Even as he protests his powerlessness over his feelings for Rebecca, Sir Brian remains calm and collected generally. And she remains literally powerless against his superior strength. This, in combination with the fact that he refuses to honor her wishes, suggests that perhaps his feelings aren’t as deep or as real as he claims—or that the power courtly love allegedly gives the lady merely provides cover for male violence and control. It’s impossible to separate his tortured love for Rebecca from his ambitious desire for world domination—and it is possible to interpret his fascination with a Jewish woman as a projection of his feelings about the Templars losing control of Jerusalem and its Jewish Temple.