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ALEXANDER: Previously on The Borgias...
MATTAI: The entire Turkish navy
could be burnt to a cinder.
ALEXANDER: What other gifts do you have to bring us?
[chuckles]
All roads lead to Rome
and pass through the Romagna.
Our men, united under a common banner
would tip the scales one way or another.
LUCREZIA: I have my child, my husband.
I have everything I wanted.
Everything?
Almost everything.
CESARE: Catherina Sforza has a dark shadow.
It has crossed us twice now.
What are you doing here?
RUFIO: It's code.
"We must know when they will move on Forli."
Who did you copy this from?
The boy I took to my bed.
LUCREZIA: Your Highness,
how would you define my ambassadorial duties?
You must keep me informed of your brother's designs.
You're a prisoner, my dear, plain and simple.
Who are we to trust?
You can trust me, Father.
Oh!
You have no alternative.
King Frederigo of Naples
is in league with Catherina Sforza.
She will be kept hostage the moment we attack Forli!
And why am I a prisoner?
Because you chose the wrong brother.
CESARE: The spy -
Kill him.
LUCREZIA: How do I leave?
You could make them sleep.
I put a whole village to sleep once with this.
Why? Why did you become my lover?
Why?
Because I was made an offer!
You tell me how you wish to die, Pascal.
In your arms.
[♪]
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[crickets chirping throughout]
[breathing quickly]
[gasps]
Hold me.
Give me your left hand.
[moans quietly]
I can see colours -
like stars.
They say that is your soul leaving your body.
Never let me go.
Never.
Oh...
you are crying.
Tears of blood.
Forgive me.
You have killed so many.
But none like you, boy.
[weeping]
[music; people cheering]
[applause]
Oh, lovely!
Oh!
Oh yes!
What a cork, Cuz!
Good catch!
[giggling]
Our Naples may have her failings, fair ambassador,
but let no one deny
she knows how to celebrate.
Hear, hear.
So you approve of my little display.
It's a wondrous addition.
To Bacchus!
To a full drink!
ALL: To Bacchus!
[cheers; applause]
Oh, but these men- our guards-
my liege, they will not partake?
Your guards?
Our jailors.
Your protectors.
Ah!
No, they must stay ever alert.
For the slightest hint of danger to your persons.
Given the day we are celebrating,
let me thank them for their service.
Ah.
Do you guardians have names?
[giggles]
And would you share them with your humble charge?
I am Oliveretto. He is Francesco.
Ah!
A token of my gratitude for your vigilance.
Good health.
[clinking glasses]
MAN: Yes, I'll have another.
[laughter, chatter]
[snoring]
ALFONSO: My God, Lucrezia.
Don't worry, Maria, they're not dead.
They're just sleeping.
ALFONSO: Lucrezia, it's as if a witch had cast a spell.
[Lucrezia giggles]
LUCREZIA: We are in a fairy tale...
...and the witch is me.
And a magical carriage will come
and whisk us to safety in Rome.
My thanks.
If you do not mind, my lady,
we take our pickings.
It would not have been possible without our little troupe.
Of course. My thanks.
[clinking coins]
I'm right behind you.
Take care, my love.
Ha! Ha!
Ha!
Micheletto doesn't flee.
He has, my lord.
There's no sign of him.
So you say you've been searching?
BAGLIONI: Since the morning.
He has vanished without trace.
Then you'll find no trace.
Unless he wants you to.
His only code was loyalty.
Can one of you replace him?
My lord...
Don't even try to answer that.
We ride to Naples within the hour.
[distant bell tolling]
Do you expect to die soon, dear?
The grave awaits us all, Vanozza.
We would have our family rest together.
Is there room in there for me?
For you?
A nook, perhaps.
[laughs]
Have you spoken to our eldest son?
Hardly.
He comes and goes like a ghost in the night.
Well, if he has plans, we would know of them.
Do you think he shares them with me?
You are his mother.
Cesare Borgia is well nigh unknowable.
Yeah, like the Sphinx.
You know he has the French King in his pocket
and the French army at his beck and call,
and nobody knows what he's going to do next.
Have you tried talking to him?
We never see him to talk to him.
Have you tried forgiving him?
For what?
For whatever lies between you two?
And what's that?
Well, only you two know.
That's the trouble: you're too alike.
Mm.
The trouble is...
I miss him.
Yah!
[horses neighing]
Yah!
CESARE: He called Naples a garden of weeds.
Micheletto.
But you will need a hundred times these men to take it.
I don't want Naples yet. I want my sister.
Brother?
LUCREZIA: Stop! Stop!
Cesare!
Cesare!
[giggles]
At last.
We were captives.
We know. You were betrayed.
I was betrayed. All of us.
[breathing heavily]
Never again.
Not everyone can love like that.
Like what?
Like brother and sister.
Another relic?
MATTAI: Yes, Holiness.
What? The head of John the Baptist, perhaps?
No, Holiness.
A relic of a more recent drama.
What?
A relic of your crusade against the Turkish navy.
Ah.
Achieved in one fell swoop.
So that Venetian ships can ply the Adriatic once more.
[sighs]
You can charge them for the privilege.
Yeah.
And forego your tithe
on my Hebrew brethren.
You worked your stratagem with oil.
Can you do the same with sulphur?
Sulphur?
We would control...
...the supply of sulphur in this land.
Sulphur and saltpeter
make gunpowder.
Yes. Now, any alchemist can make saltpeter.
But sulphur must be drawn from the bowels of the earth.
And there is only one source.
The Solfatara Caldara.
Mm.
We would use the coin you have saved us
to buy up the whole supply
and deprive our enemies of gunpowder.
[chuckling]
Your enemies being...?
Oh, it doesn't matter.
Milan, the Sforzas, Naples, France-
whoever wants to wage war will need our compliance.
And how does this help my people?
Mm.
There will come a time.
Favours will be repaid.
And you will be our agent in this
but nothing must connect you to us.
And you should present yourself as a Christian.
Holiness, I cannot.
You will be trading beyond Rome's protection.
The laws of Abraham forbid it.
No, we ask you to present yourself, not to convert.
Get rid of that...
Hebrew... garb,
trim those locks.
and pray to who you will in private.
But in public, just show a little piety.
[bell ringing; conversations]
You are a Christian now?
No.
But I can pretend.
I serve a Christian pope so you can remain a Jew.
And I may have a task for our brethren.
From the sulphur mines of Solfatara.
[scissors snipping]
[neighing]
Come.
You're home.
Thank God.
CESARE: Orsini, I have a task for you.
ORSINI: You know I'm at your service, my lord.
CESARE: You know the one I could trust
with my family's safety has vanished.
You can trust me.
Well, let us see.
You are charged with my sister's protection
and that of her husband and her child.
You will choose her staff:
her cooks, her child's nursemaid, her manservants.
And I would know where she is, where her husband is,
at every hour of every day.
Is that task enough for you?
LUCREZIA: I'll take him, Nurse. Ah!
Sweet boy.
He is home once more.
Does he remember-the Vatican?
[baby babbling]
Home.
Home.
It doesn't feel like home.
Are you lost, Sis?
Perhaps.
He will need a bigger cot.
Mm.
As will he.
[giggling]
He made you smile.
[giggling] No, you did.
I did? How?
Because you are the joy of my life.
The light of my days.
You know that I know that that isn't true.
How long can we last like this?
How long does marriage last?
MATTAI: Tell me.
[workers coughing throughout]
The income from this pit in a month is...?
OVERSEER: You must speak to the proprietor.
MATTAI: Where is the proprietor?
OVERSEER: There are many scattered through the region.
The families divide the spoils.
MATTAI: Tell them I would buy this year's supply.
In total?
Tell them I would buy
every ounce of sulphur this mine produces
throughout this coming year.
And whatever else lies in storage.
You are contemplating a war, sir?
A war or a peace. Does it matter?
[coughing continues]
This palace is yours.
Signor Orsini will see to your protection.
Why here?
You need premises of your own.
To avoid prying eyes.
A place that is safe, protected.
I will not have your safety compromised.
And my husband?
What of him?
If he were to ride back to Naples?
I will not allow it.
If you cannot prevent it?
You know me, Sister.
Certain things I will not countenance.
He could cause public scandal, if he...
If he what?
Intimates any impropriety between us.
We are family; we love each other.
Hm?
We are Spanish. We embrace.
Where is the scandal?
You know where the scandal is.
MATTAI: There's a warehouse
filling with sulphur as we speak.
We'll make a Christian of you yet.
Will my reward be in your heaven?
Hm.
A Christian and an optimist.
We like that.
Nobody knows of its location?
And they will all blame each other for the lack of powder.
You wanted to sow confusion.
[chuckles]
You read us too well.
GATEKEEPER: Twenty-five silver.
Is there gold in those wagons?
MATTAI: What did I pay you for?
Silence.
[loud hissing]
Gold that burns.
Father, Catherina.
Hm?
We must resolve this
or it will be resolved for us.
How?
[sighs]
She plots with Naples.
She reinforces her stronghold.
She requisitions cannon.
She will soon be impregnable.
Are you so sure?
Yes!
Yes, I'm certain,
and I cannot understand
why you don't share my certainty.
Certainty is the preserve of youth.
So I still have to wait.
I know your coffers are full.
I know your Crusade was an illusion.
I know you are re-equipping the papal armies,
as you should.
Can you give me permission to survey them at least?
Survey them, my son.
See, are Rome's defences secure.
But as for the Spider of Forli,
I have reason to believe she will wait.
GUARD: Our lady approaches!
CAPTAIN: Make ready!
MAN: The gates!
Florence will neither help nor hinder us.
And Machiavelli?
Will do nothing.
His nothing is worth a lot.
He will deny them passage across Florentine lands.
Good news.
Now the bad: our powder is almost out.
Powder?
Gunpowder- for the cannon.
Supplies of sulphur have dried up.
Some agency, some person, has bought them wholesale.
Cesare Borgia.
Is he that clever?
Let us hope not.
Nurse, I need an earthenware jug.
Oh.
Where is my maidservant?
She's indisposed, my lady.
Who appointed you?
The master of the household.
Who is master of the household?
SERVANT: I am, my lady.
And who appointed you?
My lady.
Signor Orsini.
[indistinct chatter]
Ah.
This behemoth fires a ball of 300 pounds.
[sword fighting; men shouting]
[loud explosion]
Admirable.
But there is a problem.
Problem?
The powder to fire the ball.
Gunpowder is made of saltpeter and sulphur.
Saltpeter we have in plenty.
But the supplies of sulphur have dried up.
How can they just dry up?
Someone has been buying the supplies
from Solfatara Caldara.
And that someone has in their power
a moratorium on warfare.
What a clever move.
Catherina Sforza?
Too clever even for her.
We need a spy out there.
Someone to smell out sulphur.
Prospero?
I shall sniff it out, my lord.
[vendors calling out]
[indistinct chatter throughout]
[sniffs]
[♪]
[♪]
A bird in a cage.
How appropriate.
[bird chirps]
[whistles]
[indistinct conversation]
We are fully armed, my lord.
As I can see.
But for what?
[sword fighting; men shouting]
For whatever His Holiness intends.
Cesare Borgia.
Alfonso.
Finally we're on first-name terms.
Spar with me, Brother.
Brother-in-law.
But you could love me as a brother-
if you ever loved your brother.
I did.
Mightily.
So I've heard.
Do not provoke me, my lord.
I said "spar." Not "fight."
[swords clanging]
[grunting]
You are good with a blade.
Are you surprised?
But I would not harm that which my sister loves.
Does she love me?
As she loves her brother?
You're in bad humour, my lord.
Yes.
Dangerously bad humour.
This Vatican is a hive of whispers, and rumours,
and innuendos that set my imagination to a fever.
You should never heed rumour.
Oh, but you're the source of them, my lord.
And rumour has it
that there are three in this marriage, not two!
You are both so dear to my heart.
[sword clatters]
[hooves clopping]
[♪]
Just follow the wagons.
[coins clinking]
Thank you.
Close the gates.
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[♪]
[hammering]
[hammering; men grunting]
[hammering; men grunting]
[door squeaking open]
You seem curious.
You have a treasure here.
Just the scrapings of the earth.
From where?
We collect gravel. Shale.
Sell it where we can.
Hebrews.
You would sell the very soil if you could.
Does soil have any value?
Does it burn?
That burns. I have seen it.
I am no Hebrew. I am a Christian.
Bless yourself then.
You have a master. Who?
A mistress, perhaps?
This is our moment if ever there was one.
BAGLIONI: Be careful, Prospero. You tread on splintered glass.
He is starved of powder and, for all we know, so is she.
Someone paid for those shipments.
They have a purpose, hidden from you.
But does it matter?
The point is, those stores exist.
I know where.
We should capture those stores,
hold them both to ransom.
And we have neutered Cesare Borgia.
You hate him, don't you?
As do you.
I love my hide more than I hate him.
If you love your hide, follow me in this.
There is only one end for us with him.
Come with me now.
Not now. Tomorrow.
I was prisoner in Naples.
And now I'm prisoner in Rome.
Maybe we're all prisoners here.
Is there another city?
Another realm where I can be free
of my father, my brother?
You love them both.
Love can be another chain, Mother, in this Borgia family.
Ah!
There is a great reckoning coming -
that will leave none of us the same.
I would leave now, if I could,
take my child, take you.
And your husband?
[sigh]
Take him if he would come. But I doubt it.
Go home, Lucrezia.
You brood too much.
You see the wheel tracks?
Follow the trail of yellow.
If I ever get lost.
You're not lost.
I am.
In a maze of betrayal.
He would betray you in a heartbeat.
[♪]
BAGLIONI: They leave it unguarded?
COLONNA: A guard would draw too much attention to it.
Here. Look.
A store of yellow.
The colour of betrayal.
Ah, Baglioni. No.
I am afraid, my friend, yes.
[panting]
[grunting]
My lord - I found -
Yes. You found powder for which I thank you.
Now show us around.
Show us what you found.
[door creaks]
Chase him down!
[panting]
[grunting]
[coughing]
You didn't quite betray me-
Not yet my lord!
Because I didn't give you time enough.
[coughing]
But with enough time,
you would have burnt me in that mound of sulphur. Huh?
Is it true, Baglioni?
Too true, my lord.
[grunting]
Why, Baglioni, why?
Because, my friend, this is what we do.
We are connoisseurs of treachery.
So can anyone tell me
who owns this pile of dust?
ORSINI: Catherina Sforza?
CESARE: Why would she store it in Rome?
Who was it?
King Frederigo of Naples?
Louis of France?
Whoever gathered it here did so for a purpose!
MATTAI: I brought it here.
And you are?
I am a humble merchant.
Who holds the power of life and death,
war and peace.
I bought it for another.
Take him outside.
BAGLIONI: And do what?
Burn him.
I cannot do it, my lord.
COLONNA: No!
Take him outside, at least!
Go home, any of you who would not witness this.
BAGLIONI: I bid you good night.
CESARE: I can light up your way.
[gasping]
NO! No!
No, please!
NO! NO!
NO! [screaming]
[screaming]
[screaming fades away]
Go home now.
And let this be a lesson to those who would betray me.
You are cruel, you Romans.
We do not forgive.
So, sell it to me.
I cannot.
I haven't named my price.
It doesn't matter.
Merchants buy, we know, but they always sell.
Always have their price.
None of this is mine.
I bought it for another.
Let him name his price then.
He has no price.
Why does he want it?
The thought of war... disturbs him.
Hm. Man of peace.
You could say that.
Well, I would meet with this paragon.
And he is a paragon.
It could easily be arranged.
He is your father,
Pope of Rome.
And he would deny me powder?
Yes.
Why?
Isn't it obvious?
Because he fears you!
But we share the same aims.
Fathers and sons.
It is always thus.
I will have my powder.
With your father's permission.
Must I beg?
No.
But, perhaps I can...
intercede.
In Nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sanctum.
Holiness, I have commandeered
every ounce of sulphur in this land.
ALEXANDER: So you are both a Christian and a peacemaker.
[chuckling]
Is that your intention?
An Italy at peace?
No, not entirely.
MATTAI: I suspected as much.
And as I have done all I can for you,
I would return to the tribe of Abraham.
Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
No, we... we have need of you.
We have further plans.
We have need of a man with your resource.
But you are surrounded by advisers, Holiness.
[scoffs]
Cardinals, canon lawyers...
Oh, what do they know of the real world?
Can we trust them with anything
other than drawing up a papal bull?
No, we need you further yet.
We need your hidden hand.
I may have found just the man, Holiness.
He has talent to burn.
Ah.
It pains him that those talents are so underused.
What, is he another Jew, like you?
A Christian.
Oh...
A warrior.
A warrior.
A leader of men.
One that you should take close to your ***.
May I introduce you to him?
What, now?
[sighs]
You would play games with me?
Don't you talk to me about playing games.
You would deny me powder?
You would make me think it was Catherina Sforza's doing?
You would invite the French army to my doorstep!
We share the same aims, Father!
But what are your aims? You do not share them with us!
You keep them secret! We are the Pope of Rome!
You are also my father
and you still cannot give me your trust!
[shouting]
GENTLEMEN!
You are family, are you not?
In my people the bonds of family are unbreakable.
Even stronger than family,
the bond between father and son.
Oh, do you have a son?
It is sacred.
Adam begat Cain.
Who killed his brother, Abel.
Abraham begat Isaac.
Whom he offered up for sacrifice.
And God stayed his hand.
And so here we are,
all of us children of Abraham.
And so I ask this father to embrace his son.
Give him his sanction, his support, his love.
His powder, his armies, his -
His love.
His love.
He is made in your image.
Do you think we don't know that?
He is me!
All the fire and the fury, the drive!
The pitiless ambition!
I look into his eyes, I see myself!
Do you expect me to love that?
Can you not love yourself, Father?
Must we hate each other then?
Father, please. Just...
...open your heart to me.
What have I wrought for this family?
On the altar of power and ambition?
A temple built on rotten foundations.
And you're asking me to let you continue down the road?
Can't do that.
You have no option, Father.
If we weaken now, they destroy us.
There's only one road and that is forward.
Trust me; I will carve you out an empire.
But abandon me, and we live in ruins.
So, give it to me - your trust - at last.
From now on, you'll have it.
And your forgiveness for my sins.
Ego te absolvo.
[♪]
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