Siege Troy: Fall of a City

This programme contains some violent scenes and strong language.

-Where is she?!

-I told you, he's taken her.

That's not possible! Get a message to my brother.

The king sacrificed his own daughter

to appease the gods in coming here.

Where is my wife?!

She doesn't want to go back.

We will bring the rage of the gods down on your Asiatic heads!

What is worth fighting for?

He's agreed. Surround the city.

HE GRUNTS

Since the Greeks changed strategy, we have found it impossible

to keep trade routes open to the city.

For almost a year, the siege has prevented us

from farming our lands outside the walls.

Our crops have been ruined,

supplies have been seized, fishing vessels plundered.

They tried to beat us in battle...and they failed.

Now they hem us in.

I've therefore no choice

but to implement rationing on the whole city.

It will begin tomorrow.

The granaries will be patrolled by our soldiers

and grain distributed only by royal decree.

This is a proud city,

and we are a people of great courage,

but the glory of war is over.

The hard graft starts now.

Father, can we make an exception

to the men opening up the underground waterways?

They're working day and night.

No exceptions!

Change the shifts more often if necessary,

but the same rule applies for all.

How far have the men dug?

We've reached halfway to the caves at Charos Bay.

But it is going to take months more to complete.

Will the food last that long?

If we are stringent in our enforcement.

Anyone caught stealing must suffer the severest punishment

in order to deter the others.

What about the palace's own stores?

Can't we share them?

I'm happy to have no more than any citizen.

How very kind of you, madam.

However, our city needs its leaders to be fit and well.

What the city needs is grain.

Trojans are a tough people. They will understand our position.

We won't be holding any wedding banquets, I can assure you.

What does that mean?! We didn't ask for any wedding...

That's enough!

Why is a slow death any better than a fast one?

If we are to die, I'd prefer to do so with honour.

Resisting.

Odysseus is strangling the life out of us to provoke a reaction.

I'm not going to fall for it and lose more men.

If we open up the waterways, we create a supply line.

By the time those tunnels are ready,

there'll only be corpses left to use them.

YELLING

Alexander?

What are you doing?

Maybe you can sit and watch...I can't.

-Give me that.

-Alexander?

Pandarus creates trouble as a hobby. Just ignore him.

And Andromache?

Why does she still treat me like an enemy?

Andromache's like her father, a bit stubborn.

She'll come around.

I wouldn't worry about it.

You know, you shouldn't blame yourself.

What do you mean?

Maybe you think if you'd gone back to the Greeks

when you had the chance, they'd have all gone home.

-Wouldn't they?

-Oh, no, my dear.

They would have stuck you in Menelaus' tent

for his pleasure and revenge,

and carried on doing exactly what they're doing now.

Trust me, you're not the first foreign bride

to come into this city.

Trojans make you earn their respect,

but once you have it, it's yours for life.

Then let me earn it.

THEY CHUCKLE SOFTLY

You're going to have to scrub harder to get that off.

You can leave now, all of you.

I will wash my husband.

Mm-hm.

Pretty, that little one, isn't she?

HE CHUCKLES

You can drag the boy out of the dirt...

I had to do something.

I can't just stand around all day.

Looks like I've dragged you into the dirt with me.

Oh, no. I chose to come.

BARKING

Telamon? Grandma says we're only allowed

to give out half a loaf to each family a day.

-Orders from the palace.

-Yes, I heard.

How can people live on that?

People are tougher than you think.

-I hate the Greeks.

-Yeah, me too.

I was only supposed to be here a week. Now look at me.

You can stay as long as you like.

Your grandma doesn't mind?

-She needs a man to help.

-Hm!

Will you share your ration with Keno?

Better do, hadn't I?

Dogs don't get anything at all.

I'm sorry, my lady, but your womb is still empty.

Are you sure?

But we did everything you said.

We just need to be patient.

It will happen.

We will make offerings. Perhaps...

Perhaps I should see someone who knows what they're doing.

-Andromache?

-SHE SIGHS

LOW CHATTER

MAN COUGHS

Excuse me, my lady. I want to talk to you...now.

-What's going on?

-Do you know the hills between here and Cilicia?

-I-I grew up there.

-So you know the smaller paths?

Um...sure. Why?

I need you to come with me.

We're riding out there tonight.

-How can Cilicia help us?

-Get dressed and meet me outside.

I thought you didn't trust me.

I don't.

No! It's too dangerous!

We'll go under cover of darkness. Four men...

The Greeks control the plains and the sea.

They have camps in the forests beyond.

So we'll take the mountain paths. Alexander can lead us.

The Greeks don't know the hills like I do.

If I can reach Cilicia, I can ask Andromache's father to help us.

He can open up the waterways from the sea caves at Charos

while we do the same from this end.

Digging from both sides.

We can have a supply line up and running in half the time.

We can get in grain, animals, even weapons.

And what if you get caught? This is madness!

What did you always say to me?

Better to die on one's feet than live on one's knees.

SHE SIGHS

Are you sure about this?

It's a mistake.

Alexander knows the routes better than anyone.

-But can you rely on him?

-I don't know.

But I intend to have a child with you one day.

And it is going to need feeding.

Tell my father I love him.

It's only three days.

If you don't come back...

I didn't come all this way to lose you now.

Hector.

Take these men with you. They're two of my best.

-Alexander!

-ALEXANDER SHOUTS

Alexander! Keep calm.

Alexander! Wait!

Alexander!

Come on... Come on, come on.

Go on. Go on.

They're play fighting. When it's for real, let me know.

My lord.

My lord!

Another Trojan escape attempt.

Two got away. But this young man...

..is ours.

So let's talk.

Where were you trying to get to?

You know what happens if you don't do as I ask.

Don't be stupid.

You move that tongue of yours. Or I'll cut it out.

Who's he?

He's my brother. The rightful owner.

King Menelaus.

Get that smile off your face.

What?

Your wife...

..is no longer your wife.

Whoever she's fucking,

she's still mine.

He's not just fucking her.

He's married her.

Was that necessary? He could have been helpful.

You get my fucking wife back.

Hector. My horse panicked.

A horse panics when it doesn't trust its rider.

We lost two good men today. We can rest here.

We'll travel again when it's dark.

What's he doing?

It's called thinking, Thersites. You might try it.

Thersites, wait!

It knows you.

Should do.

He's been living in my house for the last ten years.

Madam.

Not now.

Madam...

I said not now.

There's another midwife in the lower city.

She used to work here at the palace.

How did you meet Andromache?

It was arranged by our fathers.

Cilicia is an important ally, so...

-..my father wanted that connection.

-A political marriage.

A political alliance. But a marriage of love.

Love doesn't need to involve stealing someone away in a chest.

It can be a formal exchange of vows.

Two cities and two families joined together.

Sure.

Alexander, your love got us into this trouble.

Mine might just get us out of it.

The sun's dropping. We need to go.

It's important that we continue to monitor supplies.

But the tunnel workers are suffering.

I'm not sure how long we can continue digging...

We're hoping that the stringent rationing will only be

-required for a matter of weeks...

-Please, may I speak?

What is it?

It's about the palace grain stores.

I want to give the city my share.

Madam. It has already been discussed.

Not to my satisfaction.

My lord.

There was a crop failure one year in Sparta when I was a child.

I asked my father what he was going to do.

He told me there are two types of royal family.

The ones that in time of famine put an extra lock on the palace doors...

..and the ones who open them up.

I'll be giving out my share.

What you do is your choice.

-Samira, this is...

-I know who it is.

I told him to get himself inside the city.

In case negotiations failed.

And to send me the dog when time is right.

I wasn't sure he'd made it. Until now.

Typical Odysseus. Always a contingency plan.

Can you trust him?

Xanthius has served me since he was a child. A loner.

Prefers the company of dogs to men. Says they're more loyal.

He has a point.

Yes, Patroklus, I trust him.

So what now?

You're the one who gets things done. Menelaus wants his wife back.

I'll get you into the city. The rest is up to you.

Minoa says you helped Queen Hecuba give birth.

I brought your husband, Princess Cassandra,

and the Prince Alexander into the world.

Did Hector come easily?

Couldn't wait to make his mark.

Alexander's was a much more difficult birth...

What do you mean?

Is it true what they say? He has returned?

Yes.

He was the last baby I ever delivered.

Why?

Ask the Queen.

We'll have to take the higher pass.

It's longer.

But you avoid being seen from the North.

Apollo, giver of truth and light, hear our prayers.

Apollo, giver of truth and light, hear our prayers.

Great Apollo, hear our prayers.

Apollo, giver of truth and light, hear our prayers.

Apollo, giver of truth and light, hear our prayers.

Hector!

Eetion.

I'm sorry we couldn't send word.

How is my daughter?

She misses you.

I've been terribly worried. I think of her every day.

This is?

Alexander. My brother.

My daughter's told me all about you.

Brought up in these hills, weren't you?

Yes.

You must wish you'd never left.

How is the city?

We're running short on grain and oil.

People are starting to slaughter their work animals.

All our efforts to send in food have failed, every one.

We're opening up the underground waterways.

If we can dig from both sides,

in two months, we'll have a supply line from the sea.

We can stay in Troy until the Greeks finally lose patience and leave.

What do you need?

Men. Digging from the caves at Charos. But...the work is dangerous.

My daughter's trapped in Troy.

You'll find no shortage of volunteers here.

Come to town. Eat. Rest.

High Priest Chriseis. Bless these men.

Both of them.

May Apollo bless you and reward your courage,

that we may come together in these times of trouble.

Wait. Just wait.

Stand back!

The palace share their own grain with you all today.

When we suffer, we suffer together.

-Thank you!

-For the children...

It's all right.

I know what you're thinking.

Helen of Sparta is the reason Troy is in the trouble it's in.

I think it too.

Every day.

What you did was brave. You are not Helen of Sparta.

You are Helen of Troy.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you.

-I hope this helps.

-Thank you.

There's more?

I hope this helps.

The people like her, don't they?

She's got a popular touch.

We're all fighting together.

Maybe I can't convince you to like her.

But I want you on her side.

We are at war.

The Greeks are strangling this city.

Two of my sons could be dead for all I know.

We can't afford to have another war inside this family.

Do you understand?

I will be kinder to her.

Thank you.

Helen's not the only one struggling.

I know.

I wanted a second opinion.

Minoa took me to see a woman in the lower city.

Her name is Samira.

And I wanted to ask you - is she any good?

It's just that you dismissed her, I think, after Alexander was born.

Yes, we did.

She was completely incompetent.

I nearly died, and so did Alexander.

You shouldn't use her.

I'm sorry.

Agamemnon.

When they get her back, what do you plan to do with her?

Whatever you decide to do, I lost my daughter because of her.

She needs to answer to me too.

Hector.

Can I tell you something?

When I was a shepherd,

Aphrodite came to me.

In a vision.

She said I'd have the most beautiful woman in the world.

-We've all had that dream.

-But mine came true.

Helen is that woman.

That's why I did what I did.

I'm blessed by the gods.

-Do you really believe that?

-Yes.

I do.

Litos?

No need for formalities. I'm not your high priest any more.

I hear Troy suffers.

That's why we came.

I pray in this temple every day.

Make offerings to your city,

that it may be protected.

-You were lucky to leave when you did.

-Lucky?

Did they tell you why I left?

My father said you'd gone to seek closeness to Apollo

in your later years.

That's good.

Why didn't you acknowledge me when we arrived?

Your brother. Why is he with you?

He knows the land, the smaller paths.

So he's going back with you?

-Yes, of course.

-He mustn't.

Your brother must not return to Troy, Hector.

I speak with the authority of the gods.

Don't make the mistake your father made.

He must not go back.

I don't understand what you're saying.

Choose one.

Choose.

This is what happened at his birth.

And every day since he returned,

the blood runs black.

And you know what that means.

Your father defied the gods.

You must obey them.

Make sure he never gets back to the city.

What do you mean?

I mean you stop him!

Any way you can.

Aphrodite.

If you did choose me...

..protect Paris now.

Give him the caution he lacks.

Bring him home.

KNOCK ON DOOR

Come in.

Andromache.

We're both waiting for our men to return.

I thought it might help if we waited together.

Time to go.

Eetion, when they get to the cave, the channel they make in the rock

needs to be wide enough to take mules and carts.

Plus, they'll be digging against the stream, so it won't be easy.

We'll manage.

-Who's this?

-Shepherd's daughter.

Trust me. She won't let you down.

Then we'll see you soon. Under the earth.

Take this back with you. It's a gift from our people.

The first of many.

Kiss my daughter.

Tell her I'll see her soon.

Goodbye, Alexander. May the gods be with you.

He's a good horse. Look after him better than the last one, hm?

What is it?

Fortified wine. One of my women used to make it for me.

It worked when I was trying to conceive.

At least it may have helped.

I don't know.

I promise it won't do any harm.

When I was in Sparta,

all my company was female.

I miss women's friendship.

What about you?

Me?

My husband is the only friend I need.

You're lucky. Not many wives can say that.

Tell me about your daughter.

What about her?

What's she like?

She was always more like her father than me.

Intelligent. Sharp.

I could never find my way through to her.

You speak of her in the past tense.

It's how I feel, I suppose.

I had Hermione very young.

14 years old.

I wasn't really ready...

The truth is Hermione would be happier without me.

I don't believe that.

Not all women are designed for motherhood.

How can you say that?

I know it must seem ungrateful.

But I never found it easy to be a mother.

Maybe with another man, it would have been different.

Maybe one day it will be.

I truly hope...you get what you desire.

Now I know why Alexander fell in love so quickly.

-What do you mean?

-I don't know. You have a...

-Please don't say beauty.

-No. You have a charm.

-I pity Menelaus.

-Why?

How unhappy he must have been trying to hold on to you.

I didn't want to hurt him.

I'm sure you never do.

What do you mean?

You can try all you like.

Smile, give out grain,

win their hearts,

but deep down you know you don't belong here.

Thank you for the wine.

Odysseus says it's time.

He wants to know if you're ready.

Achilles?

What do you think the sea makes of it all, Patroklus?

We come here, we fight, we bleed,

patch up...

..fight again.

To us, it's everything.

But to the sea?

Yes, I'm ready.

When do we move?

When I'm sure it's safe.

We'll need to ride fast.

Don't you worry about that.

Hector. In case we don't make it...

..I never meant to bring dishonour to our city...

I fell in love. That's all.

Troy is my home now.

I'd do anything for it to be free.

What if you can never see Helen again?

Anything except that.

I've made a mess of everything, haven't I?

If the goddess really did come to you, then...she'll protect you.

You think so?

They're still not back?

Not yet.

Can't you send someone out?

I wish we could.

Congratulations.

Your gesture to the city was clearly appreciated.

I just did what I felt was right.

Oh, you underestimate yourself.

You have become the city's cause and totem.

In one day.

It takes more than a pretty face to win a war.

But not to start it, apparently.

Sh, sh.

RUSTLING

DRAMATIC MUSIC BUILDS

Let's go.

We'll skirt the plain. Go in through the lower city.

Look.

What's down there could feed us for months.

HE WHISTLES

You're the dog lover?

Yeah.

Show us the way.

There's something else you should know.

Alexander left the city two days ago.

Andromache?

OMINOUS MUSIC

RUSTLING

What's wrong?

WHISPERS: There's someone in the grass.

It's just the wind.

Wind doesn't move like that.

RUSTLING

DOG GROWLS, BARKS

SCREAMING

DOG BARKS AGGRESSIVELY

DOG WHIMPERS

TROOPS SHOUT

Go, brother. Go!

ARROWS WHIRR

THEY CHUCKLE

You're even dressing like them now.

You too. My lord.

So I hear one husband isn't enough for you.

You should have told me Menelaus wasn't satisfying you.

I would have willingly obliged.

I mean, if you're going to sleep around, at least choose a real man.

-Like you?

-No-one wields a better sword.

Is that so?

You had your chance to win my hand. You lost.

-Menelaus won the day.

-Agamemnon won.

And then he gave you to his little brother.

How flattering it is to be passed among men.

Yeah.

And now here I am,

to pass you back to your king.

Where's your Trojan Prince now? Hm?

Hm?

He's here, in the palace.

And when he finds you're here, he will kill you.

I think we both doubt that.

That's if he's here at all.

How could he have left?

You've surrounded the city.

Rats always find a way of getting out.

Where might he have gone?

Hm?

Thrace?

Lycia?

Cilicia?

SHE HOLDS HER BREATH

I told you.

Yeah.

He's here. In Troy.

Then why isn't he stopping me from stealing his bride?

Danger. Here. I feel it!

I see it.

Sh... Calm yourself.

He's returning. Mustn't!

It's them. Open the gates!

No sound.

We are going to walk together

down those steps and right out of the front door.

Let's go.

I love him.

I love him, Achilles.

And?

You more than anyone know I do not love Menelaus.

Never did.

That's not my concern.

It should be.

You're taking a woman you admire by force back to a man she abhors.

I'm following orders.

The Achilles I knew obeyed no-one.

He answered only to himself.

The Achilles I knew was a match for me.

This is war.

Not some stupid game.

This isn't war.

This is you breaking into a defenceless woman's bedroom

to appease a man I know you don't respect.

It's beneath you, my warrior.

And you know it.

Come with me now...

..and this war ends immediately.

The army packs up, the men go home.

There's no more pointless suffering.

I can't.

Do what you will,

but I won't go willingly.

-Is it true? Are they returning?

-Yes, my lady, they're coming.

-You. Fetch Princess Helen, now!

-Sir.

If you stay here, there will be bloodshed and destruction.

Neither you nor I will be exempt. Trust me.

War scars all.

But as a warrior...

..you must also understand...

..it is better to die with honour

than to surrender in shame.

Ho!

Hector! Alexander!

With the compliments of King Eetion. The first of many.

-He agreed?

-They've already started digging from the sea.

-Where is she?

-Go to her. Go.

You're safe.

I'd be dead if it wasn't for him.

HE WHISTLES

What happened?

The Queen stays.

You do whatever you need to protect her.

She's going to need it.

Helen!

It's you...

Didn't you hear us ride in?

No, I...

What's wrong?

Nothing.

I was just frightened you wouldn't make it back. That's all.

Well, I'm here.

I was expecting a warmer welcome.

Sorry.

My love.

Listen... Listen, we did it.

In two months, Cilicia will be able to send food and supplies,

enough to feed the whole city.

We're going to be all right. Do you hear?

We belong here now.

Hold me. Hold me tight.

What will you tell Odysseus?

I'll tell him we could have delivered him a corpse.

Is that what Menelaus would like to screw at night?

Besides...

I have something Odysseus will love even more.

Information.

Cilicia.

Does that name mean anything to you?