Robert Langdon:
This is an old wives' tale.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
The original one, in fact!
Robert Langdon:
There's virtually no empirical proof!
Sir Leigh Teabing:
He knows as well as I do, there's much evidence to support it!
Robert Langdon:
Theories. There are theories.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Notice how Jesus and Mary are clothed. [Zooms out on the screen, to show Jesus and Mary in the same frame. They are wearing blue on their outside arms and a bright colour on their inside arms; their clothing illuminates as the rest of the picture darkens, to heighten Teabing's point.] Mirror images of each other!
Robert Langdon:
The mind sees what it chooses to see.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
And venturing into the even more bizarre, notice how Jesus and Mary appear to be joined at the hip and are leaning away from each other, as if to create a shape in the negative space between them. Leonardo gives us...the chalice! [he highlights the area, which resembles a triangle pointing down]
Robert Langdon:
Hmm.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Yes. Ooh, and Robert, er, notice what happens when these two figures [laughs briefly] change position. [He brings a representation of Mary over to Jesus' left side, so it looks like she has her head on His shoulder.]
Sophie Neveu:
Just because Da Vinci painted it doesn't make it true.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
No. But history, she does make it true! Now, listen to this. It's from the Gospel according to Philip.
Sophie Neveu:
Philip?
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Yes, it was rejected at the Council of Nicea, along with any other gospels that made Jesus appear human and not divine. [reading from a book] "And the companion of the Saviour was Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her on -"
Sophie Neveu:
[interrupting] But this says nothing of marriage!
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Well, actually, um, Robert...?
Robert Langdon:
Actually, in those days, the word "companion" literally meant "spouse".
Sir Leigh Teabing:
[crossing the room to another book on a lectern] And this is from the gospel of Mary Magdalene herself.
Sophie Neveu:
She wrote a gospel?
Robert Langdon:
She may have.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Robert, will you fight fair?
Robert Langdon:
She may have.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
[reading] "And Peter said, 'does He prefer her to us?' And Levi answered, 'Peter, I see you contending against a woman like an adversary. If the Saviour made her worthy, who are you indeed to reject her?!'" [To Sophie] Yes. And then, my dear, Jesus goes on to tell Mary Magdalene that it's up to her to continue His Church. [He sits down and illuminates figures on the screen.] Mary Magdalene. Not Peter. The Church was supposed to be carried on by...a woman. Few realise that Mary was descended from kings, just as her husband was. Now, my dear, the word in French for "holy grail".
Sophie Neveu:
Le Sangrine.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
From the Middle English, "Sangreal", of the original Arthurian legend. [He writes the word on the screen, using his tablet.] Now, as two words. [He divides it into two four-letter words.] Can you translate for our friend?
Sophie Neveu:
Sang Real, it means "royal blood".
Sir Leigh Teabing:
When the legend speaks of the chalice that held the blood of Christ, it speaks, in fact, of the female womb that held Jesus' royal bloodline.
Sophie Neveu:
But how could Christ have a bloodline, unless...
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Mary was pregnant at the time of the Crucifixion. [He gets up.] For her own safety, and for that of Christ's unborn child, she fled the Holy Land and came to France. And here, it is said that she gave birth to a daughter, Sarah.
Sophie Neveu:
They know the child's name?
Robert Langdon:
A little girl.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Yes.
Robert Langdon:
If that were true, it's adding insult to injury.
Sophie Neveu:
Why?
Robert Langdon:
The Pagans found transcendence through the joining of male and female.
Sophie Neveu:
People found God through sex?
Robert Langdon:
In Paganism, women were worshipped, as a route to Heaven, but, the modern church has a monopoly on that, in salvation through Jesus Christ.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
And he who keeps the keys to Heaven rules the world.
Robert Langdon:
Women, then, are a huge threat to the Church. The Catholic Inquisitions soon publishes what may be the most blood-soaked book in human history.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
The Malleus Magnificarum! [He throws a book at Langdon, who catches it.]
Robert Langdon:
The Witch's Hammer.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
It instructed the clergy on how to locate, torture and kill all free-thinking women.
Robert Langdon:
Over three centuries of witch-hunts, fifty thousand women are captured and burned alive at the stake.
Sir Leigh Teabing:
Oh, at least that! Some say millions! Imagine then, Robert, that Christ's Throne might live on in a female child? [To Sophie] You asked what would be worth killing for. Witness the greatest coverup in human history. This is the secret the Priory of Sion has defended for over twenty centuries. They are the guardians of the royal bloodline, keepers of the proof of our true past. They are the protectors of the descendants of Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene.
