Episode description: “With the Witch's stone, Horace enters the citadel. Perla confesses to the prince while Néro remains in the underworld despite warnings.”
The episode opens with Perla planning to follow Rochemort’s advice and to leave Ségur. She goes to the kitchen in the night in order to gather supplies and with the hope of meeting the prince in order to say goodbye. But the prince really, really does not want her to go, and they meet with the archbishop who reassures the young pair that Perla is not the last living descendant of the devil (which is true; she is not). Life in the citadel continues, with the archbishop even encouraging the prince and Hortense to marry as soon as possible.
In the meantime, the witch, Horace and Néro arrive in the slums outside the walls of the citadel, a confusing labyrinth of huts and rooms mostly made from large, dried leaves (the visuals were impressive, both on the ground and from above). The slumdwellers are worried because they have heard Brother Penance is on his way, and that Ségur is to be left to the ravages of the penitents. This probably is the reason it was easy for the assassin, monk and witch to find an abandoned hut in which to hide and to use for their project.
We learned in the first episode that Toussaint, with the witch’s magic, sort of teleported into the consul’s bedchamber and in order to kill him. It was great of the series to show us how that works, especially the simplicity and elegance of the magic pebble. It was also a treat to see Pio Marmaï, the actor who plays Néro, naked (and not gratuitously). Horace, the only one who can easily enter the citadel, is tasked with carrying the magic pebble to some quiet corner (and it would be better if he could leave some clothes for Néro, but no one mentions that – not that anyone objects to nudity, but being naked both provokes attention and makes Néro vulnerable).
Of course it does not go well; in fact it goes completely wrong. Horace encounters a priest, an old friend, and tries to tell him that magic is not only real but can be used for good. Big mistake. When Horace tells the priest the Church has been lying for centuries, the priest makes it clear that the power of the Church is what matters. The priest attacks Horace. Although Horace wins the fight, killing the priest, the guy already called for help, and Horace is captured.
At this point I should have realized the extent of the perfidy of the Church elders, but I did not, even though in the first episode we saw an older priest bash in the head of a young monk. Anyway, Horace is taken to a cell and the pebble is removed from him. The witch knows that Horace has failed so Néro tries to find another way to reach Perla. Néro gets a message to her through Rochemort and manages to talk to his daughter, but she does not trust him.
Hortense and the prince are finally getting married. Perla arrives late, at which point the archbishop comes in and stops the ceremony, denouncing Perla, his accusation confirmed by a tortured Horace. Perla is taken away. So are Rochemort, Hortense and the prince, which the archbishop was only able to do by having power over a large part of the soldiers of Ségur. Again, I was surprised. I wonder why the archbishop did have not have them killed immediately (other than the fact that the creators want them alive later for the sake of the show). Perhaps he wanted more from them, or perhaps he wanted to perform a ritual on Perla (quite likely) or perhaps he did not think he would get Princess Joséphine’s cooperation if he killed her brother. Anyway, his deeds show he has connections with the penitents and with many of the soldiers of Ségur. In fact, he seems to have raised Brother Penance. The archbishop was supposed to kneel before the penitents, but the penitents kneel before him. The archbishop has been in charge all along.
Horace, from his cell, persuades a guard to flip the pebble. This gets the magic going. Néro, when he goes into the Limbo (or “Kingdom of the Dead” in French, or what looks to me like the Upside Down), has been warned not to let himself be delayed by those who will want to stop him. As we have heard quite a bit about Callista, Perla’s dead mother, seeing her makes sense. But what is concerning with respect to the story, is we don’t know whether or not his conversation with her is enough to get Néro into trouble, as the witch warned him would happen if he interacted with the dead. Our only other example was Toussaint, who sickened and died after getting involved with this magic. Toussaint completed his task – he killed the consul – so whatever may have tried to slow him down didn’t stop him. Anyway, there is a great scene when the naked Néro appears in front of several startled, clothed but armed soldiers and has to take them out.
In the end we have our motley bunch of heroes all working together, including Lothar and Zineb, who are quite rightly annoyed with Hortense. There are two exceptions: the monk Horace, because of his injuries, is left behind, and Princess Joséphine, alas, is dead from her injuries.
Most startling moment: I was surprised at the completeness of the archbishop’s perfidy toward Ségur, but also pleased by it, as it makes so much sense. The Church has already shown it is ruthless in its pursuit of power. Also, the Church is much more aligned with the penitents than with very secular Rochemort or even the prince, so the alliance makes sense. I should have seen it coming, but I did not. Chapeau!
Most emotional moment: I really liked it when Perla hugged her father after he tells her that the next time he warns her that her life is in danger, she needs to listen to him.
Title musings: The title of the episode is “The Archbishop” or “L’archevêque” in French. His role in this episode is fabulous, so the title fits.
Bits and pieces
Interesting that the archbishop in that he has prevented many women from being murdered as witches. Of course, he knows most of the accusations are lies.
Again no one seems to be shocked that Princess Joséphine is having sex with Rochemort.
Perla arrives a little late at the ceremony in which Hortense and the prince are getting married. It’s sweet how both the prince and Hortense look back at her and smile. No jealousy!
In a previous episode, I wondered why they chose such a small actor to play the Prince of Ségur. Well, as he has to be carried around by Néro, now it makes sense. Besides makes him appear younger and more vulnerable.
In an earlier episode, Rochemort threatens to kill Ségur’s chancellor at some future date. But the unlucky chancellor is felled by an arrow in this episode.
Rather nice that Brother Penance does not murder the prince lookalike.
Enjoyed how Hortense rescues Néro.
The fact that we see an axe swing and we see the necklace fall off Rochemort seems to indicate the witch is finally really, and not just mostly, dead. But with a series like this, who can tell?
Quotes
Prince: I should be the one surrendering to Brother Penance. I should give up my life for my people. Not him.
Rochemort: Your Majesty, in war as in chess, the king is not sacrificed. And this plan allows us to get rid of Brother Penance and save Ségur with one life only. Think of what a battle would cost us.
Chancellor: Dear. Very, very dear.
Horace You mean – you knew that the Church has been lying to us for centuries, and yet you chose to keep spreading those untruths?
Priest: We're here to spread the word of Christ.
Horace: But that isn't the word of Christ!
Princess Joséphine: Why -- why not tell me?
Rochemort: Because I love you, that's why.
Note the French version was different. In French Josephine wants to know why Rochemort is lying to her. That makes his telling her he loves her sound extremely insincere, which is how she takes it.
Rochemort: What else should I do, Your Majesty? It's your fault you left me no other way. You were already the archbishop's puppet. We couldn't both be pulling the strings.
Brother Penance: You are very brave. Congratulations. Much braver than your prince.
Prince: You planned to betray us, but didn't anticipate that others might do the same?
Rochemort: Yes, as you can see, Your Majesty, I got fսckеd over.
Hortense: So, what now?
Rochemort: Now? We'll all die. The three of us.
Witch to Perla: Run. Go. Only you can save us.
Overall rating
An excellent episode, with great twists and visuals and some weird material. The only thing I didn’t like was the open question regarding Néro’s interaction with Callista’s ghost, although the writers might just be leaving that open as something interesting to take up later. Three and a half out of four magic pebbles.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
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