I see. So, Canute is dead?
No. He went missing, to be precise.
Ragnar's unit tried to rescue Canute,
and engaged Thorkell in battle at Marlborough.
In the midst of the confusion,
His Highness the Prince went missing.
Then aren't they still surrounded by Thorkell's men?
Yes. However, we didn't see anyone among Thorkell's men
who looked like he could be the prince for two days.
He may still be alive and is waiting for help.
However, even if we were to send help,
we'd have to wait until spring.
I'm sure you must be very worried,
Your Highness.
If Canute
had been as talented
as his brother Harald,
he might not have ended up missing.
Wow! It's snowing!
AFTER YULE
The war is ending!
Winter.
DECEMBER 1013 GLOUCESTER, EARLDOM OF MERCIA
You're cold enough to freeze even a warrior's heart.
Oh, winter!
Captain. Roasted pork or boiled pork. What do you want?
Give me both!
I can't understand you. Swallow your food first.
Okay.
In any case,
the fact that the prince escaped was a big loss to us.
He didn't escape! You handed him over.
That prince was a coward, but he could have been useful.
We could have put him on a pedestal and started a new dynasty.
It would have helped gather soldiers for an army at least.
If you're the one who's going to carry him,
you'd be pretty powerful.
Indeed. What?
Hey, you! English girl!
Yes?
Beer! Bring a keg!
Excuse me! They ordered another keg!
Another one? Damn!
Those rascals! They're going to eat through the entire city!
This is robbery!
Stop crying!
If I was going to lose the prince anyway, I should have given him to the English instead.
What?
You're so difficult.
As soon as the fire starts to die down, you go looking for another spark.
Of course, you bastard!
We're warriors!
A warrior is a warrior when he's on the battlefield!
But you know...
I heard some bad news about that.
They're going to recognize King Sweyn as the Bretwalda
at the next Witenagemot in Wessex.
What?
That's total surrender!
That's right. Denmark is going to swallow England whole.
The nobility want to end the war, even if it means surrendering the throne.
Every time I get a bad feeling about something, why does it always come true?
What are you going to do? Attack King Sweyn, even if it means certain death?
You idiot!
I love fighting, but I hate losing!
When I fight, I fight to win!
This is no fun.
I wish the world would be at war forever.
It's a messenger! Is the lord here?
Anything out of the ordinary, Ear?
There sure is. It's damn cold.
The snow absorbs sounds.
NORTH PART OF EARLDOM OF MERCIA ASKELADD'S ARMY CONTROLLED FARM VILLAGE
Even I can't hear that far anymore.
It's better than keeping guards all over the place.
We can avoid giving away our position.
Then do something about those guys.
They're obviously not farmers.
-Monks? Keep an eye on them, too. -Father, forgive us.
"Forgive us." Hear that?
Must they constantly beg for forgiveness?
What a pain.
Oh, God Most High,
Our Father in Heaven,
please gather the souls of the villagers
who lie in rest here to your side.
Please save the souls of the men who killed these people.
Please forgive us for our sins.
This isn't the time to be praying for someone else, you bastards.
Father.
Can you hear my voice?
Our Father.
You
created us in your image.
But you didn't give us your power.
Father.
If you love both good men and bad men equally,
why do you test us, despite our powerlessness?
Father.
Can you
hear my voice?
Our Father.
I doubt
-your love. -Enough!
Did you say...
you doubt the Father?
And you call yourself a Christian? You should fear the Lord!
We must not doubt the Father's love!
Every father...
Every father loves his own child.
Your Highness...
Oh! Wait!
Father...
An army of Danes?
Really?
Yes. That's what the message said.
They've occupied a village at the head of the Severn River.
We've received a request for reinforcements from the local lord.
According to one of the villagers who survived,
the enemy has around 100 to 200 men.
Soldiers from neighboring areas are already heading there,
but we wanted to ask you to come too, Thorkell, because of your military fame.
-What do you think? -Nothing, really.
There aren't a lot of Danish units who would act alone there
at this time of year.
They feigned to go by sea, but they're heading to Gainsborough by land.
They must have been snowed in and are stuck.
I'm almost certain it's...
Thorfinn and Canute.
All right! Wake everyone up! Get ready to march!
And...
Hey, you.
Pack us some lunch.
For 500 men. Five days will be enough.
Five hundred?
Here we go.
This is fun. If we do this right,
we can enjoy this war for a long time!
How many men are there? Ear?
Who knows? Maybe 50, or 100.
They're extending their line to the east along the forest.
They discovered us quickly.
Did we make a mistake somewhere?
I don't know...
They found us. We can't change that.
We're leaving?
Tonight? That's impossible!
I've only finished two sleds!
I just started on the third one yesterday!
Really? Thanks. Then finish them by tonight.
We'll abandon the ones we can't finish.
I said that's impossible!
We only have two carpenters!
The English army found us.
-They found us? -Yeah.
They came through the snow.
They must really hate the Danes.
Impossible...
We must hurry, or we'll miss our chance to escape.
Understand? Hurry and finish.
Okay.
Bjorn! Prepare the men for battle.
Capture their commander. I want to find out how they found us.
Understood.
Wait, Bjorn.
One more thing.
This is a good opportunity.
Let's do what we discussed as well.
They found us?
This is bad.
We'll be fine! The English are weak.
No. That's not what I mean.
I was talking about Askeladd's luck.
Luck?
First the heavy snowfall, and now this.
This is the first time his plans have ever been ruined.
Oh! What a tasty-looking rabbit!
-Are you the one who caught it, Thorfinn? -What?
Are you going to eat it alone? Are you going to roast it?
Why do you care?
It's not good to eat nothing but meat!
Boil it with some vegetables!
I'll make some soup with that rabbit.
Shut up. I can eat my own food however I want.
You're going to borrow someone's stove anyway, right?
Come over here!
Your Highness! I've brought broad beans, cabbage, and rabbit!
Rabbit?
Yes. Thorfinn caught it.
I thought it would be good to add to the soup.
Thanks.
Drain the blood and remove its organs.
The ingredients are simple, but it tastes good.
It's because of the rabbit.
I've grown tired of eating salted-cured meat. Thank you.
What's wrong? Don't hold back.
It's your rabbit.
It's good, right? Catch us a deer next time!
I thought royals only did the eating.
It's my hobby. I don't usually cook.
No one knows about it except Ragnar.
You can't tell anyone either, okay?
There's nothing wrong with it.
A long time ago,
I cooked some cod.
It turned out well,
so I brought it to my father.
But His Highness didn't eat it.
He was very angry.
"You're the child of a king! Don't act like a slave!" That's what he said.
I wasn't supposed to cook after that.
A king's child doesn't need to know how to do things like this.
At that time,
His Highness must have been very busy.
When this war is over, let's cook some poultry and bring it to him.
I'm sure he'd be happy.
What kind of poultry?
I've never cooked poultry before.
Chicken, or duck.
Do you remember the duck you ate during Yule?
Yes. That was delicious.
I asked the cook for his secret.
He made good use of the broth.
The broth? I see.
Ragnar!
You idiot! I have a message!
What is it? What's wrong?
The enemy has found us.
A battle has begun in the woods to the east.
What?
They don't have a lot of men,
but please be careful.
What's going on?
We've only been in this village for ten days!
-How come they found us? -How am I supposed to know?
What's going on?
We even killed all the villagers...
In any case,
we're going to move once we defeat the English. Get ready.
That's why I first said
we should turn back to Wales!
No. We're heading for Derby.
He still wants to keep walking through
enemy lands in this situation?
Bring Askeladd here. Now!
He's leading at the frontline right now.
If you want to talk to him, you should go see him yourself.
I'll show you the way.
Unbelievable! You men are just like your leader!
You don't have any manners!
He can't even read his own luck!
And he's a Norse warrior?
I swear on my sword, I'm going to show him
how foolish he is today!
Hey!
The sound of the battle is coming from that way!
You finally noticed? You're so slow.
What? You bastards! What are you--?
You bastards...
Sorry, Conehead.
It's orders from Askeladd.
Want to fight? We're okay with that.
But you're going to die anyway.
Bring Askeladd here! I have something important to tell him.
Is it your dying wish? I'll listen. Tell me.
Just bring him here!
It's related to His Highness the Prince.
I need to talk to him directly.
Hurry!
Let's hear your dying wish.
Shall we speak in private?
The cries stopped.
The battle is over.
Unbelievable.
The soup got cold.
I'm grateful to you.
You did a good job keeping that coward of a prince alive.
Your death will cause him to grow
even further.
I will take over that job starting today,
in place of you, who was
"killed by the English."
Swear to your god!
Swear that you'll take over for me,
and that...
you'll protect His Highness Canute at whatever the cost!
I will protect His Highness Canute at whatever the cost,
and ensure that Ragnar the warrior did not die in vain.
Are you satisfied?
It fills me with regret
to leave His Highness with you.
You should hurry.
You've lost a lot of blood.
Before you reach
Gainsborough,
you should prepare yourself...
The court in Jelling
are fighting over who will be the next king of Denmark
and has split into two factions.
One of the factions picked His Highness Canute
as their leader.
The other faction chose Canute's brother,
Harald.
They don't care about what
either of them wants.
It's just a power struggle
amongst those traitors.
His Highness the King feared
that the Kingdom of Denmark would be split.
His heart was probably already decided.
He decided to kill
one of the princes.
King Sweyn decided to kill the prince?
The reason that the king
took the prince to the battlefield with him
was to have the prince die in battle.
Be careful.
Prince Canute's real enemy
is now
his father, King Sweyn
himself.
Go into exile.
That's the only way now.
In Gainsborough,
my brother will make preparations
for you...
What's going on?
You should have told me earlier.
Please.
Just one...
last look...
Let me see His Highness.
To say goodbye...
No.
Your Highness...
Once this war is over...
let's cook poultry together.
I'm sure
the king would be...
happy.