Tonight on FX their original series, The Bastard Executioner airs with an all new Tuesday September 15, season 1 premiere called, “Pilot,” We’ve got your recap down below! On tonight’s episode, Wilkin Brattle, (Lee Jones) a warrior knight for King Edward I, becomes a farmer.
For those of you who don’t know the show “The Bastard Executioner is a blood-soaked, medieval epic that tells the story of Wilkin Brattle, a 14th century warrior, whose life is forever changed when a divine messenger beseeches him to lay down his sword and lead the life of another man: a journeyman executioner.”
On tonight’s episode per the FX synopsis “Wilkin Brattle, a warrior knight for King Edward I, becomes a farmer, but he can’t shake his past in the premiere of this drama set in the Middle Ages.”
We will be blogging The Bastard Executioner with all the up-to-the-minute details at 10PM EST so make sure to come back to this spot and watch the show with us. Make sure to refresh often so you get the most current info! In the meantime, sound out in the comments below and let us know what you think of this series.
Tonight’s episode begins now – Refresh Page often to get the most current updates!
#TheBastardExecutioner begins in Wales at the dawn of the 14th century when Catholicism was the major religion. The Welsh have been crushed by Edward Longshanks aka King Edward I of England. Before his death. His son Edward II takes the throne – he’s impulsive and tensions grows between Wales and England. The English barons are brutal to the Welsh and the peasants hope God will watch over them.
We start at a house with a man grunting. He dreams of war and gore. We see a naked woman with a rosary walking among the fighters. The man is surrounded and a sword driven though his side. He screams in pain while they laugh. The man lies in a small bed with a wooden cross around his neck. In the battle, a smiling woman in white stands before him and offers her hand. He takes it. She pulls him to his feet and he says he’s her servant. She says he has a destiny.
He asks what she wants him to do. She says he’s to lay down his sword and says he must devote his life to his savior. Wilkin Brattle swears he will. Now, he dreams and sleeps in that small bed. We see him back in the war with dead bodies all around yet he survived the slaughter. He walks the field and sees the dead men he knows. He kneels by one and closes his eyes to death. He sees a demon form out of the man’s blood and flesh and it grows and roars at him.
He screams then wakes in the small house in Wales. He pulls off his sweaty garment and we see the cross as well as a brand on his skin. He prays. Petra comes in and asks if he dreamed. He says she’s his only dream and kisses her. She asks why he won’t tell her what he dreams and he kisses her belly big with a baby. She says Norra told her the firstborn would be an heir and he calls Nora a witch. She says she’s a healer. He asks about the Mute and she says he says the boy will be pious like his father.
Petra tells him to get to his chores and he chases her outside their home and around the village. He captures her for a kiss. In Castle Ventris, we see a young woman, Baroness Love Ventriss being taken doggy style by a man, Baron Erik Ventris. He dresses and says his seeds will be wasted like the rest and he calls her barren meat. He leaves her and her servant comes in. She greets her maid and we see Love open the window and look out.
The maid Isabel asks if she wants a bath and she says she needs more than a bath. Norra is with the Mute by the river. She says it’s time. Ash walks his sheep and talks to it. Wilk and Petra greet him and then walk home. Erik sits on the toilet talking to Milus while he takes a crap. Milus talks about the attacks by peasants and the outrage of it. A guy comes to wipe his butt as Erik tells Milus to crush the rebellion. He tells the ass wiper to take care with his back side.
Wilk and Petra are warned by Calo that Erik is doubling the tax and will be there by day break. They tell Wilk they have to ride now to intercept. Wilk says there are too many troops but the villagers tell them they will starve if they let him take the tax. Wilk consents and Ash asks to fight. WIlk agrees he can come to track but can’t fight and Petra says she’ll watch his sheep. The men ride away and Wilk tells her to be calm. She says Ventris is brutal and says he’s not a rebel.
Wilk says she heard what her father said and they will starve. Petra cries and says she can’t live without him. She cries into his shoulder. Norra shows up then and checks her tummy. Norra tells Wilk to cover the wound on his shoulder and says if he gets river water on it, he’ll be weak and fevered in three days. She gives them some herbs to treat it and Petra thanks her. She talks to the Mute and she says the other man and says God put him on their path.
At Castle Pryce, a man screams as his back is cut open. He slaps his son for not doing what he asked. Love is at the ocean and walks into it. She gets in and then ducks under. Her maid Isabel says she hates when she does that. Love finally comes up out of the water and Isabel says she makes her heart drown when she does it. Love says she’s been swimming there since she was born and it reminds her of who she is. She says she’s still a hopeful Welsh girl. Isabel wraps her in a blanket.
Erik talks to Milus and says the unrest is a problem and he wants to profit while he still can. Milus says steeper taxes is the key. They are told that Baron Pryce sent a messenger to discuss the tariffs. Erik says he will pay or he won’t access the water. Father Ruskin is there and he reads some scripture to him about how they are created in God’s likeness. He asks if he wants to join them and he looks at the young boys with the priest with interest but Milus leads him away.
The Baron’s man asks about the king’s opinion of this dispute and Milus calls the king a fairy (in so many words). Outside, Erik says to tell Milus to tell Pryce’s men the tariff went up by a third. Milus tells the message boy to tell them that. He goes over unhappily. The messenger is Milus’ brother and Milus tells Erik that he’s only half his blood and a quarter the brains. They laugh and walk away. Petra yells at her brothers then tells her father to be safe.
Toran kisses his wife Eva and son goodbye and then Petra comes to kiss Wilk before he goes off with her father. They ride off to deal with the Baron’s men. The women and children watch them ride out of the village with concern.
In the woods, the Baron’s men come under attack. They are attacked from the woods and they drag the tax man out from under a wagon. He begs them to spare him. They tell him to tell his Lord that they will keep coming for them. They let him get on a horse and he rides off in a panic. The village men enjoy the dinner of the men they killed. Ash lurks in the woods talking to a moth. He hears the sounds of horses and is startled by the fleeing tax man. He runs towards the camp. The tax man sees his face.
Five years earlier, on the England/Scottish border, we see Wilkin lying wounded and then hides as Ventris and Milus ride onto the field of battle. They talk about how Wilkin will not longer have the king’s favor and they talk about their inspired plan to get the Scots to take him out. Ventris was a Constable then and tells Milus to bring back the bodies but Milus says if they bring his body back, they will martyr Wilk. They laugh and ride away and agree to let the animals eat them.
Now, Wilk and the others loot the bodies of the tax man’s guard. Wilk goes around closing the eyes of dead me. He says – forgive me. At Castle Pryce, Dyer approaches the Baron and says the emissary is back from Ventris. Trula talks to Edwin and says it’s too damp. He says to take the Baroness to the sun room. Maddox is called to pay his tax and they announce him as the traveling punisher. He pays his tax unhappily and says they took half his wage.
They tell him that many journeymen pass through. He says that doesn’t mean he doesn’t deserve fair pay and they tell him to move on if he doesn’t like it. He tells his wife Jessamy they are leaving for Ventrishire. Milus tells Erik that the tax man’s guard were killed. The tax man Jonas says he spotted a young one he’s sure was with them and may be a watcher. Milus asks what furs he wore and Jonas says a beaver pelt.
Erik asks Love what rivers have beavers and she says West. They get out a map and point to the far end of the shire. Jonas says there are barley farmers out there. Milus chastises his brother Reeve for not knowing the shire better. He apologizes. Erik says they’re taking a half legion and he says Jonas will come along and identify the watcher he saw. Love asks her husband about fairness over slaughter and he says of course there will be fair process.
Milus warns Love that an ignorant man would think she was concerned about the welfare of outlaws. She says he’s not ignorant and then she tells him to share some of his wisdom with her husband. She says no commoner wants rebellion and only are pushed to this when hope and reason are burned. Milus asks how she knows the plight of the common man. She says she lives with open eyes and an open heart. She says Milus will break them and nothing is more dangerous than a Welshman with nothing to lose.
She tells him to keep her husband on the safe path and says she’s counting on him. They leave. Wilk and the others show up to a small village with their masks still on – they are in Glen Darby Birch – and hand back some of the loot they took back from the tax man, Robin Hood style. We see a paper with a marking hung on a tree – looks like a daffodil. Later, they sit by the fire, eating and talking. They tease Ash about his great love for his sheep. Ash asks why Wilk uses an oak staff instead of a blade.
Berber the Moor says there is a lot they don’t know about their leader and says even Petra doesn’t know. Prichard says he needs to eat then talks to him about joining the daffodil rebels. He asks Wilk if he thinks heaven will open to him because he kills now with oak instead of steel. Wilk won’t listen. Erik and his men ride through the night towards the village.
Petra wakes to the sound of hoofbeats. A man bursts in and asks where is her man. The women and children are dragged out of their homes and Erik demands to know where the men are. Petra says they’re hunting for skins for the next harvest. Erik asks if he’s a fool and thinks they hunt in the dark. He tells his men to slit Rhys’ throat. Petra says they went to Glen Dirby and he asks if they went with hoods. Milus asks if she thinks seven men could beat theirs.
Petra talks back and they slice the boy’s throat. Erik says to kill them all and to make it a brutal sight that the returning men won’t forget. Petra runs and Milus says to get her. Jonas tells Erik this is a breach of God and king and is madness. He begs Erik to stop. Erik tells Milus to relieve the tax collector of his moral conflict. Milus runs him through. He wipes his sword on his brother’s sleeve. Petra trips as she runs. One of the men grabs her and she begs him to have mercy on her baby.
The man pauses then kneels and touches the cross at her neck. He yanks it off and stares at it. He tells her to run and don’t ever come back to the Shire or she’ll be dead for sure. She takes off running. The man clenches his eyes closed in worry. Erik’s men burn the village to the ground and kill everyone including the elders and children. They stab the Berber’s woman in the back of the head as she prays. Reeve watches this all in horror.
Milus tells Erik that the farmers won’t ride back when they see the smoke but Erik says he wants them to live for now. Petra is in the woods and runs into someone. An unseen person stabs her in the stomach and then draws a cross on her head in blood. She was killed by a unique intricately carved dagger.
The executioner curses at his son Luca and Jessamy begs him to be calm but he punches her and then drags her by her hair. She begs Maddy to stop. The villagers see the smoke and ride at top speed for their village. They see smoldering ruins. They see the pile of bodies. Wilk sees that Petra’s body is on top. The men all break down crying. The baby was cut out of her and left there as well. Wilk is in shock. Berber cries over his wife. The men are all distraught.
Wilk goes to his wife’s body and Prichard stares at his wife and son, both dead. He cries. Then Toran sees the tax collector’s body and says this is Ventris and calls him a savage noble. Wilk says Devil Christ, damn you. He kisses Petra then runs off into their home. He digs beneath the dirt floor of their hut and retrieves his sword. He comes out and unrolls the parcel and we see two swords. Jacob says it’s the crest of Edward the First.
Wilk throws aside his oak club and gets on his horse. The other men ride away with him to avenge their families. Wilk stops and tells them to see to the dead and says this is his fight. Toran says they all earned this. Wilk says he has no plan but vengeance and Jacob says it’s the only plan left. Wilk says they ride to Castle Ventris. They head out at top speed. The executioner puts his knife into the fire and heats it up. He says this is his due and sorrow. He says forgive me and burns his skin with the burning hot blade.
His family sleeps while he tortures himself. The village men come upon Norra and her Mute. Wilk rides up to them alone. He asks why she’s so far East and she says the same that bring them. She says they flee the darkness. She says she will witness his death unless he alters his purpose. He refuses to veer and she says he need not face it alone. She says Toran has ties to victory. Love runs her husband’s neck and he says it’s the pain of yesterday’s effort.
She says he found the bandits and he says no but found proof of their guilt. She asks if he brought the proof back and he says you can’t carry bone and slag. Milus says their men spotted seven men riding East and one had a sword with Longshank’s mark. Milus says they need to end them before someone decides their cause is valiant. Erik tells Milus to stay and guard while he goes and chokes the rebels on their own entrails. Milus sends his brother with Ventris.
Ventris’ men ride up on the executioner and he says he’s Gawain Maddox from the South and Erik says to ride with them because he may need his services. They tell him to send his family on to Castle Ventris. Erik’s men pull to a stop when they spot Wilk and his men in a field. Wilk asks if he remembers sending him to his death by the Scots. Erik says he’s a deserter or a ghost if he’s Brattle and says dead then or dead now. Wilk says he lives with the terror of Erik’s betrayal every day.
He says death will quiet Erik’s mind. The hay around them springs up to reveal rebels all around them. More join them. They tell Erik it’s time to go back to hell. The rebels whistle and fiery arrows come from around and they attack. The trained soldiers are better warriors but there are more of the rebels. One soldier is terrified and rides away – likely Milus’ brother. The executioner is killed by a young boy with a sharp stick.
Ventris is holding his own then Jacob comes at him. He kills Jacob swiftly. The other soldiers aren’t faring as well. Erik is now the only soldier standing. Wilk says he’s neither ghost nor deserter and they face off. Erik seems to get the better of him but Wilk keeps fighting. Erik throws him to the ground then Wilk beats him in the face. Wilk holds a sword on him and Erik says London will hunt down and end his rebellion. Wilk says it’s just a need to see him die.
Erik stabs Wilk in the side then Toran puts a blade through the back of his head. Wilk is still alive but wounded. Norra sees to Wilk’s wound and says he will sleep and heal. Toran is relieved to hear it. Berber says Ventris was right that the king’s army will come for the hooded thieves. The rebel leader Gruffud the Wolf asks Toran if Berber the Moor is a Christian. Toran says he converted. Toran says the army is weakened but Gruffud says they’re not ready to attack yet. Toran thanks him for the help.
He tells them that Gruffud says he may collect on this favor at some point. Ash watches Norra burn Wilk with a knife and Berber pulls her off and asks what she’s up to. We see Milus buggering a boy and his brother says Ventris sent him back for more troops. Milus doubts what his brother is saying but says to gather spare men and ride with haste. He tells his brother to find a bath and says he reeks of shit and fear. Wilk wakes and sees Norra is tied up. He looks around and then looks at his reflection in his sword.
The men come over and he asks who did it and they tell him Norra and Berber says she wouldn’t tell them why. Wilk stands and goes to her on unsteady feet. She sits among the dead soldiers and he tells them to cut her binds. Ash frees her. Norra says she did it to save him. She says his only chance to live is to be supposed dead and says he gives that gift and gestures to the dead executioner. Wilk kneels and asks who she is truly. He asks her interest in him and she says he has a fate that he must learn to hold.
She says his fate will forever mark his place in time and she’s here to help that story. Wilk says his story is over but she says it just began. She says the angel spoke the truth, the bright child who came to him. He’s shocked and says he’s never told anyone. Norra says she hears the same voices and says it’s time to lay down the sword and says his savior needs him to live the life of a different man – the same words the angel told him years before.
Wilk and Toran ride to the castle with the wagon. He tells him to deliver the dead and they can ride off free men with no price on their head. He asks Toran what name he’ll have and calls him Sneermonger. Toran says his dad wanted to call him Marshal and says that will do. Wilk says he has no father. They ride to the gates and they are opened up. Love sits with Father Ruskin listening to the boy’s choir sing. Isabel interrupts and says outsiders are here with sad news.
Love comes out and sees her dead husband secured on the horse. She tells the soldiers to bring his body down. They lay him out and she goes to kneel by his body. She takes his hand and Father Ruskin kneels too and offers condolence. He says they’ll bring the Baron into the castle so she can mourn in peace. Love looks to Wilk and asks who he is. He kneels and says he’s Gawain Maddox, the punisher and introduces Marshal as a man who aids him in capture of the accused.
They tell him the story of how they met with Ventris and says there were too many rebels for them to fight and says it was just too steep. They look at the bodies of the rebels and Love asks why the executioner is there and he says he’s there for work. Reed says he lies and they are part of the rebels, not the executioner. Marshal says he can dispatch for proof and says they have ridden for years. Ruskin says the remedy for the dispute is already here and says Maddux’s wife and children are here.
Love asks if this man is her husband. Jessamy looks and Wilk goes to her and pats the child’s head. The baby coos. He says he’s sorry. Milus watches with interest. Jessamy calls him her love and says she’s glad her good Maddy came back to her safe. The brother rants and says she’s conspiring with her. Milus steps forward and says this tragedy is his and says Erik’s life was snuffed too soon. His brother insists he has nothing to gain from a lie.
Milus says he told him he was sent back for more troops before the fray. Wilk says they saw him at the fray and he tucked tail and ran letting the others fall and that’s why he lies. Reeve insists that didn’t happen. Milus says enough and looks at his brother. Milus says either he’s a false accuser or an abandoner in battle. He says both are punishable by death and tells the guards to take him away. Reeve curses his brother most foully. Milus goes to Love and says he has shame and sadness.
He offers his sympathy and his service and bows to her. He says the man falsely accused should take the head of his false accuser. He offers Love his hand and she takes it. Milus tells Wilk – welcome to Castle Ventris, executioner. Jessamy walks up next to Wilk. Later, Wilk sits in the chapel when Love comes in. He stands and says the priest told him he could come and pray. She says she’s happy to see the chapel used and says few come there besides her. She sits nearby.
Love says that she wouldn’t think an executioner would complicate things with prayer. She asks how he came about the cross carved on his face. He says a holy woman gave it to him to remind him of his need for faith. She says the burn looks fresh and he says he renews the vow when his faith wavers. She says he’s bleeding and he says an angry branch on last night’s ride. Milus watches through the door barely opened. She lifts his tunic and says the physiker should look at the wound.
She touches the wound and he sees a baby delivered with a look at the baby’s foot. He says he’ll find a physiker but she says she’ll send one to him while he prays. She leaves. Milus lurks outside and approaches her as she leaves the chapel. He says he sent an emissary to London and one to Erik’s brother. He says the king will provide guidance on how to proceed. She says they will proceed by burying her husband.
Milus says the executioner’s arrival while sad could mean good fortune. He says if they secure them to stay they can use them to carry out corrections and says it sends out a strong message against lawlessness. He says he’ll draw up letters to bind them there. Milus goes into the chapel and tells “Maddux” he has news and says the trial was swift and says the execution will be tomorrow in the village square. Wilk asks about a brother’s mercy.
Milus says with no kin, he has no worries then says he wouldn’t understand it being a family man. Milus tells him that he has his hands on everything in the shire. Wilk says they’ll move on but Milus says the good news is that his position is now standing. Wilk says they’re journeymen but Milus says now they have a home and that will be of comfort to his wife. Wilk draws near and asks why he’s doing this. Milus says their buried truths bind them and his skills will serve him now.
Milus says he needs a man with a heart of a dragon. He touches his chest where the dragon brand lies. Norra calls to the Mute Ludwig and he pulls back his hood and see a scarred bald head. She comes to him naked – her back is covered in tattoos. She says they need to ready their faith. He speaks and says in German, yes my love. She pulls off his cloak to expose his body. We see the intricately carved dagger that killed Petra as they disrobe for sex.
Reeve is lowered to kneel for his execution. Father Ruskin says prayers and last rites. Milus leads Love out to observe the execution. Wilk comes out in official Ventris garments as he prepares to take the life of Milus’ brother. Luca tells his “father” that his blades have been grinded. Wilk looks back to Milus who nods. Wilk chooses a long sword and Milus looks to Love for a moment. Wilk breathes help me. He sees Petra as an angel holding their dead child.
He walks towards the crowd and then stops and puts down the sword. He goes to the ghost angel wife he sees and looks down at their ghost angel baby. She says always and we see her led away by the angel girl he saw on the battlefield s long ago. He tries to grab her hand but gets a cloth from one of the soldiers who says he’ll need it since Reeve was full of shit. Wilk sees one of the men wears Petra’s cross – it’s the guy who spared her. Wilk neatly lops off his head and everyone gasps at the precision.
THE END!
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