I carry out the will of God
not the designs of the Tsar
Listen
Ever since l was a child
The boyars showed their hatred
of the Grand Duke of Moscow
After my father's death
My mother was killed
They have poisoned me!
Ah!... I am dying!
My son!
They have killed me!
Watch out for poison!
Beware of the boyars!
Elena Glinskaya is dead
That's how I came to be an
orphan, alone and abandoned
whilst the boyars governed
in my name and
handed over Russian territory
to foreign enslavement
Ivan Vasilievich, Grand Duke
of Moscow
has graciously ratified
a commercial treaty
and agrees to pay duties for the
transit of goods via the Baltic
to the great Hanseatic League
of the German merchant towns
The Grand Duke of Moscow
has reconsidered his decision
He has concluded the treaty with
the Order of Livonian Knights
Someone has certainly been
lining Shuisky's pockets
The Hansa!
It was the Boyar Council's
decision
The Grand Duke is free to annul
the council's decisions
But he has pledged his word
The Grand Duke is the sole
arbiter of his word
He gives it or rescinds it
as he pleases
It is the Grand Duke's will
which constitutes the law
But the will of the Grand Duke
is to conclude a treaty
with the Hansa
The Grand Duke's will
is to concede the privileges
to the Livonian Order
The Grand Duke's will is law!
We must pay the Hansa!
No, we'll pay the Livonians!
The Hansa will be more
profitable to the State!
You mean more profitable
to yourself!
And you have been bribed
by the Livonians!
The money must go to the Hansa!
We'll pay the Livonians
We will pay no one!
We're not obliged to pay
The coastal towns were built
by our ancestors
Those lands are our inheritance:
they must be returned to Moscow
Who would be fool enough
to give them back?
Anything that falls off the back
of a wagon is lost
If they won't return them
voluntarily
we shall take them back by force
By force?
And where will we find
this force?
You have wasted
Russia's strength
it has been frittered away
by the boyars
O Lord! I'll die laughing
Take it off
Off, I say
Get off my mother's bed!
My mother, who was murdered
by you, you dogs!
A dog, am I?
Well your mother was a bitch
She used to sleep with that dog
Telepnev
No one even knows who your
father was!
Race of dogs!
Seize him!
Seize him!
The leading boyar handed over
to the kennelmen!
I shall reign alone!
Without the boyars!
I will be Tsar!
Now... I hold great power
The people support me
My personal guard form
an iron ring around me
My enemies are kept at bay
But I have no close friends
God refuses me the sweet
consolations of friendship
On whose shoulders can I rest
my head?
With whom can I share my joys
and sorrows?
I am alone, abandoned
I had a single close friend-
Anastasia
She has left me
I had a friend, Kurbsky
He has betrayed me
No, not just myself...
but our great cause
I don't fear the trouble-makers
I don't fear the sword, poison
or betrayal
I fear not for myself
But I tremble for our great
cause
A new cause, on which one had
hardly embarked
There is no higher destiny
than to reign
according to ancient traditions
As our ancestors did.
Pay heed to the boyars
Share your authority with them
You lie, monk!
These are old wives' tales!
You reject the counsel of
your spiritual guide? Very well!
Remain alone!
Condemned, accursed...
and alone!
It is no longer the Tsar
who pleads with you
but a friend crushed by
the burden of authority
Don't leave me in my isolation.
Stay with me
Help me to re-establish
Russian power
And for this accept
the office
of Metropolitan
Bishop of Moscow
Will you allow me the right
to plead
in favor of those you accuse?
I never accuse the innocent
Wait!
Very well. It shall be
as you say
Why give the bishop
such power over you?
Why let yourself be humiliated
by an ignorant priest?
None of your business,