The executioner's blade is the bloodiest sword of them all.
A medieval TV series set in early 14th century Wales, airing in 2015. Wilkin Brattle, a knight in the army of King Edward I of England, is broken by the horrors of war and betrayed by a fellow Englishman's lust for power who leaves him for dead. Near death, a child apparition implores him to lay down his sword and follow a new path. But when violence finds him again, he is forced to pick up the bloodiest sword of all: an executioner's sword as well as a whole new identity. The plot partially involves the fallout from the Madog ap Llywelyn Welsh rebellion.
An FX series original from Kurt Sutter, creator of Sons of Anarchy.
Tropes:
- Bloodier and Gorier: Sons of Anarchy wasn't tame by any measure, but The Bastard Executioner decides to see just how violent the TV-MA rating will go.
- Cain and Abel: Milus has his brother killed with a legal technicality.
- Christianity is Catholic: Justified. The setting is in 14th century Wales. The Protestant Reformation happened in 16th century.
- The Conspiracy: The descendants of the Roman Legionaries who hung Christ from the cross. As it turns out, they and not St. Peter founded the Catholic Church and even worse made up the idea of Christ being the Son of God. Christ really was just a man, but his movement was such that it was taken advantage of so these men and their families could try to take over the world.
- The Corrupter: Miles seems to really love making Brattle do things that he finds morally wrong.
- Dead Person Impersonation: What Wilken ends up doing to the late Executioner.
- Depraved Bisexual:
- Milus Corbet likes both men and women.
- Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall also partakes of both.
- Disproportionate Revenge: The Baron's response to Welsh vigilantes humiliating his tax collectors? Kill all of their families.
- Doomed Hometown: Wilken's adopted village once they figure out the vigilantes are operating from there.
- French Jerk: The Earl of Cornwall has a ridiculously thick french accent and he is an utter Jerkass to every single character he interacts with who is not the king.
- Gorn: There have been comparisons to Game of Thrones, of all things.
- Historical Fantasy/Low Fantasy: Brattles visions and Allora being a bit more than just an old woman with some healing skills.
- Kick the Dog: The Baron and Milius do this a RIDICULOUS number of times in the pilot.
- The Mole: The twins are really working for Gaveston.
- Nice Guy: Despite being a punisher and a knight before that, Brattle is a pretty nice guy, especially when compared to the man whose life he took over.
- No Periods, Period: Averted. It's a plot point in one of the episodes.
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge: What Wilken does after the Baron kills his family.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: The Baroness tries to be this, after the Baron's death, but when she's not being discounted for being a woman or the land holder of a somewhat worthless land, her own chamberlain is undermining her authority. It also doesn't help that her people see her as a traitor for being connected to the English.
- Sherlock Scan: The Baroness proves pretty adapt at this when she figures out where a prisoner came from just by looking at their clothes.
- Smug Snake: The Earl of Cornwall oozes smugness every second he is on screen.
- Starter Villain: The Baron turns out to be this.
- Take That!: A rather crass one where Milus has sex with a young man who looks like Game of Thrones Jon Snow from behind.
- And that's not the end of it, either. To really drive the point home, Milus savagely beats him a few episodes later.
- Twincest: Not long after they're introduced, Ramona and Clara are shown sleeping with each other. They also have a threesome with Lord Gaveston, who turns out to be their half-brother.
- Uriah Gambit: What the Baron and Milius planned to do to Wilken before the series began.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Annora of the Alders sounds like she's doing a bad impression of a movie Romani fortuneteller.
- She sounds strikingly similar to Granny Garbanzo.
- Whole-Plot Reference: The Bastard Execution's opening plot is basically a retelling of Robin Hood. It then swerves into its own thing, and then straight into The Da Vinci Code.
