Chet-chet!
Chet-chet-chet!
Dorian the Elder once said...
"The most unsettling sound in the human experience is silence...
when nature begs for wailing."
Silence in a birth, silence in a moment of devastating heartbreak.
Silence during the infliction of such extreme pain.
You've done yourself proud.
Your defiance is powerful.
Some men in my position might find themselves affected by it...
suddenly fighting the onset of pity, their resolve weakened...
and so on, and so on.
Just to be clear, those men are cowards.
There's a reason why I am in this position and they aren't.
And eight fingers from now...
we start on toes.
I will do this for days until you tell me where my queen is.
I have the destination where the queen is being held.
They won't be expecting us.
It's days from here at a quick pace.
The company is already preparing to depart.
There's only a few things that we need to resolve before then.
"Resolve"?
First, the boy.
I'm grateful he aided in the capture of the two Shadows out there.
Now...
I'd like to know how he did it.
He's not your son.
That much was clear the moment he was brought to you.
But he has vision too, doesn't he?
Yes.
Another child of Jerlamarel's...
with another woman.
You deserved more than that.
None of that is the boy's fault, and you'd be nowhere without him.
I'm the Witchfinder, Maghra, and there is one sitting in my tent as we speak!
Fault has nothing to do with it. I can't simply ignore who he is.
Of course you can!
He's with me.
He has my protection. And I'm the daughter of the king.
What else do you wanna resolve?
Whether he comes with us.
"Comes with us"?
I'm moving this army. I cannot leave you behind.
Absolutely not. I am not leaving until my family is found.
It's been days, and my scouts have found no signs of them.
-You promised me! -I promised to search.
And from where I stand, that promise is kept.
Then you leave some of your men behind. I will continue to search.
I have no choice in this matter, and neither do you.
Boy...
I have forgotten more about killing than you will ever know.
If you think because you have sight that that will even the odds between us...
think again.
It's all right.
This place is uninhabited. There's little danger here.
Just a few men could guarantee my safety.
Maghra, the queen is compromised.
She may be incapacitated. She may be dead.
We don't know who is governing the kingdom.
We don't know if anyone is governing the kingdom.
The chaos that preceded your family's rule was dire.
Countless rivalries, grievances and vendettas.
Without a Kane on the throne to rule, they will rear their heads again.
And you are rightfully the next Kane in the line of succession.
I will leave a contingent behind to continue looking for your family.
But as far as your presence goes...
this isn't a choice for either of us.
You're in command of the men left behind?
Yes, Your Highness. Four men under me.
Eight would be better.
Do it.
You understand how important your charge here is, yes?
Yes, ma'am, of course.
They're my life.
Yes, ma'am.
You must talk to your father.
He doesn't wanna hear anything I have to say.
That is why you must talk to him.
Why me?
Haniwa, it doesn't matter who speaks first.
It is the way forward.
You think it's simple.
It is.
Break this silence while you can.
Why are we stopping?
We'll camp here for the night. Your father's gone ahead, scouting.
How far off is it?
How far is what?
Oh, wow.
I can't tell if I'm relieved or if I was hoping we'd never find it.
I'll go tell the others.
How does a queen who never leaves her palace
end up by the side of the road with nothing but a handmaiden and a driver?
You think someone attempted to move against her?
I could imagine a number of things.
I'm trying not to.
She had enemies.
Comes with the crown.
More for some than others.
She's my mother. You know that, don't you?
Their faces, their voices, the way they breathed, even.
I was so young when my mother died, but even then I knew it.
The two of them were exactly the same.
So when she died,
it felt especially cruel that every time my sister was nearby...
to hear her, to smell her, to touch her...
suddenly, I'd be mourning my mother all over again.
I imagine it was no different to my father.
I imagine that's why he could never bring himself to take away the one thing
she treasured above all else:
her birthright.
I brought food for her, as you asked.
You can call her what she is. There is no power or magic in it here.
I brought food for the queen, as you asked.
Very well.
Still not up to your standards, huh?
I had heard stories of your stubbornness, your self-destructiveness, even.
When I first heard them, they seemed outlandish to me, not to be trusted.
But now...
Perhaps you could confirm or deny a few of them for me.
I heard you killed lovers for snoring in their sleep.
Servants, because you didn't like their smell.
You severed the tongues of young maiden
because they didn't please you fast enough.
Any of these you'd care to dispute, or perhaps even claim credit for?
You know the rules.
The bell rings, and how do we know you aren't trying to escape?
The bell rings, and we must respond.
The bell rings, and you will suffer for it.
Until your ransom is paid,
you are an asset that I intend to be very careful with.
So why don't you just relax?
Let us continue our conversation, shall we?
Please know, inasmuch as I found those stories entertaining...
the one that really interests me involves a particular lover...
who broke your heart and then left you.
Haniwa.
What I said before...
I know.
-It's just because... -It's okay.
-In the cave... -I understand.
You sure?
Yeah.
What do you think we're headed towards?
Honestly, I think you need to manage your expectations.
To set aside what we know of him, okay?
Set aside the fact that he left his child to be abused
until he turned into a monster.
-We don't really know what actually happ-- -Mom didn't want this.
I have no memory of her talking about him without sounding sad.
I have no memory of her talking about any of this without warning us against it.
I mean, that has to have been for a reason, Haniwa.
Don't you think it's strange that she never told us what that reason was?
I don't know...
what was... in Mama's head.
But I do know that she loved him.
And there must be a reason for that.
You heard it in your sleep.
Is that an owl?
Not an owl. That is a man.
We're in the Badlands, Baba. Lawless land.
And you are not well.
I'm fine.
Do the children know?
There's no need for them to know.
They always know more than you think.
Did Haniwa speak to you?
Why?
She's holding something...
something that she cannot give voice to...
and it frightens her.
Well, she's mourning.
So is Kofun.
But he's not gripped by the same darkness.
They're different. They need different things at this moment.
I would think you of all people would understand what she needs.
What do you mean?
You remember when I first came to you?
The rage, and how destructive I was?
Because I was afraid.
Afraid to trust you...
afraid to believe that I actually escaped and that it was true.
And do you remember what you told me when I did?
I told you if you broke any more of my things,
I would kill you in your sleep.
Yes. But after that...
do you remember what you did?
You sat and you stayed for as long as it took me to be able to breathe again.
You stayed so that I would know I was not alone.
Haniwa's lost.
She's facing an uncertain future...
a lost mother, and a new father.
But I will give her the space she needs.
And like you, I'll make sure that she knows she's not alone.
Paris, what is it?
Lavender no more.
I taste death.
It's days, it's maybe weeks.
It's human, isn't it?
"A new world lies beyond.
A new god resides within.
Enter, and be seen.
Enter, and be judged.
Enter, and find death.
Enter, and be seen."
Jerlamarel.
He's lost his fucking mind.
Perhaps not.
Maybe-- Maybe this is what happens
when your work is important and you don't want visitors.
Paris, I don't know.
You must know now how dangerous it is to be sighted in this world.
The lengths one must go to to keep it at bay.
I agree with Paris.
We didn't come this far just to turn around because of something like this.
I want both of you to know what we set out to know.
I want to know what we all sacrificed so much for.
I want to know what I sacrificed my wife for.
I need to know it.
Come.
At least we know we're going the right way.
Kofun.
We forge ahead.
I saw four guards.
One here, by the entrance.
Two more...
patrolling between the rows of silk workers.
And another by the second window.
The workers are all stationary, then? Only the guards are walking?
Yes. And they tap their staffs to announce their presence.
What kind of shoes are the guards wearing?
What kind of shoes? Are they leather? Are they wood?
Leather, I think.
And what about the queen? Do you know where she is?
I don't know what the queen looks like.
There was a bloodied woman here, in the back.
Bloodied? Is she alive?
I don't know.
So, you're certain? Four guards and a space in between them?
That's what I saw.
That's what you saw.
As if vision absolves you from being wrong.
You have enough men to overwhelm them, don't you?
The moment they hear any of us, the moment they sense us,
the moment an alarm is given, this is over.
The only way to reach her alive
is for there to be no guards left by the time they know we're here.
One man must do it, one at a time.
I'll do it. I can get them all.
I remember asking for your eyes, witch, not your opinion.
The future of the kingdom is at stake.
I've relied upon you as far as I'm willing.
Unless, Maghra, you trust him.
Forget I asked.
Marshal a vanguard. Signals, no words.
The next man to speak will be me, when I'm ready to call you in.
If you give no signal?
Then I have failed, the queen is dead.
You should burn everything to the ground
and take the princess to Kanzua and see her installed upon the throne.
I haven't consented to that.
If it comes down to that, you won't have to.
Is it going to come down to that?
No.
Cutter! Cutter! Come over here!
Guards.
There's an intruder! Someone's here!
Up, bitch.
My knife. My knife.
You think I would tell her who I am without having a plan? Huh?
Majesty?
The queen is here.
Why doesn't she speak?
I'm fucking tired.
It's all right. You're safe now.
How did this happen?
How did they get you?
I had to leave.
Someone moved against you. Who was it?
So many.
You'll recover soon, and we'll return to Kanzua.
But first, a healer's coming.
She's here.
-Careful. -Of course.
Have we met?
I'm sorry this happened to you.
You shouldn't leave, Maghra.
Not until you've heard the news.
What news, Your Majesty?
They all moved against me.
Claimed the gods were on their side.
And when they failed, I was left with a choice:
to let this heresy stand...
or to answer with one of my own.
What does that mean?
You wish to return me to Kanzua?
There is no Kanzua.
For years, we held power based on the whim of the machines beneath us.
When they chose to work, we were adored.
When they didn't, we weren't.
I don't want to be queen because the machines work.
I want to be queen because I am.
So now the story will be this:
The gods took the dam.
They destroyed it in a rage
and took with it the true heretics.
The weak, the selfish, the backward.
But they left me.
Only me.
You destroyed it.
Those soldiers out there...
For 20 years, they've done your bidding on the promise that one day,
they will return to their homes, their families.
Through countless battles...
and miseries and horrors,
that was what sustained them.
And you just took it all away.
I did what needed to be done.
I saved our dynasty.
You think I'm gonna go out there
and tell my men all their families were killed to save your dynasty,
and they'll just go wherever I tell them from there?
Your men?
My men.
And I think they will do as I tell them...
because I am their queen.
I think, for the first time in a long time...
that's something we should reconsider.
Whoa, whoa.
What?
Why are we stopping?
Something doesn't feel right.
-What's ahead? -It's a mountain pass.
-Is there another way around? -No, not that I can see.
Paris.
I sense conflicting things.
I dream danger.
But I'm not exactly sure where the danger lies.
Maybe because there is none.
We'll find another way around.
We'll lose days.
-I said we find another way around. -There is nothing here.
Kofun, tell him there's nothing here.
Dad, I don't see anything.
-I'll go. -Hey.
Kofun, where is the God Flame in the sky?
It's already passed behind the mountain.
Why should the sun matter to you?
It doesn't. I'm just trying to figure out
how soon it will be dark and you'll be completely useless.
Baba.
Sound traps.
Point to them.
Yeah.
Go.
Don't move.
There's a bow and arrow. We need it.
What are you doing?
I can move in silence. You can't.
-Haniwa, no! -Cease fire!
You are Haniwa?
Yes.
And you who shouted...
what's your name?
Kofun.
Children of Jerlamarel,
just beyond these trees there is a bridge.
You may pass over that bridge into the House of Enlightenment.
Is there a healer in the House of Enlightenment?
You cannot pass.
You just told us we could cross.
Only the children of Jerlamarel may cross into the House of Enlightenment.
There is only one rule, and that is it.
You tell Jerlamarel that we're here. He'll understand.
Only Kofun and Haniwa may cross.
You listen to me--
Boy.
There is only one rule, and that is it.
You can tell Jerlamarel why his son and daughter came all this way
just to turn back!
We're not turning back.
What are you talking about? We have to turn back.
-She needs a healer. -No. She has Dad and Paris.
He can take her to another tribe.
What are you talking about? We're not leaving her here, Haniwa.
She doesn't need all of us.
-We stay together. -Kofun.
-Enough. -This is crazy.
Enough.
Listen to me. Listen to me.
Haniwa, Kofun,
we have traveled too far, at too great a cost, to turn back now.
I have thought about this for a long while now.
I never wanted to believe it, but Paris is right.
Every child eventually comes to a bridge that they must cross alone.
What are you talking about?
The day you were born, I stood on a wall fighting to protect you,
and I have done it every day since.
That's what a father does to protect his children.
But a father must also know when it is time to let his children go
so that they might find their own path.
-That time is now. -No, that's not true.
That's not true. Haniwa, tell him it's not true.
It is true, Kofun.
You and I live in a different world than him.
We always have.
We'll never really understand each other.
He brought us here knowing that.
Why would you do that?
Because I'm your father.
Oh, Papa.
My baby girl.
You are wrong.
We don't live in different worlds.
You and your brother
are the only world that I have lived in since the day you were born.
My children, I'm as blind as anyone.
But I see you both.
I will never stop seeing you.
But I was right.
This day had come, and you must meet your father.
Dad, you're my father.
I love you, boy.
We'll see you again?
Yes.
Bow Lion.
This will be like a tickle for you.
Yes.
Good.
Remember your mother always.
Protect each other at all costs.
-Dad. -Kofun, no. Stop.
He'll be alone.
He will have Maghra with him always.
And now, he will have the two of you.
I will be with him.
Look to your sister.
She knows.
Now...
listen carefully, both of you.
The gift of sight can be blinding.
Jerlamarel... is your father,
and he is sighted.
But he is not a god, and neither are you.
If you are to build this world...
remember your mother.
And remember Baba Voss, who taught you all things.
And you build this new world for the sighted as well as the unsighted.
With no gods! Do you understand?
-Do you understand me? -Yes.
-Yes. -Okay.
Oh, my babies.
Read the books for me. Read the books for me.
Young man.
My staff.
Okay, go. Go now.
Go now before it's too dark for you to see.
I can't believe he really left us.
We're the ones who left.
Okay.
We're coming now, the two of us.
Haniwa and Kofun.
You and me together, little brother.
Always, little sister.
Are you ready?
No.
Me neither.
Let's go.
You sent them alone.
Sometimes the best way to protect your children
is to let them believe you've stopped.
Did Maghra tell you that?
Yes, she did.
The only home I have is those children.
I have nowhere else to be.
Do you?
So we stay close?
Oh, yes.
We stay close.
What now?
I don't know.
I can't see anything.