Luckily for me, we got a chance to interview Knightfall star Tom Cullen to ask him about the show. He explained a bit about the time period it would cover and a few of the major themes:
It takes place 15 years after the Holy Wars. The show is about the Templars being disbanded and rounded up. The show is about politics. It talks about revenge and betrayal, brotherhood, loyalty, faith, humanity, and mortality. And I think it raises really big questions about who we are whilst at the same time being really kind of fun and entertaining.
I truly believe the show has something for everybody. I think that women would love it as much as men will love it. It has fantastic strong female characters…and they’re just as complex and rich as the male characters and it’s very moving.
Good to know, Tom. Now let’s get to the Knightfall recap! Here are my 5 takeaways from episode 101.
1) Episode 101: In which the Holy Grail is promptly lost
Allow me to briefly summarize the open sequence:
Templar Knights: “We will never surrender Acre!!!
Also Templar Knights:
Cut to a bloodbath, cheesy helmet GoPro footage, and fireballs raining from the sky. Those Saracens must have incredible aim or pure dumb luck, because in about 10 seconds they’ve sent the most precious religious relic of all time to a watery grave. Kind of like another powerful and coveted relic I know…
Did NOT see that loss coming. But don’t worry boys, I’m sure in a few thousand years a small fellow named Déagol will find it for you.
Basically the same thing. Source
2) Idle Hands are the devil’s workshop…and bedroom
I’m not a warrior, I’m an attender of meetings.
Also, a breaker of chastity vows. Poor Landry is going crazy with the lack of fighting and crusading and Grail-protecting. He’s a man of action! So he finds another use for his *cough* manly sword. And it’s hot.
Aaaaand then the bombshell drops that our restless, vow-breaking monk is in fact bedding the Queen of France, who is married to his good friend/sword-fighting protege King Philip. Sigh. Adultery…not as hot.
Tom Cullen did say the show would be about the Templars being rounded up and disbanded…whatever could have pissed King Philip off enough to turn on his favorite knightly order? I think we just found out. Because obviously all of this is totally, 100% historically verifiable. In case you were wondering.
3) Hi Godfrey. Bye Godfrey.
Things I learned about Godfrey:
- He’s the Master of the Paris Temple
- He has a weird response to oranges.
- He’s dead now.
I’m guessing there’s more to his story for us to find out. Don’t just have him pass on a cryptic message and then die, never to be heard from again! At the very least explain the orange thing. And what role will YOU have to play, young, heartbroken Parsifal?
4) When in doubt, Blame the Jews
Proving that antisemitism has always been around, royal adviser and resident shady douche De Nogaret concocts a evil plan to massacre and steal money from the city’s Jews by convincing King Philip that they must be evicted for their own safety. Right. That same old line? Thankfully Joan is handily nearby to over this nefarious plot and warns Landry, who sallies forth and get’s his killing fix defends the defenseless like a good Templar should.
Does new Littlefinger De Nogaret have a personal vendetta against Jewish people? And will they play a larger role in the grand scheme of things? Or will they just be the token mistreated Jews?
5) Grail Achievement Unlocked!
Templar Knight Draper (full disclosure, I had to look up his name…do they say his name?) finds a kitschy blue crystal hidden in Godfrey’s sword and somehow knows exactly where it goes.
It IS a clue! Watson, the game is afoot! The Holy Grail has miraculous traveled from the bottom of the Mediterranean to somewhere in France. I TOLD y’all Déagol would get ‘er done! I can only surmise that the boys will spend the rest of the season playing a long and intricate game of “Follow the Clues” to recover the Grail and take back that slippery Holy Land. You know, if King Philip doesn’t learn about his wife stepping out and burn them all at the stake first.
