Emperor (Last Knights)



The Emperor is an antagonist of the 2015 movie "Last Knights". He is the ruler of the empire in which the movie takes place. Though not evil, his misplaced trust, his wrong decisions and his lack of empathy lead to the events of the film and the downfall of the Bartok house.

In the movie
When Lord Bartok assaults Geza Mott, the minister of the empire, Bartok is brought before the emperor to be judged. The Emperor listens to Bartoks reason's, but dissolves the Bartok clan and orders Bartok executed. When Commander Raiden objects, Mott states that noone has the right to question the emperor's decisions. The emperor then orders Raiden to take out the sentence, thereby forcing him to kill Bartok, who was like a father for Raiden. LAter, he meets with Mott and his First Councillor. He disagrees with Geza who wants Raiden executed but assures him that if Raiden tries to harm Geza he will be killed. After Mott leaves, the Councillor advises the emperor to stay away from the minister but the emperor claims that Mott’s ambition serves him well.

After the death of the first councilor, he and Mott are present at his wake. He reveales that the last advise the councilor gave him was to look at Mott’s dealings with the nobles. Nontheless, he appoints Mott new First Councillor and tasks him with a tax relief for all of his subjects but also makes sure that Mott’s new role makes an end to the bribes he demands from the noblemen and that he stops the hunt for Raiden.

After Mott’s death, the emperor states that he will not let the murder of his First Councillor go unanswered and asks himself how many family members of the conspirators he should kill for this insubordination. After being told that the smallfolk thinks of the knights as heroes and reminder of justice, his fellow lords advise him against judging them unjustly because that would turn anyone against him. Still determined to kill the families of everyone responsible, Auguste, who talked to Raiden before, is able to make a deal: Raiden will be executed for the murder of Mott but the other men stay unharmed.

While the knights are openly proclaimed as heroes, Raiden enters the royal castle. He meets the emperor in the snowy castle gardens where is executed.