There is a darkness coming.
A darkness that will take...
everything.
For thousands of years,
the northern kingdoms of Unauwen and Dagonaut
have waged war on the land to the south,
a land known only as Eviellan.
For thousands of years, Eviellan has resisted...
until now.
A ruthless conqueror has brought the tribes to their knees...
the youngest son of Unauwen's king...
Prince Viridian.
A prince whose appetite for power is so great,
the whole world trembles as he plans where to turn next.
The last hope:
an ancient prophecy that tells of a hero
who will rise to defeat the coming darkness.
But of that hero, there is still no sign.
Ragnall?
Are you awake?
Good morning to you too.
Ragnall?
Master?
Master Tiuri, you're late again.
Bors is waiting.
Hyah! Hyah! Hyah!
These fools make such a racket. We won't catch a pigeon, let alone a stag.
Fantumar, leave it.
This one's mine.
Arman?
Get the deer.
You're seriously entering your son into the trials?
He's 15. It is time.
Arman there's 15 next week, would you believe?
Strong as an ox.
I hear Tiuri's no stronger than a jackrabbit.
Strength isn't everything, Fantumar.
What my son lacks in power, he makes up for with skill and speed.
Side-on, Tiuri! Side-on!
Deflect the blow. Don't block it!
Counter!
Come on!
He has the fighting instincts of a stuffed duck.
Sir Tiuri.
Well?
The boy does try, sire.
There has been some improvement.
Show me.
Come on, boy. We haven't got all day.
Tiuri!
Tiuri?
The boy has to learn.
- The world won't be easy on him, either. - Father, I'm...
Tiuri, you're bleeding.
I can't do this.
I'll never become a knight.
You can.
- Bors says... - Bors just wants to keep his job.
- I know this is difficult for you. - No.
I don't belong here.
We don't belonged here.
That's not true.
Who was he?
Who was my real father?
- I told you. - You never tell me anything.
'Cause the past is over.
Sir Tiuri is your father now.
But I can't be his son.
You can.
Look, if you set your mind to it...
if you do what I know you can do, you will succeed at the trials.
You will become a knight.
Ignore Arman.
It's me you should worry about.
I'm Iona, by the way.
- Oh, I'm... - Yeah.
We all know who you are.
- My lady! - Queen Alianor!
Your majesty!
From the days of the first kings,
we have chosen the warriors who will lead us,
not by birth...
nor by wealth,
for this honor cannot be purchased.
Only the men and women who emerge victorious from these trials
are worthy to call themselves Knights of Dagonaut.
And tomorrow,
I will open the games in the company of Crown Prince Iridian...
son of Dagonaut's greatest ally, the King of Unauwen.
Your Majesty...
is something amiss?
On the contrary.
You've all your limbs, both your eyes, and...
a refreshing lack of boils, warts, and... baldness.
I assume I'll be obliged to marry you sooner or later.
At least I won't have to hold my nose too much.
Oh, you're too kind, Madam.
Naturally, I wouldn't wish marriage to me on my worst enemy.
Is it true what they say?
That your brother has won a great victory in Eviellan?
Prince Viridian has done what no general in four generations has been able to.
The Eviellan war is over.
And how do you suppose he feels about you?
Reaping all the rewards whilst he receives nothing but...
slaughter, and bloodshed, and war.
Oh, his feelings are of no account.
When the time comes...
he will honor me as his king.
Brave words.
It may take brave deeds to back them up.
What we've done here...
is just the beginning.
The old world grows weak.
And the fire... that we are about to start...
will destroy everything that still remains.
Take these letters.
Choose five of my Red Riders...
and crush...
anyone...
or anything...
that lies in your way.
My lord.
Vokia?
Get the horses.
Now.
Final practice rounds!
Final rounds for practice!
Very pleased to meet you. My name's Foldo, and you are?
Whoops-a-daisy.
I do apologize.
Jussipo's reaper grows hungry.
Come and feed her.
Here, allow me.
Oh, no, no. Again!
Whoa!
Tiuri!
Focus.
Attack.
Shield!
Tiuri.
- What's the point? - Did you see him?
He doesn't stand a chance.
You may be leaner and less strong....
but that makes you quicker and a harder target to hit.
Spinning kick!
However confident they look now, tomorrow is different.
Do what I've told you, and you will succeed.
That one's ours.
Don't mind me.
Seriously.
Not looking for trouble.
Your weapons.
All of them.
Oh, right.
Can't be too careful.
I know you.
They call me the Black Knight with the White Shield.
I think it's because of the black armor and the white shield...
Shut up!
Do... Do you mind?
- I've been freezing... - Step away from your weapons.
Friend, I told you.
You've been following me for two days now.
You're no friend of mine.
Move.
So I'd hoped...
we could have a civilized conversation about this.
Conversation about what?
We both know if Prince Viridian succeeds with his plan,
thousands will die.
So why don't you just give me that letter...
and help me stop him before he destroys everything?
Say goodbye... friend.
Where the hell have you been?
You said... hide in a tree...
and take him unawares.
Exactly. Hide... for a minute or so, not make a long weekend of it.
He almost took my head off.
Is it there?
Let the games begin.
Counter! Counter!
Why doesn't the boy counter?
Want some of this?
Come on! Loser!
Yes!
All right. Not pretty, but we'll take it.
Is he winning?
He's just not losing. There's a difference.
Riders, take your positions!
Yes!
That's my brother! That's my brother!
They're holding the Shaman for you inside, sire.
The Shaman, my lord.
The chieftain you served is dead.
You now serve me.
You find that amusing?
I will never serve you.
Do you know...
how I conquered your country?
It seems to me you didn't conquer it at all.
You merely destroyed it.
In a fight to the death...
no place can keep its soul hidden.
That's how I conquered Eviellan.
Because I know Eviellan.
For a handful of harvests...
you slash and burn...
and think you understand us.
I'll never serve you.
And without me...
you will learn nothing.
And so it begins.
First, comes the darkness...
sweeping all before it.
Then comes the warrior with powers so great...
they could shred your very soul.
I know the prophecy.
And you have set it in motion.
I have no choice now. None of us do.
I serve that warrior...
not you.
My power will never be yours.
Really?
You survived.
I know you hoped to do better.
You survived the first day.
Five Novices were eliminated, and you weren't one of them.
You can still do this.
Is that what your husband thinks?
All he wants is for you to succeed.
And to protect his precious name.
Sir Tiuri is a good man.
He saved you...
and protected me.
While other soldiers were bringing us home from Eviellan in chains...
no, he treated us as human beings.
He won my love...
and he deserves yours.
It happened again.
It keeps happening.
The voices.
You have to stop it.
How?
- Focus on something else. - It doesn't work.
It must.
What is that?
It was your father's.
He wore it every day of his life.
Maybe it will help you.
And what of our Eviellan Novice?
Oh, Sir Tiuri, the tiddler.
Why is he even allowed in the arena, eh?
It dishonors us all.
Ignore it, Tiuri.
It's just the beer talking.
No one means any disrespect to you.
You saved a stray from a mass grave.
- And gave the whelp your name. - Yeah. Yeah.
And that is an act of charity, I think...
anyone can respect.
That whelp...
was burned, beaten, starved,
and driven from his home before he could even walk.
He's faced death more times than any of you, and me, combined.
And he's done it without once...
letting it harden his heart.
Not once has he turned his back
on anyone or anything that needed his help!
So...
whatever you may think of him, know this...
I would take that whelp over the spoiled prigs
who bear your names any day of the week.
If he wins this, he'll go through.
Can he win it?
Yes!
Are you okay?
Shut up and finish the job.
Aren't you gonna fight?
I'm gonna do exactly what your father paid me to do.
Oh, don't tell me you actually thought you could beat me.
No.
The only contest that you could win...
is one where your father's paid your opponent to lose.
That's not true.
That's not true!
Is it true?
- Tiuri. - He said my father paid him.
- Look, you won. Who cares? - I care.
I will not take my place with the others if I didn't earn it.
Take my advice, Tiuri, and move on.
I want to know.
You want to know what?
Whether a member this family will take his place in the knighthood
as they have without fail for 300 years.
Or whether I would sit by and watch while the boy I saved...
the boy who bears my name...
humiliates me in front of the entire court.
I did what I had to.
Now... you will too.
I can't.
I haven't earned it.
Haven't earned it?
Whatever pangs of conscience you think you're having, you can forget.
You haven't earned the right to a conscience.
You haven't earned the right to anything.
And until you have, you can get out there and stand with the others.
Because if you don't, I swear to you by everything that is holy...
I will not set eyes on you again.
How could he stand there with us in front of the Queen?
Has he no shame?
He's never gonna make it as a knight.
- All he'll be is a fraud. - Should've been Tristan standing there.
Do you not think I know that?
Then why are you still here?
If you had the slightest shred of self-respect, you'd walk away now.
Maybe I can't.
Maybe I'd like to but don't have a choice. Has that occurred to you?
Lie to yourself all you want.
We know what you are,
and we'll make sure everyone else knows it too.
Hey!
Have you brats no respect?
There isn't a man or a woman in Dagonaut who wouldn't give their first-born
for a mere chance to be where you are now.
And what do you do with it?
You bicker...
and squeal like a pack of underfed piglets.
One more word...
and I'll slice off your britches, and you'll be the first Novice in history
to sit the vigil with his backside hanging out.
Do you hear me?
And you...
you have more to prove than all of them put together.
So at least try and act...
like a knight.
Welcome to your final challenge:
the Sepulchre...
of the Lost.
If you're lucky...
the next time you see this place...
will be the day you're buried in it.
A thousand years of Dagonaut knights rest here.
Tonight...
...you will join them.
For the next 12 hours...
the spirits who possess this place...
who have driven men so mad with fear
they've drowned themselves in the nearest pit...
will test each one of you.
No matter what happens...
no matter what terrors they visit upon you...
you will not talk.
You will not...
move.
And you will not...
under any circumstances...
leave... this... chapel.
Failure by any one of you...
will mean failure for all.
Is that understood?
Then you will kneel.
In silent...
contemplation.
Make sure that's how I find you at sunrise tomorrow.
What was that?
I don't know.
Shh!
- Can we light them? - No, we can't light them.
Ristridin told us not to move.
Ristridin told us to shut up.
I'm lighting one.
Open the door!
Please!
You have to help me!
Open the door!
What do we do?
Please.
It could be a test.
They could be out there, the Grey Riders.
Watching us, waiting to see if we break the vigil.
But supposing it isn't?
Supposing it's someone who really needs help.
Then he's come to the wrong place, hasn't he?
Fail the vigil, and you know what we face.
- Disgrace. - Dishonor.
And an agonizing death.
So sit there. Do not move.
Please!
I beg you!
What are you doing? Stop him!
Oh, thank... Thank god.
You have to come with me.
- No, I can't. - He's dying!
My master, he's dying!
That's his problem, not ours.
He needs help.
Please.
- We can't just leave him. - We can, and we will.
Put it away, you fool.
How far is he?
Close, very close. I'll show you! I'll show you!
Tiuri, don't do this.
I'll be quick.
The Red Riders, they caught up with us.
I'm here, master.
I'm dying, Vokia.
I'll be dead within the hour.
His men won't be far.
Come over here. Come.
Come. Come.
Seriously?
- This is the help you brought me? - Um, I'll...
Take this letter. Take it.
You must deliver it to King Favian in Unauwen.
Do you understand?
My ring too.
As proof that you're bringing it from me.
The future,
the entire kingdom depends on it, not just Unauwen.
Dagonaut too.
But I can't.
By the next full moon, it will be too late.
That's in 14 days.
Unauwen's 1,000 miles from here. It's not possible.
Yes, it is.
On Ardanwen.
Here, give me the letter.
Come. Come.
I'll go to Dagonaut. I'll get help.
You don't understand.
No one can be trusted.
Take the letter, get on Ardanwen, and go.
Why can't he do it?
What, that old fool?
He's even weaker than I am.
He wouldn't make it out of the forest.
It has to be you.
Swear to me...
you will tell no one... and you will get it to the king.
Swear it.
It's them.
The Red Riders.
It is time. Give me my sword, please.
Get... Get back!
Get back here!
- Master... - Go.
- The letter's not here. - It must be.
Nothing.
There's another set of tracks.
There's someone else.
Over there.
Get back on the horses!
He's getting away on a horse!
Hyah! Hyah!
Oh, god! No! Stop!
Stop!