All language subtitles for The.Tripods.1984.S02E07_EN

WILL: I was sent here on an errand,
to pick daisies.

FRITZ: Daisies?

WILL: My Master's studying plant life.

FRITZ: You could almost forget
where you really are.

WILL: Until you remember why it's here.

Tell me what you found.

Beneath the City is a huge machine
generating electricity.

It's incredible.
It's the powerhouse of the whole place.

It gives the Masters
the energy they need.

Yet it's run by slaves.

An Elite.
Special uniforms and special privileges.

Special training?

It's beyond even Beanpole's knowledge
of electrical power.

But they're still capped?

And the most amazing thing
is that it was originally built

not by the Masters,
but by our ancestors.

-For the convalescent.
-Oh, thanks.

Is the sun warm enough for you?
I could turn it up if you wish.

You'd forgotten already?

We're much more efficient at climate
control than chaotic old nature outside.

Mmm.

-Thanks again.
-You're welcome.

-Go on.
-Further below ground,

underneath the generating machine
is a vast cavern

being dug out by the slave gangs.

It is intended for some other machinery
of the Masters' own design.

I wonder what that will be?

Site preparation is all I've seen.

But other work could be going on
elsewhere in the City.

What do you think we should do next?

I have a chance of being transferred
from the slave gangs to the control room

-to join the Elite.
-You must be joking.

There is a man there,

he seems quite influential,
he took a particular interest in me.

-Ah, nurse.
-Oh, hello. How are you keeping?

-You look a bit flushed again.
-No, no, I'm fine, thanks.

-But I'm looking for...
-I'm not doling out any more pills

until you promise to go on that diet.

-It's not that.
-You have it far too easy.

Too much to eat and too little exercise.

-The Power Elite...
-Nurse! I'm looking for a young slave.

I believe he was brought in
after he was punished by the Guards.

Oh, I see.

-That's not...
-No, it could quite easily have been.

What on Earth did he do
to deserve such a beating?

Simply asked to work
in the power station.

Ah.

-May I see him, please?
-He's not here.

"Just a little convalescent stroll,"
he said.

I wouldn't be surprised
if he hasn't collapsed somewhere.

You should have seen
the state he was in.

Did he say where he was going?

He went off with a friend.
One of the new Masters' boys.

I told them no more
than a half an hour but...

Please tell him I came to see him.

You could do worse than take a jog

around the City yourself,
you know, Pierre.

Get some of that weight off your heart.

Where have you been?

Out.

How can you serve your Master
if you don't rest?

-That's my problem.
-Not if you fail to please.

-Oh, shut up, will you?
-There you are, tired and irritable.

-And soon time for service.
-Listen, Boll.

You run your life and I'll run mine.

Don't forget, Will, that our lives
are as nothing for ourselves.

We're the property of our Masters now.

Where have you been?

-I got fresh air and exercise.
-You fool.

Half an hour at the most, I said,
and now look at you.

I don't know what kind of a reputation
you're trying to make for yourself.

But if you're trying to impress,
you're going a funny way about it.

Anyway, you missed another visitor
while you were out.

One of the bigwigs
from the Power Elite.

Not Pierre!

Under your tongue, with your mouth shut.

He's another fool
bent on destroying himself.

Spends far too much time
at the Pink Parrot.

Is that what you have in common?
A mutual interest in self-destruction?

(CHUCKLING)

Normal. Well, that's more
than you deserve, young man.

Hey, come back! Fritz!

(INSTRUMENTAL POP MUSIC PLAYING)

Ah, you have recovered.

(BEEPING)

And boy,
two glasses with the juice, please.

Yes, sir.

We don't eat like this.

A privilege of office
in the Power Elite.

Which you are so desperately anxious
to join.

Unless, of course,
a taste of the Guards' punishment

-has changed your mind.
-Oh, no, sir.

At least, I mean, I'm willing to do
whatever the Masters wish.

Did Borman try to persuade you
to join the Guards?

-Yes.
-I'm not surprised.

He's noticed you have
a mind of your own, all right.

I wonder if he, like me,

suspects there may be a defect
in your capping?

What do you mean?

Although you say you want
to serve the Masters,

your actions show that what you
really want is to please yourself.

-Sir, that's just not true.
-Sit down!

Contrary to what you think, you're not
the only one here with that complaint.

I miss the wines more than anything.

There's not a drop of alcohol to be had
in the whole City.

To Julius.

So, you've been exploring the City.

-What new wonders have you seen?
-I went again to the garden, Master.

My companion's been sick,

and I thought the fresh air and sunlight
would do him good.

-What was the matter with him?
-He had angered the Guards.

He may be an athlete,
but he's also very bright,

and reckons he could do much
better service with his brain

than in the slave gang.

His mind has an independent cast
similar to your own.

Are you attached to this boy?

We met on our way to the games
and we just got along.

Is he what you might describe
as a...a friend?

-Yes.
-Interesting.

We do not have
such relationships any more.

I envy the concern you have for him.

Would you be my friend, Will?

I was a student at Gottingen University.

Never heard of it?

Well, it was one of those cradles
of nuclear physics in the 20th century.

Now the Masters use it as
a training ground for the Power Elite.

A kind of intellectual equivalent
of the Games,

where the best brains are selected
for the City.

I was sent there by Julius in the hope
that I would qualify.

You still don't know
what I'm talking about?

Oh, come on, Fritz.

I've been on my own in here
for nearly five years.

Look at me, I'm cracking up!

I've got a dicky heart.

And I don't have time to play games.

You're the first uncapped athlete
to make it.

-What makes you say I'm uncapped?
-The way you behave.

Hmm.

A later model than mine.

But both bear the features
of Dr Herschel's work

in the White Mountain.

I have no doubt of your loyalty, Will,

or of your desire
to serve me and my colleagues.

I have no doubt the fundamental
requirements of the capping process

have been achieved in you,

else your behaviour would be more
that of a vagrant.

But you are the kind of slave
that excites my interest,

because the capping process
has not destroyed your individuality.

It bodes well
for our future relationship.

I'm deeply honoured, Master.

You think I'm really here
for the Masters, don't you?

To trap you.

You think they already know
about Julius and the Free Men.

I don't know what you are talking about.
I'm going to call the Guards.

Fritz!

No. Leave him.

-Leave us.
-Sir.

I appreciate you keeping your guard up.

You've been well-trained.

But time is not on our side.

I'm not joking when I say
I've got a dicky heart.

You'd better sit down.

Thanks.

I've looked for someone
at every intake of new slaves.

But I'd really given up hope.

Which is why you find me like this.

We, too, had given up hope.
Julius told us of you.

But only as history.

I can't believe...

That I look like this?

And I'm only 20 years old?

(CHUCKLING)

This place takes a terrible toll
on you, Fritz.

We have no time to lose.

You mentioned a future relationship
between Earth people and Trion, Master.

I would very much like to know
what that future will be.

First you must understand the present.

And that in turn requires
an understanding of the past.

Life on Earth began 4 billion years ago.

At first the pace was slow.

But it quickened to produce
an infinite variety of species,

until only a few million years ago, the
first of your human ancestors emerged.

These are the ancestors?

From 10,000 years ago.

They look more like apes.

(CHUCKLING) So they were.

But although the universe teems
with life and intelligence, Will,

biological species similar to our own
are depressingly rare.

I know there are striking differences.

But humans are the closest relatives
we Masters have found in space.

I've got so much information
for you to take back to Julius.

I don't know how you'll remember it.

I'm not alone. I have a colleague.

He's servant to Master 468.

Good. Good.

One of the thinkers.

Not like your dumb-witted Slave Master.

He's learning a lot about their history
and their plans for our future.

Invaluable.

And stuff I've never been able
to get my hands on.

We also have another companion
waiting outside the city.

Have you given any thought
to how we might get out?

Yes.

Come on.
I've got plenty to show you yet.

You set the pace.

Fritz, this is wonderful.

You've given me a new lease of life.

Come on.

And the ancestors built all of this?

And more.

MASTER 468: Towards the end
of the 20th century

your ancestors overcame two factors

which had limited
the pace of development:

the tiny size of the human brain

and the incredible shortness
of the human lifespan.

An early cybernetic form of life
was born,

and with it the possibility
of a human interstellar civilisation

as great and glittering, perhaps,
as our own.

But where is all this now?

I've seen ruins of the ancestors' cities

on my way to the Games.

But this...

Where's it all gone? What happened?

This.

PIERRE: Each of these
weighs over a hundred tons.

They are necessary to close off water

which flows through these pipes

at the rate of millions of gallons
a minute.

From here the water goes where?

Into the reactor vessel itself,

where it gets very hot.

From there it drops
into an underground culvert

to rejoin the river outside.

Good. That's what I want to see next.

Not now, Fritz.

I've done enough walking for one day.

From here we take the lift.

And I'll show you something else.

MASTER 468: You can see why we could
no longer stand by,

waiting for your species to grow up.

The peace of space was being threatened.

You make me ashamed of my own people.

It was why we developed the Tripods,

to carry us about
in the poisonous atmosphere of Earth,

so we could neutralise your sick minds
through the implantation of the cap.

There now. You feel better?

Don't be too ashamed
of your humanity, Will.

There is much about your world
to admire.

It's my job to collect,

to analyse and to assess
aspects of the human world

which may be of interest
to the wider society of space.

I was impressed with your high regard
for the daisy.

You gave me a new point of view.

And I have given instructions
for it to be preserved,

as a result of your recommendation.

In the Hall of Beauty?

You have heard of it?

From the girl who cleans my room.
What is it, Master?

(CHUCKLING)

Questions again?
You must be feeling better.

We are preparing to send back to Trion

the most appealing artefacts
and organisms of the human Earth.

Perhaps you would like to see
some of the selections we have made.

I would be honoured, Master.

That's more the way I like to travel.

Now, over there,
we get a good view of it.

This is what we call the Pool of Fire.

It's built directly on top
of the nuclear reactor.

-What is its purpose?
-I don't know for sure.

Because as far as humans are concerned,
it's absolutely forbidden.

Will must ask his Master.

Logically, it must be
a kind of database,

a fantastic central store of knowledge.

But looking down on it,

don't you find it difficult
to suppress second thoughts?

About destroying it?

Whatever it is, it's pretty amazing.

We certainly face a difficult task.

But what worries me is if that is
some kind of brain down there,

some kind of Masters' computer,

then it's probably a billion times
more intelligent

than all of the brains
of all of us Free Men put together.

I don't care how great
their achievements are.

The City is run by slaves!

Our whole world is enslaved by the cap!

All right. I know.

I haven't entirely forgotten
why I'm here.

It's just that
in comparison with all of this,

our intentions
begin to seem rather crude.

However, if we go back to my room,
I'll tell you the plans I've worked out,

how we could first escape,

and then make a successful attack
on the City.

(GASPING)

I'm late for my shift!

Hey! Are you all right?

This is one of my favourite rooms.

Somehow, the very shortness
of their lives

enhances the beauty of their appearance.

(CHUCKLING)

Sometimes I wonder if brevity and beauty
go hand in hand

and that the penalty for longevity
is ugliness.

Do you think I'm ugly, Will?

No. No, Master. Well...

I think that you're unfamiliar to me.

Hmm. The cap is supposed
to prevent dissembling, Will.

But I'm afraid I don't believe you.

Still, how wonderful it would be

if we were able to provide these
with a longer lifespan

without impairing their beauty.

Are they dead?

Quick, help me get him to the hospital.

Is it not a stirring thought
that a few hundred years from now

these beautiful women will step out
into the new world

we will have created for them on Trion?

(WHISPERING) Eloise.

MASTER 468: Is it not a joyous thought,

that she should live long
and please the Masters so?

Yes, Master!

It is a joyous thought.

I wouldn't have been surprised
if you had been brought in like this.

-I'm pretty fit.
-Not for long, if you go on like this.

-How's he doing?
-All right.

But don't you ignore what I say, Fritz.

This place is tough on us humans.

Look what it's done to him.
And he had it easy.

(PIERRE BREATHING WITH DIFFICULTY)

So much to tell you.

Easy.

(MUMBLING)

What is it, Pierre? Tell me.

What is it? Pierre.

(CHOKING)