Barbarians Season 1 Episode 4 Recap – A New Reik

[00:01:00] Ansgar is writing something on the wall as the oracle continues to watch him. She knew that Ansgar sees the future, so she’s allowing him to show her what he sees. Meanwhile, Folkwin wants to understand why Arminius saved him. He didn’t answer his question; instead, he returned the question by asking Folkwin why he saved him from Berulf. Arminius told Folkwin he wanted to kill him, but he couldn’t. He cauterizes Folkwin’s wound, but this causes him to miss one of the Roman soldiers crawling away to escape. Arminius doesn’t have any idea that one of the soldiers survived. After that, Arminius continues to guard Folkwin as Thusnelda arrives.

[00:03:00] Thusnelda doesn’t understand what Arminius is doing. First, he takes the eagle. Next, he fights for Rome but kills his soldiers to save Folkwin. Arminius responds he’s only repaying his debt to Folkwin, but Thusnelda thought otherwise. She told Folkwin that Arminius allowed them to bury his family, showing that he’s still one of them. Folkwin invites Arminius to join their cause and fight for their people. Arminius refuses as he plans to return to Rome. He tells them to find a peaceful place to live and start over. Thusnelda is worried Arminius will be killed for treason, but he already has a plan. Varus only wanted Folkwin’s head, so he went over to Eigil’s body and chopped off his head. Folkwin is skeptical that Arminius’ plan will succeed. “To Varus, all you barbarians all look alike,” Arminius replies.

[00:05:30] Varus calls Segimer to the Roman fort for a talk. He wants them to pay tribute in the form of cattle or grain. Segimer could no longer provide any tribute as his village was already starving. Varus suggests Segimer provides him with slaves if he can’t pay tribute, but Segimer refuses. He wouldn’t allow his people to become slaves of Rome. Varus knew Segimer would refuse, so he offered a proposal. Varus wants Segimer to stand down as Reik of his village and allow Arminius to become his replacement. “A son succeeds his father only when his father is gone,” Segimer responds. Segimer realizes Varus wants him to commit suicide, so Arminius can take over his village. Since Segimer already understood the proposal, Varus told his guards to escort him back to his village.

[00:08:00] Thusnelda wants to leave with Folkwin, but he has a different plan. He knew they needed to convince Kunolf and his men to become their allies. Thusnelda is skeptical; Kunolf tried to sell him to the Romans a few nights ago. He told her that Kunolf would agree to his plan once she talked to him because everyone in Kunolf’s village thinks Thusnelda is a seer. He told Thusnelda the Bructeris only believed in two things: gold and faith. Kunolf won’t dare hurt Thusnelda as his people have too much faith in the gods. They gather all the resources they can find and head back to Kunolf’s village. They took all the armor, weapons, and gold they could salvage from the corpses of Arminius’ men, placed everything on the horses, and rode off.

[00:10:00] Arminius returns to the Roman fort to face Varus. He places Eigil’s head on his table, thinking he could now go back to Rome. Varus is proud of Arminius’ achievements. He tells one of his men to place Eigil’s head on a spear for everyone to see, thinking it’s Folkwin. Arminius told Varus he would bring honor to his name in Rome, but Varus responds, “You are not going back to Rome.” Varus tells Arminius that he already has achieved everything he could in Rome. Arminius is a barbarian, so Rome wouldn’t allow him to succeed any further. He needs to stay in Germania. Varus reveals his plan to have Arminius replace Segimer as reik. Arminius responds that Segimer is already the reik, but Varus tells him that Segimer already agreed to his plan.

[00:12:30] Segimer returns to his village and looks at his people for the last time. He recalls his story about the wolf to his sons. Segimer knew that his time had come, so he settled everything in his heart and went to a nearby lake. Meanwhile, Arminius rides to the village to save his father. He searches for Segimer, but he fails to find him. Segimer has already drowned himself in a nearby lake, ending his life. The next day, the oracle brought Segimer’s sword to the village. Everyone in the village knew what happened as the oracle left the sword in front of Segimer’s hut. Arminius mourns the loss of his father as he sits on the hilltop watching the sunset.

[00:17:00] Thusnelda tells Folkwin his plan won’t work, but he’s positive that everything will turn out fine. Thusnelda sees storm clouds on the horizon. Folkwin wants to rush towards the village, but Thusnelda has other plans. Arminius returns to the fort where Eigil’s head is still on display. He faces the confusion in his heart as he remembers Varus’ words the other night. He thought Varus cared for him as his son, but he raised him only to conquer Germania. Varus told Arminius that he was born a barbarian, which will never change. So he stays in Germania to serve Rome as a reik. In his anger, Arminius destroys his altar of Mars. One of the Roman soldiers came inside his tent, informing him that one of his men had survived. Arminius rushes to the infirmary to silence the soldier before anyone hears what happened.

[00:19:00] The Roman soldier recognizes Arminius. He struggles as Arminius places his hand over his mouth to prevent him from shouting. Arminius overpowers the soldier and snaps his neck. Talio was also inside the infirmary when Arminius killed his soldier. Talio saw everything, but Arminius couldn’t do anything because the doctor had already arrived only to tell him that the soldier was already dead. He orders another soldier to bury the remains with full honors. Talio became curious as to why Arminius killed his soldier.

[00:22:00] Thusnelda and Folkwin arrive at Kunolf’s village. Folkwin tries to talk things over with Kunolf, but he won’t listen to reason. Kunolf wants to know why they should let Folkwin live when they could gain his bounty along with all the things he brought them. Folkwin responds that they could have so much more if they become allies. They could take back their tributes and fight back at the same time. Kunolf didn’t want to listen to Folkwin. He would’ve killed Folkwin if Thusnelda wasn’t there with him. Thusnelda introduces herself to everyone. She used the incoming thunderstorm to fool Kunolf’s men. They didn’t want to incur the wrath of the gods, so they immediately had doubts about whether or not they were going to kill both of them.

[00:25:00] Kunolf doesn’t believe Thusnelda has the power to talk to gods. He told his men that Thusnelda is a mere bitch who’s trying to fool them. Folkwin saw the opportunity and attacked Kunolf. He kills him. No one could move because they feared Thusnelda’s so-called powers as a seer. Thusnelda took her acting to the next level—she carved out Kunolf’s heart and pretended to be a seer. She told everyone she saw them in her dreams then placed markings on their foreheads using Kunolf’s blood. Thusnelda and Folkwin talked things over as everyone slept. He almost believed her acting, so she reminded him that he doesn’t believe in the gods. Everything changed when he lost his family, Folkwin responds.

[00:28:00] Talio visits Arminius as he prepares to take over Segimer’s village. Talio told Arminius that he told no one about what happened in the infirmary. Arminius dressed as a barbarian, then Varus arrived to see him off. He noticed Arminius was dressed like a barbarian. He told Varus he needs to look like his people if he’s to become their new reik. Meanwhile, Segestes told the village that they needed a new Reik. He went over to Segimer’s hut and took his sword. Segestes told Irmina he would one day win the hearts of the other villagers. She couldn’t help but wonder why Segimer committed suicide. Segimer lost hope and decided to quit, Segestes responds, but Irmina knew otherwise.

[00:31:30] Arminius rode towards the village with Talio. They camped out for the night, where Talio finally talked with Arminius. Arminius tells him that Romans only pretend to be their friends, but domination is all they want. He suggests they fight the Romans instead. That night, Segestes holds a tribute for Segimer. He assures the village people he will keep the peace between them and the Romans and ensure everyone gets enough food for their families. The people were skeptical, but Segestes already had a plan. He told them he could negotiate their tributes with Varus, ensuring enough food and keeping the peace. The next day, Hadgan arrives with an ultimatum. He wants Thusnelda and will stop at nothing to obtain her. He threatens all the women in the village and starts with Irmina.

[00:35:30] Hadgan plans to kill one woman in the village for each passing day he doesn’t have Thusnelda. Hadgan is about to kill Irmina, but Arminius arrives with Talio and his men. He tells Hadgan to leave because the village of Cherusci is under Roman protection. Hadgan didn’t want Rome as his enemy, so he didn’t have any choice but to leave. Segestes introduces Arminius to the village people and tells them that Arminius is proof of his friendship with Varus. But Segestes didn’t expect what Arminius would tell the people: that he is the son of Segimer and the new Reik of Cherusci. After taking over the village, Arminius asks Talio where his allegiance lies. He responds he needs to know more of Arminius’ plan before deciding.

[00:39:00] Arminius promised to tell Talio everything, but he needed him to find someone first. Talio heads over to Bructeri as a messenger of Cherusci. Arminius meets with Thusnelda and Folkwin to tell them he’s finally choosing their side. Folkwin doesn’t trust Arminius fully, so he asks him to provide his allegiance by helping ambush the Roman outpost. Arminius responds that they no longer need to take an outpost. They can go straight for Varus, but the Germanic people need to unite to have a chance against the Roman Legions. The villages are divided and fight amongst themselves, Folkwin told Arminius. They won’t unite against Rome, nor will they unite for him. Arminius knows the people believe in Thusnelda, and he’s sure they will unite for her, so he suggests marrying Thusnelda.

[00:43:00] Arminius’ suggestion angers Folkwin, which leads to a fistfight.