The Broken Sword (HBO Series)

The Broken Sword is an American Historical Fantasy miniseries created by Game of Thrones creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of the 1954 fantasy novel of the same name by Poul Anderson. The show was filmed on location in both Ireland, Scotland and Iceland. It premiered on HBO in the United States on March 18, 2016 and concluded on May 30 2016.

The Broken Sword has also being called Game of Thrones Junior by fans of both series, this is mainly due to a large number of Game of Thrones crew and cast members being involved on the series and due to the fact that it was created by Game of Thrones creators, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

Premise
The series takes place in Danelaw England during the Viking Age. It begins with Northman Orm the Strong slaying the family of an English witch who swears revenge. Later after his son is born, the witch enlists the help of Imric, Duke of the Elves to steal Orm's son and takes him to the Alfheim. In the child's place, Imric leaves a Changeling named Valgard. The child who is named Skafloc grows up among the Elves and when he grows to manhood, he is presented with the sword Tyrfing broken by Thor eons ago to keep it from splintering Yggdrasil. At the same time a brutal war between the Elves and Trolls breaks out

Heroes

 * Tom Rhys Harries as
 * Skafloc Elf’s Fosterling - The main protagonist who was stolen from his parents as a baby by Imric and raised among the Elves. Due to his Elven
 * Valgard - A Elf and Troll Changeling who is one of the main antagonists of the series along with Illrede and Alfred the Great. He was conceived through Imric's rape of the Troll princess Gora,

Men

 * Jessamine-Bliss Bell as Freda Ormsdaughter - A beautiful young shield maiden who is the daughter of Orm the Strong and the lover of Skafloc.
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Orm the Strong - A Viking warrior and the father of Skafloc, Freda, Asgerd and Ketil.
 * Tommy Knight as Audun -
 * Colm Meaney as Father Harold - A Christian priest
 * Sean Bean as Alfred the Great - The king of the Angolo-Saxons of England and one of three main antagonists of the miniseries along with Valgard and Illrede.
 * TBA as Aelfrida - The Christian wife of Orm and the mother of Stafloc, Freda and Asgerd.
 * TBA as Asgerd - The daughter of Orm and Aelfrida and the sister of Freda, Ketil and Skafloc.
 * Carice van Houten as Morgana - A Saxon witch whose family was killed by Orm when he razed their home. Desiring revenge she when to Imric and convinced him to steal Orm's son and raise him among the Elves, years later she disguised herself as a beautiful woman and told Valgood about his true origins and convinced him to align with the Trolls.
 * TBA as Thorkel -
 * TBA as Erland -

Elves

 * Harry Lloyd as Imric - The Earl of the Elves and the foster father of Skafloc.
 * Emilia Clarke as Leena - The sister of Imric

Trolls

 * Andy Serkis as King Illrede - The king of the Trolls and one of the main antagonists of the show along with Valgard and Alfred the Great. 3000 years ago his beloved daughter Gora was kidnapped by Imric who raped her and forcing her to give birth to a number of Elf-Troll Changelings, when she was returned to him she was so traumatized that he was forced to mercy kill her to end her suffering. This lead to Illrede to developing a deep hatred of Imric and swear eternal vengeance against him and the Elves.
 * TBA as Princess Gora - The beloved daughter of Illrede and the princess of the Trolls. Over 300 years earlier she was taken by Imric who kept her captive and raped her, producing a member of Elf-Troll Changelings, one of whom was Valgood. When she was returned to Illrede, she was so mentally damaged that a devastated Illrede was forced to mercy kill her in order to end her suffering. It was her death that lead to Illrede developing a powerful hatred of Imric and the Elves.

Demigods

 * TBA as TBA -



Norse Gods

 * Liam Cunningham as Odin - The Allfather of the Aesir Norse Gods who is the ruler of Asgard and the father of Thor.
 * Iwan Rheon as Thor - The Norse God of Thunder and the son of Odin. Eons ago he broke the sword Tyrfing to prevent it from shattering Yggdrasil, the world tree.
 * Kit Harrington as Tyr -
 * TBA as Freyr -
 * TBA as Skirnir -
 * Katia Winter as Freya -
 * TBA as Loki -

Jötunn

 * Kristofer Hivju as Bolverk - A blind Ice-Giant blacksmith who forged the sword Tyrfing. He was later sought out by Skafloc to re-forge the sword, he at first refused but after much convincing by Skafloc. After re-forging Tyrfing, he warned Skafloc that the sword would ultimately bring him death and despair.
 * TBA as Surtr - The Fire-Giant who is destined to burn Asgard to ash during Ragnarok.

Others

 * TBA as King Mótsognir - The King of the Dwarves.
 * Doug Jones as Lonely Satyr - A elderly Satyr from the Mediterranean who was exiled by Christianity. He met Skafloc when he was young, he told him of his youth, the fall of the gods of Olympus and the arrival of the Christians who drove him out.
 * Michael Gambon as God (Voice) -
 * John Simm as Satan -
 * TBA as Mananaan Mac Lir - A mighty warrior and king of the Tuatha Dé Danann and a friend to Skafloc.

Episode 1

 * An old woman's breasts are seen as she nurses a rat.
 * A Troll woman is seen naked, he breasts and buttocks are seen. She is then raped by an Elf, his buttocks is seen.

Episode 2

 * Skafloc is seen standing naked, his buttocks is seen.

Episode 6

 * Skafloc and Freda are both seen naked inside of a cave. Both of their buttocks are seen along with Freda's breasts and a brief shot of Skafloc's penis, Skalfoc then mounts Freda from behind and they have sex. This results in her getting pregnant.

Episode 1

 * A group of Vikings are seen killing a few men either by stabbing them with swords or hacking at them with axes.

Episode 2

 * King Illrede is shown mercifully killing his daughter Groa, he is shown plunging a dagger into her heart.

Episode 4

 * A witch is torn apart by a pack of hounds.

Episode 9

 * Odin strikes Freda as he takes her child from her.

Episode 1

 * A group of Vikings kill a man and his brothers by burning down a house with them in it, their screams are quite intense.
 * Imric's rape of Groa is portrayed as been quite disturbing.

Differences from the novel
Whilst being faithful to the novel, the series has several differences:


 * The Witch is named Morgana. In the original novel she didn't not have a name.
 * The scene where Odin is disguised as Satan was taken from the novel's 1971 revision.
 * The faun who Skalfoc encounters has been changed into a Satyr.
 * Alfred the Great was only mentioned once in the original novel and never appeared. In the miniseries he is one of the three main antagonists.
 * In the novel Valgard betrays and kills Illrede. In the miniseries Illrede dies during a battle between Elves, Trolls and Men in a mutual kill with Alfred the Great.
 * Skafloc and Freda are both attacked by a dragon whilst they are taking refuge in a cave, this scene never happens in the novel