BWW Recap: Trouble with Rebels on Tonight's THE BASTARD EXECUTIONER

In last week's series premiere of THE BASTARD EXECUTIONER, Wilkin Brattle and company swore to avenge the slaughter at the shire. Wilk knows who killed his wife Petra, and wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, is now basically working side by side with the guy as Ventrishire's newest executioner. So vengeance should be...pretty easy. Right?

Of course not. This is television. We gotta stretch. This. Out. It makes sense though. Wilk's obviously bent on killing the man who now wears Petra's cross around his neck, but his pals make a valid point. Wilk may know who killed his loved one, but the rest of them don't know who killed theirs. Petra's murderer could lead them to the other knights involved in the slaughter. Duh, Wilk. Sorry. Just gonna have to be patient.

Wilk, for his part, seems to be adjusting to his new life in Vestrishire as well as any man living undercover probably could. He plays house with Gawain Maddox's widow who, unlike Wilk, can't seem to separate fantasy from reality. It's pretty awkward, but you do feel really sorry for poor Jessamy. The real Maddox was just so awful, can you blame her for glomming onto the big, strong man pretending to be her husband? A man who's just, y'know, nice? Maybe she's really deluded herself into believing Wilk is actually her husband, or maybe she's just a very method actress. Either way, Wilk tries to get her to simmer down, to no avail. I suspect this issue will be popping up a lot as the season progresses.

Meanwhile, juvenile rebels are out and about causing a ruckus, attacking a group of knights transporting the late baron's newly sculpted effigy. Only one, a teenage girl, is caught and imprisoned at Ventris Castle. When the issue is brought to Lady Love, it's her first opportunity to exercise rule on her own. Milus calls the assault treason, punishable by death--because he's Milus and that's just what he likes, apparently--but Lady Love says she wants to speak to the girl before she can be tortured. It's just a little too late; Wilk, after some internal conflict, obviously, has already removed the girl's fingernail (is there anything worse?) The baroness arrives before any further damage can be done, but the girl still refuses to talk. She is stubborn and resistant, but gives Lady Love the opportunity to shine. She gets on the girl's level and shows her kindness, asking what she wants for Wales. The girl responds, "I want it to be quiet," and when Lady Love agrees, you can tell she really means it. Lady Love seems to be aptly named. She's good. Probably the polar opposite of her late husband, which is great for the Welsh, but maybe not so great for people like, oh, I don't know, I'm just guessing here, Milus. And actually, not only is Lady Love compassionate, but she's also smart and incredibly observant, pulling a total Sherlock and deducing where the girl is from just by, like, y'know, the curve of her earlobe or some nonsense.

Lady Love has Milus, her knights, and Fr. Ruskin accompany her on a field trip to the girl's village. She meets the mother and offers to trade the girl for information on the rebel leader, "The Wolf." Dun dun dun. The mother blows Lady Love off completely. "Eh, one less mouth to feed." Well then. There goes that plan. But once again, we get a glimpse into Lady Love's character, into the leader she could be if she were actually allowed to lead on her own. "I don't understand your hatred of me," she tells the girl's mother, "and clearly you don't understand my love for you." There's something very sad in that sentiment. Maybe Lady Love's husband spent his reign determined to make the Welsh people's lives as miserable as possible, but the baroness has a new vision. She's only guilty by association, and would actually like to do some good if the people would just let her try.

The woman won't budge, and the Ventrishire crew is about to turn back when Wilk notices the girl's brother fumbling around in the distance. Hey! That guy looks weak. Let's ask him! Milus doesn't seem to appreciate the way Wilk expresses ideas and whatnot, without going through him first, but Lady Love agrees to have the boy questioned. As predicted, the kid snaps like a twig and offers information on the rebel group--but look, just don't tell my mom, okay?! Off Lady Love and the boys are once again, and they don't get very fair before they're attacked by a group of, you guessed it, rebels. There's a big fight, lots of blood, and, shockingly, Fr. Ruskin turns out to be Team Ventrishire's MVP. Who'd have figured. That priest fights pretty good. Y'know. For a priest. We all see you, Fr. Ruskin. You got some stories to tell. Oh, and Lady Love and Wilk totally share a look--y'all know what kind of look I'm talking about. One that's probably going to get both of them into some trouble from the way Milus creeps on them. Really. Milus is such a creep. And I kinda love it.

Once safely back at Ventris Castle, Milus argues to Lady Love that they no longer owe the girl or her brother anything since the rebels just attacked them again. The baroness is clearly conflicted and says she'll need to think about it. When she reaches a decision, she gives the note to Wilk, and though we don't know what her choice is yet, it appears to be agonizing to Wilk, so we have to assume the worst. He turns to Annora for help, and she offers him something to give the girl to "ease the pain." Eesh. But turns out, Wilk isn't asked to execute the girl. Just to chop off her nose. Welp. Certainly could have been worse

There were a few other developments in tonight's episode that make me excited for the season ahead. First of all, Annora is still mysterious, as I suspect she will be for a while, with her and the Dark Mute serving as Wales' kookiest power couple, complete with magic and, like, a closet full of dead snakes. Don't know what that could possibly be about, but boy, am I curious. Annora also has an interesting conversation with Berber the Moor on religious tolerance after catching him praying in the woods. Not only is she well-versed in both paganism and Christianity, but apparently she's also memorized the Quran. Go figure. Probably even stranger than Annora, however, is Ash, the "mad trapper" who was missing for almost the entire episode--and whose trap camps were found covered in blood, which...is weird. Finally, there's moment at the end when Milus admits that he knows Wilk's true identity. Big, big uh oh. What do we do with all of this information? I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

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