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Aulus has not been in Britannia for long, but he has already spread his tentacles throughout the region he meant to conquer. To get the Cantii's attention, despite King Pellenor's refusal to parley, Aulus ordered the crucifixion of Cantii prisoners. Amongst the men crucified was Cait's father. His life was saved because of the intervention of Kerra, who rode in secret to the Roman camp.
Kerra, whose mother was part Roman, lied to Aulus and told him she had her father's ear. She requested that the executions of the Cantii prisoners cease; in return, she would speak to her father. She only meant to buy them time, she explained to the furious Phelan. Phelan said that if King Pellenor knew that he knew what Kerra did, and said nothing, their father would do to them what he did to their mother.
There was another at Court who knew what Kerra did, Lindon. He followed Kerra as she rode to the Roman camp, and helped her fight off the Regni scouts when they set upon her on her way back to her father's stronghold. When Lindon gave the King his report on what he saw at the Roman camp, he made no mention of what Kerra did.
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King Pellenor was determined to be at war against the Romans. When the Roman column marched, the King and a few of his men attacked a handful of Roman soldiers who were scouting the terrain. Incidentally, most of the men at this patrol had been planning desertion. Brutus had just announced their intent when King Pellenor's forces fell upon them. Brutus managed to escape, but the Optio of the Eighth Legion, Vitus Aurelius, and another Roman soldier, were captured.
In contrast, Praefectus Lucius was able to persuade Queen Antedia to parley with General Aulus. Queen Antedia emphasised the readiness of her people to resist the Romans. Even if Rome managed to lay siege on her fortress, they had enough provisions to last them ten years. What Queen Antedia wanted from Rome was Kerra, delivered to her alive.
The Druids went to Queen Antedia with the message that her ancestors wanted her to marry her only son to her enemy the Cantii. She initially refused. She travelled to the underworld so she could hear this command from the ancestors herself. Her son was married to Kerra, daughter of King Pellenor. On the night of their wedding, Kerra cut off her new husband's penis. Why Kerra did this, it was not yet explained. Queen Antedia had only one son. She felt that Kerra cut off the future of her dynasty.
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With more understanding now of the political landscape of Britannia, Aulus ordered the march. He left the column, however; he refused to tell Lucius where he was going. He was followed by two soldiers, whom he directed to make camp whilst he continued, alone, to the Druids. The parchment that Aulus found in the mouth of Antonius' severed head, placed in his tent, was a map sent by Veran. With Veran's help, Aulus travelled to the underworld.
Meanwhile, Divis manipulated Cait into parting with him. He complained that she was slowing him down. Cait was determined to find the Roman camp, and her father. A sharp witted child, Cait immediately figured out that Divis was lying when he said her father died the night the Romans attacked. I checked out Eleanor Worthington Cox's Wiki page because I noted what an assured performer she was at such a young age; she is, apparently, the youngest recipient of the Laurence Olivier Award.
The second episode of Britannia was much less trippy than the first. The narrative was starting to become clearer, though there remained multiple threads here that could not be easy to follow for the casual viewer, those like me who check my phone or rearrange my closet whilst watching a TV show I did not intend to recap. When I first watched the Pilot, I thought the show could be good if only it focused more on the characters and less on hallucinogenic scenes. There was more focus on characters on this episode, which bodes well for the show.
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Strays
■ Phelan was suspicious of Lindon.
■ Divis had some sort of protection spell that prevented Roman soldiers from seeing Cait. He claimed he made that for himself, to protect him whilst he slept.
■ Lucius was curious how Antonius knew Aulus' great grandfather's name.
■ Divis claimed he was cast out by the Druids because he was possessed by a demon named Pwykka, who was one of the three demon kings. Pwykka was still inside him, asleep for a year, though he recently begun stirring. He was safe from the Druids as long as Pwykka was inside him.
■ There were some gorgeous location shots in this episode.
■ Cait got hurt when she was cahsed by a wolf, then fell down a trap.
■ King Pellenor supposedly loved his wife, until the Druids came and told him she was cursed. She had Roman blood. Her grandfather had been a Roman solider and she was part demon. She would seek to destroy the King. King Pellenor had her flayed alive.
■ Kerra went through a cave to enter her father's fortress secretly.
■ Phelan found scrolls amongst Kerra's things; they were given to her by their mother. All texts were forbidden.
■ The runes on the King's face told a story, the King's story, that only the Druids knew.
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