It is written in the heavens...
that a life shall be mirrored in it's birth.
Like a reflection in water.
Fleeting but true.
And so it was for Helle.
Daughter of Asmund.
The one and only true heir...
to the king of Volsung.
A kingdom under attack.
I'm here, my love.
And you should not be.
The kingdom needs you in battle.
But it is a bad omen for a child
to be born with an absent father.
It would be worse luck if our child
was born into slavery.
My lords, bring your king his sword.
He has a battle to win.
The king was victorious that day,
but he had spoken the truth.
- It is a curse for a child...
- No!
To be worn with an absent father.
No!
The king had a brother
as fingers have five brothers
but none are equals.
With his brother's mind filled with grief,
the half-prince, as he was known,
took advantage,
planting a seed that would take
20 years and one to ripen,
knowing that patience is bitter,
but it has the sweetest fruit.
Do you trust me? You're my brother.
My blood.
So that may be the brother you need.
We have just survived our enemy.
If they hear that you're weak,
that you are mourning,
they might strike again.
If they hear that your heir is a girl,
that weakness will seem greater still,
and then they will certainly attack.
That may be so.
But I cannot change
the sex of my child, brother.
No, you cannot, but I can.
My own son was born just three days ago.
You shall take him as your own,
and I will raise your daughter as mine.
I can't.
You can and you must.
Think of your sanity, brother.
Every time you look at this woman child,
you will see the true cause of Alva's death.
How can you be expected to love such a curse?
The broken hand can mend.
But a broken heart cannot.
You will love her as your own.
I will.
As my word is my oath.
Yes.
It is a curse for a child to be born
with an absent father.
It seems
you have learned all I have
to teach you, Princess. How I wish that one day I will see
real battle, but I never will.
No wish can come true
that can't be kept secret.
Then why do you keep my training a secret?
If I told you,
what hope would my wish have of coming true?
I thank you for the favor.
I may one day ask a favor of you in return.
That's enough for today.
I'm sorry, father.
I will train harder.
Longer.
Hakon,
I fear there are some things we cannot train.
It is in your blood,
or it is not.
If it's in your blood,
it will be in your child's, father.
And we will find it.
Find it?
Yes.
And I know where it hides.
A day of grief is longer than a year of joy.
Your mother, I knew her well.
Who are you?
I demand your name.
Such passion, such bravery.
My, how you remind me of her.
Are you of this world or the next?
The next.
From Valhalla.
And I come with a message.
Remember, however dark the forest,
there is always a path through it.
Maid, where is Princess Helle?
Helle. What in the name of the gods are you doing?
As my father commands, my king.
My brother has you do the labor of a slave?
He wishes to teach me humility.
It surprises me to hear humility
is a trait he values.
Do not judge my father
too harshly, dear uncle.
Try to remember the burden
he's lived with all these years.
Burden?
I am a curse.
You?
A curse?
My father could not be present at my birth
for he was fighting heroically against
our enemies at your very side.
And we know the gods curse a child
born with an absent father.
My mother's death, that is my fault alone.
Every time my father sees me is
a reminder that I took his beloved's life.
This is the curse he lives with.
The curse I am.
He tells you all this.
Honesty is another lesson
my father teaches rigorously.
Humility, heroism, honesty.
I'm seeing my brother
in a whole new light today.
Enough with the fire.
Tell me, Helle,
have you ever held a sword?
On my command.
My brother, what happened here? Fight.
I command you.
As your king commands.
Why is she here, brother?
My heir is a coward, Bard.
Hakon?
I fear it is in his blood.
Listen to me, Asmund.
Kind Asmund.
Right answer to a fool is silence.
I did listen to you.
Once.
Did you know the gods stopped appearing
to me the night of Alva's death?
All these years,
I feared they'd abandoned me
as I abandoned my queen.
Maybe the gods didn't abandon me
as I abandoned my wife.
Maybe they abandoned me
as I abandoned my child.
My dear Lord Soini,
it is almost as if someone had been
training the girl all these years.
Your mother was the bravest
woman I have ever known.
She happily gave her life to save her people.
She would be so very proud
of what you have become, child.
As proud as your father is.
My father could not care less.
Hello, my curse.
Father.
I thought you asleep.
How can I sleep when all I do
is worry about you?
Worry?
Of course, for I know what is in your heart. You wish the king was your father.
Not I.
But just as you are my curse,
so I am yours.
I raised you, not he.
Do you know why you were
invited there to train?
You are an opportunity.
Nothing more.
An opportunity to lower
the standard of warrior
around the true heir,
and hopefully raise the boy's confidence.
That can't be true.
Can it not?
But just as you are an opportunity,
so it is one for you.
If you could only see it.
See it?
If you could truly prove your bravery,
maybe he would see you as more
than just a prop for his son.
How?
No.
No, it's too much.
It isn't. Whatever it is,
it is not too much for me.
If you ever felt anything
in your heart for me, father,
please tell me.
Only one thing scared my brother
when we were boys.
And it still scares him today.
The Kraken monster of the round cave.
Kraken do not exist.
And we must never think of such
foolish things, our king decrees it.
Are you sure they don't exist?
Are you sure talk of them wasn't banned by your beloved king?
Why would he do such a thing?
Because truly,
it is the one thing that scares him,
and because some men believe
if you forget a thing long enough,
it will disappear.
But it never does.
I don't believe you.
Our king is afraid of nothing.
Of course you don't believe.
What coward would?
I'm not a coward.
I'm a warrior.
I'm a trained warrior.
A real warrior would find out for certain,
and then slay the beast where it drew.
And if you kill the one thing
the king feared,
then he might truly love you.
Well played, my prince.
Well played.
Oh, how goodness shouts.
And evil whispers.
Cousin, can we talk?
Not now.
But it must be now.
Then you'll have to join me.
Where are you going?
On an adventure.
Helle, please tell me we're not going
where I think we're going.
You said it would be just the girl.
Rain does not fall on one roof alone.
An unexpected pleasure then.
So there is no anger later,
exactly what are your expectations, brother Bard?
I expect that neither the girl nor the boy
will leave the cave alive.
Is that explanation enough?
And how Asmund will regret letting his sex
shrivel up in grief.
For you, then, will be his only heir,
Prince Bard.
Am I paying for both?
Just one.
My warrior takes great pride in his work,
and with a girl like that,
he should also like to take great pleasure.
But if your heart desires mercy...
Mercy's for the weak.
Do you see me as such?
Did you not hear your orders?
Helle.
Helle.
- I'm going in.
- What?
If you don't want to walk with me,
you can go back, alone in the dark,
and pray that a pack of wild wolves won't
catch you and rip the flesh from your bones.
Helle.
- Helle!
- Shh!
Helle, please, I must tell you something.
I really don't want to be king.
Have you lost your senses?
My father has lost his senses
if he considers me a king in waiting.
I would be terrible.
Terrible.
Try and tell me that I'm wrong
without laughter.
Hakon... It's true.
We both know it.
The lords know it and the king knows it, too.
You can learn.
I have proven that I cannot.
I've proved it every day.
And the longer it goes on,
the longer I will keep on proving it.
I'm not brave.
I'm not bold.
I'm not strong.
But I am smart.
I have a brain, at least I can use that.
And it's telling me
who should be our next king.
Who?
You, my dear cousin.
No.
There is no greater mirror
than a true friend.
Please, Helle, let me show you
who you really are.
The one and only true heir
to the kingdom of Volsung.
What was that?
The Kraken lives.
Kraken?
Helle.
Father. Father.
Father. Father.
Helle.
Helle.
Hakon?
Helle!
Helle!
Sleep is the cousin of death.
And lo, how I have slept
all these years, Helle.
I'm sorry.
To look at you is to see your mother.
She was a great woman.
Better than I.
And I have been a coward
and hidden from that too long.
Forgive me.
More than that, let me make amends.
Amends? Hakon, to you, too, I owe an apology.
Father?
No, I am not.
Nor should I have ever put
that burden on your shoulders.
Father.
Father?
Run!
Your kingdom needs you.
Now more than ever, my queen.
Run!
For Volsung!
Run!
Kill.
And when the old moon disappears completely,
the new moon can finally come out.
Where is she?
We need her dead.
We don't need her dead.
We just need her blamed.
Come.
We must burn my brother.
A knot tied by a wise man
must not be undone by a fool.
You must finish what your father cold not.
Your mother, she happily gave
her life to save her people.
I carried her to Valhalla myself,
and in that moment as we crossed
to the next world,
your father made a mistake.
A mistake only you can rectify now.
How?
Truth has one color.
A lie, many.
Show your true color
and the world will believe.
But first, survive.
I would take your father
with me tonight, but not you.
Survive, and we will meet again, Helle. The one true heir to the kingdom of Volsung.
Lord Soini.
Prince Bard.
Prince?
Surely I am your king now.
Unless you think a traitor
should rule Volsung?
I would never kneel to a traitor.
Half-prince.
Now is not the time, of course.
But we really must discuss your position.
Shall we say tomorrow?
Let's meet here.
My chambers.
They used to be Asmund's.
But after he burns,
they will be mine.
Like everything else in Volsung.
What did he want?
To kill me.
Why?
Because I know what he knows.
The one true heir of Volsung is a queen,
not a king.
Gather our most loyal men.
And after the funeral, we leave,
and we search the whole world
if we have to until we find our queen.
And we bring her home.
That Helle would take our king from us,
that she would kill my brother?
How I wish this were a bad dream.
As the bloodline dictates,
as the gods demand,
I will be your new king!
But first...
Goodbye, my brother!
Onwards to Valhalla!
When your thirst is quenched, let me feed you.
Come, child.
Feast at my feet.
The mushrooms have a power.
They blur the vision.
And clear the mind.
The hunger will end,
but the loneliness will destroy you.
I can end your loneliness.
Let me take you to your parents, child.
You have your father's blade.
Take it to your soul.
Feel the warmth of his love.
Yes.
Guide the blade deep inside,
and I will guide you to Valhalla!
Is it ready?
Not quite, my king.
My brother did love a sword.
But then, imagination
was never really his thing.
My noble brother,
carrying on my noble father's noble legacy.
Great leaders, my king.
As you are, too, of course.
Does it fit?
It fits me, my king.
Putiton.
Beautiful.
If it pleases my king, I can make more.
No, you shall never make another.
Please! Please!
Please!
If you see my brother, do say hello.
This head fits well enough.
But there is another
that will fit better still.
She's already dead.
Are you certain? How could she survive alone out there?
She's just a girl.
You promised me her body.
Still I wait.
So send men.
Search the kingdoms.
If she be dead, bring me her skull.
Show yourselves, cowards.
Come out and fight or be
damned by Odin himself.
Why would we want to fight you?
Show me your weapons.
If a man's as wise as a snake,
he can afford to be as harmless as a mouse.
We need no weapons.
And if we don't need weapons,
you don't either.
You can put down your sword.
Never.
Suit yourself.
Let's be off, you two.
Halt or I will kill you.
Why?
Why would you kill us?
Why would you kill anything, man or beast?
And why do you lie?
Lie? What about?
At the very least,
you lie about your weapons.
Where are they?
We have no weapons.
I'm sorry to disappoint you.
Liar. How do you hunt?
Simple. We don't hunt.
You don't hunt.
How do you eat?
You cannot survive without meat.
How do you live?
And yet, here I am.
My father lived 86 years on this earth, and I plan to live longer still.
How many viking fathers live to such an age?
Would you care to join us for turnips?
I have enough food.
Don't worry.
We'll not be eating the turnips.
Turnips.
How long have you been here?
A few months.
But where do you come from?
Everywhere.
We follow the harvest.
Wherever it grows, we go.
North in the summer, south in the winter.
We are the travelers.
And travelers carry no weapons.
Travelers need no weapons.
But who is your king?
And him.
Him, too.
And she's a queen.
And so's she.
You see, we're all kings and queens here.
We're all equal.
You haven't asked me anything.
A song can only be heard when it's sung.
It can wait.
Can I stay?
Tonight.
The first night, you're a friend.
The second?
A sister.
Thank you.
This is yours as much as it's ours.
Stay as long as you like.
Dance?
Oh, no.
- I don't.
- Yes, dance.
Shh.
Shh.
Calm yourself.
The more you panic, the quicker the end, and I have much to tell you before then.
Please, don't be selfish.
Do you know why they call me the half-prince?
We have the same mother, Asmund and I,
but my true father was a Sickling.
When Asmund's father the king
was off fighting some war,
my blood father attacked Volsung
and raped our mother.
No one knows.
Or at least no one dare talk of it.
Oh.
Our pleasures are
shallow.
Our sorrows deep.
Our lies.
Yes.
Score years and one I have waited
for greater pleasures than this.
It is easy to cut the tail of a dead wolf,
and our wolf is finally ready to die.
Enough?
Not nearly.
We're leaving tomorrow.
The last night of camp
means the biggest fire.
And the biggest celebration.
Keep cutting.
Ugh.
Helle?
I'm so glad you're here.
What's it like?
What?
Using a blade for more than wood.
Not what I expected.
You think it will be exciting.
An adventure.
And then someone dies.
Someone you love.
And in that moment...
You realize that this is not a game. This is the end.
And nothing that happens
after that will ever be the same.
You'll never have to fight again, Helle.
You're safe here.
Safe with us.
Safe with me.
I don't need protecting.
I know.
But maybe you could pretend?
For me.
Sometimes,
I want to pretend I'm someone else.
When I look at you,
I think I could be.
Hello, friends.
If it's food you want, we've plenty to share.
Drink, too.
You can join us if you like.
Helle, no!
- Helle, no!
- Let me go!
Don't kill!
Let me go!
You don't understand, they'll be back!
And they'll bring a whole army
to slaughter us all.
Let them come back.
We'll be long gone.
And so will you.
You're a traveler now.
Now you shall entertain me.
You know, the supplies are running low.
There's very little food left.
I do.
Then shouldn't you be off
raping and pillaging?
We have livestock, do we not?
No, the pigs are all gone.
Surely you don't expect us to eat the horses.
King, of course we won't eat our horses. What kind of monsters do you take us for?
We will eat your women.
You have enough.
We start with those too old
to still flower and work backwards.
You dream of all you will do
when you achieve true power,
but that dream is a nightmare.
Because to achieve power,
you have already done
all that which you have dreamed of.
So what is left but emptiness?
What else did you expect?
A little
more.
Is it more you crave?
Or is it her?
You know she is out there.
And you know that you will never
be truly powerful
until she is in Valhalla!
Do we have enough men?
More than enough for one girl.
Faster!
We found her.
And she's not alone.
Be ready for a fight!
We ask the forest for her blessing,
that these two children
should be granted the joy and peace
to live their lives
from this day until the end.
As one.
They made a promise
to each other as children.
The promise he would have kept
happily had he not met you.
It's not fair.
And breaking her heart would be? Some of us are doomed to love
those who cannot love us back.
If we can survive that,
we can survive anything.
When the heart breaks,
the soul is strengthened
if we are brave enough to let it.
And you are brave, Helle.
This won't kill you.
It'll make you stronger.
And that strength won't come
from another man.
That strength will come from within.
Show yourselves.
Helle!
Daughter of Asmund.
One and only true heir
to the kingdom of Volsung.
We kneel before you,
and offer our lives in service
as we did your father
and his father before him.
You knew he was my father?
Always.
But I kept his promise.
As is my duty, but I can keep it no longer.
Nor would my king want me to.
And Bard?
It's as if he's been possessed
by Loki himself.
Whatever Volsung blood lived within his veins
was surely killed by the Sickling within.
What you see before you
is all that is free of Volsung.
We fled.
With one hope in our hearts.
That we would one day find our queen, and together take back
what is rightfully yours.
My Lord Soini,
you flatter me.
Remember I said I would
one day ask a favor of you.
This is that favor.
I came here not to flatter my queen.
I came here to fulfill your destiny.
The fool is awake all night
thinking only of problems.
When the morning comes,
the fool is tired out,
and the trouble is just as it was.
If you try to run from your destiny,
you will find only death.
And if I take this battle
will I not find death, too?
And not just my own but all of theirs?
To not try, to give up,
that will kill these proud men of yours.
It's good here.
It's another way.
It is.
But not for you.
You are a leader.
Leaders give, not take.
You must take what you have
learned back to your people.
Share the wisdom
so their lives can be better.
That is your destiny, daughter of Asmund,
the one true heir to the kingdom of Volsung.
Grain by grain, a loaf.
Stone by stone, a castle.
Warrior by warrior, a kingdom. Who is she talking to?
They say the viking gods
talk to their kings and queens.
She was talking to a god?
Let's hope so, for all our sakes.
Lord Soini.
Tell your men your prayers
have been answered.
We'll fight.
They're your men, my queen, as am I.
Loyal to the death.
I fear I may have to hold you to that.
We are outnumbered, it is true.
But every Volsung is worth a dozen Sickling,
and as we fight for you,
we fight for Volsung.
And the freedom of our wives
and children will make us stronger.
And we will fight with you.
No.
Your enemy is our enemy,
and we will not be safe
until they are defeated.
We fight with you, Helle.
I've fought before.
Our children have never seen war,
but we elders have.
I know what awaits on the battlefield.
I have seen those sights.
They cannot be unseen.
They love you.
They won't say it, and neither will you.
Say what?
The forest is not a home.
In your heart, you know that.
They want one. Every man, every woman needs a home.
To wander, forever lost, it is not right.
I can give you a home.
Together, with my lands and your ways,
we can build a new and greater kingdom.
The greatest the world has ever known.
Is this what you want?
You know the answer.
You need not ask.
We have been free,
we are free because we are one.
If this is what we as one want,
then I will fight for it to my dying breath.
Bard.
We will not all live to see tomorrow.
But know this, if you die,
you will be spoken of as those in the sky.
Like stars.
Because we are
the light.
Go.
Kill him.
Togrimm, Ulf!
With your queen.
My brother was paid for your death.
I will kill you in this life
so he can kill you in Valhalla
over and over again.
Hello, my curse.
Do you really think you can kill the man
who raised you as his own?
You have that within you?
You stole me from my true father.
You slaughtered him like the coward you are.
Now fear the reckoning of those you have wronged.
You promised me the kingdom.
I did.
But for how long?
You can't rule.
You follow.
And you will follow Asmund to your death.
Did you dare dream you would defeat me?
Then what?
You would rule as queen?
You, a woman?
The gods would never allow it!
I am Helle.
Daughter of Asmund.
The one and only true heir
to the kingdom of Volsung.
Maybe the gods can stop me,
but no man will!
We will not all live to see tomorrow.
But know this,
if you die,
you will be spoken of as those in the sky.
Like stars.
No!
Our queen.
Our queen.
Our queen.
- Our queen.
- Our queen.
Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen!
Our queen! Our queen! Our queen...
A worm should find no joy in a bird's song.
Tell me, sister.
How do you love a queen
who lays down with your husband?
Yes, it is a curse
for a child to be born with an absent father. further than me feet the colors on the breeze the trenches of my mind the darkest night when the wolf will hear my cry to the midnight sky the truth will be your light the truth will be your light