[electrical buzzing]
[water dripping]
[man] Do you feel much pain?
[Jerlamarel] Just some aching.
It's time.
[grunting]
[grunting, whimpering]
[Jerlamarel gasps]
[exhales] Nothing.
-Nothing! -Father. Father.
-I can't see. -It's o-- It's okay. Stay calm.
-Oloman, it didn't work. [panting] -Father, please.
We'll try it again. The procedure, do it again. Try it again.
I'm sorry. There's nothing more to be done.
You're wrong! There must be.
-Oloman. -Father.
You have to keep reading. All of the medical books, everything.
The answers will be there.
Father, I have read all the books.
And what they tell me is that your corneas have been damaged beyond repair.
You're not looking hard enough!
[breathing raggedly] I will not be blind.
Do you hear me?
I will not be blind!
-[torturer shouts] -[whip cracks]
[grunting]
-[whip cracks] -[screams]
[panting]
-[whip cracks] -[screams]
[screams]
What?
Don't get any ideas.
-[people grunting, shouting] -[swords clanging]
Lieutenant Commander Wren.
[gatekeeper] Yes, Lieutenant.
-Open the gate! -[metal squeaking]
[gatekeeper 2] Yes, sir!
[people chattering]
[storyteller] And so…
the great Trivantian, Toliver, wounded but not dead…
pulled himself to his tired feet and mounted his horse.
[imitates horse]
-Although thunder and rain… -[board whooshing]
…dampened his senses,
he guided his tired men through the tall grass of the Bloody Plains…
[bristles rustling]
…to the Ganite stronghold.
Under his command, 20 Trivantian soldiers…
-[sword scrapes] -…held the Ganite hordes at bay…
-[battle cries] -…all through the night
and into the next morning until the battalions arrived to turn the tide.
Where are you taking me?
You'll see.
[cat meows]
[metal clangs]
[door opens]
[Haniwa gasps]
I've never been so high up before.
[Wren] Yeah?
When I was younger, I used to climb all these towers.
They were the only places I felt safe being sighted.
Guess I loved going where I knew no one else could come.
And that's how I found this place.
I've taken care of it ever since.
[gasps]
People used to celebrate their sight.
We make art to be heard or felt or smelled.
Everything in their world was meant to be seen.
-People too. -What?
We were meant to be seen too.
Hmm.
This one was my favorite.
I used to make up stories about the girl in the pictures.
[chuckles] I named her Gwendolyn.
Her name is Alice.
You can read.
The book is called Alice in Wonderland.
"Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank
and of having nothing to do."
"Once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading,
but it had no pictures or conversations in it."
No! [sobs]
[Haniwa] "'And what is the use of a book,' thought Alice,
-'without pictures or conversations?'" -[screams]
[grunts]
Stop.
[panting, grunting]
[exhales]
Big brother, you are holding up well.
[squelching noise]
[Baba Voss groans]
Your marks are nothing compared to the scars you left on my back.
-[sighs] -What have you done with Haniwa?
Haniwa?
You fear for your daughter. [chuckles]
Mmm.
Fear is worse than the pain, isn't it?
It was like that for me as a boy.
The pain you inflicted on me was--
wasn't nearly as great as the fear of knowing it was coming,
-that you were coming. -[breathing raggedly]
And I promise you,
Haniwa will know that same fear every night, as I did.
Edo, please just let her go.
You were my brother.
I'm still your brother. I'm s-- I'm sorry.
I should've protected you. But I was forced--
You don't know what sorry is. Not yet.
But you will.
'Cause I will keep you here…
and whip you every night for every night you whipped me.
And years from now,
when I finally decide to kill you,
you will weep with gratitude.
Keep him conscious.
-Edo. -I want him to feel every lash.
No. Edo, just-- just let her go.
Edo. Edo!
[screams] Edo!
Edo, no! Let her go!
Edo! [screams]
[geese honking]
[dog barking]
Tak.
We'll stop just long enough to piss and fill our canteens.
[Dax] Yes, sir.
[Dax and Frye grunt]
I wanna wash up.
[exhales] I don't want you near my men.
They're hungry and tired,
and they're not fond of witches under the best of circumstances.
Come on.
[horse neighs]
[Kofun] How many witches have you talked to before?
[Toad] None before you.
If I'm the first, how do you know we're something to be feared?
People like you destroyed the old world with your machines and your poisons.
Your kind were responsible for the deaths of millions.
And you for the death of thousands.
You wiped the Alkenny…
my tribe, off the face of the earth.
They knew the price for harboring witches. It was the law of the kingdom.
You killed children. Babies.
I wasn't there.
And what would you have done if you were?
I'm the witch.
Who's murdered more people? You or me?
[Gosset] My queen,
I present to you the greatest minds of Pennsa, your council of state.
My council of what?
Your council of state, my queen.
Uh, to advise you, to execute your commands.
We are here to assemble not a council of state, but a council of war.
Majesty, protocol requires that a council of war be assembled
following an official declaration of war.
[Queen Kane] He is going to school me in protocol.
War was declared on us.
Captain Gosset, I worry that you don't grasp the stakes here.
Rest assured, I do, Majesty.
And everything I say here is with all due respect
and in accordance with your wishes.
If we are to withstand the might of the Trivantian army,
we must shore up our defenses across the kingdom.
-Captain Gosset-- -[Queen Kane] Defenses?
We have been charged by God to defeat the Trivantians.
We must prepare to attack, not defend.
-[Maghra] Sibeth-- -Who?
Forgive me, Your Majesty.
Princess Maghra, if you have something to say, then say it.
Paya has been weakened by the loss of Kanzua
and the chaos in the wake of your presumed death.
We just consecrated a new capital.
Perhaps we should spend some time tending to our kingdom,
organizing and fortifying our armies
while, of course, remaining vigilant to the threat from Trivantes.
Everyone… out.
[staff taps]
Out!
[people gasping]
-[whispering] -[footsteps departing]
Sibeth--
[inhales] Did you hear what just happened?
What?
A room full of people quietly questioning my authority,
wondering if, in fact, they're even bound by it anymore.
A captain who argues with me.
Politicians entertaining treasonous thoughts,
all of which end with our heads removed from our bodies
and our royal bloodline wiped out for all time.
And in that room full of betrayal,
my own sister contradicts me.
War is suicide.
How many people are you willing to sacrifice for your lie?
Those who die will die gloriously…
for Paya…
for the new world that will be built by our children.
[Maghra] Who will also die along with the rest of us
when the Trivantians burn Paya to the ground.
You cannot believe we can actually defeat them.
What was I spared for if not for this?
God put a sighted child in my belly,
a child who'll be named for our father,
in order to make this kingdom the vessel through which sight returns to the world.
It is my destiny.
God help us. You actually believe what you're saying.
We will conquer Trivantes,
absorb their armies
and become the one true kingdom on this land.
Sibeth.
There must be another way.
You yourself stood by…
when Tamacti Jun drew his blade, with your blessing, to kill me.
And God did not let it happen.
You'd do well to remember that moment, Sister.
And remember as well that it was I who saved you that day
and not the other way around.
[bells jingle]
[staff scrapes]
[tapping]
-[lock clicks] -[door opens]
[door closes]
[objects clattering]
Haniwa.
[Haniwa chuckles softly]
If it was my bed, I wouldn't be able to think of a reason to get out of it.
-Hmm. -[chuckles]
Well, I'll show you one.
Precious stones.
This one's like a piece of the sky.
[Haniwa chuckles]
What does that say?
"Forever."
That's beautiful.
Except it wasn't.
Beautiful?
Forever.
Well, maybe the feeling was.
[sighs]
[Haniwa breathes shakily]
I'm-- I'm sorry.
No.
-No. -[gasps]
[Edo Voss] The Payan queen has announced that she is pregnant with a sighted child.
[the Military] Queen Kane also claims it was our army
that attacked the capital city of Kanzua.
[the People] So the queen lied to her people.
Why then should we believe that she is being any more truthful
about this supposed sighted baby?
How could she know such a thing?
She could know, if the father was sighted.
Let me stop you right there, Commander General.
Because I can already tell where this is going.
There have been multiple reports of at least one sighted Payan man.
You are speaking of Jerlamarel.
[the Military] Jerlamarel is not a man. He is a myth and nothing more.
We do not know that for sure.
[the Military] General Voss, our western border is being attacked ceaselessly
by the Ganites,
and you would have us open up another front to the east
based on rumor and hearsay.
Sight will return.
And the first nation to harness its powers
will be the nation that dominates the world.
[the Military] Council has grown tired of these theoretical arguments.
Any nation that gives a foothold in their society to the sighted
is sowing the seeds of their own destruction.
And in the unlikely event that any sighted people emerge,
they will be executed as threats to our republic.
Other nations may not feel the same.
[the Military] We have not lost a war in 200 years.
And there is no reason to think we will begin now.
Your fascination with sight was interesting as a strategic exercise,
but now it risks becoming a distraction.
We must turn our attention to the west,
where the Ganites are amassing in greater and greater numbers.
The People agree with the Military.
The Bank agrees with the People.
[staffs thudding]
Council has ruled.
Thank you for your service, Commander General.
[staff thuds]
[inhales sharply]
[Haniwa sighs]
[Wren] Good morning.
I fell asleep.
I didn't have the heart to wake you.
[Haniwa] What are you thinking about?
I'm wondering…
what would happen if I let you go.
-You could come with me. -[Wren chuckles]
I have a life here, a family, a career.
Why would you stay someplace where you'd be executed just for being who you are?
You say that as if being sighted is the only thing that I am.
I'm a soldier of Trivantes.
I'm the daughter and granddaughter and great-granddaughter
of people who built Trivantes,
who fought and died for it.
None of that would save you if your secret got out.
We could travel east.
You could meet my brother.
Maybe we could find other people like us.
We could help change the world.
[sighs]
You think we're special.
But we're not.
We're just… different.
I think we're special because we're different.
If sight's meant to come back, it'll come back.
It's not our job to change the world.
It's our job to…
use our sight to make things better right where we are.
And how do we do that?
Well…
you could start by reading to me.
-I would love to. -[chuckles]
"'I could tell you my adventures
beginning from this morning,' said Alice, a little timidly.
'But it's no use going back to yesterday,
because I was a different person then.'"
[metal door clanks]
[door closes]
So this is the great warrior… Baba Voss.
You're no fucking warrior now, are you?
[grunting]
[prison guard] Get back!
-[grunting, screams] -Get down!
-Stay down! -[prison guard] You broke my fucking nose!
Sir.
-[door closes] -[keys jingle]
[door locks]
[Tamacti Jun] Baba Voss.
Four days on the rack.
[sighs] I should thank you.
Sorry. I can't offer you anything stronger than water.
But… here.
[metal clangs, scraping]
[Baba Voss panting]
I know your voice, Witchfinder.
I hear it in my nightmares.
Tamacti Jun.
You killed my wife. [grunting]
I don't blame you for wanting me dead.
I've committed many offenses to you and your people,
but killing your wife is not one of them.
I'm gonna make it through these bars at some point.
And when I do, I'm gonna hurt you.
Listen to me. I was the one left for dead, not Maghra.
Don't you say her name! Don't you say her name.
I could never harm her. She is my princess.
Princess? What are you talking about?
You make no sense, Witchfinder.
Your wife was born to His Highness, the king Wolf Kane.
And I was sworn to protect her as the rightful heir of the Payan throne.
You lie. You're a liar.
Ask yourself what reason might I have to lie to you at this point.
So, my wife, whose children you hunted since the day they were born,
you're saying she's a princess?
That's what I'm saying.
And I'm also telling you
that when she and the queen left me, she was very much alive.
[people chattering]
[exhales]
-Come on. -[Sheva] Side to side, Father.
With a tap at the end of each swing.
Uh, constant contact, if you can.
Hold the stick out farther.
You're doing well. Good. It'll get easier, Father.
Don't talk to me like I'm a child.
[grunts]
Let go!
I will find my way without any help from anybody! Do you understand?
-[thuds] -[grunting]
-[clattering] -[Jerlamarel grunts]
What are we gonna do?
He'll get used to it. Just give him some time.
[Queen Kane] God Flame.
[exhales]
You have shielded me from enemies known and unknown.
[inhales, gasps]
Counsel your loyal servant. Strengthen my resolve, that I will not be shaken.
[gasping]
I will serve your will… [inhales] …as you will preserve me at your pleasure.
[Harmony] Your Majesty?
[sighs] Fuck.
[Harmony] Apologies, my queen.
Lord Harlan begs a moment of your time.
Grant it to him, then leave.
[Harmony] Yes, my queen.
[Lord Harlan sniffs] Mmm.
Oh, yeah.
I love the smell of a lavender milk bath.
Lord Harlan,
you have a dangerous tendency toward the informal.
Some might mistake it for disrespect.
On the contrary.
I relish our history together,
my childhood in your father's court.
I think it binds us with a loyalty far deeper than simply queen and subject.
Don't you think?
Which brings me to the purpose of my visit.
I am bursting with anticipation.
Bold move, launching a war so soon after consecrating a new capital.
-If you don't have the stomach for it-- -I don't have the stomach for losing.
Hmm. Well, fortunately for you, you're on the winning side.
Marry me.
[laughing]
Uh-huh. Not exactly the response I hoped for.
When your hubris surprises even me,
it might be time to rethink your worldview.
You need me. My army, my people.
You mean my army and my people.
You're declaring war on the greatest military force in the world.
To even hope to succeed,
you need the undying fealty of every man and woman here.
You have Pennsa, and you will have all of Paya.
And here I thought I already did.
Yeah.
Your subjects might die to protect their rightful sovereign, but…
I'll bet they're a little less generous with their skins
when it comes to protecting a child they think is a witch.
And if I marry you?
I've been the rule of law here for a generation.
As stepfather to the sighted child, I can change the minds that need changing.
I can't think of a better way to solidify your position.
And yours.
Of course, and mine.
Why else would I do it?
You can have my sister.
Be stepfather to her sighted royal children.
She's got two of 'em.
Isn't Maghra married already?
[grunts] Baba Voss is dead.
And in any case, Alkenny rutting in their tents
doesn't qualify as marriage under Payan law.
[Lord Harlan] Hmm.
I don't think Maghra would feel the same.
Lord Harlan, are you underestimating your own charm?
You'll talk to her?
Yes.
Now come here and kneel before your queen.
[gatekeeper] Open the gate!
-[people grunting] -[swords clanging]
-[boy] Two quarters up! -[banging]
[swords clanging]
-[boy] Right one. -[soldiers shout]
-Come on. We can't stay here. -[soldiers shout]
-[banging] -Wait. Wait.
[soldiers shout]
-[boy] Straight. -[soldiers shout]
-Left, two step. -[soldiers shout]
That boy can see.
I said, left!
You said you were the only one.
It's Edo's secret program. The boy's a son of Jerlamarel's.
He trained him as part of an arrangement he has with the general.
Jerlamarel?
So, what, he just--
just gave that boy away?
Wren, he's a child!
[sighs]
He gave me away too. Do you understand?
He sent me to die.
-You're not going to die. -We both know Edo will never let me go.
-[Wren] Haniwa. -[sighing]
Haniwa.
I will do everything I can to keep you safe. I promise.
I need you to trust me.
I do.
[knocking]
Go.
[Wren] General, sir.
Lieutenant. Get the prisoner and bring her down to the street.
Why? What's happening?
Bring the girl downstairs. Now.
[staff thudding]
[chattering]
Papa?
-Papa! -[crying, groaning]
I'm so sorry. This is all my fault.
I wanted to give you the opportunity to hear your daughter's cries one last time…
before I sent her off to be useful to the republic.
[grunting and crying]
People of Trivantes,
I give you the great coward, Baba Voss.
-[screams and jeers] -Murderer!
Twenty-five winters have passed since he murdered Teo Voss,
my father,
and fled the city.
But Trivantian justice never forgets and never relents,
not in a thousand winters.
-On with him! -[horse whinnies]
Once around the city.
[crying] No, no, no. Papa.
-[crying] No! No, no, no. -Murderer!
Coward!
[screaming]
-Haniwa! -No! No, no, no.
No, please. No, please. Please. [cries]
General, why not leave her with me a while longer?
She's a valuable source of intelligence.
No. I've imposed upon you enough, Wren.
Besides, she has something greater to offer than intelligence.
Take the prisoner to my house. Now.
[soldier] Sir!
Take her!
-[breathes heavily] -Move! Come on. Now!
Please... [Haniwa cries]
Her Highness, Queen Kane.
Her Majesty, Princess Maghra.
A walk among the people? This doesn't feel like you.
The citizens of Pennsa have experienced too much distance from the crown.
We must do what we can to capture hearts and minds.
Oh. So that's what we're doing. We're capturing hearts and minds.
Yes. But if you wanted to be truly useful,
there are larger, more strategic moves to be made.
-Strategic moves? -I told Harlan you would marry him.
[chuckles] What?
-What? You're kidding. -I'm not.
[herald] Her Highness, Queen Kane...
Well, then you're more insane than I thought.
You're overreacting. It's a business arrangement.
You know what this is?
Some kind of poorly formed God bone.
This is a marriage cuff, made for me by my husband, Baba Voss.
Alkenny unions aren't recognized by Payan law.
So you won't be betraying Baba Voss, if he's even alive.
You coldhearted bitch.
You can call me what you want,
but I promised I would make Paya safe for your children, and I did.
But I think you fail to realize just how close to the edge we are.
Harlan's clearly suspicious about Kanzua.
We've taken his city from him. If we don't make it worth his while,
we'll find ourselves on the wrong end of an uprising.
[Maghra sighs]
Like you said, we need Harlan and the army he controls,
until we don't.
-Then you marry him. -And make him king?
We'll discuss this again once you've calmed down.
No, we won't.
-Heretic! The queen is a heretic. -[protestors shouting]
Witch lover! It's an abomination.
[man] Burn the witch!
Burn her! And her whole family!
-Find them. -Right away.
-[woman] Burn the queen! Burn her! -Burn her!
-[grunting] -[man] Witch!
Like I said, we are closer to the edge than you realize.
[woman] Burn her!
No.
[guard] Raising three.
-[guard 2] You're bluffing. -Ready to put down and find out?
[clicking tongue]
[grunting]
[whispers] Baba Voss?
Baba Voss?
Who are you?
Someone who will be killed if I'm caught helping you.
So, please, no more questions until we're out of here.
-Where are we going? -I'm taking you to Haniwa.
-You know where she is? -Yes, but we have to hurry.
I took care of the guards, but we have to be gone before the next rotation.
[Tamacti Jun] Baba Voss.
If you're planning to fight your way out, you could use all the hands you can get.
I'm here only for you.
You wanna get to Maghra, as do I.
It's only a matter of time until her sister turns on her,
if she hasn't already.
You expect me to trust you, Witchfinder?
I know how the queen thinks.
You wouldn't even begin to know how to look for her.
And even if you did, she'd be surrounded by Witchfinders. My Witchfinders.
I am not releasing Tamacti Jun.
He comes.
I'm already committing treason by releasing you.
I won't compound that by freeing the Witchfinder general.
They can only hang you once.
-We go now, or we die here. -[man shouting]
You go.
[groans]
[Wren] This way.
[grunting]
This changes nothing!
The second you are not useful to me,
I'm going to rip out your entrails and feed them to you.
[groans] As you should.
[Wren] Take the guards' weapons.
You walk too fast. Your staff barely touches the ground.
You're sighted, aren't you?
Believe it or not, I used to be pretty good at hiding it.
Let's go.
Haniwa.
[ragged breathing]
Don't worry. It's not going to be your uncle Edo.
[screams, sobs]
If you fight… it will just take longer.
-[ragged breathing] -[sniffing]
[whimpers]
[clanks]
-[guard] Truss! -[soldier] Noss.
[soldier 2] Noss!
[grunts]
[groans]
[yells]
[grunting]
Yes. Keep this for Haniwa.
[Wren] Edo will have her someplace upstairs.
We will separate to find her.
Tamacti will hold off anyone down here that wishes to join us.
You'll need more than one man for that.
Not when it's that man.
[Wren] Stairs.
-[breathes shakily] -[man] Oh, don't be scared.
I could be gentle.
-[grunting, panting] -[grunts, laughs]
[cries]
No. No!
No!
[signaling] You continue straight. I will check the far side and meet you.
[clicking]
[shouts]
[clicking]
[shouting]
-[screaming] -[grunting]
[screams]
[panting]
[cries]
-It's okay, it's okay. -[crying]
I'm so sorry.
[sobs]
-I knew you would come. -I'm so sorry.
[both panting]
I'm not alone.
Baba Voss told me to give you this. Let's go.
-[yells] -[thud]
[Edo Voss] When you left, I was still the smaller one,
still the weaker one.
And you'll find that's no longer the case.
[grunting]
[shouts]
[panting]
To be honest, I was hoping you'd have a bit more fight in you.
[yells]
[screams, groans]
[panting]
[groaning]
[grunts]
[panting]
How fitting…
that I would kill you with our father's sword.
Edo. I'm sorry.
But please, let my death be the end of it.
Let Haniwa leave this place. Please.
[breathes heavily]
Know this before you die, Brother.
Haniwa will spend the rest of her life in my dungeons,
a broodmare…
mothering sighted children for my army
until her womb is no longer able.
And when she can produce no more…
I will slit her throat
and toss her body into the same manure pit
into which I will throw yours.
[Haniwa] Leave him.
-Leave him! -[grunting]
[screams]
-[Baba Voss] Haniwa. -Papa.
-[Haniwa] Are you okay? -[sobs]
We have to go. Come.
Take me to him.
[pants, groans]
If you ever come near my children again,
I will burn this entire fucking city to the ground…
and leave you alive just long enough
so you can smell your flesh melting off of your face.
[chuckles] There he is.
There's the Baba Voss I know! [chuckles]
We have to go.
[breathes heavily]
[grunting]
[alarm ringing]
-Tamacti Jun. -[guard yells]
[Baba Voss] Haniwa! No, no, no.
[grunts]
Haniwa. No. He fights with us.
He killed Mom.
Listen to me. Your mother is not dead.
What?
What are you talking about?
I'll explain later.
Listen, right now we need to go.
Is she safe?
We don't know. That's why we need to trust him.
[men shouting]
Haniwa, please. See me. We have to go.
Please.
-[men shouting] -[dogs barking]
[Wren] Left. To the eastern gate.
[shouting]
[grunting, shouting]
[shouts]
Come with us.
I can't.
[whispers] Please.
Forever.
[dog barks]
[Baba Voss] Haniwa!
Go.
[men shouting]
[shouting]
-[panting] -[Baba Voss] Haniwa.
[Boots] Cora!
[jingling]
-[thudding] -Cora?
-[jingling] -[thudding]
[crying]
She said I lost the baby.
He was in the blood on my sheets.
You killed her.
She said,
"Sometimes what forms cannot grow to completion. It's too weak."
[Boots breathes heavily] Queen.
[sobs]
What did you put in me?
I did what you asked.
I did not ask for this.
You didn't have to kill her.
Of course I did.
No one can know.
I announced my child, a sighted child.
They'll think me mad.
I will lie with you again.
I will make you a stronger baby.
[Queen Kane whimpering]
[inhales sharply] Oh.
[sniffles, sighs]
You poor boy. [chuckles]
-[sniffs] You poor, stupid boy. -[gurgles]