Dragon Knight (2022) - full transcript

Many years after the war has been lost, and all the dragons slain, a lone knight travels the lands of Agonos seeking to raise an army against the demon lord Abaddon. But the kings of men are fearful, happier to suffer under Abaddon's rule than risk rising up against him, and so far, the knight's quest has proved fruitless. There is hope, however, when a healer's vision reveals that one dragon still lives. Together with an eager young squire and a reformed assassin of Abaddon, the knight sets off in search of the fabled creature. As the armies of Abaddon descend on the human kingdoms, the dragon is their last hope of fending off the horde, before it lays waste to the lands of men. But does the creature even exist? And if it does, will it fight for them once more?

200 years

ago, born of flame and ash,

the demon lord, Abaddon,

burst forth from the abyss

and unleashed upon the land

a great and growing darkness.

Five kingdoms rose up against

him, their once divided armies

united against Abaddon's dread

legions.

The dragons too waged war

against the demon lord

and with them, an ancient

banner of knights,

known as the Order of the

Dragon.

The great war against Abaddon's

armies raged for 100 years.

In that time, the mighty

dragons,

one by one,

were slain.

With them, died all hope of

victory.

Or so it is told.

I don't pay you to stand

and gawp, string bean.

- But it's-

- I know who it is.

He's trouble.

You're the Dragon Knight.

I've heard all about you.

They sing songs, you know. Not

all flattering, I'm afraid.

♪ What use is a dragon

knight without any dragons ♪

- ♪ What use is dragon knight- ♪

- Whiskey!

And something to eat.

Uh, yes! Of course.

Uh, coming right up, Sir Knight.

What can we do for you,

Highfather?

I seek the dissenter, Lauris

Eldon.

I don't know that name.

Let me make myself clear.

Give me the heathen I seek

and we will depart this place in

peace.

Defy me, and in the name of

Abaddon,

I shall reduce this den of filth

and every sinner in it to ash.

So...

Who does know where she is?

So be it.

Take her.

No! Please!

I am Lauris Eldon!

Take me and leave her be.

Please! She's done nothing

wrong!

Lauris!

If you would only obey him.

Hello.

Are you following me?

No.

Yeah.

Go home.

Why didn't you help her?

I'm sure you had a good

reason, I just want to hear it.

If I had saved her,

she'd live another day.

But what about tomorrow?

To defy them would have doomed

you all.

Is there something else?

When I was four,

my village was ambushed by

Saskak raiders.

My parents hid me in

a cupboard and told me

never to come out, for

anything, no matter what.

So, I did as I was told.

Through the gap between

the doors, I saw...

They killed them.

I was just a child

then, but I'm a man now.

I can stand against Abaddon and

so I must.

Please, Sir Knight, I

wish to be your squire.

Your apprentice!

Your servant?

Go home, boy.

I brought whiskey and rye

bread.

You leave at first light.

Absolutely.

What is our plan exactly?

If you don't mind me asking.

I do.

It's just, if I knew where

we're going and what for,

then I could work out

how best to be useful!

I'm going to Castle Dunn

to speak with King Thollin!

And you are slowing me down!

I've never been to a

castle before, or met a king!

What's the plan when we get

there?

What are you waiting for?

Go!

I will kill you.

You can try.

Until then, you can

watch your friend die.

Dearest knight. I know our

time together has been short.

But truly,

they have been the best hours of

my life!

Ow!

Poison.

Please!

Just let me die with dignity!

You need a healer! I'll take

you there then be on my way.

The years have

weighed heavy, Dragon Knight.

And who is your friend?

He's been poisoned.

I need your help.

Please!

The arrow was meant for me.

I owe him a debt!

Yet I owe him

nothing.

Lay him down.

Spider root.

There is little hope.

If the leech dies,

he will not.

We'll know soon enough.

Thank you.

But I must be on my way.

You are

failing, Brayden of Alloway.

The path you walk is a fool's

path.

A dragon sleeps beneath the

earth,

hidden in a labyrinth,

guarded by strange beasts.

A map guides the way, but it is

lost

and many seek it.

The dragons are all dead!

If they lived, they would fight.

The key will come

to you, disguised as death.

You will stay tonight and leave

at dawn.

The boy has a part to play yet.

You have come to tell

us

that the knight is no more?

Not yet.

I know where he was headed.

This time, my arrows

will find their target.

We can no longer

trust you with this task.

We will oversee the attack.

The faceless will join us.

All my life, I have served

Abaddon,

and never, not once, have I

failed him.

And yet, the knight

lives,

and our lord must suffer

still the insolence of his-

- Do not speak to me as your

subordinate!

I have no master.

Only Abaddon!

We each are but

servants,

but what worth has an

assassin who cannot kill?

Thollin will

refuse, as the others did.

You must know this.

They've damned their

people to keep their castles!

Abaddon's armies grow stronger

by the day,

and there is yet to be a single

soldier

willing to stand against them!

There is one.

Then, we are doomed.

Sir Knight! Sir Knight!

You're...

Alive.

You can't get rid of me that

easily!

Shame about the leech, though.

I actually grew quite

fond of him in the end.

Maybe you'll feel that

way about me one day.

Are we going to find the

dragon?

There is no dragon!

Dragon's flame.

You will know when it is needed.

The Dragon Knight is mine.

Easy.

Destroy him.

Now.

Kill her.

Look out!

Go!

Leave him!

I mean, she could do

anything. She could kill us.

She could.

No?

She tried to kill you, twice!

We can use another fighter.

Teach me, then!

I'm stronger than I look! And

fast.

Is that so?

String bean.

He is so...

Innocent.

His mother and father

were murdered in front of him

when he was four years old.

But he wasn't taken.

Few have the courage to

stand against Abaddon.

Rarer still are those who

would turn against him.

You haven't destroyed my sword,

have you?

No!

Just my dignity!

You're taking the Akamin Pass?

The King's Road is overrun

with raiders!

They won't come this way.

The way of the damned.

What is she talking about?

What's the way of the damned?

Not far from here, there

was a village, called Derren.

One night, a scout rode in to

warn them

that raiders were coming.

So, they fled, abandoned their

homes

and headed to the mountains,

hoping to take refuge there.

They took the Akamin Pass, a

narrow route,

in between the twin mountains.

But the enemy had been watching

them.

They knew exactly where they

were headed.

They killed them?

The men and women, yes.

The children, they kept.

For their armies?

Now, they call it the way of

the damned.

They say the ghosts of the

slaughtered linger there,

luring any who pass through to

join them in their half life.

I strongly suggest we go

another way.

Just keep looking in front

of you! You'll be fine.

Edwin.

Don't look!

Edwin!

Edwin.

Edwin.

Sir Knight?

Jigme!

Edwin.

Edwin.

Sweet child.

Come.

Sir Knight!

Where are you?

Jigme?

My love.

My fearless one.

My love.

My fearless one.

No! Jigme!

Jigme!

Wake up!

It's all right now, she's gone!

Snap out of it!

Where is she?

I must go with her.

That thing was about to kill

you!

That was my mother.

But, how is that...

Were you taken that day?

We should keep moving.

No, no, no!

They're coming!

- Who?

- Faceless!

- How many?

- Too many.

We have to go, now!

Run!

Run!

How far is it to the

castle?

Half a day's walk.

I thought kings were supposed

to protect their people!

The kings of Agonos are

not what they used to be.

This is where I leave you.

I don't think an assassin of

Abaddon

will be welcome in the king's

court.

You're with us now.

I may be known here. I won't

put your mission at risk.

My father gave this to

me on the day he died.

He told me to keep it safe.

That one day, it could help us.

I did as he asked.

But after all these years, I

still don't know what he meant.

Maybe you will learn its secret.

If Thollin is willing to

fight, will you fight with us?

I see you wear the

costume of a Dragon Knight.

But of course, that order is

long dead.

How shall I execute this, uh,

pretender?

By ax?

Or by sword?

It is for my father

that I wear the symbol

and in his name, I implore you

to fight,

drive out the evil that's

spread in your lands!

Castle Dunn has stood for

1,000 years

and it will stand 1,000 more!

You may be safe behind these

walls,

but have you not seen what

is happening in the villages?

Your people are slaughtered

while you hide in your castle!

Who are you to question a

king?

Get these traitors out of my

sight!

Father, please!

Hear them.

How many men do you command?

Enough to do my bidding.

Is it your bidding

that your men stand idle

while there, women and children

burn?

I have barely enough

men to hold the castle.

The king's guard is 100

strong.

Another 100 men are posted at

the Fort of Cairn to the west.

Our numbers are so few to

maintain peace with Abaddon.

Under Abaddon, there will be

no peace!

Heresy!

Treason!

What use are 200 men

against the armies of Abaddon?

The war was lost before you were

born.

The dragons are long dead and

the old gods have forsaken us.

We cannot resist

what's to come.

My father often spoke to me

of your fearlessness in battle!

Your father, too, was brave.

And look what it got him.

If called, the people

would fight for you, Father,

and for their freedom.

An emissary, sire, from Mount

Voros.

He will speak of peace,

but offers only tyranny!

I will hear him out.

To what do I owe this honor,

Saskak?

My lord Abaddon

can no longer tolerate your

heresy.

I would hardly say that

he has been tolerant.

He has,

in his mercy,

spared the castle.

Riddled, though it is, with

dissenters and heretics.

This reprieve, however,

must now come to and end.

You come here to taunt

me with threats of war!

I don't know what horrors lie

beneath that helmet of yours,

but I will have your head and

find out!

The question, king,

is not what lies behind my mask,

but what rests beneath your

crown.

For I have not come to threaten

war,

but to offer peace.

If you are wise enough to choose

it.

Pledge fealty to the lord of the

abyss,

the one true god, Abaddon,

and you, and all who serve him,

shall enjoy his favor.

And you will spare the

villagers?

Those who

accept the rule of Abaddon

shall know peace,

in this life and the next.

You would offer up your

subjects

like lambs to the slaughter!

Destroy whatever freedoms they

have left,

for these false promises of

peace!

Ignore this war monger.

A great alliance is finally at

hand.

I need time.

Answer to us this

day, king,

or to his black legion,

tomorrow and forever.

Tell our lord that I accept

his offer.

Father!

Let us herald this new era of

peace!

Hail to the wisdom of King

Thollin!

Wisest of all men!

Throw them in the dungeon.

No!

What have you done?

One day, you will be king.

And then you will understand.

There is only one king now,

Father,

and his name is Abaddon.

There's something inside!

"The key will come disguised as

death."

She was talking about Jigme!

This map will lead us through

the mountain, to the dragon!

Even if you are right about

the map,

there are 1,000 mountains in

Agonos.

We have no idea which

one this dragon hides in.

A dragon, they say!

They thought the dragon dead.

Uh, excuse me?

I didn't quite...

They can't find it. They

can't.

Tunnels and tunnels.

Nobody ever comes out.

They never come back.

Are you talking about

the dragon's labyrinth?

He's been down here too

long. Pay him no mind!

They wanted to take my head.

But they took my mind!

Stop that noise!

Hurry.

We haven't got long.

You don't want to escape?

Down here, he can't see me.

- How could this happen?

- We are on their trail, sire!

We will find them.

No.

Sire?

Let them go.

Hello, old friend.

Where were they going?

Tell me what you know or I'll

send you back to the pit.

The way is long.

But, but the day, the day

is longer than the night.

Do not play your riddling

games with me!

The dragon.

They know.

They know about the dragon.

They seek it.

And?

Answer to me.

Or...

Answer to Abaddon!

Speak, child.

They, they have the, the map.

I will pray

for your soul.

He said something that

I didn't understand.

Well, I mean, he said a lot of

things

that I didn't understand.

Spit it out.

I think it was Saskak. Do you

speak it?

He said...

"Heart of fire"?

What do you think he meant?

Stop searching for hope,

in the ravings of a mad man!

You're wasting your time!

But we have to...

Try.

I'm tired.

So rest.

A dragon that hides in a

mountain,

while the world is torn to

pieces.

Sounds like just another coward.

You're afraid you'll

fail, just as they are.

If they won't fight for

themselves,

why should I fight for them?

Then don't fight for them.

Please, no!

No, no!

No.

There's too many of them.

What do we do?

Stay here.

We have to get out of here!

- We can save them!

- We can't!

- Are they following?

- Doesn't look like it.

We should keep moving!

We see you, Dragon

Knight.

Now...

See us.

No!

It's a mountain.

What is?

The heart of fire.

It's a mountain in Skaargard.

We're going to wake the dragon.

How far is it, Sir Knight?

Far!

Thanks!

That's very helpful!

I'll just wait here

and rest a while.

You go.

Do you know this place?

Is there water nearby?

I haven't passed this

place in a long time.

But there was a river back then.

Maybe two leagues north of here.

It should lead us to the

mountain.

The river should be

just beyond that ridge.

He can't go any further.

Stay with him.

I'll go.

Why did your father

have the map?

The symbol

on the locket.

The same as Sir Knight wears.

Do you think that your father

was...

Edwin?

You have to stay awake.

All right?

I'm coming back.

Give us the map.

Don't give him it!

The horn has sounded.

Many more will come.

How you have weakened since

you turned against our lord.

The map.

I have what you want.

But I would die 100 deaths

before giving it to you.

So be it.

But first,

you will watch him die.

No!

Get him out of here!

It has the map.

It's lucky

that I made a copy, then.

We can still make it to

Skaargard before they do.

If we hurry.

Can you walk?

Good lad.

Is that an earthquake?

No.

They're headed to Dunn.

We have to warn them.

- I will go.

- It's too dangerous.

I know how to stay hidden.

But...

Just find the dragon.

We're going to need it.

Be safe.

She always leaves.

And she always comes back.

We don't have to climb it, do

we?

I don't know.

Well, how will we find a way

in?

We follow their tracks.

Well, maybe one day you

could teach me to track!

'Cause I have no idea

what you're looking at!

This won't work.

Well, what now?

We keep looking!

We're never gonna find it!

Not at this pace, no!

I can't go any faster!

I'm tired and starving.

I never asked you to

come on this journey!

And if we don't find the dragon

soon,

thousands of innocent people

will die!

I know.

So, if you're tired,

I suggest you rest!

Because you're slowing me down!

Wait! Sir Knight!

Stupid berries.

Yes!

Yes!

Yes!

What is it?

It can't be too much further.

Left.

Let's go!

That should be it! Through

that door!

Stay behind me!

What do you do? You just take

up space!

Go wherever you want to

go and don't come back!

I'm sick of you! I'm sick of

you!

Think of something good.

Think of something good.

Think of something good!

You can fight it.

Come on!

Think of...

Me, falling over, like an idiot!

Of...

A hot, steaming rabbit pie!

Think of, think of...

Think of Jigme!

That's it. That's it, come on.

Are you all right?

For what pressing concern

have I been wrenched

from my bed in the dead of

night?

She came to the gates,

demanding to speak with you, sire.

When we refused, she drew her

dagger.

She claims to speak

for the Dragon Knight.

I thought I had made my

position clear.

I have pledged fealty to

Abaddon in exchange for peace.

And yet, and a faceless

army has crossed your border

and makes camp not two

days march from the castle.

War is coming!

But I have done nothing to

provoke this.

The merest offense

is treason to Abaddon,

and I suspect you have

a spy in your midst.

How many are they?

An entire legion.

You must call for

reinforcements.

I will go to the Fort of

Cairn and rally them myself.

You would not make it back in

time.

For what?

To save the castle.

Then what can we do?

We will cut them off

at the Valley of Gavern.

Rally the troops at Cairn

and lead them there.

I will take the king's guard

and ride out to meet you.

Father.

If we can at least delay their

advance,

we may give the women and

children

a chance to flee the castle.

You do realize, don't you, that

not one of us shall survive?

Nothing is certain, sire.

I am Brayden of Alloway,

last of the Dragon Knights,

and I summon you to war!

The people you are sworn to

protect

are driven from their homes,

tortured, massacred!

By Abaddon's armies.

And you do nothing.

What kind of dragon are you?

It is not too late to

reclaim your honor, dragon.

Come with us now and fight!

Rise up once more,

and fill the sky with

the glory of your flame.

Together, we can rid the

world of the demon Abaddon.

This is not a request. It is a

command!

It is your duty, as it is mine,

to stand against the tide of

evil!

If we do not fight, it will win,

and Agonos will fall.

We came here to find a dragon...

But I see now that they're all

long dead!

You can't just give up.

We have to keep trying!

- He's not going to help us.

- But...

We will go to

Dunn and we will fight!

Even if he won't!

But without the dragon-

- We've survived

100 years without a dragon!

What's another day?

Just think about it, please!

Wait!

Sir Knight.

Even the

dragon refuses your call.

All who follow you

will die, Dragon Knight.

You first.

Let's get you out of here.

Go.

Save them.

I'll be fine.

I'm not leaving without you.

Give this to Jigme.

No.

You give it to her.

I've had the best adventure of

my life.

I went to a castle.

Met a king.

And saw a dragon.

I'm happy.

Go.

Go!

Take me to your king!

I wasn't sure I'd see you

again.

Is there no dragon?

The dragon lives, but

he will not fight for us.

And where is Edwin?

He found it.

We fight for Edwin Nath.

Hold!

Stupid dragon!

Why didn't you use your fire?

Isn't that what dragons do?

Breathe fire?

Unless...

You can't.

If you got your fire back...

Would you fight?

Pull!

Release!

Release!

Pull!

Release!

Attack!

Fight!

Fight!

Fight!

Fight!

Fight for your king!

Fight for your king!

Take him to safety!

No!

Come with me, sire!

Abaddon weeps for

you.

I will give him much to weep

for!

Death comes to all

men.

No!

Send word to our lord

that the battle is won.

Seeing you like this,

prone and whimpering,

you remind me of your mother.

You were just a mewing infant

then.

How you wailed

as my grip

tightened

around her throat.

No!

I have a message

for our master.

That's quite unnecessary,

really.

Sorry I'm late.

You convinced the dragon to

fight?

He lost his fire.

I just

gave it back to him.

This man is hurt!

He needs help!

T'is good to see you.

Friend.

We have won the battle!

But the war for our

freedom has just begun!

Will you fight?

Not today.

Today, we hail the Dragon

Knight!

All hail the Dragon Knight!

I did not fight alone!

Alone, we cannot win.

Only when we stand together

will we defeat the evil that is

Abaddon.

Aye!

Today, we have lost friends.

Brothers.

Sons.

I have lost a father!

And Dunn, a king!

But tomorrow...

Tomorrow, we fight to reclaim

our kingdom.

Our freedom!

Our hope!

Never again can we allow fear to

rule us,

for it is fear itself that

breeds evil.

It is fear that allows Abaddon

to reign!

No more!

Like our forefathers,

we will rise up against

the forces of the abyss!

But this time...

We will win!