Welcome to the recap for Episode 6 of History Channel’s Knightfall Season 2. The captured Templars must now face the claims of heresy. Will it be a fair trial though?
Oh, hell no!
The Templars are brought before the justice system
And, by “justice system,” I really mean King Philip (Ed Stoppard) and Wiliam DeNogaret (Julian Ovenden). DeNogaret starts with an opening speech reminiscent of a Medieval episode of Law and Order.
However, it quickly spirals downward. After the admission of just one Templar, Kelton (Daniel Campbell), who viewers saw was visibly rattled when he witnessed the Grand Master with the world’s worst manicure in last week’s episode of Knightfall, the Templars are now officially charged with their crimes.
This means it is time to ready the stakes and the scene is set for a grizzly human barbecue.
Kelton is absolved of his crimes for “admitting” they happened and is set free. So, I officially hate him more than anyone else at this point in Episode 7 of Knightfall Season 2.
And, let’s face it, that’s some mean feat considering the show contains King Philip and his son, both of who are unhinged and partial to overreacting in a deadly way.
The Templars bond over shared torture
Considering an average episode of Knightfall runs for around 44 minutes, not all of the Templars are burned at once. No, King Philip decides to drag that sh*t out because, well, because he is King Philip.
Plus, he’d like some of the Templar riches also.
Grand Master Molay (Matthew Marsh) is burned first but Rhone (Dean Ridge) is also dragged out and caged. For good measure, I suppose and so that kids can throw sh*t at him because everyone is on Team King Philip now, their souls be damned.
Meanwhile, the remaining Templars can see everything that goes on from their cells and they try to stay strong. One initiate asks Landry (Tom Cullen) if he has ever been in a situation like this before.
Um, nah mate, have you not listened in history class or are you just an initiate for the swordplay?
Tancrede (Simon Merrells) is taken away for a little torture. This involves removing a patch of skin from his forehead and pouring salt into the wound in order to get him to confess to where all the gold is.
Because, let’s face it, and as Business Insider has pointed out, King Philip is going to a much darker place in Season 2 of Knightfall. Plus, he gives zero f*cks about whether or not the Templars have committed heresy.
So long as he can score a little more gold and torment Landry, he is one happy little camper.
Gawain gets his redemption
All along in Season 2 of Knightfall, I have been hoping for Gawain’s (Pádraic Delaney) redemption. Finally, it has happened in this week’s episode of Knightfall!
Although, to be honest, I was disappointed. It all happened in backstory as History Channel opted for the shock value of throwing Gawain into the cells alongside his fellow Templars rather than allowing the audience to watch his journey.
Shame on you History Channel!
Viewers learn that Gawain not only allowed Eve and the nuns with her escape safely but that he also tried to kill the king while Tancrede was being tortured.
Because of this, Tancrede is able to corroborate Gawain’s story and Landry gets all emotional now that he knows Eve is still alive.
King Philip introduces heavy metal
Episode 7 of Knightfall Season 2 sees Philip developing the iron maiden. No, not the band, but the original torture device.
He then proceeds to show Landry exactly how it works. Landry still won’t give up the location of the Templar gold, though.
Prince Louis (Tom Forbes) has a go at Landry as well and Landry responds by unnerving the prince by explaining how Philip stabbed Queen Joan (Olivia Ross) in her pregnant gut and refused to bury her.
Still Louis sides with his dad. Sigh.
Kelton can’t stand it anymore
While dobbing on the Templars was a sh*tty thing for Kelton to do, it is understandable that he would do it to avoid torture and to gain freedom. However, what Keldon didn’t account for was how horrible it would make him feel.
So, by the end of the episode, Kelton returns and recants his admission.
King Philip gives zero shi*ts and has the crowd deal with Kelton.
Needless to say, it doesn’t end with them all breaking bread and singing “Kumbaya.”
King Philip gets sick of torturing Templars
By the end of Episode 7 of Knightfall Season 2, King Philip is a bit over all the torture, which surprises me.
Instead, Philip ties all of the Templars to the stakes and DeNogaret starts cooking them.
This means that Episode 7 ends with Landry praying as flames encroach.
While it looks pretty bad for Landry, I still have faith that Prince Louis will finally snap and turn on his father.
Also, where is Talus (Mark Hamill)? Which means that my back up theory is that Talus will turn up at just the right moment to rescue the Templars from the flames.
Princess Margaret has a really bad day
While the Templars are definitely having the worst Friday the 13th ever, the day is also causing grief for Prince Margaret (Clementine Nicholson).
As viewers saw in the previous episode of Knightfall, Princess Isabella (Genevieve Gaunt) is setting her sister-in-law up for a fall by staging a threesome between Margaret and some hot staffers.
In Episode 7 of Knightfall Season 2, Isabella tells the king about what Margaret’s handmaiden, Camille (Grace Carter), saw. The king is outraged because he still hasn’t dealt with his feelings of rejection from his own wife having a fling with Landry and loses his mind.
He locks her up in a tower and won’t let anyone in, not even Prince Louis.
So, why did Isabella do this against Margaret?
Because of a couple of things that Margaret said to her that was misconstrued by Isabella.
FFS Isabella, that’s very dramatic of you.
And, let’s face it, Margaret is the only nice thing that your brother has and now you have made it go away. But, at least Louis knows how much of a b*tch his sister is since he guesses right away who is behind the plot.
Which means future episodes of Knightfall will likely see these siblings at loggerheads with each other.
Because the French royal family is so uncomplicated, to begin with.
And, for the history buffs, this event actually did occur. It is referred to as the Tour de Nesle affair, according to the History of Royal Women website.
When this event occurred, Princess Isabella reportedly had reason to suspect her sister-in-law of adultery as a purse that Isabella gave Margaret ended up in the hands of a guard. Something that is vastly different to what has unfolded in History Channel’s version of events.
Landry’s Sin-O-Meter
On a scale of Talus to DeNogaret, let’s see how Landry went this week!
0 out of 5. Landry commits no sin this week. To be fair, though, he is trapped in a cell and on trial for heresy, so now is not the time to be thinking of sinning if you want to uphold the Templar name. Although, I guess he could have folded like Kelton and lied to save his own a*s.
Knightfall returns to the History Channel with Episode 8 (titled “While I Breathe, I Trust The Cross”) on Monday, May 13 at 10 p.m.
History Channel lists the following synopsis for this episode.
“The death of the Knights Templar Order is imminent as Landry and his Templar brothers are sentenced to burn at the stake.”