Night of the Kings (La nuit des rois)

The MACA prison is a world with its own codes and laws.

The first law is that the Dangôro, the supreme master, rules the prisoners.

When the Dangôro falls ill

and can no longer govern,

he must take his own life.

IVORY COAST MINISTRY OF JUSTICE

CORRECTIONAL FACILITY

NIGHT OF THE KINGS

Old man Nivaquine! What's the word?

Welcome to MACA, five-star prison!

Better watch your ass!

We'll see what our bosses decide.

If you keep disrespecting me, Lass,

you'll lose your protection.

You'll go from hyena to lamb,

and everyone will want a bite of you.

What are you saying?

If you lose my protection, you'll be just another lackey.

Me, Lass, a lackey?

You're asking for a war.

Is that a threat?

Open your eyes, Blackbeard.

And take a look around, you're not in charge anymore.

Shut up!

We'll be back later.

My children...

I'm naming a new Roman, a new storyteller.

And why is that, Lord Blackbeard?

Tonight or tomorrow, the red moon will come out.

It must first be confirmed by Lookout.

That old warthog will never die!

Chief! Please!

END OF A LEGEND

WAR AGAINST THE MICROBES

Press your thumb here.

Did you and your Microbe friends do that?

Speak!

Up!

Up! Get up!

Nivaquine!

It's OK.

Take this thing out to the jungle.

I'm sorry, chief!

What building?

- Who's there? - Half-Mad.

What do you want?

Blackbeard sent me.

He wants the new inmate in his building.

Back to your cell!

OK, take him.

Sexy!

Hey, the little lady is here!

"Guantanamo"!

Sexy!

Come here, Sexy!

Come here, Sexy!

Let's go! He doesn't know what's coming!

He'll soon see.

Enough!

This your first time here?

Open your mouth and speak!

How are things out there?

Tell me.

We're fucking talking to you!

Tell me a story.

"Once upon a time..."

Spit it out!

What, you don't have a story to tell?

Yes, but...

Just talk about whatever comes to mind.

Speak!

It's a dream I had.

In my dream,

me and three friends were on a boat in the middle of the ocean.

We hadn't eaten in days. We were running out of water.

Lackeys!

Yeah?

He's the one.

Our storyteller, Roman.

Roman!

You hungry?

Look at him eat!

Starving!

You thirsty?

From now on, you're Roman,

the prince without a kingdom.

When the red moon comes out tonight or tomorrow, you'll tell us stories.

Understood?

I've never... I don't know how to tell stories.

He thinks he has a choice.

See the staircase over there?

Go up it,

there's an iron hook at the top.

Trust me,

you don't want to end up there.

Take your role as storyteller seriously.

It's important to us.

Thank you, Dangôro.

Thank you very much.

Relax, buddy!

I'm Razor Blade.

Where are you from?

Before I came to MACA, I was on the streets.

I was fearless,

but not reproachless.

Before I was a street kid,

I worked on a cocoa plantation near Tiassalé.

I'd go out into the field

and chase mice and birds in the bush.

And before all that, I was in my mom's belly.

Before that, I was in the wind, maybe.

Maybe I was in the water.

Maybe a snake.

We're always something, like a snake,

a tree or an ox,

before being in our mom's belly.

Bastards!

What's this whole storyteller thing?

Why was I chosen?

Lookout, what do you see?

Is it tonight or tomorrow?

I see the sky.

It's becoming...

I see red.

Red!

It's red! It's the red moon!

Koby...

Lookout confirmed it.

Now no one can dispute the "Night of Roman".

Here.

Get everything ready.

Go see the cooks.

And tell Petrol to light his lamps.

I have no choice.

It'll buy me a few days. A week, maybe.

And then?

I don't know.

That Lass...

I don't want to see him again.

I'll blindside him.

When your world is built of golden walls, you don't chase after dreams.

Can't you convince the Rascal Bosses to give me a bit more time?

Impossible.

It's the law of the MACA.

Then I'll climb down and submerge myself in the water.

My spirit will become a doe,

and I'll roam the forest around the prison.

You,

a doe?

Blackbeard has opened the sleeping scorpion's box.

You get it now?

He can give us all the storytellers he wants, but the end is near.

Koby is his weak spot.

He's mocking us.

He's sick. He's gotta die.

He has to get it through his head.

I'll build a desert around him.

Oh yeah? How?

I'll go after what he holds dearest.

That's right.

When he abdicates, the prison should be managed more rationally.

The prisoners have to stop being our slaves...

and become our customers.

- It's all about the cash, boys. - That's good.

Who's with me?

Well said, Lass!

THE RED MOON IS OUT

My parents think you're still with me

No one knows you've left me for her...

The red moon is out tonight.

Blackbeard found another trick to stay the Dangôro.

He's sick. He can't be the Dangôro anymore.

He has to die.

It's the "Night of Roman".

It's the "Night of Roman".

Who's that?

Silence. He's half-cracked.

He understands when he wants to.

The kid

is a Microbe, isn't he?

Apparently, he hangs out with them.

They're all from the Lawless Quarter.

Here.

It'll make you feel better.

What is it?

- The kid from before... - It's the red moon!

What about him?

Blackbeard will choose him as storyteller.

Are you kidding me?

For years,

you hear nothing of the "Night of Roman".

Then boom! They're in a trance all night long.

And there's nothing you can do.

MACA belongs to them.

They have to shed blood.

If it was up to me,

I'd have cleaned up this prison years ago,

starting with Blackbeard.

Yes, chief.

Yes, we're safe.