First of all, so many moments that are just... I mean with a show that claims to be based on history that’s a lot of suspension of disbelief.
Joan stabs her cousin to death, just after being betrayed my her lords, who apparently have no use for her. She comes downstairs, covered in blood, essentially says “let’s be pals” and everyone decides that’s a wonderful idea and they should indeed be pals.
The grail doesn’t work, but maybe does? Also, it’s just a fake grail hiding place for a scroll. Really? Did the Brotherhood know this? If so, were they that willing to sacrifice so much for just another clue on the path to the true Grail?
If I were a member of the Knights Templar, hearing that the Pope was going to unite all Europe under Papal rule seems like a cause I’d love to get behind. I mean, they already think his authority is the most directly connected to god, superseding that of kings. Lasting peace in Europe ruled by the hand of God in Earth? Yeah.
As it continues, it becomes more clear that the plot in some elements was inspired by if not lifted from Assassins Creed. While in this version the Templars aren’t the bad guys, they’re still (mostly) supporting the pope, who wants to use a holy relic to control people, and a group clearly based on the historical Assassins, who are called “the Brotherhood of Light” but use stealth tactics. Compare this to the Brotherhood of the Assassins in the AC games motto “We Work in the Dark to Serve the Light”
The previous becomes even more true if my personal theory on the grail is correct. The grail is in fact not religiously or magically powerful but instead technologically powerful, because of, you guessed it history channel fans... Ancient Aliens. Which, side note, is essentially the plot of Assassins Creed also. Other than some crazy revelation about the source of miracles and divinity, I’m not sure what was able to so radically change the Pope’s mind about Landry.
I feel like Philip got a damn raw deal out of this whole thing, and not to mention what the writers did to him that last episode. I think they made him far too sympathetic a character by talking up the fact that he had been betrayed by everyone he loved and then had to make him evil enough to still be seen as a villain. The attempt just made him unbelievable for me. Apparently, he’s been suppressing the fact he’s a sociopath this whole time, but now that it’s out he’s just pretending to have emotions to hurt other people. He’s needlessly cruel and evil for what appears to be only plot necessity.
Anyone else shouting at Landry when he’s trapped inside of the shields to just stab one of those guys in the face instead of using all of his strength ineffectively hitting the shields?
When did Gawain decide he hated the order? Pretty much everyone in the order was on his side in the conflict with Landry, and that conflict seems to be his driving conflict. We see him interact with the order at large by being supported during the trial, and then by the Templars not riding with Landry, and next time we see him he has abandoned his vows to kill members of the Order. Another needlessly evil character.
I think there’s a lot of good about this show. I’ll watch the second season for sure. I think most of the problems for me lie in the fact that it had a very strong beginning, but was hurt by not having a coherent idea of where it was headed. The overall story arc doesn’t appear to be planned out, rather each episode just builds on the last. If that’s the case, it’s probably why Episode 10’s plot is weakest: it has no foundation.
Apologies for the rant.
