Path of Blood
Are you deaf too, you old man?
Don't move, guards.
The king is within reach of my sword.
Is he serious?
Oh, dear.
Askeladd.
You bastard! King Sweyn is mine.
Don't move, Thorkell!
Askeladd's not acting normal.
Don't provoke him.
The king mustn't be harmed.
What?
Put away your sword, then I'll forgive you for this offense.
Forgive me?
Don't push your luck, you savage.
As punishment for mocking my family and my people, you deserve to die!
This is my last warning.
Put away your sword, Askeladd.
That's my nickname.
I'll tell you the name my mother gave me. My real name.
Lucius Artorius Castus.
I am the rightful king of the land of Britannia.
I feel better now.
For a period of time, the Danes held dominion over England.
But in the year 1014, the situation changed rapidly
with the death of King Sweyn of Denmark.
Denmark and England crossed swords once again.
Canute succeeded his father Sweyn
and took command of the Danish viking army in England.
Upon hearing news of Sweyn's death,
Ethelred II returned from his exile to Normandy and was reinstated.
Both men proclaimed themselves King of England,
and the fate of the throne was uncertain once more.
England was exhausted by never-ending battles.
Your Highness, stand back.
I'm fine. I didn't drink any.
Y-Your Highness, have mercy!
I swear to our Lord Jesus Christ that I didn't know.
I had no idea the drink was poisoned.
Your Highness, have mercy!
Please, King Ethelred!
Bastard...
Such underhanded means...
The situation here is even worse than we were told, Your Highness.
It will take a long time for Mercia,
once called the Jewel of the Fields, to recover from this.
Gunnar, don't speak as though we had nothing to do with this.
We laid waste to this region.
What is that?
Huh?
Oh, right.
This is the advance force of our army, which conquered this region.
That's not what I meant.
I'm asking what it is that they're doing.
Why, pillaging the land, of course.
They're looking for girls to sell from among the beggars.
I thought I forbade that.
Have them beheaded and display their heads on the road.
What?
B-But collecting the spoils of war is a military custom.
Cracking down on it harshly would be...
Men who can't maintain discipline are no soldiers of mine.
Behead them and display their heads on the road.
Y-Yes, Your Highness.
Hey, you!
What? Seriously?
I appreciate you coming all the way here, Your Highness.
Floki, have the arrangements been made?
Yes, Your Highness, they await your command.
They can move out immediately.
But you need not have met them yourself.
You could have allowed us to handle the matter.
It's fine. I was already here observing the military situation.
I shall meet with them.
Earl Eadric of Mercia is a coward.
He is hardly a man worth meeting.
A person's character and their usefulness are two different things.
Either way, I shall meet him and judge for myself.
And besides, there is another reason for my visit.
What do you mean?
Hey!
Canute!
You're here, you bastard!
Canute!
I must appease that.
I imagine it was too great a task for you and your men.
Yes, indeed.
You little brat!
Let me hit him!
Get outta my way and let me hit him once!
Calm yourself, Thorkell.
Why, you friggin' fraggin' little...
I hate when someone stops my battles more than I hate frogs!
What?
Frogs?
Mercia has requested a truce.
Our victory here is as good as certain.
You did well, Thorkell.
Shut up!
Battles don't stop until you've taken the opposing leader's head.
I was about to lop off Eadric's head.
Don't make such a fuss.
Earl Eadric of Mercia is merely the leader of this region.
Look at the bigger picture.
I don't care about that crap.
I just want to enjoy a fulfilling life of warfare.
In the lands to the east, Ethelred's son, Edmund, is making some disquieting moves.
I ask that you help us pacify the east. Your overwhelming strength in battle is—
I'll decide where I go and who I fight, Dicehead.
Canute!
You'd better not have forgotten what I said to you then.
"I'm going to watch what you do from now on, and who you'll become."
You're still a nobody.
You aren't even the King of England.
You're just a kid.
So listen up, kid.
No matter what you do, you won't be able to avoid war.
You have no choice but to carve your path with blood and iron.
Just like Askeladd did.
Don't forget that.
From the start, the path you walk has been covered in blood.
How long are you going to keep doing that?
It's annoying! Get outta here!
Boy, I'm pissed.
I'll back down for today, but there won't be a second time.
And don't you forget it.
H-How dare he insult you like that in front of the soldiers.
Your Highness, you mustn't overlook this offense.
Why not? It makes sense.
He offered a valuable warning.
He's an honest man.
Move it!
Clear the way.
It would surely be a pleasure to live like him.
Let's go.
4,000 pounds of silver.
This is everything we were able to gather at this time.
Please accept this offering.
If you'll withdraw your forces from Mercia,
we'll provide you with an additional 4,000 pounds.
It's not a bad deal, Canute.
You offer me Danegeld, Eadric?
What is your answer, Canute?
This is nothing.
Okay, lift 'em.
Hup.
Let me ask you something.
You're paying me this silver so I'll leave Mercia, aren't you, Eadric?
I-I'm offering you 8,000 pounds.
That should be more than enough for you to withdraw.
It's not.
Think carefully about what you're saying.
You're telling Canute, Bretwalda of England,
to take this money and leave his own territory.
And the price you set on such an insult against a king is this paltry sum?
I am your king.
I came to this land to quell the rebellion taking place within my domain,
not for wealth.
This is nonsense!
Our king is Ethelred of the honorable House of Wessex, not you.
Silence.
But Father...
Enough. This is neither the time nor place.
You're right. There is another who calls himself the King of England.
So, did you offer me this deal with Ethelred's permission?
I-I'm sure His Highness would understand if we explained the situation to him.
Ah, how open-minded of him.
So Ethelred would forgive one of his own vassals for deserting
in order to protect his own land.
Now, that's not nice.
He's got a nasty streak.
The world is in chaos because there are two kings.
One must die.
Ethelred is a coward who abandoned his people and throne
to flee into exile during the previous war.
Don't you think it's foolish to trust the future of England to such a man?
You're telling me to betray him?
You've already betrayed him.
I'd like you to assist me, Eadric.
I'd like to make Ethelred go away.
You've served him for many years as his vassal.
I'm sure you would know of a good method.
Do you intend to strip me of every last shred of loyalty, boy?
In exchange, I'll allow you to keep Mercia.
Ethelred's head is my price.
A good deal, don't you think?
I refuse. A truce is off the table.
I'll keep fighting a foul man like you until the bitter end.
Floki, this man doesn't seem to be a coward.
He's got some backbone.
In that case, shall we test it, Your Highness?
Come outside, Eadric.
I have something to show you.
Are you ready?
Yes, Your Highness.
Light it.
Signal fires? What are they signaling?
What is this?
What are you doing, Canute?
Father.
L-Look...
Th-There are more over there.
C-Canute, what are they signaling?
This is what it means to go to war against me.
Imagine it, Eadric.
Mercia has been reduced to ash.
Do you understand now?
If I will it, reducing you to ash would be no trouble at all.
Father!
Buy peace by offering me Ethelred's head.
It's the smart choice.
The next year, in April of 1016, King Ethelred II of England would die.
Your Highness!
It is said he died of an illness.
After Ethelred's death, his son Edmund assumed the throne.
As his father's successor,
Edmund caused great trouble for Canute's forces in a hard-fought war, but...
Seven months later in that same year, he unsurprisingly also died of an illness.
Died of an illness, huh?
It took King Sweyn ten years to conquer the nation,
and this time, it ended in less than three.
The Witanagemot will recognize Canute as Bretwalda.
The coronation will be held first thing next year.
Don't talk to me about Canute.
You're ruining my beer.
Fine, fine.
Sweyn, Ethelred, and Edmund...
Thanks to the unnatural deaths of his rivals,
in the year 1018, Canute officially became King of England.
We Need a Horse
"We Need a Horse."