will be for services
to the State
But those who dishonor
themselves on the battlefield
will lose everything!
You go too far, Tsar Ivan!
Bad news
The Russian troops at Revel
have been beaten
Kurbsky is beaten
Kurbsky?
Could he have betrayed us?
God be my salvation
for the waters are come in
unto my soul
I sink beneath the deep waters
where nothing can save me
I am in the depths
of the flood
and its current bears me away
I no longer have the strength
to groan
My tongue is dry,
my eyes no longer see
Prince Ivan Mikhailovich Shuisky
has fled to Livonia
Prince Ivan Vasilievich
Sheremetyev
was captured in flight. Boyar
Tugoi Luk-Suzdalsky has fled
to Livonia
Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs
on my head
Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky
has fled
Prince Ivan Ivanovich Turuntai-
Pronsky has been recaptured
arrested and brought to Moscow
Have I done wrong?
Is it God's punishment?
I have become a stranger unto
my brethren
and without significance
to the sons of my own mother
Am I right in my heavy struggle?
Great Sovereign, Kurbsky has
fled to King Sigismund
What? My friend, Kurbsky?
What have I done to him?
What more could he have wanted?
Or could it be... that he
coveted my crown?
Taking advantage of the defeat
in the Baltic States
the boyars are rousing
the people against you
Shame has eaten into my heart
and I am full of weariness
I have looked for mercy...
but it has not been granted me
I have sought consolation
but without finding it
You lie!
The Tsar of Moscow has not yet
been brought to heel!
You are few!
Send for my last and only
remaining faithful friend
Fyodor Kolychev
He is praying for us in the
far-off Solovyets monastery
Tsar, do not trust
Boyar Kolychev
Surround yourself with new men
who have sprung from the people
and who owe you everything
With them, forge about you
an iron ring
a circle of spears
pointing towards the enemy
Choose men who will renounce
everything
who will deny father and mother
to serve only the Tsar
and the dictates of his will
The first link of the iron ring
will be my son
To these noble ends I donate
my only son!
With these men alone you will
be able to retain power
break the boyars
You are right, Alyoshka! I shall
bind myself about with iron
We will form a brotherhood
of iron
Outside the brotherhood
we will trust no one
I shall be an iron leader
I shall leave Moscow
and withdraw
to the hamlet of Alexandrov!
You will take Moscow by assault!
You will return to Moscow
as a conqueror
No, it is not as a soldier
I will return
not as a soldier
but summoned by the entire
populace
Don't rely on the people
Don't listen to beggars...
don't trust vagabonds
You are getting above yourself,
cur!
You presume to instruct
the Tsar!
By the people's summons...
I shall gain limitless power
It will be like a new coronation
enabling me relentlessly
to consummate my great task!
What do you say?
You are right!
The call of the people will
express God's will
I shall accept the sword of
vengeance from God's hand
I shall accomplish great things
Two Romes have fallen.
Moscow is the third
She will stand firm, for
there will never be a fourth!
'These princes and boyars have
amassed great wealth
'but not a thought do they spare
for the Tsar
'or the State, and they are
even indifferent to religion
'since they refuse to defend
themselves against our enemies
'the Tartars, the Livonians,
the Germans
'and oppress the people
'This is why the Tsar,
Sovereign and Grand Duke
'is abandoning the State
'and Moscow, the capital
'But the Tsar bears no malice
against the citizens
'shopkeepers and orthodox
Christians of Moscow
'and in no way holds them
responsible'
As for those good Christians
who don't side with
the boyar princes
or the well-known families,
and are of humble origin
and ready to serve the Tsar
faithfully
the Tsar summons them to join
his