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, dog!
I know I am a dog...
but a faithful dog.
You are wrong, Tsar,
to prefer a priest to a dog.
I know, you want friendship.
You languish without friendship.
For friendship you are ready
to bow at his feet.
Do you not see that Philip
has only one idea,
to conceal your enemies
under his own skirts?
A friend, eh?
He's hardly worth more than Kurbsky!
You dare pronounce that name.
Ah! I know you love Kurbsky!
It's not his treachery which wounds you.
It's the loss of a friend!
You don't sleep at night!
Hold your tongue, dog!
You don't show any gratitude or affection
to those who are loyal to you,
who'd give their lives for you,
who carry the weight of your power
on their strong shoulders.
My power is carried
by the shoulders of the people
and their will is my strength.
I hear the voice of God through them
and I carry out His holy designs.
Tsar, I beg you,
don't let the priest do as he pleases.
Don't trust anyone.
You hold the power. Use it!
I understand.
You've given your word to the priest.
You've made him promises.
You can't go back on your word.
I understand.
So we must see
that the Tsar's word is respected
and wipe out the traitors too.
It's just going back on your word
that worries you, isn't it?
There is a way out... use a cat's paw.
No, a red-headed dog, me, Malyuta.
I'll take the Tsar's sins on my shoulders.
I'll give my soul for the Tsar.
I'll go to hell if need be,
but I'll keep the Tsar's word.
What does the hound do
when the game tries to go to earth?
Flies straight as an arrow to the lair.
He outwits it... heads it off,
outruns it.
Outstrip the priest?
Is that what you're suggesting?
So he won't have time to double back?
You'd give your soul for the Tsar!
Eh, dog?
You complain the Tsar doesn't spoil you?
Be off with you!
Do what you have to do.
By God's will, be judge and executioner.
And to outstrip the priest,
we'll start on some of his
distant relatives, the Kolychevs.
Kolychevs are untamed,
but we'll tame them!
By what right do you set yourself
as a judge, Tsar Ivan?
By what right do you wield
the sword of justice?
Let me not drink of this cup.
You cannot avoid it...
Even though some cups contain poison!
The cup?
The goblet.
They poisoned her!
They poisoned my sweetheart!
Who gave the fatal goblet to the Tsarina?
She received it from my own hands!
And who gave it to you?
Efrosinia!
Efrosinia?
Is it possible?
The Tsar's aunt?
My own blood relation?
Silence!
Not a word of your suspicions to anyone
until I have ferreted out the truth.
Come!
In the name of the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost.
Our Sovereign Ivan Vasilievich,
Tsar and Grand Duke of all the Russias,
has pronounced these boyars
of the Kolychev family to be traitors.
The aforementioned boyars
having been in communication
with the king of Poland,
with the aim
of submitting to foreign domination.
Ivan Vasilievich,
Tsar of all the Russias,
has condemned them to be beheaded
for high treason.
Too few!
By God's power invested in you,
bring the Tsar to heel.
I charge