Waleran Bigod

The show opens with the White Ship sinking in 1120, killing the heir to the throne and leaving England with no clear successor. Waleran is close by. Over the episodes it becomes clear he knows more about that day than he admits, and that the secret could bring him down.

Early on, the drifter Shareburg is burned at the stake, and his companion, Ellen, curses everyone responsible for his death in front of the crowd. She vanishes into the forest with her son, Jack, but she doesn't forget. Waleran moves on as if nothing happened, unaware that the day will come back to haunt him.

Waleran teams up with Percy and Regan Hamleigh to bring down Earl Bartholomew and split the power in Shiring. With Philip he switches between help and sabotage as it suits him, treating Kingsbridge Cathedral as a piece in his game. Nobody trusts him, and everybody needs him.

Waleran makes bishop and spends the war between Stephen and Maud switching sides whenever the wind changes. He uses the office to squeeze the priory, bring the Hamleighs closer to power and keep his enemies busy with each other.

Meanwhile, Waleran's allies tear themselves apart. In episode 4, Regan bleeds her husband, Percy, to death; in episode 7, William murders his own mother. Waleran loses his backers one by one but stays standing, more alone and more dangerous than ever.

In the end, Waleran has Alfred cut himself with a poisoned knife and pins it on Jack. He runs the trial himself and sentences Jack to hang. Then Ellen arrives with the letter Shareburg meant to send the king: he saw Waleran and the Hamleighs murder the young prince and his wife on the White Ship. Waleran flees, is cornered in the cathedral, tries to escape over the roof and falls to his death.

In the book, Waleran is younger; the show aged him up for Ian McShane, Deadwood's Al Swearengen.