The King's Girls

Tone & Style: Propulsive historical action thriller filled with treachery, deceit, magic and mayhem. And while the tone is dark and menacing, there are many light moments of youthful bravado and endearing teenage love. The sweeping scope of GAME OF THRONES, the mystical magic of LORD OF THE RINGS, the wizardry and humor of HARRY POTTER and the visceral horror of HENRY V combine in a highly cinematic and gripping tale of murder, betrayal and revenge made even more powerful by its real historical setting, unique story world and its exciting mix of factual and fictional characters joined in an epic saga of courage, resilience, triumph and tragedy. Story Overview: Arthur was gone. A dark age fell across the land that lasted for centuries. All that was good was destroyed. Finally, a new age began to dawn. Three beautiful daughters were born to a noble King. As bold and brave as any knight and as quick with the bow as any archer in the realm. Never did a King have more worthy heirs. But evil lurked in the minds of men close to the throne. Treason and treachery were their meat and drink and their thirst for power was unquenchable. As the traitors prepared their feast of villainy, they thought the girls would easily be cowed and swept aside. But these were The King’s Girls, and their legend would soon burn as brightly as a comet across the sky. PART ONE: TO KILL THE KING EPISODES 1 & 2: 1199 A.D. After centuries bloodshed, England is finally at peace. But evil lurks close to the throne. Prince John and his allies plot to seize the crown and if they can find a way to kill Richard that doesn’t point to them, they’re certain Val and her sisters can be swept aside. At a wild boar hunt where the girls learn the valuable lessons to stick together and not get trapped, they reluctantly attend a royal reception designed to find them husbands, which they don’t want. It’s a comical affair and as Luc and Trix make monkeys of their European suitors, Val makes an alliance with William Percy, the handsome young Earl from Yorkshire, swearing a vow of friendship that can never be broken. Meanwhile, John tells Buckingham, Gisbourne and the Archbishop of his plan to use Excalibur to unlock Stonehenge, where Mordred and Morgan Le Fay have been imprisoned for 500 years. The conspirators are aghast at the unthinkable consequences, but John is adamant. He steals Excalibur and makes a deal with Mordred and Morgan: their freedom plus half the kingdom in exchange for killing Richard with dark sorcery. That night Richard is murdered in his sleep, leaving no trace of who did it or how. The girls are shattered. Val suspects John, but he and his cohorts have a strong alibi. The girls retreat to their room to mourn and suddenly find themselves locked in. Remembering the lessons from the boar hunt and fearing they’ll be next, the girls escape and go on the run. John uses their flight as evidence of guilt, deftly turns the court against them and sends Spalding and his posse to track them down and bury their bodies deep. The girls hide in a convent where the nuns cut their long ginger hair short and dye it black, a brilliant deception that fools Spalding’s posse. Brother Julian carts the girls away hidden in empty barrels to their godfather Suffolk’s estate, where they relate Richard’s murder and the false accusation against them. Suffolk vows revenge but Val urges him to temper his anger, go to the castle and learn all he can about John’s plans. Thomas gives the girls blankets and small arms and the girls head off on foot, hoping to reach William in Yorkshire hundreds of miles away. The girls reach a village in the Midlands where a new cathedral is being built. Desperate for food and shelter, they pass themselves off as boys and con Simon into joining the crew mixing mortar. Spalding’s posse soon arrives and threatens everyone, offering 10 gold coins reward. Simon realizes the boys are the girls they’re looking for and demands the truth, which the girls reveal. Simon and Peter swear allegiance to their rightful Queen, Peter disguises them in monk’s robes and the girls head off for Yorkshire. Meanwhile, William and Andrew Morton are desperately searching for the girls, crisscrossing paths with Spalding’s posse and both coming up dry. John forgot to lock Stonehenge prison and Mordred and Morgan are on the loose, eager to get their hands on Excalibur and take the kingdom for themselves. Sensing the danger, Merlin whisks the girls off to The Shadow World where they can train with the Knights and be safe from harm. The girls grow strong and learn battlefield strategy and tactics and after a year, they’re ready to return and fight for the crown. But before they go, Merlin uses his crystal ball to show them exactly how John enlisted Morgan to kill their father. Hardened and tough and ready to lead, the girls team up with Robin Hood and his Merry Men. At the Nottingham archery tournament with John, Buckingham, Gisbourne and Spalding in attendance, the girls reveal themselves and the crowd goes wild. Val beheads Spalding and challenges John to meet at Lincoln to decide who wears the crown. Word spreads like wildfire. The people rise up. William, Andrew, Suffolk and Simon are shocked the girls are still alive and gather their forces and as Val reunites with William, Luc hooks up with Andrew and the armies march to Lincoln. John’s army outnumbers Val’s 4-to-1 and includes 100 knights. But the girls have learned strategy and tactics, Simon’s men have brought their wheels and pulleys and Robin is the trickiest man alive. In the most shocking battle to ever unfold, John’s army is slaughtered and John flees the field. The girls have triumphed and the kingdom is theirs. Suddenly the sun darkens and Mordred and Morgan appear like mountains in the sky, claiming England for themselves. The battle for the crown has only begun. PART TWO: GAME OF SHADOWS EPISODES 3 & 4: Val, Luc, Trix and William, Andrew, Suffolk, Thomas, Will Scarlet and the Master, all smeared with blood from the carnage at Lincoln, race after John. But John has a big head start. He reaches the castle first, steals Excalibur again and flees in panic. The stakes have never been higher. If Mordred and Morgan get hold of Excalibur, both England and The Shadow World are doomed. Val, Trix, Suffolk and Will ride off to find John; William, Andrew and Thomas head north to gather the army and bring it to Simon’s cathedral; and Luc, who learned wizardry from her year in The Shadow World, goes back to warn Merlin about Excalibur. John reaches Canterbury and demands sanctuary from the Archbishop, fearing both Val’s and Mordred’s wrath. The Archbishop is terrified and sends John to a remote monastery where he can hide. Val and Suffolk anticipate John’s move and accuse the Archbishop of hiding John, which he falsely denies. He dismisses Val’s claim to the throne and after a heated argument, Val beats the Archbishop senseless and has to be dragged off. William, Andrew and Thomas have a picaresque journey and reach the army at Nottingham. Many are recovering from wounds and unable to travel, so Robin and Little John leave Tuck in charge of a small garrison and march the bulk of the army to Simon’s cathedral to protect it from attack. Mordred and Morgan reach their old castle in Wales, crumbled and decrepit from centuries of neglect. Morgan returns it to glory with a wave of her hand and as she and Mordred make their evil plans, they decide to infect Val’s mind and drive her mad. Tormented by the Archbishop’s refusal, Val paces the castle battlements like Hamlet, longing for her father’s guidance. Suddenly Richard’s ghost appears, blames Suffolk and her sisters for murdering him and demands Val’s vengeance. That night Val suffers horrible nightmares and the next morning she attacks Suffolk, Trix, Will and The Master like a wild animal. Barely able to subdue her, they chain Val to her bed and call out to Merlin for help. Merlin knows Val’s sudden madness is the first move in the Game of Shadows, the final battle between darkness and light. Lancelot tells all the knights to gather their armies and prepare for war as Merlin summons Nimue, whose magical healing powers are Val’s only hope. Nimue cleanses Val’s mind and when she’s well again, they decide to return Morgan’s “clever jest” with one of their own. Hidden under Harry Potter-like invisibility cloaks, the girls transport to Mordred’s castle, steal their crystal ball and barely make it our alive. Infuriated, Morgan and Mordred double down and raise from the dead a ghoulish army of Saxons, Vikings, Barbarians and Roman legionnaires and give them a mission: destroy Val’s army. John arrives as the monastery disguised as a commoner with Excalibur shrouded in black velvet. To our surprise and delight, Brother Julian opens the door, recognizes John and beckons him in. Julian soon departs on his wine deliveries and heads for the castle to tell Val. Suffolk and Will capture John and Excalibur and when they return to the castle, Val throws John in the dungeon and sheathes Excalibur, vowing to keep it with her until she is Queen. The Armies of the Dead launch their assaults. Fifty revenant Saxons attack Nottingham but are slaughtered by Tuck and his men. William’s army is still on the outskirts as 50 ghoulish Vikings storm in and kill Simon and half his workers before William, Andrew, Robin and their men come to the rescue. Fifty desiccated Barbarians storm the castle and find only The Master, leaning on his sword. Suddenly Val, Luc and Trix rise from the battlements speed shooting arrows and kill half the Barbarians as The Master slaughters the rest. Suddenly Nimue shows them what happened at Nottingham and the cathedral through Morgan’s stolen crystal ball. Fearing a larger attack, Nimue magically sends everyone to the cathedral to prepare. An entire Roman legion of 5000 men appears marching in close ranks. Andrew panics, but William remembers Hannibal’s tactics at Cannae and deploys his men. Suddenly Luc grabs Trix and vanishes into The Shadow World. The battle explodes and as William’s forces encircle the Romans, Luc, Trix and Merlin appear flying dragons and vaporize half the Romans with dragon fire, turning the tide and winning the day. Val has won yet another impossible victory. Suddenly Mordred and Morgan appear in the sky and unleash a tornadic downdraft that rips Excalibur from Val’s hand. With Excalibur now his, Mordred announces The Shadow World is under attack and both realms will soon fall. Merlin and Nimue race home. But the girls know this is their fight too and as long as Mordred is alive, England will never be safe. Ignoring the pleas of their lovers and allies, the girls vanish to The Shadow World. The Apocalypse rages as the armies of heaven and hell fight for The Shadow World. Nimue sees Mordred and Morgan watching the battle from a mountaintop with victory in their grasp. Merlin gives Val the legendary broadsword Clarent, the only sword that can defeat Excalibur and the girls plunge into the fight, grab Lancelot, Galahad and Gawain and race up the mountain. The knights battle a platoon of ghoulish guards as the girls make it to the top and confront Mordred and Morgan face to face: Val with Clarent, Luc with her wand, Trix with her bow and quiver, Mordred with Excalibur and Morgan with her deadly powers. A vicious fight to the death explodes and one by one, everyone is killed, with Val the last to fall. The Apocalypse ends and the heartbroken knights carry the girls’ bodies down the mountain, where they’re clothed in knights’ tunics and laid to rest in a chapel with the inscription “Here Lie The Bravest Knights Of All.” The girls’ lovers and allies are shattered and in a heartbreaking epilogue, we trace the sad endings of William, Andrew, Suffolk, Robin, Tuck, Little John, Will Scarlet, The Master and Julian, who never recovered from the girls' deaths. We move ahead to 1250. Much has been forgotten and few are alive who remember the girls’ valiant deeds. The cathedral has finally been finished as Peter, now 70, who completed his father’s work, stands with his lifelong friend Thomas, also 70 and now the Duke of Suffolk. They go inside the magnificent church and Peter reveals a surprise: a towering stained glass window capturing the girls in all their glory, gazing down with pride upon the realm they fought so valiantly to protect.