There is a bug in this famous line in the movie. Baldwin IV was found to be suffering from leprosy when he was nine years old. When he won the battle of Mongissa at the age of sixteen, his subordinates and himself knew that there was not much to come.
His situation is worse than described in the movie. Starting from the ascension, the draw is a bad hand.
When he was thirteen years old, the talented and roughly Shaladin had unified the Islamic policy and formed a two-sided attack on the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Baldwin IV’s father, known as the general Amarik I, saw that the new king of Egypt had elected Emir instead of Shaladin, and he hurriedly set off to discuss cooperation with Emir. This is the last chance to curb Saladin. It is a pity that Amarik would die of dysentery in the middle, leaving a sickly young son to deal with the greatest strategist in human history.
When he was fifteen years old, the army of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel was defeated by the Cloud Gate Sultanate. The original balance between Jerusalem, Byzantium and the Islamic State of Egypt was broken. Jerusalem lost its biggest ally and had to face a powerful enemy alone. Later historians wrote that the destruction of Jerusalem was irreversible.
But this young king who bears the "curse of the gods" actually wants to change his destiny step by step and save the country. As described in the movie, he calmed down the disputes between several factions in the country and fought several victories at critical moments. When Kirak was "a soldier who fell without a fight", Baldwin IV had "no fingers, no toes, and was going to be blind" ("Western World Military History" by Fuller), and it was impossible to read "with a horse whip" Jerusalem is the only one".
He is not without a chance. To save this country, the throne must be passed on to the seven-year-old nephew, and not in the hands of the leader of the main battle group, Gai. On the one hand, he appointed the regents of the protagonists, and on the other hand, he gave the pope, the emperor, and the kings of Britain and France the decision-making power of the heirs. Even, in order to avoid inheritance disputes, he let the archbishop crown his nephew while he was alive. All his hopes are placed on the little prince, and he has tried his best to endure a life like hell, and he has to wait for the little prince to grow up and succeed.
If the little prince can have the same tenacity as his vitality, who knows? Perhaps the kingdom can last until the Lionheart’s third crusade, and the history of the Crusades will be completely changed. However, the day failed, and Baldwin V passed away a year after he took the throne. The hard work of the Leprosy King for more than ten years ended up in an illusion.
The deletion of Baldwin V from the theater version of the movie greatly weakened the tragic meaning of the whole story. The audience cannot refer to the snow-skinned little prince to imagine Baldwin's demeanor when he slapped Fang Yao, and it is also difficult to comprehend the grief that permeated the country when he was terminally ill. It's even harder to imagine this young man becoming a sane king in an inhuman situation-suffering is not paranoia, but compassion, tolerance and justice.
In this world, Baldwin IV did not establish any great deeds, but in heaven, he is the mediator of God, allowing Jesus and Allah who have been fighting to shake hands with Allah. His story was passed down to later generations and became one of the few bright colors in the history of the chaotic and ignorant crusade. With his death came the fall of the holy city, the destruction of the dynasty, the loss of the true cross, the end of faith, and the beginning of the age of heresy. Most of the people in the country and the city are like this. There is a turning point in history, just to fulfill the sentence: remember what I was...
View more about Kingdom of Heaven reviews
