Medival epic The Winter King started with lots of drama and mayhem but not much of its main character, and there's a lot more action and backstabbing in this second episode. Plus, more Arthur!
Based on Bernard Cornwell's Warlord Chronicles, The Winter King is a total revision of the Arthurian Legends. It places all the famous characters into medieval England, under threat of Saxon invasion that can only be stopped by the exiled warlord Arthur.
After the first episode, we've now met Arthur, Merlin, Uther, Nimue and new character for the story Derfel, yet Arthur has been exiled by his father and now no-one is left to protect Dumnonia against the Saxons and its other invaders.
This The Winter King episode 2 recap shows us the fall of Avalon, the return of Arthur and the death of a king.
The death of a king
In Gaul, Merlin (Nathaniel Mortello-White) fills in Arthur (Ian De Caestecker) as to what's been happening around Dumnonia in his absence. Merlin asks Arthur to return to the kingdom to protect it from Saxons, but the exiled warlord says he has no plans to do so. He's washed his hands of the land.
In Caer Cadarn, Nimue (Ellie James) is visiting the capital and sees Derfel (Stuart Campbell) for the first time in ages, so they reunite. They also get to witness the upcoming historical event:
The health of Uther Pendragon (Eddie Marsan) is failing, and so he gives a speech to his subjects naming three people who are set to act as protectorates to his baby Mordred until the child is of age. They are Owain (Daniel Ings) whom we already know, the Christian Bishop Bedwin (Steven Elder), and pirate lord Gundleus (Simon Merrells), with the latter picking a surprise for everyone. Uther also says that when he dies his widow Lady Norwenna will marry Gundleus, as long as the latter deals with his uncle who's raiding the land.
Later, Derfel gets close to Gundleus ready to stab him with a hidden knife, but Nimue stops him at the last moment. Nimue is rude to Gundleus, telling him to leave Caer Cadarn. When he goes, Derfel is annoyed at Nimue but also asks her to be with him again, but she says no.
That night, Bedwin and Owain visit Uther. He tells the advisers that his picking Gundleus was a test for the pirate lord. Then Uther dies, after asking to be burned in the traditional way in Avalon. This happens, with much of the king's court traveling to Merlin's village (even though the man isn't there).
Merlin is returning to Avalon. However, he has another dream about all the evil that the baby Mordred will bring.
The fall of Avalon
Three weeks later, the court is still in Avalon, including Derfel who's getting told war stories. Bedwin mentions that he hasn't heard anything from Gundleus in his quest to destroy his uncle. Owain is set to return to Caer Cadarn soon and Derfel will join him.
Nimue has been having visions of destruction, which get worse and worse. She wakes up from a bad dream and decides to ascend Avalon's tower. As she does, she sees some riders entering the town.
These riders are led by Gundleus. It's a raiding party of his men as well as a mysterious pagan woman. He's here because he wants to see the child Modred... however when Lady Morgan hands him the child, he immediatelly pulls out his knife and kills it! Gundleus sets his men to attack the town, and they ride around killing people.
Nimue has dressed up as a creepy druid and she creates a ring of fire in Avalon's tower to protect herself. However Gundleus immediately walks over it and rips off her mask. Gundleus attacks Nimue until Derfel shows up to protect her, but then the pagan woman knocks him out. He wakes up some time later, as Gundleus is leaving.
Gundleus' men torch Avalon but Derfel manages to escort Nimue out from the carnage, even though he witnesses his adoptive father getting killed (as well as many more).
Gundleus confronts Norwenna and Bedwin. He kills the former after asking for her allegiance, and sends off Bedwin to spread the word about what he did. We also find that this pagan woman is Gundleus' real love.
The flight to Caer Cadarn
Nimue and Derfel escape on a boat, however Nimue tries to kill herself due to what Gundleus did to her — she fears it's taken her power from her. Derfel won't let her die though.
Eventually, the two meet up with other survivors from Avalon. We also learn that these survivors harbor the real baby Mordred, as the one Gundleus killed was actually a different child from the village. At about this same time, Gundleus himself realizes the subterfuge, due to the dead baby not having Mordred's deformed feet.
Gundleus sends riders to intercept the survivors before they reach Caer Cadarn, and a pursuit begins. At one point the riders hear the baby crying, however Derfel and a friend manage to kill the two scouts that get near them. This is Derfel's first kill.
Because of this, the group manages to get nearly all the way to Caer Cadarn unscathed, until the plains which is the last stretch. Unfortunately this is when Gundleus spots them, and he and his riders approach the small band.
Gundleus gets ready to kill all of them so that he can take the baby, but at that moment a load of javelins fall down over him and his men. It's Arthur, who's led his men to save the day!
