THE ROOT OF BITTERNESS

Upon King Frederic consolidating the capital, he got into a fix as he was not quite sure of the outcome of what Williams has done. The misfortunes that Frederic had incurred together with the emerging appreciation of Williams’ prowess in the art of war were enough to indicate that the kingdom was indeed a soft target. In the scene where, for example, Henry mocks Archie and offers to bring Williams back to work to scandalize Frederic who was divided and did not know whether to punish his son or to take revenge.


Frederic to agree to reinstate Williams was going to be difficult at best, Henry, ever the strategic thinker knew. He went to the king putting forward a number of logical steps, stressing the rationality of the decision and the possibility of the king’s empire strengthening. “My Lord,” said Henry, “the last fight we had proved that our tactics, both in defense and attack, are vulnerable, Williams has proved that he is a leader and gathered materials that would help replace the destroyed army and strengthen our kingdom.”


Henry also pointed out that, Williams’ return could help end internal crisis in the royal family and is also a pointer to foes that no amount of betrayal could divide it. He said that in the given context reconciliation might be an advantage as opposed to a liability. Slowly and gradually, Henry was conditioning Frederic’s mind to change his decision, to think of the benefits of having a sound kingdom and being ready to fight any invader than wanting to take vengeance from Henry.

As their discussions continued, Henry revealed a critical piece of information: Williams revealed to him of his desire to overthrow Frederic and become the king with Henry as his shortest. This added another layer to the issue, although the audience never learns Henry’s true intentions, he wanted Frederic to bring Williams back to the company only to benefit himself.

Finally, Frederic agreed to invite Williams back to the kingdom because he wanted to achieve good results and to oppose adversative influences. But as the plan to return Williams back to his position was being arranged, there was a twist. As can be seen while Frederic was still celebrating his victory over Williams was already planning his next move in secret. In the final analysis, he was not interested in going back to the kingdom and assuming the throne, but power through regicide by eliminating his father under the guise of establishing harmonious relations. This was in a plan that Williams had laid and at this time he was ready to start his operation once he had been officially readmitted into the kingdom.