2x04 Stray dogs

Holly è sempre figa e fatta di pony rosa e digitali purpuree di campo ùù

In this week’s episode, Rodrigo beds an ally’s wife, blackmails an army into giving all its spoils to the church (i.e., him), and instructs son Cesare (Francois Arnaud) on the finer points of vengeance. “Vengeance should always be unexpected,” he says in a characteristically un-Christlike moment.

In a meeting with Rodrigo, the king of France can barely mask his disdain. He addresses him as “holy father” but spits out the phrase like a curse. Truly, The Borgias makes “holy” seem like the world’s dirtiest word.

Rodrigo (and especially Cesare) may have fended off the French attack in last week's episode of The Borgias, but King Charles isn't going away that easily. No, both the vendetta he has against the pontiff and thirst for Roman treasures continue to remain strong, to the point where the plaster cannons and element of surprise can no longer defend the city of Rome. It's time to go to battle and in "Stray Dogs", we get to see the preparation for the almighty showdown.

And that showdown has caused Rodrigo to have to step out of what's comfortable and go with his gut. Having a woman on the throne may not have been socially acceptable at the time, but Rodrigo giving Lucretzia in loco parentis makes sense. Cesare and Juan will be joining the troops and he can't have anyone know about his marriage to Vanozza or his relationship with Giulia Farnese. Rodrigo fought pretty darn hard to be named pope, so leaving his daughter with his responsibilities keeps a Borgia in charge until he comes back and can reclaim what's his. You have to wonder, though, if the cardinals will conspire to do something to Lucretzia once her brothers and father leave to fight. Their thirst for the position and (likely) jealousy over not becoming the surrogate pope could lead to using Lucretzia to get to her father and strong-arm him out of a position.

Elsewhere on The Borgias, it looks like Cesare will be playing an important role in the upcoming battle, no doubt thanks to his performance with the French last week. In the first season, Rodrigo made clear that the way to dominate Rome and sew up his influence would be to have one son in the cloth and one son on the battlefield. But these are desperate times and since Juan has proven to be a bit unsteady as a military presence, Cesare will be heading out onto the battlefield to join in on the fun. Though Rome isn't densely packed with cannons and high tech weaponry, they have loads of swords, knives, and spears for hand-to-hand combat. The only problem, of course, is getting by the French and being able to use those weapons before being blown away by a cannonball. With ever-stealth killing machine Micheletto by Cesare's side, though, my gut tells me that the Romans will be able to infiltrate the French camp.

The only question is, how will they do if they get inside?