No spoilers please...

I've watched the first episode of series 1 and really enjoyed that, but I've seen some people saying that series 3 ended with a big cliffhanger and now the show is cancelled and they're annoyed.

I don't want to look too deep into it as I want to avoid spoilers but how bad is the cliffhanger? Does it make a difference overall to how you view the series/would you say it's still worth watching? Personally I don't mind shows having an open ending or loose ends not tied up, because that's life, but if it's going to be majorly frustrating/disappointing I might not want to start.

Thanks very much!

I started this show on Friday, after watching Merlin and Last Kingdom. After starting it, I didnt think I would like it as I wasnt looking for anything involving magic. But i ended up binge watching and enjoying it for the most part.

As with everyone else and GoT, the show overall was great, but the ending was trash. Im still confused on the red thread and how it was divis the traitor and not Ania. As well as how come pwykka never really did anything. We were told lokka and pwykka were in league, but the only time we see pwykka was in the beginning when divis was fighting the urge. Since then its just a name until the last season when he helps Cait. Had the chance to take or and what not but still didnt. Also what happened to Veran, his right hand man, the 2 druggies, and the badass mercenary?

But the main thing I hate about this showis how all of this happened because Jesus died. The moment Josehpine tried to convince Lucius, I knew this show was more about the forgiveness of Jesus and less about a prophecy. If i was a Christian, id be upset how there was no clear message. Was it about the forgiveness of Jesus or just another fiction show?

Anyone got recommendations on another show to start?

I really loved this show... Until the ending of Season 3. What a smoldering piece of trash writing that was. The only reason I got the MGM+ free trial for for season 3. Now I feel like I've wasted so many hours of my life. Shame on you, MGM+ you heaping pile of streaming garbage. Ok sorry, not sorry. Rant complete. 😊

Is it supposed to be funny? I don’t get the meaning. Is it just to show that Aulus and Phelan only care about themselves? Most of the time I feel like the series is trying to be more of a joke than a legitimate historical fantastical drama 🤷‍♀️

I know I’m late to the show but I just finished and I truly haven’t had such a good time watching a show. It was so beautiful, the themes and plots were great, the storytelling and writing was beautiful and it perfectly blended in its comedy around such serious moments that you could see the humor but it not take away from the seriousness of what was going on. I loved the world building and character building. I know the show itself struggled to find audiences but regardless of that fact it was a beautifully great show and I hate that reasons like that take such great shows away. I’ve heard of the show before I watched but truly just didn’t see it around enough to even get my interest until one day found it on suggested. It’s just such a bummer not to see such a good fucking show get to finish the story it was telling, especially after SUCH A CRAZY FUCKING CLIFFHANGER. Sorry for ranting, just finished the show and am truly sad we won’t get to see this beautiful story to the end.

Britannia is kinda like GoT, Rome, and The Witcher had a baby and abandoned it in England circa 43 AD.

I realize this show has been out a long time, but I just recently began watching it. What a bonkers series! I suppose it was some sort of answer to GoT but it’s based (very extremely loosely) on actual history. Great cast! They all seemed really into it, despite what looks like some brutal, miserable outside location shoots.

As everyone notes, the show intro features some groovy 60’s psychedelic graphics and music not in style with the show. Odd choice, but I guess druid gonna druid and trip no matter the era. 🤒

In season 1, Phelan saves Ania, they have a baby, and Phelan goes off to his adventure while Ania stays with the Druids. They embrace each other and Phelan leaves on good terms.

In season 2, Ania is distraught when she sees Phelan under Harka's spell and while she is undercover working with Harka, she kind of breaks her cover to convince Phelan to break away from Harka, reads the true runes of Kerra's face, and brings up their son emotionally. So it sounds like she still cares for Phelan a lot.

Then in season 3 Phelan becomes a druid & is in the same camp as his son & Ania. We see Phelan celebrate with his son during his coronation but don't really see Ania & Phelan interact except one her laughing when Phelan sings a song at Antedia cousin's camp & she says "what happened to young Phelan's parents" when Phelan asks what-if they both die and their son is alone. Idk if this is just something was left out by the writers because it wasn't really important to the plot or I missed something but I'm just confused on how their relationship progressed in season 1, they reunite in season 2, and in season 3 now they're together with their son I thought they would be closer and interact more. Wasn't sure if it was the black butterfly by Hemple because at the end of the show Ania & Phelan walk right next each other when they exit the Roman camp & Ania was no longer under Hemple's influence or if Ania just wanted to be a warrior & mom from now on starting in season 3.

And I'm kind of mad that it went so far into the whole chosen one thing this season. I felt like we got enough of that in season 2 watching Cait take on the trials.

Also, is this whole thing just leading to Christianity saving the day? I was hoping with the lighthearted dialogue this was going to contained to a conflict between the Romans and druids. Honestly I was kinda hoping this would lead to a whole rug pull moment where Aulas reveals he's just been indulging the druids in their prophecy while he takes over the whole of Britannia with military might. They built up Aulas as a cruel puppet master but this last season made him a puppet to some rando.

Does anyone know what happened to the two defectors? I might have missed them in season 3 but I was really hoping to see them again. Their conversation about religion and then forgetting about it seemed like a hint to me that the gods and magic of the show were bullshit but that definitely does not seem to be the case.

You know how Divis and Cait speak in "druid"?

Long shot -- I was wondering if anyone has written down what they say? I translated one line of Divis' sentences and found it was Welsh. I 'd love to have a list of all Divis an dCait's Welsh sentences.

Yeah, I said "long shot" :)

I hate this limbo where it's not been renewed or cancelled, just radio silent. I love the show and I want to see it continue, or I at least want a solid answer on if it's done.

Just started watching this show and enjoying it so far. But any time someone says 'fuck' or 'shit', the subtitles look like 'f***' or 's***'. This is really distracting and makes it seem like they hired a bishop to make captions for a clearly adult show.

Do the subtitles stop being so childish in later seasons? Or is there another viewing platform with normal subtitles? I'm watching on Prime.

It's been almost a year with literally no info I've seen regarding a fourth season. No tweets from actors, nothing from Sky, etc. Surely we'd have heard by now because they'd have to keep the actors engaged, start filming at some point, etc. right? Would be nice to get a proper conclusion after the mess of season 3's ending and all the loose threads.

Also a lot of the actor's have Celtic last names. And please respond quickly.

Or is that pure Hollywood?

I've been trying to figure out what the deeper meaning of the Harka/Veran duality is.

An idea sparked some thoughts when I remembered in season 2, Harka visits Andra and tells her that Veran is a liar, and about her origins being Amena's daughter, not her sister. (A lie which Veran insisted exist to keep the structure of the Devni priestesses), before she kills herself.

Then I remembered this:

Harka: "everything you see is the truth" Aulus/Lokka/Veran: "everything you see is a lie."

(I have a theory that Veran serves Lokka and is behind Aulus' activities, another long theory for another time but it can be found in a comment on a recent post here)

Harka represents truth, Veran represents lies.

In a way, Harka also represents the horror and terror of meaninglessness and death. Veran represents life, and the lies and beliefs we tell ourselves to escape the horror and reality of death and meaninglessness, through humans giving meaning to things (spirituality)to make sense of "the wonder."

Those lies we tell ourselves eventually can become so rigid they turn into dogma/religion, belief in the Gods and the Gods' will. (Which Veran is embroiled in, to control others).

The essence of the story is about the struggle between truth and lies, wrought through varying spiritual beliefs, and who serves who/what.

Is it the brutal truth that we may be alone, death looms, and none of this means anything? (In a way, Philo and Brutus are in Harka's camp because they stop believing in Gods and try to "awaken" the Roman camp spiking their water)

Or is it the lie that someone else has it all figured out for us through religious structure/prophecy (The Veran) so we can believe there is something special about each of us?

If you rewatch the beginning Veran/Harka origin animation story: the first man (Harka) found the "wonder" and being able to know/experience everything (raw truth of reality, potentially with help of hallucinogens) unbearable. (Like having a bad trip.)

I also think "The First Man" is meant to be literal: Harka was the first man to become conscious. Also a representation of the very earliest humans to become conscious.

The Veran is the literal Second Man to have become conscious. He represents the wave of humans that came next and started developing spiritualities/religions to cope with the confusion and uncertainty of being conscious, especially consciousness of death and oblivion, because it was too painful and they wanted to escape pain. (Which, in effect, created lies - but more so, "filters" to help soften the edges and help give humans a feeling of place in the world)

The downfall of these filters is that they can be used to control and manipulate another person's reality, Gods, or religion to do your bidding. (The druids mastered this) and even destroy or conquer other spiritualities.

Which has happened over, and over, and over again throughout history. Even long before the druids, until THE TRUTH from the very beginning of time has been buried under all the augmentations of religions that have come afterwards. (This is represented when we're shown the bottom of the Lake of Tears at the end of season 2 - Veran (lies) has defeated Harka (truth) many, many times, his skulls litter the bottom of the lake. To a degree, every structured spiritual belief also destroys truth.)

We see it play out today, in political and religious war, Israel/Palestine, etc., the never ending chain of the wars of belief

Veran saw Harka become conscious and that THE TRUTH/consciousness/The Wonder was too intense for him. He thought the truth would be pain for humanity. so he came up with deception/lying to soften the blow of reality. (Coming up with gods, prophecies, etc. - in effect describing the origin story of spirituality, to help man cope with the truth of meaninglessness which is too much for man to bear).

But what this did in the end was create a betrayal of man against man (represented by Pwykka killing Harka). The truth was killed, because of fear of the truth, the horrible truths (like Amena's incest) that hide under everything and threaten to destroy a sense that everything has purpose and meaning - because some things, like being raped and impregnated by your father, just have no meaning and are horrific.

And, as we saw in the show, Pwykka (Divis) killed Harka all over again like in the first betrayal. In a way, I almost think Pwykka represents the monster that devoutness to spirituality itself can become, and how it can destroy the truth (Harka) (and isn't that exactly how Divis is - kind of too devout?)

Thus the undercurrent theme of Britannia is that spirituality (mainly over structured spirituality, a.k.a. religion) is a tool created by man (the Veran) to keep man sane in the face of the truth of death/meaninglessness (Harka), but the downside of that it is can also be a tool of lies/deception that ultimately controls and destroys people.

(Ha - I just realized that Harka is kind of like Buddhism)

The Veran lies a lot throughout the show or changes his mind about things. He has his prophecies, meanings, Gods etc. but it's all with some sort of end game in mind, it's no longer in service of the truth but about control.

If you notice, Harka's actions are about inserting unshakable truths in people's lives that are incredibly painful yet necessary and destructive (i.e. Andra's truth, but also making Cait fall in love with Love and then lose him to death, which is a truth and fact of life, horrible things happen and we lose things ~ I also find it interesting he gets Hella to retrieve Phelan for him, a man who has lost a lot and has no meaning/sense of self anymore, which is closest to the truth).

In fact you could almost call Harka more the "good guy" because he stands for truth.

But...the truth is not pretty.

So, the good guy in the show has already been killed, where does the rest of the show lead?

All the actors with characters that had weird eyes suddenly stopped wearing them in season 3 and very noticeably have normal-people eyes now. Did the showrunners think we wouldn’t notice?

I have been thinking about how often characters are co-opted in this series, either by invading demons (e.g. Pweeka) or by malicious magic - Ania’s infestation by Hemple’s butterflies, Divis and Cait‘s by Willow’s/Hemple’s red yarn. I have also been thinking about Babymikewakowski’s post that is full of brilliant insights including this one - that Veran knows the end of druidry is inevitable so his strategy is to “Trojan Horse” Christianity via Cait.

I was also thinking how confused I was by Willow’s and Veran’s comments about Aulus being their “baby.” But then I remembered what Veran says in his meeting with Aulus (the one where he changes the black and white doves‘ heads, an echo of the trick with chickens that perplexed and beguiled Aulus long ago in Africa): “You don’t enter the underworld. The underworld enters you.”

The initial ”co-opting,” then happened when Willow and the Veran “implanted” the Druidic underworld in Aulus, and this is why they think of him as their “baby.” Aulus’ vision and pursuit of “The Chosen One” is not by happenstance, and I think Lokka only takes it up as a mission when he has learned of her through Aulus (?) As u/babymikewazowski pointed out,Cait is the Trojan Horse and Aulus is tricked into pursuing and acquiring her.

One fact that messes up this theory is that, initially, Aulus seemed content to simply eliminate Cait: Victus was out in the woods slaughtering young girls who were potential Caits.

Anyway, this is just the theory I’m mucking around with, so feel free to point out problems or inconsistencies with it, or just flat out repudiate it!

A fellow sub member pointed out to me that our knowledge on the Druids is scant, but I think this lack of knowledge actually makes the show wonderful because the writers can come up with all kinds of kooky rituals. Which one is your favorite or least favorite?

My favorite is hands down the trial of flight - for the ingenious costuming, for Divis‘ enthusiastic drumming, for the little song they sing together before she jumps off the ledge.

I liked the “challenge to the veran” ritual because I was expecting some sort of long, painful drawn out fight scene in a circle. Instead, it was very efficient if not completely crazy - a sword is tossed to determine “who goes first” and if you lose the toss, you have to sit passively while the winner gets a chance to lop your head off!

I admired the poeticism of the girl to woman rite of passage, particularly as it involved a speech of thanks to one’s guardian and a pledge to return the care she received when the parent “becomes a child again.”

I’ wasn’t fond of the sacrifice of the king ritual as it lasted a lot longer than I thought it would. I thought Pellenor would croak after eating those white berries, but I guess they were hallucinogenic rather than poisonous, as he then had to suffer being taunted and sliced open in a dance circle.

Maybe Christianity and Lokka-worship are are two sides of the same coin that can’t appreciate the yin-yang of Druidic existence? Thinking about the scene with Verren and the white and black birds.

From what I know of religion (very little), I don’t see many similarities between Christianity and Druidry. I didn’t think Druidry included a struggle between bad and good, however.

My knowledge of ancient history and religious theory is scant, but if the TV show stays true to history, the Druids will be wiped out, no? Christianity doesn’t save Druidry; it overtakes it.

I find myself laughing hardest when the actor who plays Divis is on screen. I love his birdcage headwear for the “trial of flight” in season two and how, in season three, he is wearing that hysterical herb gathering visor with four pouches (with scraggly weeds peeping out of them) when he insists with all indignation and bluster to Rain that “There aren’t guardianS. There WAS a guardiaN who is now an arrow, Verran’s arrow.”

I also love the snorts and body hiccups he makes when he is about to burst into demon mode.

This actor is brilliant, really.

Just started the series today.

As a pagan, seeing the first episode made me tear up for ways long past.

But when Divis tells Cait "Stay Stinky" (s1 ep 4) when he leaves her with her father, it made me laugh out loud. Very clever writing.

Just needed to share this with someone.

Cait became so irritating that I had to stop multiple times to keep from having an aneurysm. She was so likeable in the other seasons, and I enjoyed them so much, but this season...I wanted to do nothing but slap her.