Troy Page #17

Two TROJAN SOLDIERS try to intercept Ajax. The mighty

Greek swings his huge battle axe. The blade cuts clean

through the first soldier's arm and halfway through his

torso.

The second soldier hacks at Ajax but the big man blocks

the sword with his shield and then uses the shield to ram

the soldier's face. Blood sprays from the Trojan's

crushed skull. Both soldiers fall dead to the ground.

Hector, battling a Greek INFANTRYMAN, doesn't see Ajax

coming. Ajax grabs Hector's horse's bridle and tugs hard,

the veins in his arms bulging beneath the skin.

(CONTINUED)

92.

98 CONTINUED:
98

The horse tries to buck but Ajax twists the horse's head

till it falls. Hector falls with the horse, tumbling to

the dirt. The Greek infantryman he had been fighting

stabs at him.

Hector rolls away and manages -- while flat on his back

-- to swing his sword, chopping off the infantryman's feet

just above the ankles. The infantryman screams and falls.

Ajax releases the horse, raises his axe, and swings at the

fallen Hector. The prince gets his shield up just in

time. Ajax's axe cleaves through the shield, splitting

the bronze into two even halves.

Hector stares at the halved shield, discards it, and jumps

to his feet. The two fighters circle each other while

thousands of soldiers around them battle to the death.

AJAX:

So you're the best of the Trojans?

Hector, looking for an opening in the brute's defenses,

says nothing. Ajax charges, swinging his battle axe.

Hector ducks below the axe and lunges forward with his

sword, but Ajax -- quick despite his size -- sidesteps,

grabs the smaller man in a bear hug and squeezes.

Hector turns red. The sword falls from Hector's hand.

Ajax grins.

Hector slams his helmeted head forward, butting Ajax in

the face. Ajax staggers back, blood spraying from his

nose, his axe falling to the ground.

Hector struggles to regain his equilibrium. Ajax growls

and launches himself at the prince.

Hector snatches a spear off the ground and positions it

just as Ajax dives at him. The spear pierces Ajax's

armor, driving through his belly and out his back. Hector

holds the shaft steady. Ajax stares down at his wound.

He seems more irritated than anything else.

Ajax places his two big hands on the spear shaft, right

where the spear enters his body. He breaks the spear in

two, snapping the solid wood like a twig.

Half a spear still sticking out his back, Ajax swings the

shaft, clobbering Hector in the side of the head, sending

the horsehair-plumed helmet flying.

(CONTINUED)

93.

98 CONTINUED:
(2) 98

Hector, dazed, falls to one knee. Ajax whacks him again

on the back of his neck. Hector crawls forward blindly.

His hands brush over the blade of his dropped sword.

Hector springs up, driving his sword into Ajax's gut, just

below the big man's breast plate. Hector withdraws his

sword. Both men see the ground drenched with Ajax's

blood.

Ajax backhands Hector with the broken spear shaft,

cracking the prince in the jaw and dropping him again.

Ajax grabs Hector, hoists him upright and begins

throttling the prince. Ajax spits a great wad of blood

and smiles, teeth washed red.

Hector tries to kick at Ajax, but Ajax's thumbs dig deeper

and deeper into Hector's throat. Hector's eyelids begin

to flutter as he chokes.

But the Salamisian king has lost too much blood. He sinks

slowly to his knees. Hector is forced to his knees as

well.

Finally Ajax's eyes roll back. He topples onto Hector,

hands still locked on the prince's throat. Hector undoes

the death grip. He squirms out from under Ajax's corpse

and stands.

99 EXT. BLUFF - CONTINUOUS 99

Patroclus and the Myrmidons watch Ajax fall with

disbelief. Achilles cannot bear to watch any longer. He

walks away. None of his men dare look at him.

100 EXT. BATTLEFIELD - DAY 100

The Trojans are routing the Greeks. With two of their

kings already fallen, the Greek force is in disarray.

Odysseus sees Agamemnon speeding by on his chariot.

Odysseus runs and manages to leap onto the chariot. The

two kings shout at each other above the commotion of

battle.

ODYSSEUS:

We need to retreat!

Agamemnon surveys the battlefield and his battered forces.

(CONTINUED)

94.

100 CONTINUED:
100

AGAMEMNON:

My army has never lost a battle.

ODYSSEUS:

If we don't fall back you won't

have an army!

Agamemnon seems dazed by the turn of events. Finally

Odysseus hollers to whichever CAPTAINS can hear his voice.

ODYSSEUS:

Back to the ships! Back to the

ships!

The captains take up this cry, shouting orders to their

men.

The Greeks retreat. The Trojan soldiers give a mighty

shout as they pursue their enemies.

101 EXT. WALLS OF TROY 101

The people cheer. Nobles and commoners embrace as

brothers.

102 EXT. BATTLEFIELD 102

Hector, still on foot, leads his men as they chase down

the fleeing Greeks. Several thousand Greeks have fallen.

103 EXT. BEACH ENCAMPMENT 103

The Greeks get back to their trenches, the bulk of the

force still intact. ARCHERS in the Greek rear guard,

manning the trenches, now raise their bows and prepare to

fire.

Hector, eager to avoid the mistakes his Greek counterparts

made earlier, holds up his hands and BELLOWS to the

troops.

HECTOR:

Halt!

The Trojan army stops just outside the Greek archers'

range. Lysander, the Trojan captain, stands beside

Hector.

(CONTINUED)

95.

103 CONTINUED:
103

LYSANDER:

We have them on the run, my prince.

HECTOR:

We're almost in range of their

archers. You saw what our arrows

did to them.

(beat)

Have the men gather our fallen.

When they're done, send an emissary

to the Greeks. They can collect

their dead without fear of assault.

LYSANDER:

Would they have done the same for us?

HECTOR:

Of course not. That's why Troy is

worth defending.

Hector turns and heads back to the white city.

104 EXT. BATTLEFIELD - LATER 104

Thousands of BODIES litter the broad field. We see them

first from high above, their bronze armor gleaming in the

failing sunlight. CLOSE on several of the dead men's

faces.

The living haul the dead from the battlefield. HORSES

are used to pull wagonloads of bodies.

Fathers or sons or brothers or friends say their goodbyes

and wash the dead men with washcloths and buckets of

water.

The sun sinks into the ocean. Both sides build funeral

pyres for their fallen. When a body is loaded onto the

pyre, a relative or friend places two COINS on the dead

man's eyes.

Dozens of SALAMISIANS view Ajax's body. They weep as they

pass by, each man kneeling to kiss their fallen king's

hand.

104A EXT. BATTLEFIELD - FUNERAL PYRESS 104A

Agamemnon stands before the body of Menelaus.

(CONTINUED)

96.

104A CONTINUED:
104A

He places two coins on Menelaus's eyes. He steps down

from the pyre, accepts a torch from a CAPTAIN, and sets

the pyre on fire.

AGAMEMNON:

I will burn their city before I

Rate this script:3.7 / 9 votes