‘Knightfall’ Season 2, Episode 2 ‘The Devil Inside’ Recap: Heathens

Not everyone has the chance to Redemption, let alone in Knightfall. A rare occurrence for the Knights Templar happens as one returns to the order after banishment. Meanwhile, the return of the French Prince sets France’s plot for revenge in motion. A future heir to the throne is alive, somehow, and the Roman Catholic Church’s rise to power threatens the French Royalty.

On Monday night’s episode of Knightfall, Landry (Tom Cullen) continues his Initiate training. Meanwhile, King Philip (Ed Stoppard) plays out his revenge plot against the Roman Catholic Church. While Prince Louis (Tom Forbes) searches for the missing infant, William De Nogaret (Julian Ovenden) murders Pope Boniface (Jim Carter) in cold blood.

Grudge

De Nogaret lost his parents to the stake as a child. Father Benedetto (Simon Haines) had De Nogaret’s parents tied and burned alive, branded as heretics. Since then, De Nogaret kept a close eye on Benedetto, who now rose to the papacy, known as Pope Boniface. When the Pope visits France to mourn Queen Joan’s death, De Nogaret finally has the opportunity to exact revenge on his parents’ murderer.

Gawain (Pádraic Delaney) takes out the Papal Guard, enabling De Nogaret to confront the Pope. At first, the Pope retains his composure as De Nogaret retells his childhood tragedy. After this, De Nogaret declares his purpose: to have the Pope replaced by someone friendlier to the King of France. Towards his bitter end, Pope Boniface begs for his life, but it is of no use.

Infanticide

History

The King of France is discreet about the way he carries out his plans. Upon learning about Queen Joan’s child’s survival, King Philip sends his son, Prince Louis, to find the infant. Also, King Philip does not care less about Prince Louis’ methods; he only wishes to have his bidding done right. With that said, Prince Louis forcibly takes lists of births in the past three months from the church, using it as a guide in his search for the child.

To their advantage, Prince Louis and his assassins find a stray group of Templars, out on a late night patrol. They ambush the Templars, led by Draper (Nasser Memarzia), whom Prince Louis kills personally. After wearing the Templars’ armor to disguise themselves, Prince Louis and the assassins ride to the towns. Their hunt for the infant has now officially begun. Thankfully, the infant is safe in the care of the Nuns, thanks to Tancrede (Simon Merrells).

Crusader Responsibility

History

Landry develops a strong bond with his fellow Initiates. He leads them to victory in their exercises, such as a wall climbing activity while under the rain. Landry realizes what they must do to climb the wall, so they quickly execute the strategy that helps them develop teamwork as well as endurance. Later, Landry also keeps his fellow Initiates in check, making sure that they do not break the rules, such as holding on to worldly attachments.

Despite Landry’s warnings, Rhone (Dean Ridge) continued to hold on to a prayer scroll his mother gave him. A fellow Initiate tells Talus (Mark Hamill) about this, and Talus acts accordingly. He dismisses the betrayer from the order and proceeds to punish Rhone. However, Landry tries to cover for Rhone but fails. Instead, he and the other Initiates all receive a form of punishment: some make rounds around the castle grounds with rocks tied to them, while Landry and a select few heads out to cut a tree suitable for the next day’s training exercise.

It took Landry and the others until dark to finish debarking the tree they cut down. In the forest, they find a group of demon worshippers, gathered around a woman sacrifice. Suddenly, armed, masked demon worshippers appear behind the group, causing a battle that kills Quentin (Michael James). Once the group returns to the castle, the Grand Master (Matthew Marsh) sends Draper and a handful of men to find the heathens, only to be slaughtered by Prince Louis and his assassins.

Remorse

History

Quentin’s death at the hands of the demon worshippers weighs heavily on Landry’s shoulders. Not only did he lose his closest fellow Initiate, but the other Templars blames him for the series of misfortune that they suffer. Also, it reaches a point that the Templars abduct Landry to brand him with a Cross, believing that the devil possesses him. Tancrede returns to find Landry meditating once more, and upon seeing the branding, demands which did such a thing to him. However, Landry refuses to answer Tancrede, firmly insisting that brothers do not tell on each other.

‘Knightfall’ Season 2, Episode 2 ‘The Devil Inside’ Final Verdict

Full of medieval drama and politics, this episode gives an overview of how brutal the times were for anyone involved in politics and religion. The losses that the Templars suffer are sure to spark vengeful reactions within them, and the Pope’s death could easily be considered as an act of war between France and the Church if someone discovers the true causes. However, the Templars’ pride seems to be the cause of their undoing as much of the losses they suffered were caused by their poor decision making.

Knightfall continues Monday, April 8th with ‘Faith’ at 10/9c on History.