The Shadow King

Tariku hangs from the tree, his neck twisted and spine distended.

Ettore documents the hanged body’s deterioration. Fifi, who doubles as the spy Ferres, arrives with Aster’s old cook in tow. She assumes the role of Fucelli’s prize, but her eyes are fixed on Tariku.

Ettore writes a letter home asking if the census is really targeting Jewish families, but there is no way to ask without alerting the censors. Fucelli arrives and identifies his own Jewish ancestry. Fucelli confirms the new laws mandating segregation and implies that because of Fifi, he and Ettore are both targets of the government. It is a threat disguised as an alliance.

Fucelli watches Kidane’s men take Tariku’s body. Fifi thanks him for allowing them their dead but warns him retaliation is immanent. She asks to leave for her safety, but he compels her to stay.

Hirut tends the wounded, exhausted. She falls deeply asleep, but Kidane rouses her and she is too tired to fight. In her exhaustion, she yawns. Kidane is repulsed and cannot continue his violation of her. She realizes that feigning indifference can be an effective mode of resistance.

Villages refuse Tariku’s body for fear of retaliation. Aklilu acknowledges their fear and lack of protection. Kidane pulls a photograph of Haile Selassie from his pocket in a demonstration of loyalty, and Hirut notices that Minim the krar player looks similar. The group decides Minim will become a Shadow King. Aklilu maneuvers Hirut out of Kidane’s reach by suggesting she and Aster pose as Minim’s honor guard.

Kidane’s inner circle transforms Minim into an Emperor. Flanked by Hirut and Aster, they begin a successful propaganda campaign. Hirut addresses the women and reminds them of their role as warriors in wars past. Word spreads that the Emperor has returned to fight.

The difficulties of battling the Ethiopian resistance frustrate Fucelli. They believe the Emperor has returned, but his superiors say Haile Selassie remains in England. Rebels have cut rail lines from Axum to Addis Ababa. The orders to report soldiers with a Jewish surname are causing division among the troops.

On the plateau beside the tree, Ettore considers the news about the census. He documents the cook digging beneath the tree. The cook notices but pretends not to. She prays for Tariku and digs for herbs to end Fifi’s pregnancy.

Elderly women approach the Italian camp claiming they have had visions of the boy, Anbessa, and need to speak with Fucelli to prevent a disaster. They know personal information about Ibrahim, and their presence unsettles the ascari in camp.

Kidane watches the distraction and hopes Seifu will kill Fucelli before the women finish.

Fighters in ascari uniforms attack Fucelli, bind him, and move to castrate him. He soils himself. Fifi arrives, recognizes Seifu, and intervenes. The rebels leave Fucelli humiliated but intact.

Kidane reprimands Seifu for not killing Fucelli. Seifu claims humiliation is more fitting. He does not mention Fifi, but claims that had they killed him, the surrounding villages would suffer reprisals.

Fucelli has remained in his tent for three days. Only Fifi visits to determine whether he heard her plea with the rebels. The cook advises Fifi to leave because the incident will make him crueler.

Ettore notices the change in Fucelli’s demeanor and his choice to wear two belts since the attack. Fucelli shares a plan to move the prison higher in the mountains and tasks Ettore with documenting the convoy.

Jembere Kefyalew, the old man who was once the Emperor’s servant, blocks the convoy with his bicycle. Ettore fears another attack, but a laughing driver moves the man without incident so the convoy can pass. The man’s rage frightens Ettore.

Riots across Ethiopia following the assassination of the Viceroy Rudolfo Granziani and the recent attack on Fucelli have caused paranoia and unrest. Fucelli shows Ettore a high cliff and asks Ettore if he could document an Ethiopian in mid-flight. Fucelli will toss them all from the cliffside. Ettore will comply because Fucelli knows his secrets.

Haile Selassie burns himself with a candle and imagines the children burned to death in Italian raids. Ghosts beckon him back to Ethiopia, but he remains in Bath.

Minim, Hirut, and Aster train, inspire, and recruit as reprisals worsen. They train in their roles until they are reborn into new ones.

Several photos describe the individuality of the prisoners falling to their deaths. A photo album of the flying prisoners follows, signed by both Ettore and Fucelli.

An uncensored letter arrives from Ettore’s father. Leo Navarra explains that his reticence has less to do with Ettore’s choice to enlist and more to do with his past life. He had a wife and child in Ukraine who perished in a pogrom. Ettore keeps the letter and rereads it constantly, afraid for his parents.

The cook distributes a psychoactive herb to the prisoners. She tells them to chew it quickly and asks their names, telling them she will keep their names alive. Ettore investigates when he sees her visiting. They chew the herb and laugh at him. When Ettore tries to capture their photographs, their bodies are loose and unphotogenic. They laugh and shout their names and demand to know his.

In a photograph, a drugged boy clings to a cliffside boulder before his freefall. What the photo cannot convey is that he shouted his name, Zerihun, and it rang like a ricochet from the cliffs as he fell.

In the future, Ettore will continue to deny knowledge of his father’s life. His father’s missing letter haunts him.

When Fucelli believes Ettore is avoiding his work, he tells Ibrahim to steal the letter in secret and replace it. Fucelli is perplexed by Leopold’s love and realizes he has never known a father’s love. He finds nothing of use, so he focuses on waging a battle against Kidane that Luce will record as a propaganda film.