SEASON 3 SPOILERS & SPECULATIONS

Season 3 will be centered on Lucrezia and Cesare and their rasing to power.

David Nevins on the new season of the Borgias: “The family is starting to come apart in a really fundamental way.” Next season is “a lot about Cesare and Lucrezia coming into full power as the next generation.”

I just watched the last episode of the season, and it gets very intense." ―David Nevins

The new season, which premieres on April 14 at 10/9c on Showtime, features a Pope Alexander (Jeremy Irons) who is "hell bent," as the poster would say, on getting rid of anyone in the Vatican who might be disloyal to him after his nearly fatal assassination attempt last year. After staring mortality in the face, Pope Alexander is also dead-set on establishing a hereditary monarchy to rule with his son, Cesare (François Arnaud).

Too bad Cesare is busy fighting, and getting very close to his sister Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger), who is entering Neapolitan politics and learning the art of poisoning. (Fair warning: It's probably best to not to take a sip of whatever she's got in that goblet!)

The first teaser for the third season of The Borgias indicates that he'll be finding solace with Lucrezia, the member of the family he's always felt the closest with. He didn't have a good relationship with Juan, out of competitiveness for Rodrigo's attention, and his relationship with Rodrigo was at best strained due to perceived favoritism toward Juan, so it makes sense for him to retreat to a source of comfort, both out of need for soothing and an obligation to protect her from any upcoming ills. But what about their attraction toward one another? Tragedy can often lead people to do things that they had only previously thought about, as they have to face their own mortality upon experiencing a death close to him, but will that be enough to get the two to consummate their feelings for one another?

First Three Episodes of The Borgias--Titles

Episode 1: The Face of Death

Episode 2: The Purge

Episode 3: Siblings

The Holy See is about to raise holy hell. Season 3 of The Borgias begins with Pope Alexander (Jeremy Irons) spewing black bile after being poisoned in a murder attempt by one of his cardinals. Then the conniving Caterina Sforza (Gina McKee) orders the assassination of the pope’s entire family. “Everyone survives, but it will leave Alexander absolutely furious,” reveals exec producer James Flynn. “He purges the Vatican of anyone he suspects of disloyalty, which is pretty much everybody.”

Could things get worse? You bet. As a result of the poisoning, Alexander becomes impotent, and that’s a huge blow to his ego. He’s also one-upped at every turn by his firebrand son Cesare (Francois Arnaud), who killed Alexander’s favored son, Juan (David Oakes), last season. “Cesare challenges his father on a number of political decisions and really oversteps his mark,” Flynn says. “It all ends in a wildly powerful confrontation.

And just to lighten things up, Cesare and his sister Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) have an incestuous affair. “There’s certainly a physical attraction there,” says Flynn. “But mostly, Cesare is the only man Lucrezia can truly trust.”

…while the Pontiff could become even more paranoid about his grasp on the papacy and the power of his enemies. That paranoia, seeded in the way he was elected to the throne, doesn’t have to be a bad thing, however; it may cause him to go over his closest confidantes to suss out anyone not 100% loyal to him, increasing his safety and peace of mind.

Cyron Melville: Alessandro Farnese
Mattias Varela: King Ferdinand
Wendy Nottingham: Abbess
Ana Ularu: Charlotte d'Albret
Mackenzie Munro: Concetta
Tam Dean Burn: Dominican Prior
Andrew Gower: Assassin
Tilly Standing: Unknown
Jonah Russel: Unknown, possibly a Cardinal
Björn Hlynur Haraldsson: Gianpaolo Baglioni (recurring)
Oliver Lee: Unknown recurring role
David Dencik: Cardinal Orsini (possibly Giovanni Battista, recurring)
Brendan Cowell: Jewish King (recurring)
Peter Stebbings: Unknown recurring role
Sophie Goulet: Unknown
Alex Mugnaioni: Unknown
Leo Bill: Cardinal Costanzo
Luke Allen-Gale: Unknown role
Jamie Bearnish: Overseer
Abraham Belaga: Unknown recurring role
Pilou Asbæk: Paolo Orsini
Callum Turner: Flunky
Thure Lindhardt: an assassin against the Pope (recurring)
Charlie Carrick: Recurring guest-arc
Edward Hogg: French Cardinal George d’Amboise
Jamie Blackley: Raphael (don’t know if it’s Raphael the painter)
Edward Akrout: Yves d’Allegre (French commander, famous in Romagna)
Neil Jordan, Jon Amiel, Kari Skogland and David Leland are among the directors
Patrick O’Kane returns as Francesco Gonzaga
Melia Kreiling returns as Bianca Gonzaga
Gina McKee returns as Caterina Sforza
Ivan Kaye returns as Ludovico Sforza “Il Moro”