Wench Trouble

"Wench Trouble" is the first episode of the first season of the comedic sword and sorcery series Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 9, 2009, then on BBC2 in the United Kingdom on June 11, 2009. The episode was written by series creator Peter Knight and directed by Alex Hardcastle. "Wench Trouble" introduced the protagonist Kröd Mändoon, played by Sean Maguire, as well as the other regular characters played by cast members Matt Lucas, India de Beaufort, Steve Speirs, Kevin Hart and Marques Ray.

Kröd is a freedom fighter resisting the evil Makonian Empire. In the episode, Kröd and his friends try to free Kröd's imprisoned mentor General Arcadius, who believes Kröd is the part of a prophecy that will overthrow the empire. Meanwhile, the evil Chancellor Dongalor unveils the Eye of Gulga Grymna, the deadliest weapon of the ancient world, which he has recently unearthed. "Wench Trouble", like all future episodes, was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, and the producers had authentic medieval-style costumes and weapons build to maintain a realistic fantasy setting.

"Wench Trouble", which premiered back-to-back along with the episode "Golden Powers", received generally mixed reviews. According to Nielsen ratings, it was viewed by 1.6 million households in its original American broadcast, about average for that time period; it had slightly less viewers than the episode of The Daily Show that aired later that evening.

Plot
The episode opens with a voice-over narration explaining that the Makonian Empire, commanded by Emperor Xanus rules the land with an iron fist and has crushed the leadership of an upstart rebellion, but that freedom fighter, Kröd Mändoon (Sean Maguire) has continued to resist, striking out at the enemy and releasing slaves and political prisoners.

Kröd enters a tavern and threatens a soldier to get the keys to a dungeon where Kröd’s mentor, the rebel leader General Arcadius (Roger Allam), is locked up. The soldier hands over the keys when he sees he is surrounded by Kröd's allies; his girlfriend Aneka (India de Beaufort), his pig-like 'Grobble' servant Loquasto (Steve Speirs) and his sorcerer friend Zezelryck (Kevin Hart). But when the guard tries to stab Kröd, Loquasto uses a crossbow to fire an arrow into his back, accidentally catching Kröd's hand as well. A fight breaks out with other soldiers in the tavern. Meanwhile, Aneka pulls aside a soldier to have sex with him to get the dungeon keys. The fight ends and the four escape the burning building with the keys.

Meanwhile, the evil Chancellor Dongalor (Matt Lucas) is told by his advisor Barnabus (Alex MacQueen) that the emperor demands to know how he will deal with the rebellion, particularly with Kröd. Dongalor claims they have nothing to fear from Kröd, who used to beat Dongalor up in the military academy with as a youth. Later, Dongalor reveals he has found the Eye of Gulga Grymna, the deadliest weapon of the ancient world, which had been lost for a millennium but was unearthed by "the finest child labor to ever feel the lash": he also ignores the warning the Eye's power once destroyed an entire kingdom, and has the bearer of bad news killed. Meanwhile, Kröd and his friends unlock the dungeon doors and liberate the prisoners. There they find General Arcadius and his new lover, the flamboyant Bruce (Marques Ray). Before the group can leave, Loquasto accidentally locks the door shut behind them, trapping them all in the dungeon.

Dongalor wants to use the Eye of Gulga Grymna to destroy a random village, but Barnabus tells him they have not yet figured out how to unlock the weapon's power, although he says decoders are working to decipher hieroglyphics on the Eye to learn its secrets. They are then informed that the dungeon has been breached and call for the guards. Meanwhile, Kröd angrily threatens a nearby guard, who tells him about a recently patched tunnel in the wall from a previous prisoner escape attempt that was recently thwarted, and then argues with Aneka when he learns how she obtained the dungeon keys. She insists that as a pagan warrioress, "sex is just another weapon in my arsenal”: when Krod reacts badly to this, Aneka storms off (prompting Dongalor to sneer the titular line, "Wench trouble, Mandoon?"). Dongalor and the guards arrive and he fire an arrow at Kröd, but Arcadius dives in front of it and is shot instead. (Humorously, Arcadius survives the arrow and just as Krod yells, "It will take more than one arrow to kill the greatest general [Arcadius] who ever lived!", several more arrows come flying into Arcadius' chest along with a spear, and an axe smashes into his head.) Just before Arcadius dies, he says the word Engamora. Kröd and the others escape through the tunnel. Barnabus tells Dongalor that Engamora refers to a prophecy that chronicles the overthrow of an empire at the hands of a "low-born swordsman", which they believe to be Kröd.

At a nearby lake, the group give Arcadius a Viking funeral, (after two failed attempts with a crossbow by Loquasto to set the boat alight, Aneka makes the shot, using her bow in an extremely provocative way), then prepare to continue their battle.