Tower of London

1

The Tower of London.

A monument of the corruption

of the soul,

where in the shadowed past,

a man gained

the throne of England,

despite the insane ambition

that drove him to evil

and murder.

He escaped the headsman's block,

but he could never escape

the ghosts of his conscience.

It is the night of April 9th

in the year 1483.

The night that Edward IV,

King of England,

will die.

Rumors that the King

is on his death bed

have filled London,

and the people await the booming

of the cannon on the battlements,

for this will be the signal

that Edward IV is no more.

Anne.

Richard.

Buckingham, dear Buckingham.

My brother still lives?

Death is very close.

You'd best hurry.

My sons...

Where are they?

Your Majesty, you must not!

Where are they?

I must talk to them.

Richard.

Edward.

You bear my name, my son.

You will wear my crown.

- Father...

- No, let me speak while I can.

You are very young.

I leave you a land

filled with trouble.

Richard.

Sire.

England has been cursed

by wars, Richard.

And you have been my right arm.

What I have done, Edward,

I have done for you and England.

Now we must have peace, Richard,

not torment for this child,

who will soon sit in my throne.

Clarence!

You raced death and won.

- A good omen, is it not, Tyrus?

- Yes, Your Majesty.

Have I ever failed you

when you called?

This will be my final request,

Clarence.

My sons are now yours.

You will lead them

and guide them in the ways

that are best for England.

I name you Protector of the Realm.

Clarence, my dear brother.

Richard.

It's been too long

since last I saw you.

It is good

we three are together again.

Nothing should be important enough

to separate brothers.

You chose well

for the Protector, Edward.

In all of England, there is

no wiser man than Clarence.

Not the strongest, Richard,

but the wisest.

I wanted you to approve.

The King must rest.

We will go, Tyrus.

We'll summon you

if there's any change.

Richard, do you really approve?

Clarence and I

are your sons, Mother,

as well as Edward.

What is honor for one Plantagenet

is honor for all of the family.

And why should I not approve?

Mother.

Should we not have talked

in our own chambers, Richard?

Why down here?

Eh, the grieving of women

grates on my ears, Clarence.

I've been a soldier too long.

I've seen too many men die

and heard too many women weep.

Do you not want a woman

to weep for you?

One will.

One only, my wife Anne.

No others, man or woman,

will redden their eyes

for Richard Plantagenet.

You're wrong.

There are many who think you

the greatest man in England.

When we were children,

there was no such thing as death.

We were three brothers

who would exist forever.

If we could have known then

the roads we were to travel.

The years haven't changed you,

Richard.

Even as a child,

you thrilled to the swords,

the lances, the heat of combat.

To you, a battlefield possessed

a grand-sounding name only.

It was not a field where men

had cruelly shed their blood.

And you, the child of wisdom.

Eh, we were so different.

And yet our love for each other

was the same.

Well, that, at least,

will never change.

As long as we both shall live.

To battlefields and wisdom.

And to George, Duke of Clarence,

Protector of the Realm.

My task will be difficult, Richard.

Will you give me your loyalty,

Richard?

And your strength?

Ahh! Richard!

For the love of God!

Don't blame me, Clarence.

Blame Edward's choice.

Once I carried you like this

from a river

when I saved your life.

You see, Clarence?

The years have changed me.

Blood.

My brother's blood.

Blood washes away.

You're sure he's dead?

Yes.

He's dead.

It had to be done.

Yes.

- The wine cellar!

- The Duke of Clarence!

Buckingham, this blade,

the crest of the Woodvilles!

Richard, your brother is dead.

Murdered.

Murdered?

Clarence was a man

without enemies.

The blade bears a crest

you know well.

The Woodville crest?

You accuse my name?

You accuse your Queen?

I accuse only this dagger

and the hand that wielded it,

Your Majesty.

This will be a bitter moment

for Edward to take to his grave.

Come, Anne.

Not yet dead,

and already the vultures strike.

Elizabeth, was power

for your family so important?

Please, my husband, believe me,

I am innocent.

Your family murdered Clarence

to usurp the power from my son.

Edward, no!

But Richard still lives

to be Protector.

But he will see that my son rules

as a Plantagenet, Elizabeth,

not as a Woodville.

Is it what men do

that darkens the sky?

Or do the skies blacken

the souls of men?

And do I laugh to myself because

I am ambitious and would be a king?

Or do I laugh at myself?

A misshapen thing that traffics

with evil to gain a throne?

Do you seek an answer, Richard?

What?

Do you want the truth?

Or only words

to justify your evil?

Clarence, clear God, have you

come back from the grave?

Just long enough, Richard.

Clarence, you would have

ruined England!

A man of books

cannot fill a throne.

Nor can a murderer!

I had to do

what was right for England.

Right will be done, Richard,

or you will die.

All men die,

but not before I am king.

You will die in violence,

at the hand of a man already dead.

A ghost cannot kill me.

The King is dead.

And you would be king.

Clarence!

Is wine replacing blood

in your veins?

Anne! Clarence lives!

His body is already in the crypt!

His ghost, then, Anne!

My brother's ghost

was on the balcony!

He tried to kill me.

Is that what you want to believe?

Don't taunt me, Anne.

Don't taunt me. Not you!

A stone fell from the battlement.

It almost killed me!

Can you really believe

that a ghost could hurt you?

- It was an accident.

- No!

Clarence said

that I would die violently,

by the hands of a dead man!

A king makes his own destiny.

And you shall be king!

Yes...

I will be king.

You will be queen.

Go, then.

Pay your respects to Edward.

My oldest son is no more.

My boy...

He fulfilled his promise,

and he died.

The dreams of Clarence

died with him.

For him, nothing was fulfilled.

Oh, yes, there was.

He knew your love, Mother.

Because he was capable

of loving in return.

And you think I am not?

You think my affection

is as warped as my back?

Do not keep Edward waiting.

Good-bye, my brother.

I envy you your peace.

Blood?

Blood on his forehead!

See, there?

I see nothing.

What did appear, Richard?

Blood from your kiss?

The mark of Cain?

Blood? What blood?

If there is no blood,

then I do not see it.

Either a shadow, perhaps.

One brother dies...

One is murdered.

How did Clarence die?

As Cain slew Abel?

I brought this curse

upon our House

when my womb conceived you.

Better I should have died

at my labor

and never unleashed your evil

upon this earth.

You talk of evil?

You, who gave me deformity

in a twisted spine

and a withered arm?

Who possesses the greater evil,

my mother?

You, who made me this way,

or I, who have to bear it?

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