against...

1142
01:30:03,269 --> 01:30:04,508
Mordecai.

1143
01:30:05,255 --> 01:30:06,396
And offered...

1144
01:30:06,792 --> 01:30:07,699
a price...

1145
01:30:07,729 --> 01:30:08,795
for your own...

1146
01:30:09,174 --> 01:30:11,481
royal head.

1147
01:30:16,244 --> 01:30:18,553
I'll give you peace, Klydrathes.

1148
01:30:23,919 --> 01:30:27,608
And I condemned Esther into Haman's
hand, and Mordecai and all their people.

1149
01:30:27,675 --> 01:30:29,559
Condemned, they're doomed.

1150
01:30:30,019 --> 01:30:31,034
Unless...

1151
01:30:31,379 --> 01:30:32,339
Here!

1152
01:30:32,497 --> 01:30:34,336
Take this, my seal of empire.

1153
01:30:35,061 --> 01:30:37,622
While I gather my forces
here, you ride into Shushan.

1154
01:30:37,668 --> 01:30:38,974
Find a way into the city,

1155
01:30:39,004 --> 01:30:41,046
and bring this seal to my master of arms.

1156
01:30:41,104 --> 01:30:43,948
Tell him I said to arm all the Judeans.

1157
01:31:15,099 --> 01:31:17,819
It is the Eve of the
sabbath of the Judeans.

1158
01:31:18,017 --> 01:31:20,275
They gather in their temple.

1159
01:31:20,467 --> 01:31:23,457
Azmand, see that they never leave it.

1160
01:31:24,276 --> 01:31:25,236
Gerka,

1161
01:31:25,784 --> 01:31:29,548
you will use your horseman to
put down any resistance in the city.

1162
01:31:30,297 --> 01:31:31,616
My good Shumer,

1163
01:31:31,827 --> 01:31:34,413
I give you the pleasure of escorting

1164
01:31:34,678 --> 01:31:37,132
their leader Mordecai to the gallows.

1165
01:31:37,220 --> 01:31:38,669
Off with you!

1166
01:31:43,846 --> 01:31:45,162
Gisko,

1167
01:31:45,895 --> 01:31:47,293
the queen.

1168
01:31:47,891 --> 01:31:49,248
Yes, master.

1169
01:32:08,396 --> 01:32:10,339
Ahh! Oh!

1170
01:32:10,369 --> 01:32:12,657
Guards! Guards!

1171
01:32:20,282 --> 01:32:22,242
I prophesied that our prince Haman

1172
01:32:22,280 --> 01:32:25,573
will be the most popular
ruler in the history of Persia.

1173
01:32:33,434 --> 01:32:35,357
I failed Haman. _?_

1174
01:32:39,183 --> 01:32:41,473
Don't worry, my stupid one.

1175
01:32:41,502 --> 01:32:42,735
The gates are guarded.

1176
01:32:42,765 --> 01:32:44,482
No one can leave the city.

1177
01:32:44,608 --> 01:32:46,113
Or enter it.

1178
01:33:29,857 --> 01:33:30,855
Simon!

1179
01:33:31,381 --> 01:33:34,082
Yeah, I served with you
in the Egyptian campaign.

1180
01:33:34,206 --> 01:33:35,691
I'm a blacksmith now.

1181
01:33:36,175 --> 01:33:37,233
Toviyah!

1182
01:33:37,630 --> 01:33:39,662
I'm here on the King's
orders to arm our people.

1183
01:33:40,210 --> 01:33:42,122
Are there any more of the
old company in Shushan?

1184
01:33:42,152 --> 01:33:43,970
Enough for a core of defense my captain.

1185
01:33:43,999 --> 01:33:46,131
Gather them together
and wait in the marketplace.

1186
01:33:46,215 --> 01:33:48,420
And there are others here
in Shushan. Not soldiers.

1187
01:33:48,450 --> 01:33:50,224
But they can swing a club or an ax.

1188
01:33:50,254 --> 01:33:51,503
Then we'll arm them to, Toviyah.

1189
01:33:51,532 --> 01:33:52,896
Seek them out and send them to the temple.

1190
01:33:52,925 --> 01:33:53,886
Good!

1191
01:34:03,891 --> 01:34:06,173
Lord dear God, I called to thee.

1192
01:34:06,581 --> 01:34:08,563
Even as David called.

1193
01:34:09,184 --> 01:34:11,839
In David's words, I
affirm my love for thee.

1194
01:34:12,444 --> 01:34:15,154
The lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.

1195
01:34:15,859 --> 01:34:18,258
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:

1196
01:34:19,057 --> 01:34:21,367
He leadeth me beside the still waters.

1197
01:34:21,943 --> 01:34:23,669
He restoreth my soul:

1198
01:34:24,217 --> 01:34:27,600
He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake.

1199
01:34:27,982 --> 01:34:29,022
Yea,

1200
01:34:29,052 --> 01:34:31,844
though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death,

1201
01:34:32,086 --> 01:34:34,077
I will fear no evil:

1202
01:34:34,304 --> 01:34:36,474
For thou art with me;

1203
01:34:36,787 --> 01:34:39,449
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

1204
01:34:40,384 --> 01:34:44,462
Thou preparest a table before me
in the presence of mine enemies:

1205
01:35:12,565 --> 01:35:13,525
Ha.

1206
01:35:13,910 --> 01:35:17,215
I'll wager my weight in
gold they'll reject their faith

1207
01:35:17,287 --> 01:35:19,374
by remaining away from their temple.

1208
01:35:22,047 --> 01:35:23,973
I wouldn't wager a copper mite

1209
01:35:24,310 --> 01:35:26,399
against our new king's wisdom.

1210
01:35:27,092 --> 01:35:29,103
Simon is waiting for us.

1211
01:35:29,816 --> 01:35:31,868
Our day at last.

1212
01:35:43,582 --> 01:35:46,787
So they congregate like
animals in the slaughter pen.

1213
01:35:47,156 --> 01:35:48,898
Simplifies my work.

1214
01:36:14,762 --> 01:36:16,433
You and you, close the doors.

1215
01:36:36,348 --> 01:36:37,423
Who goes there?

1216
01:36:37,453 --> 01:36:40,879
A bring a token to prince
Haman from general Klydrathes.

1217
01:36:42,139 --> 01:36:43,316
Open the gate.

1218
01:37:18,321 --> 01:37:21,426
Ah, a token from Klydrathes.

1219
01:37:31,610 --> 01:37:32,608
Gisco.

1220
01:37:32,800 --> 01:37:34,920
Gisco, my chariot!

1221
01:38:43,784 --> 01:38:45,323
AHH!

1222
01:39:20,361 --> 01:39:22,183
Ahh!

1223
01:39:36,452 --> 01:39:37,623
Open the door!

1224
01:39:37,653 --> 01:39:38,717
Open up!

1225
01:39:55,242 --> 01:39:56,480
Seize him.

1226
01:40:01,416 --> 01:40:02,939
Hang him.

1227
01:40:03,824 --> 01:40:05,406
Hang him high.

1228
01:40:28,630 --> 01:40:32,051
He that keepeth Israel shall
neither slumber nor sleep.

1229
01:41:19,306 --> 01:41:22,986
This night of the deliverance of our people

1230
01:41:23,098 --> 01:41:25,225
must live in memory.

1231
01:41:26,009 --> 01:41:29,387
Haman cast Pur to decide our doom, so...

1232
01:41:30,370 --> 01:41:33,711
let it be called Purim.

1233
01:41:36,168 --> 01:41:38,581
And let it be remembered

1234
01:41:38,976 --> 01:41:41,517
with holidays of gladness,

1235
01:41:42,517 --> 01:41:46,854
like those we knew
sometimes at the village.

1236
01:41:47,257 --> 01:41:50,726
So it shall be, my lion of Israel.

1237
01:42:39,253 --> 01:42:40,394
The first Purim.

1238
01:42:41,114 --> 01:42:43,502
And just as Simon would have wanted it.

1239
01:42:43,728 --> 01:42:45,803
We who are alive must go on living.

1240
01:42:46,170 --> 01:42:48,050
Simon wouldn't have your sorrow.

1241
01:42:48,188 --> 01:42:50,205
Nor, would he have you
bring sorrow to the king.

1242
01:42:50,743 --> 01:42:54,129
I know that although Ahasuerus
gave you a choice of remaining here,

1243
01:42:54,608 --> 01:42:58,038
it was his secret wish that
you would return to him.

1244
01:42:58,158 --> 01:43:00,445
When you didn't, he went away to the wars,

1245
01:43:00,576 --> 01:43:03,081
because he cared not
whether he lived or died.

1246
01:43:04,393 --> 01:43:06,375
Have you heard anything from the battle?

1247
01:43:06,585 --> 01:43:07,544
Yes.

1248
01:43:08,038 --> 01:43:10,331
Word of a Persian defeat by the Greeks.

1249
01:43:10,470 --> 01:43:13,770
And to him, defeat is a
word worse than death.

1250
01:43:15,777 --> 01:43:18,551
It was never for his
victory that I loved him.