Néro: As you wish, Princess.
Episode description: “Néro confronts a friend and his history while Rochemort deals with allegations. The penitents' arrival may change where loyalties lie.”
In the last episode, Néro left with Hortense and Perla, and they are becoming a family unit. This even becomes their cover story when they end up with Artaud, a villain, who happens to be an old friend of Néro’s. Néro protects Hortense by claiming she’s his wife, but Hortense is the one who initiates the love-making session. Of course, for modern sensibilities she has to initiate, but it’s still fun to see how uncomfortable he is at the outset.
Lothar and Horace are together in the beginning of the episode. I like how Lothar tells Horace that he would never kill a child, no matter what God says. I mean, if your God is telling you that, then something’s wrong with your God. Apparently they part ways, and eventually Lothar runs into Zeneb and the other guy remaining of the initial seven working for Rochemort. Lothar says they should abandon Rochemort, as he has engaged in sorcery. Zeneb kills the last guy, joining forces with Lothar. That’s good; he needs a sidekick, and Zeneb radiates competent lethality.
I was indifferent to Artaud, but I really liked Salomé, his wife, and how well she assessed the situations of Néro, Hortense and Perla. Apparently she can read the present and the past, but has no sense of the future, as, of course, their camp gets overrun and she and Artaud are killed. And although Néro was dying from the necklace, in fact he does not die.
Segue to Ségur: The pigeon with Hortense’s message gets to Ségur (I wish we could have seen it, but pigeons are unreliable actors). The prince and an armed escort set off for Havreval, and then track Hortense to Artaud’s camp. Rochemort is not allowed to go because Hortense denounced her father for witchcraft. The accusation that delights the archbishop, because he hates Rochemort (we should as well, but somehow I don’t). Just as Rochemort is about to be tortured, the people in Ségur learn the penitents are on their way. Princess Joséphine, who does not want to lose her lover, stammers out they need an alliance with Lamartine, Rochemort’s city. This gives him the chance to recommend a plan (full of double-crossing) and he does not get tortured, after all.
Néro is not as untouchable as the consul, and gets a blade in the back. Interestingly, both Hortense and Perla treat Néro as if he’s not about to die. He is more practical; he knows how lousy he feels; his last wish is to get his daughter to safety. Hortense is angry because she feels that he sold her (after they made love!) for a horse. But Néro is not really abandoning her. He believes he is about to die, and if she accompanies him to the port, she will be alone and unprotected when he dies and Perla leaves for the New World. Leaving her with Artaud is the best among bad options; Artaud will want the reward money and so he can be expected to return her to her father and her betrothed.
This episode finally connects us to the scene that began the series: Néro standing on the rock, hands tied behind his back, and a noose around his neck. It’s an extremely cruel way to kill someone, but not the most certain. They leave him there and as mentioned above, the one-eyed witch shows up. To our surprise, she not only cuts him down, but she removes the necklace. She tells him that it was the only time she lied to him.
Most startling moment: When the one-eyed witch removes Néro’s necklace.
Most emotional moment: Actually, I didn’t get one here, which is not good for the episode. Hortense and Perla both leave Néro, but, even though they have motivation, it does not feel adequate.
Title musings: The title of the episode is “The Villain” or “Le méchant”. The translation is not exact. “Wicked” is a more exact translation for méchant, or perhaps “bad guy” would do. Certainly Artaud, with the way he kidnaps for ransom and sex traffics women and girls, is awful, although his misdeeds seem to be pretty common for the times. Still, the title is about the best translation possible. It also reminds us of who Néro is, as we finally get to be with one of his old friends.
Bits and pieces
Original is in French, where vous is the formal (and plural) form of you, while tu is the informal, familiar version. It’s a plot point here in that Hortense, in order to appear as if she is married to Néro, has to suddenly start using tu with him but of course that can’t be done in English. They did a pretty good job with it, though.
So, Néro and Hortense have finally had sex. As this series has the quality of a violent soap opera, one has to wonder if Hortense is now with child. Is she carrying the devil’s last descendant? Or does the child have to be born for it to count?
Lovely insult to everyone living in the New World, that we are all devils.
Artaud doesn’t kill Néro with the knife in the back, just as Néro did not kill him. Perhaps Néro is an incompetent assassin, as Perla said in an earlier episode. Or maybe, just maybe, these two old friends did not want to kill each other, because Néro has certainly killed many other people.
With the haircut, Hortense appears older (the actor was born in 1991, which means she was in her early 30s during filming). This would be ancient for a first marriage in those times; someone like Rochemort would have made an alliance for her by the time she was sixteen. Anyway, given the fact that she appears to be in her 30s, it is not surprising the Prince of Ségur is more attracted to Perla than to Hortense (now we know why the really cute guy in the last episode had to die, to make room for the prince). However, the French have a practical attitude towards these things. Hortense may be attracted to Néro (although she has just left him to die) and the prince may be attracted to Perla, but they still accept their arranged alliance.
Again we leave a scene with nearly everyone dead. It is getting repetitive.
Quotes
Rochemort: Where is she?
Prince: She has found refuge in the fortress of Havreval. I will send an expedition to rescue her.
Rochemort: You should take me.
Archbishop: No.
Rochemort: What do you mean, "no"? Under whose authority?
Prince: In her message, she accuses you explicitly of making a covenant with a witch.
Archbishop You will be tried for that, Consul.
Hortense: That's not a good idea.
Néro: The Church believes she'll bring the Devil to Earth.
Hortense: They'll be in hot pursuit. I'll keep her safe.
Néro: That is very kind of you, but it won't help her. I'll feel better when an ocean lies between us and those fanatics.
Perla: They don't care about the Devil's descendants there?
Néro: Not at all. Apparently, they're all devils over there.
Néro: You're dead.
Perla: You cheated. You're bigger.
Néro: In combat, there's no cheats, just winners and losers.
Lothar: God himself could ask me to kill a kid, and I'd never do it.
Horace: She could destroy the world.
Lothar: You believe that?
Horace nods.
Lothar: Imbecile.
Artaud: Do you know he tried to kill me?
Néro: Yeah, I thought you were dead.
Artaud: No, his killer missed. Close though. Crossbow bolt in the back. For a long time, I thought it was you who did it.
Néro: You'd be dead if it were.
Artaud: Mmm. He let you go just like that?
Néro: Yeah. I was useless to him then. I was so in love. What good is an assassin who's a family man?
Artaud: I tell you what, you can be happy. He still loves you.
Artaud: They'll spend the night, and tomorrow they'll get back on the road to Port-Richet. We'll load them up with provisions.
Salomé: No, that'd be a waste. He'll be dead four days from now. She's not even his real wife. That one's got the evil eye.
Perla: You know what they'll do to her.
Néro: It was her or us two. Why worry about her? She's not your mate, sister or mother. It's bad, but that's how it is.
Perla: You're the worst.
Néro: Yeah, well. Good. You'll miss me less when I'm gone.
Artaud: The boat, Néro. The only person who'd know I left by boat was the one who shot me in the back.
Néro: Okay, Artaud. I deserve this from you. But take my daughter to Port-Richet. And send her to the New World for me.
Prince of Ségur: My lady, I have with me a message in which you make serious accusations against your father. Did you write that letter?
Hortense: Yes, it was I. But it's all false. My father had my lover murdered to enable our marriage. I wanted revenge. But I've reconsidered. I realised the importance of our union. For the world. For me.
Prince of Ségur: Then I am reassured. Your father is someone I hold in high esteem.
Hortense: As do I.
Rochemort: If you do want Ségur, you must get used to the idea that your new ally isn't much of a Christian.
Overall rating
Lots of twists and turns – the plot is really good and entertaining – but I could use some more emotional connection. Two and a half out of four knives in the back.
Victoria Grossack loves math, birds, Greek mythology, Jane Austen and great storytelling in many forms.
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