‘Knightfall’ Season 2 Premiere ‘God’s Executioners’ Recap: Redemption

What makes a person human is the capacity to make mistakes, and somehow manage to atone for them. However, in Knightfall, one’s error is a sign of weakness. The Knights Templar has no room for the who have lost themselves in the darkness. Regardless of one’s identity or your contributions to the cause, a mistake made once could tarnish one’s reputation indefinitely. Now, the long and tiring journey to redemption begins.

In the season premiere of Knightfall, the Knights Templar Banish Landry (Tom Cullen) from the order. Determined to earn a second chance, Landry begs the knights to reconsider his case. Meanwhile, King Philip (Ed Stoppard) reevaluates his plans against the Crusaders. Elsewhere, Gawain (Pádraic Delaney) lives life as ‘The Crusader,’ a gladiator.

Retaliation

History

Queen Loan’s infidelity did not sit well with her husband, King Philip (Ed Stoppard). With his pride stained by her actions, King Philip drives the sword into Queen Loan’s stomach. However, he did not know her unborn child’s survival. Months after her death, their son, Prince Louis (Tom Forbes) returns after an expedition. The Prince happily reports the progress of his campaign until he notices something amiss. His sister, Princess Isabella (Genevieve Gaunt) and the King’s Aide, William De Nogaret (Julian Ovenden) stood in the throne room along with the King. The Queen, however, was absent.

Furious, Prince Louis expresses his anger against Landry, thinking that he killed the Queen. Also, the fact that France did not retaliate against the Knights Templar upset him further. To add to that, King Philip labeled the Queen a whore and did not have her body buried customarily. As a result, Prince Louis gu out the Queen’s remains. After having it examined by the doctor, the King and Prince discover that the baby is not in the Queen’s womb. Indeed, the baby is alive.

The Crusader

History

Gawain’s life became simpler after he left the Knights Templar. Landry’s disregard of the saving of his life fueled the rage to make his decision to go. Now known as ‘The Crusader,’ Gawain participates in gladiator competitions, fighting to the death inside a tavern. His lifestyle is how he earns his keep, entertaining the bar’s patrons while fending for himself. However, he had no friends there as he prefers to fuck a whore and remain undisturbed by others.

De Nogaret’s arrival in his quarters pissed him off at first, but De Nogaret explains himself. After the French King’s Aide indulges himself in making fun of Gawain, he offers him a new job with higher purpose. No longer did he have to remain in the Taverns, risking his life to amuse himself. Attracted by the prospect of self-glorification, Gawain accepts De Nogaret’s offer.

Re-Training

History

After having Tancrede (Simon Merrells) bring his daughter, Eve, to a safe place, Landry returns to the Knights Templar. However, under the Grandmaster’s (Matthew Marsh) orders, the Templars strip Landry of his armor as the Brotherhood sentences him to banishments. For weeks, Landry waited outside the Knights Templar’s castle, with little food or drink. Finally, the Grandmaster decides to gather the Templars to decide Landry’s fate.

Landry’s return to the order came in one condition: he must start at being an Initiate once more. The Templars put his acceptance to a vote, and the results end up in his favor. Now, Landry began training under Talus (Mark Hamill), a veteran Templar who disliked him because of his actions. Talus’ personal bias often earned Landry mistreatment, but he accepted it silently. Perhaps to Landry, any discomfort is nothing compared to being banished from the Templars. Without them, he had no purpose.

Training with Talus tested Landry’s patience. Not only did Talus drill his mistakes on him, but his fellow Initiates also feared association with him. It proved hard for Landry to try to have a semblance of brotherhood with his fellow Initiates, but he nonetheless attempted to reach out. Not even teaching the Initiates tactics helped get him a better reputation.

Retake The Wealth

History

The fall of the Parisian outpost formerly under Landry’s command was a substantial loss for the Templars. Now, the French Knights occupied the fallen castle where stashes of the Templars’ wealth remained hidden. Because of this, the Templars decided to recover the gold, sending the Initiates and a handful of Templars so as not to attract attention. Initially, they keep the element of surprise. However, a Knight on patrol finds blood stains on the floor, sounding the alarm.

The Templars sustain two losses as the French manage to break through their line of defense. Unfortunately, the fallen ones were Landry’s closest friends, his fellow initiate and Naimon (Stanislav Callas), a fellow Templar last to vote for his return to the order. Once again, Talus blames Landry’s disobedience as the cause for their line of defense’s break. If Landry had not broken their formation to aid an injured Initiate, the other two would have survived. Returning to the Templar’s castle with the wealth, Landry retreats to the privacy of him and the Cross, using scourging whips against his back in honor of the fallen.

‘Knightfall’ Season 2 Premiere Final Verdict

The episode brings an excellent introduction to the second season. After a brief recap of the events in the previous season, the chapter picks up after the stories that transpired. Despite having the main plot rooted in the previous season’s storyline, it is not hard to understand the episode’s beginning. Also, the show does the historical Knights Templar justice as History Channel once again nails the portrayal of the characters, stories, and scenery.

Knightfall returns Monday, April 1st, with ‘The Devil Inside’ at 10/9c on History.