Saphirblau (2014)

The film begins in 1609, where Lucy and Paul are in the Black Swan tavern to watch William Shakespeare perform. Afterwards, they see the eighteenth-century Count of Saint Germain kill his ancestor Lancelot de Villiers (Bernstein), the first time traveller in his family. Lancelot had threatened to destroy the chronograph. In the present, Gwen discovers that Lucy and Paul visited Lady Tilney in Hyde Park in 1912. With Mr. George’s help, she travels there with Gideon. Lucy tells her that she and Paul stole the chronograph to protect Gwen. A special power will be created when the blood cycle is completed, and Gwen’s blood could complete it. Lucy and Paul promise Gwen that they will hide the chronograph somewhere safe in their own time—that is, the present. Gwen should find the Green Rider; he will lead her to the chronograph. When Gwen asks, Lucy replies that she should ask her grandfather Lucas. Back in the present, the two find themselves in a church. Gwen enthuses about having a chronograph of her own, since it would mean freedom from the Lodge. Gideon doesn’t trust Lucy and Paul, and believes they are afraid of the changes brought by the revolutionary new world order the Count wants to create. As the two kiss, Gwen notices the talking gargoyle Xemerius. He is delighted that Gwen is the first person since the Middle Ages who can see him, but stays behind in the church. In the present, the Lodge’s inner circle meets while Mr. Whitman, who is now in charge of Gwen’s time travelling, comes to collect her. Xemerius appears and explains that he has to stay with her because she can see him. They travel to 1953, where she meets her grandfather Lucas at the age of 24. The Green Rider means nothing to him, but he promises to think about it before Gwen visits him again in a few years. Gideon’s uncle William de Villiers has travelled from Asia because the Lodge’s rules have been broken repeatedly and the Ruby’s life has been put at risk. He is worried about Gideon, warns him against letting his feelings get involved, and says Gwen is a bad influence. Gideon learns that his brother Raphael is coming to London. Gideon later tells Gwen that Raphael has lived with their mother in France since he was 12, when he visits Gwen through her bedroom window. They are caught by Gwen’s mother, and Gideon goes home. Gwen’s mother warns her not to trust Gideon more than she trusts herself. Later, Aunt Maddy sleepwalks into Gwen’s room and tells her to take care of her heart. Gideon travels to 1783 to ask the Count about the prophecy concerning the Ruby. One of the Count’s assistants tells him that the Florentine Alliance stole the Count’s memoir. The Count tells Gideon that the Ruby’s intended role is to serve the Count and his cause. He encourages Gideon to have adventures with several women, not just Gwen. Winning her heart should be easy for Gideon. He invites them both to a soirée. Gideon should flatter and impress her, and then she will be wax in his hands. The Lodge hires Charlotte to prepare Gwen for the event. As Charlotte dances with Gideon, she shows Gwen the “deep connection” between them. In 1950, when Gideon and Gwen meet for a date, the two of them dance before Gideon seduces Gwen. Back in the present, Gideon meets his brother Raphael and no longer pays attention to Gwen. After Gwen tells her friend Leslie about her first time, butler Bernhard finds the Green Rider. As Leslie has figured out, it is a book. Gideon is sent to 1912 to take blood from Margret Tilney for the chronograph. William warns him that he might run into Lucy and Paul, who will be trying to take blood from him for their own chronograph. Once there, Gideon sees Gwen embrace Paul. He warns her that Paul only wants her blood, but is knocked down before he can reach her. Gideon doesn’t tell William that he saw Gwen. Gwen visits her grandfather in 1955. As he promised her during her last visit, there is a key inside the wall clock, allowing Gwen to leave the locked room and come to his office with his message. Lucy and Paul have also visited him by then, and he tells Gwen that the Count murdered her great-great-grandfather before their eyes. They also told him that the Ruby will determine whether the Count succeeds in carrying out his plan. Back in the present, she runs into Gideon and Mr. Whitman. Gideon refuses to tell her about his mission. In turn, she doesn’t tell him why she smells of the cigar smoke that her grandfather’s boss blew in her face in 1955. Meanwhile, Leslie has unsuccessfully tried to decipher the numerical code that Lucy’s grandfather wrote in the Green Rider after 1955. Raphael, her new crush, suggests that the numbers might be coordinates. He arranges to meet Leslie. Gideon meets Gwen in 1955. He has learned about Gwen’s visit in 1955 from the Lodge’s annals and wants to know how she managed to leave the room. He is also angry because, in his view, she had him knocked down in 1912 and embraced Paul. He says Paul only wants Gwen’s blood and refuses to reveal why he went to 1912. The two argue, distrustful of one another, and part ways. In the present, Gideon eats with Raphael and Charlotte at the Black Swan. Charlotte tells him that Gwen is easy at school, especially after drinking too much. Raphael wants to know whether Leslie drinks too. Leslie is meanwhile in Gwen’s room with a crying Gwen. She tells her that she and Raphael have discovered that the first part of the book’s code really is made up of coordinates, and that they lead to the house where Gwen lives. Together they decipher the second part and, with Xemerius’s help, find a secret room behind a wall containing an old trunk. They decide to retrieve it once the family has left the house. At the soirée in 1783, the Count again enters Gwen’s thoughts and proudly tells Gideon that she is head over heels in love with him. Now Gideon is to make sure that she serves the Count’s cause completely. After Gideon plays a piece on the violin at the request of an admirer, Gwen, singing and drunk, teaches the guests the Time Warp, with Gideon joining in on piano and vocals near the end. The gathering is attacked by the Alliance. Gwen remembers Leslie telling her that the Alliance fears the time travellers because it believes they have devilish powers and want to be equal to God. Gideon’s swordsmanship is not enough to win, but Gwen manages to drive the Alliance away by pretending to be a witch, using a can of cosmetic spray and a candle. After Leslie and Bernhard wake Gwen with strong coffee, they retrieve the trunk from its hiding place with Aunt Maddy. Inside is Lucy and Paul’s chronograph, containing all the drops of blood except Gwen’s and Gideon’s. In a letter, Lucy writes that Gwen must defend the chronograph with her life, because her life is what is at stake. She also writes that she and Paul always went to Holy Trinity Church on Sundays. Gwen and Leslie go there with the chronograph. Gwen travels to 1912, where she meets Paul outside the church just as Gideon arrives and is knocked down by one of Paul’s assistants. Paul and Lucy confess to Gwen that she is their daughter and that after her birth they gave her to Grace to raise as her foster mother. No one was to learn that she was their daughter, because they believe that as the child of two time travellers she is more powerful than the Count himself and capable of stopping him. Through the Lodge, the Count is trying to seize control of the world. Paul plans to travel to 1783 to meet with the Alliance. He wants to obtain the memoir to learn the Count’s exact plans. Gwen returns and finds herself in the Black Swan, which is closed. Gideon, who has heard William and Mr. Whitman torture Gwen’s midwife and has also learned about her mother, rescues her and takes her home. He says she won’t get rid of him now. When she asks if he will tell the Lodge about the chronograph, he asks what she thinks and drives off. The Lodge vows to control Gwen’s life and sends her with Gideon to see the Count in 1783. Gideon confesses his feelings for her and wants them to work together without secrets, because he believes they would be unbeatable as a team. The Count sends Gideon away and tells Gwen that Gideon has done a very good job of making her fall in love with him. He believes a woman in love is easier to control and that her life is in his hands. Gwen runs off and encounters Gideon with bloodstained hands. He says he has got caught up in something. She confronts him, and he admits that he was assigned to make her fall in love with him. She jumps back. Bernhard has hidden the chronograph and gives her a photograph from the 1920s showing her and Gideon. Since she doesn’t remember it, that time-travel journey still lies ahead of her. In 1783, Paul meets with the Alliance. He offers the memoir in exchange for all the information they have about the Lodge. The Alliance representative refuses to swear that the information will be used only against the Count and not against the bearers of the gene. Paul refuses to hand over the piece of paper and is attacked. Gideon comes to his aid. Paul asks Gideon if he truly loves Gwen and will fight alongside her. When Gideon says yes, Paul gives him the memoir, tells him to read it, and jumps back.