King and Conqueror: Thick War (review)

William the Conqueror and Harold Godwinson clash for the English throne in a mini-series combining history, fiction, bloody battles and Machiavellian intrigues. To see on Canal +.

William and Harold were destined to cross paths one day on a battlefield. Two friends driven by destiny to kill each other for the crown of England…

The series King & Conqueror arrives on Canal + in France to tell us the exciting enterprise of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy with crazy ambitions, the only continental to have succeeded in putting his butt on the island throne. A story made up of betrayals, poker moves and bloody confrontations, but which cinema or television have only too rarely captured. It is therefore an international co-production – led by the British BBC – which is responsible for it, in the format of an 8-episode mini-series. A medieval fiction, which has the merit of finally abandoning the Tudors and the Windsors to explore a lesser known part of British History: that of the 11th century, just after the Viking invasions, at a time when the Kingdom of France and that of England looked at each other like china dogs.

The story depicts the clash between William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, and Harold Godwinson, Earl of Wessex, who will both claim the throne after the death of Edward the Confessor. What followed was a war of succession for the ages, which culminated with the Battle of Hastings, a Norman victory which installed a Frenchman at the head of the Anglo-Saxons. A major page in European history immortalized by the legendary Bayeux tapestry, and which the (less legendary) BBC series attempts to tell.

Obviously, King & Conqueror is eyeing Game of Thrones (and not only because Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is in the cast, sword in hand) and is trying to ride on the great medieval fantasy fictions of the same ilk. If that’s all there is to it, it’s not fantasy. Whatever… The scenario connects small arrangements with the truth so that the series is more pure fiction than historical reconstruction. She takes countless liberties to thicken her characters and their arcs. We could always argue that this is entertainment and not a documentary. Either. But, without being a doctoral student in History, we open our eyes wide at certain intrigues invented for the occasion, from fanciful fraternal relationships to assassination attempts or downright grotesque invasions.

Once we have accepted this version of the novel, King & Conqueror certainly does not lack attractions. The decorum is very immersive. The battle scenes are filmed with great intensity, as swords clash and a disgusting death awaits most of the infantry soldiers sent to slaughter on behalf of the nobles of both banks. The production (mainly filmed in Iceland) uses a maximum of real sets and subdued lighting to instill an atmosphere that smells of the grimy Middle Ages. Too bad all the digital effects are so sluggish. Obviously, King & Conqueror lacked the means to achieve its ambitions.

So the series relies on its characters. She romances. She embroiders. Imagine crisp dialogues and fantasize exciting encounters, which allow the cast to stand out: Clémence Poésy lights up the screen as the Machiavellian Queen Mathilde, alongside Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, charismatic as William the Conqueror, and the always endearing James Norton, young hero of this tale (seen by the English) to be taken for what he is.

King & Conqueror, to be seen on Canal + and MyCanal from Thursday February 12, 2026