Borgia (2011) s03e05 Episode Script

1 - Thank you, Tommaso.
- A pleasure to serve, Your Highness.
Hello, Alfonso.
My love.
- Tommaso, how's your arm? - Almost healed.
- I must go.
- And when will you have time for me? I am the pope's counselor.
I cannot control the hours in my days.
Here comes the prince of vipers.
You must tread lightly around my brother.
He is not angry with you, but because he lost so many fine men in his most recent campaign.
He is angry at me because he is jealous.
Do what you can to placate him.
Cesare, hello.
And goodbye.
I am late.
Farewell for now, my love.
She loves me more than ever.
If her love for d'Este grows in equal measure, will you fight with him again? I only did as any husband would.
And as any father would, recklessly causing the near death of little Rodrigo.
That dog d'Este was to blame.
He had no business touching my child.
Your child.
His.
Ours.
Agapito If I killed you right here, all of Italy would treat me as a hero.
But you are not a hero, Alfonso.
And only men like you, who lack true courage, want me dead.
Pinturicchio just finished the addition, the paint is still wet.
Now the Taino Indians will forever be considered God's children.
Even as the Spanish continue to murder them.
Cardinal d'Amboise awaits.
- Holiness! - Not now.
Oh, but Holiness, my king, the great Federigo has an ever creeping concern that you favor the French.
King Louis has worked hard to earn our friendship, while Naples hides leisurely behind our throne.
Did Naples not give Lucrezia a princely husband? Di Calabria is worthless.
- Goffredo is married to - Sancia, who is worse.
Yeah.
Well, even so, my king, the great Federigo has always been your ally.
He pledges support for Cesare's claim to the Romagna.
- A pledge in word or in blood? - In coin.
Thirty thousand ducats.
A gift of gratitude from Louis d'Orléans.
What have we done to earn a chest full of gratitude? You allow French troops to pass through the Papal States.
- Have we granted such permission? - We anticipate that you will, so that Louis may claim his hereditary title: King of Naples.
- A gift? - Twenty thousand ducats.
Papal permission is worth more, at least 50,000.
The king of Naples has outbid you.
Holiness! The Son of God seems to find much peace in death.
Perhaps because he no longer bears the burden of leading men out of darkness.
His countenance does not represent death, but the communion between the divine and humanity.
The Virgin.
She is so youthful.
My mother died when I was five.
This is how I remember her.
I honor her incorruptible purity, which cannot be marred by the winds of time.
Maestro, come join my court at Cesena.
You can paint scenes of battle on the walls of the war room.
I am not a painter.
I am a sculptor.
And await a commission from the signory in Florence, a large, very large sculpture of David, just after he slays Goliath.
Or perhaps before.
I have not yet decided.
I will build you a studio big enough to sculpt the Colossus of Rhodes.
Eminence.
Cesare, I did not know you had an interest in art.
I have an interest in creatures and comforts of every kind.
Now this piece is more in keeping with the sensibility I had in mind when I commissioned the Bacchus.
Art is the handmaiden of theology.
Art is the sister of theology, and sometimes sisters clash.
My next commission, Buonarroti, you will execute the sculpture exactly as I describe.
I only want that for which I have paid.
Like all men of wealth, you make the mistake that money gives you the right to tell an artist how to create, rather than know your proper place.
- Proper place? - On your knees, in awe.
As you went to your knees after losing the battle for Faenza? Your father has had another epileptic fit.
No worse than the last.
- He has recovered.
- Have the attacks increased in frequency? Thank you, Francesc.
Perhaps you should delay your return to the battlefield.
Our father's decline only hastens the need for me to advance.
I hesitate only because I have not yet devised the proper military strategy against Faenza.
I have asked Maestro da Vinci to invent a weapon of stunning terror, and also to redesign the papal prisons to make escape impossible.
Soon our cells will teem with the citizens of Faenza.
Revenge will be my mistress.
You carry too much vengeance in your heart.
You must learn to forgive.
- Cesare, you must forgive Alfonso.
- For breathing.
I have come to love him.
Not in a perfect way.
But then again, which love is perfect? I will not leave your children without a father.
- Alfonso, no.
- Yes.
I have sat in Ferrara, stewing on the stove of deep desire.
I could stay away from your touch no longer.
A sin is a sin, no matter what the reason.
Louis will not be happy to hear that the pope demands more coinage.
We stand still and the river flows.
Whether there is victory or defeat, the river will still flow.
You and I, Louis, the pope, matter not, d'Amboise.
The Tiber will be here long after we are bone.
And does your promise to my king no longer matter? A promise Pope Alexander now dithers on.
Louis worries about you, Cesare.
That your defeat in Faenza will breed only more defeat.
He believes that you will return to the path of victory by ensuring the French path to Naples.
If you cannot help him with that, you should jump into your beloved Tiber.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
That's right.
That's right.
Okay, that's good.
Grazie.
- How nice and fat that bird is.
- Signora, what a pleasure.
When you make the fowl into a tart, season it with cassia buds.
- You paid to set the creature free? - I do not eat the innards of animals.
I only sketch their beauty.
Rome is very fortunate to have two Florentine geniuses in residence.
I have just seen Maestro Michelangelo.
Cesare has invited him to the court at Cesena.
- Cesare has invited him? - To paint the frescoes.
He is no painter.
His paintings are wooden.
- But he is a fine sculptor.
- Sculpture is the lesser art.
Says the horse modeler, unable to cast a statue in bronze, you were forced to give up in shame.
There was no shame.
There was illumination.
The sculpture was an experiment in casting from which I learned that which I set out to learn.
But you never finish much of what you start, do you? Other than assembling your wardrobe.
My nose You broke my nose! Good day, Signora.
I am freshly returned from Valencia with Gacet's birth document.
Proof he is the son of a Muslim whore.
- Your voyage to Spain was fruitful.
- But not quite sufficient.
Rodrigo Borgia will be easily manipulated once Gacet has been discredited.
We cannot afford to merely discredit the heathen.
We must eviscerate him.
You must find a witness who will testify against Gacet.
I have already done so.
I have obtained unimpeachable evidence that your secretary, Francesc Gacet, is in fact a Muslim.
His Spanish birth certificate.
Guards! May I introduce Renato Gacet? Please.
My kinsman Francesc was born Aslam Gacet, a child of my late sister, raised a mudejar.
To this day he practices in secret the sins of Mohammed.
We have heard enough! You have been living under the influence of an unholy beast! We demand Gacet be stripped of his position and executed in the name of the true God! - We will do no such thing! - Holiness! You cannot support this paynim.
That would be a betrayal of the Petrine Throne upon which you sit.
Aslam Gacet died 50 years ago, when we personally witnessed his rebirth and baptism as Francesc.
Since that day, he has embodied all we could hope from a convert to the universal Church.
Send this infidel to prison.
Please Aslam? Francesc? Save me! Now, Cardinal Colonna, if you are done making false claims, we have greater matters on our agenda.
Cesare Borgia, duke of Valentinois, comte of Diois, lord of Issoudun, prefect of Rome, gonfalonier of God's great Church.
You summon me, Holy Father.
How can I be of service? For your dominance, by war or treaty of Imola, Forli, Cesena, Pesaro, Pisa, Bertinoro, San Marino, Bologna, Nepi, Fano, Urbino, Siena, Savignano, Piombino, Elba and Pianosa.
For your extraordinary bravery, intelligence and compassion I proclaim you prince of the Romagna, in your own name.
Cesare Borgia, this title shall be passed down to your children and your children's children.
All lands that you have claimed and will claim are released from papal control to your sole possession until the Day of Judgment.
In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti.
How can I be prince of the Romagna when I have not yet conquered all of the Romagna? I was soundly defeated by Faenza, which has caused my enemies to grow in fierceness and in number.
You are what we say you are and what people believe you are.
The title of prince raises you up, so that you may bring your adversaries down.
Go back to Faenza and subdue Duke Astorre Manfredi.
He elicits support from the duke of Rimini, and so I must first force Pandolfo Malatesta into inaction.
Hmm.
How will you accomplish that? Do you think I abducted his daughter Dorotea purely for my own pleasure? Who does Cesare Borgia think he is, summoning me to Rome as if I am his serf? I am no man's serf.
- Who? - Duke Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini.
Pandolfo the Bad, welcome to the chambers of Cesare the Worst.
So the rumors of orgies are true.
I have collected the finest wenches from across the Romagna.
- Each heart a different conquest.
- Damn you, Borgia.
You did not conquer my daughter's heart.
You abducted her body.
Dorotea, are you here? Duke Astorre Manfredi invites you to take up arms against me, even while the whereabouts of your precious Dorotea remain unknown.
I see.
So she is nothing more than a bargaining tool.
Stand down in this fight and your daughter's safety increases.
If not, I cannot shield her innocence from Fortuna's cruelty.
Cesare please! I have not held my innocent girl in two years.
You have my word Rimini will not interfere.
Conquer Faenza.
But please Tell my daughter that I that I miss her.
- What say you? - I have never seen my father cry.
Becoming a father is easy enough, being one proves more difficult.
Mariano, come to me.
You do not look well.
In fact, your head aches.
Your brain is about to explode.
Why was Mariano running from here? Giulia, do not tell me that you fuck our servants.
No, Mama, I have a grander plan.
My great aunt Enrichetta, she was quite adept at oculus malus, was she not? The evil eye? Are you studying the black arts to use on the pope for what he did to your cousin? And all his other devilry.
I would be proud of your cunning if there were results.
Yet, Borgia still lives.
I do not want to kill Rodrigo.
At least not until Alessandro has risen higher in the hierarchy.
- And becomes the next pontiff.
- And in the meantime, I will use the evil eye to torture Rodrigo, to diminish the thing he holds most dear.
- His manhood? - Yes.
But my curse cannot be truly effective unless he opens himself up to me.
- So touch him on his pene.
- No, he needs to be He needs to be emotionally receptive.
Rodrigo has placed a barrier between his heart and mine.
Then find the key.
Tell any man your deepest, darkest fears and he will feel compelled to comfort you.
Where is Gacet? Should we summon him? No, I am happy for the privacy.
Because Gacet would dissuade us from granting you that for which you are about to ask? I ask nothing other than your ear.
We give you both, perked.
I am worried that I am evil.
Rodrigo, when I die I will be Satan's slave.
- Why? What have you done this time? - What have I not done? Giulia.
I have missed your strong arms.
Holiness, you requested me.
We will continue another time.
How did you find Renato Gacet? I was given his name by Francesc himself.
Liar! You, della Rovere and the Colonna, failing to incapacitate our papacy, try to harm those we love.
But where will that leave you, slug? Exactly where you are: crawling under della Rovere's slipper.
If any harm comes to Gacet from any quarter, do not think we will spare you the full wrath of our supreme powers.
- Me entiendes? - Yes, Holiness.
I am your servant.
Be gone from our sight, Excellency.
And instead of an arrow, this giant crossbow can fire large stones, or possibly balls of flame.
Is this apparatus not too unwieldy to be practical? Practicality is not the objective.
Since my failure at Faenza, my men have lost courage.
If more die, the rest will be demoralized and rendered useless.
The title of prince is meaningless unless I first become one.
Again I need a way, a practical way, to attack without soldiers.
There is a method, very dangerous, developed in France called "un feu ardent et empoisonnement par la fumée.
" "Fervent fire and poison smoke.
" Released into the air, the gas floats down upon a city, killing every breathing man.
How can we obtain this gas? With the proper ingredients, I can manufacture the powder.
There is, as always, a complication.
The wind.
A shift toward my troops would make them the victims.
Even you, brave Cesare, cannot direct a gale.
Still, this toxic tonic is a devastating device.
The fear such a weapon instills outweighs the damage it can inflict.
The threat of the annihilation will be enough to bring Astorre Manfredi down.
Begin your preparations.
Concoct the gas.
You've offered Michelangelo Buonarroti a position at court.
Now is not the time for green-eyed jealousy.
Only the victorious can afford that luxury.
So, both of you claim this fine piece of Carrara marble.
Each of you wishes to sculpt a statue celebrating the moment David killed Goliath.
Vannozza, since you are so steeped in the realm of the arts, we turn to you to help us decide which virtuoso deserves the prize.
Speak, my friends.
Is there a David trapped inside this slab? There is and the giant as well.
Lay the marble down upon the grass and there he is: Goliath bleeding to death.
A frail yet triumphant David perched atop his shoulder.
Supreme Pontiff, can you not see the sword of David thrust deep between the heathen's eyes? Can you see the horror? Can you see the glory? We can see only what we see, Maestro.
And you, Buonarroti? There is no Goliath inside the stone.
If there is no Goliath, there is no David.
And there lies the fallacy.
This marble holds David alone, before battle.
Holiness, if David is depicted without Goliath, there is no indication the subject is David.
It would be the carving of an ordinary man! True beauty lies not in victory, but in the hope of victory.
Hope shines forth in the fleeting moment before David chooses to hurl a simple stone, when weakest he puts his trust in the Lord.
This marble holds an ordinary man, yes, transformed by his leap of faith.
He should be celebrated for fidelity, not for brutality.
If you succeed, Buonarroti, so does mankind.
Begin work today.
Is that blood under your nose, Leonardo? Perhaps the prince will speak on my behalf.
We have made our decision.
- I return to Faenza to reverse my defeat.
- Be certain of your strategy.
- You must not fail this time.
- I will succeed or make ready my tomb.
Your papal legate leaves immediately for one final attempt to negotiate Faenza's peaceful surrender.
- With what leverage? - Da Vinci has a new method of warfare The specifics afterwards.
You are brilliant, my son, but you do not know everything.
Do not pretend that you do.
His grace, Duke Astorre Manfredi.
- Your Grace.
- Your Grace.
Is that the death machine? May I offer a demonstration of the deadly gas? Well, why else would I allow you to drag me out here? We will need an animal of some kind.
You and you.
You are sending them to their deaths.
The only thing that will die is Cesare Borgia's ambition.
Where should they stand? By that tree.
Place the cloth over your nose and mouth.
Ten hut! What we took as rumor is truth.
He is magnificent.
Company halt! They are so silent.
Astorre is much beloved.
His surrender is their surrender.
They will come to love me as well.
De Lorqua, you will remain in Faenza as governor.
I am honored by your trust, Cesare.
As in Cesena, we will improve the lives of Faenza's citizens.
What brings them joy brings us joy as well.
So, this is the youth who outwitted me.
- I admire your determination.
- And I your perseverance.
Together we are a fountain of endless possibilities.
I am the wife in my marriage.
Your status is in less peril than your life.
Cesare will kill you.
I know, that is why you must go to Faenza.
Keep your presence hidden.
But if you are discovered, deliver this scroll to Cesare, once again reaffirming my desire to serve him.
To Astorre Manfredi, deliver this.
Tell him there is no reason for him to live under the Borgia thumb.
This knife is from the collection of Alfonso d'Este.
If used to kill Cesare, neither Manfredi nor I will shoulder the burden of blame.
Go.
Cesare, you have been extremely generous.
Most conquerors would imprison me, not dine as if my guest.
Think of me not as a conqueror, but as a partner.
We will indulge the poor and humble the rich.
Peace and prosperity will be the order of each day.
Forgive my suspicions, but why do you deal with me differently than the other dukes whom you defeated? Your people do not treat you as a god because they fear you.
They think you deserve it.
I respect that, as any good leader ought to accept the fervor of his subjects.
With your consent, I will address them tomorrow in hopes of calming their fears and winning their hearts.
- Will you stand beside me? - Of course.
I go to work on my disquisition.
Let me show you to your chamber.
I have a secret to tell you.
Duke Astorre.
Duke Astorre.
Duke Astorre, are you here? You said we should meet here.
The young Turkish girls are abducted from their parents who love them.
Or purchased from parents who love gold more.
Though the women are slaves, their lives are better in the harem.
Because they have brocades and jewels? Perhaps they would prefer to live in the desert, eating only sand.
Who is there? Let us take a digestif in the papal office.
We must complete the ecclesiastical appointments for Umbria.
We will escort our daughter home when we are finished.
The life of a slave is a miserable one.
Aah! Stop this! You? Your Highness, I Save your lies, Tommaso.
You will need them.
Henceforward, you are loyal to me.
All right, tell me.
What is the news? Astorre has agreed to assassinate Cesare tonight.
Rome will soon bow to me.
Guards! The prince has been murdered.
Come on.
Quickly, we must get him inside.
Get a physician.
Your Highness.
I rode as fast as I could.
How fares Lucrezia? - She is too young to be a widow.
- Not a widow.
Our physicians say di Calabria's survival seems possible.
The attack is a shocking reminder of how unsafe Rome can be.
You think this is random violence? I will investigate, identify and arrest those responsible.
Issue a decree, in my name.
Anyone caught carrying arms in the area between Castel Sant'Angelo and the Vatican will be executed.
Eliminating all weapons does not seem possible.
Do you believe there will be another attempt on di Calabria's life? What was left unfinished after dinner can be accomplished before breakfast.
Illustrious Domina How fares Prince Alfonso of Salerno? I do not believe that you have ever deigned to speak to me, Eminence.
You must be very concerned.
The victim's uncle, my king, the great Federigo is deeply concerned and therefore, so am I.
Federigo's concern and your concern are no concern of mine.
If di Calabria dies and a Borgia is responsible Naples will make war on Rome.
My darling Alfonso, I thought I had lost you forever.
You have not lost me, sweet wife.
You have saved me from your brother.
Cesare is not responsible.
He has even ordered an investigation.
A screen of black smoke.
Just as he investigated the murder of your brother Juan, a crime which Cesare himself committed.
There is no evidence that the attack on di Calabria was Cesare's doing.
- Many others wish your husband dead.
- For instance? Cardinal San Severino.
He holds a grudge because Alfonso di Calabria usurped the throne of Salerno, once held by the San Severino family.
Preposterous.
My Uncle Federigo took the crown away from San Severino's family, not me.
The cardinal and I have since dined together in pleasant company.
Cesare hired those thugs to savage me.
Cousin Lucrezia, the Holy Father seeks your counsel regarding a very serious matter.
I have uncovered a conspiracy to assassinate Cesare.
Do you accuse me, knave? Lucrezia, go.
Defend me to the pope.
Tommaso will remain.
If you leave, Tommaso, they will kill me.
Tommaso.
Yes, there was a plot to kill Cesare in Faenza.
- Who was the mastermind? - I know few details or who conspired.
Your brother simply said, "The culprit is being taken care of.
" Alfonso! This is too much suffering for one young woman to bear.
Lucrezia, you must be strong for the sake of your children.
My children? You swore that you would not leave them fatherless.
Murderer! - Cesare is innocent.
- You're blind.
He is guilty.
If Cesare did kill di Calabria, then he deserved to die.
- Papa, how can you say such a thing? - I was at dinner with Cardinal d'Amboise.
That is proof of where you were, not where your orders were being carried out.
You can pretend with others, not with me.
You have examined the corpse in the bedchamber? Perhaps Prince Alfonso rolled off his bed, hitting his head wound on the stone floor, causing his death.
Or perhaps he thought he could fly.
Where is Tommaso Albanese? He should have been protecting di Calabria.
Albanese has fled, which indicates his involvement What reason would Tommaso have to kill Alfonso? We have no magic glass to peer into the hearts of strangers.
We must confront them for their actions.
Track and trap him.
If Alfonso had not married me, he would still be alive.
And now, I am dying of grief.
Oh, Lucrezia Your name is Tommaso Albanese.
You were secretary to Alfonso di Calabria, prince of Bisciglie and Salerno.
Your obligation was to assist and protect his royal personage.
Have we said any untrue words thus far? Your Holiness, no.
Last night, where were you? Speak the truth.
With the prince.
Who attacked him? I did.
Why? You have caused great pain to us Borgia.
Does not our grief deserve an explanation? Alfonso married into your family, and you are the pope.
So perhaps he was good to you, or you ignored his actions.
Did you ever once see how he treated those under him? Do you even notice those under you? He whipped me.
He broke my arm, not because I did wrong, but he felt pleasure in hurting me.
But you did not know that.
And you did not know that as such matters are not part of your unceasing lust, gluttony and greed.
The guilty always accuse the judge.
One more question, Albanese.
How did you get my unicorn mask? In Rome masks are available for any occasion.
We will inform your sister that the guilty party has been found.
- He seemed convinced.
- Yes.
I have played my part.
And I will play mine.
The pope will not seek capital vengeance.
Then you will mysteriously disappear from this cell.
And, and my daughter? Your daughter will receive a stipend for the rest of your days.
I will hang Albanese.
We begin to believe a life of prison is a much worse punishment.
You would let a murderer breathe? First your son, now your son-in-law dies without retribution.
Romans must know that their pontiff represents a world of justice.
You must enact justice.
Do what you think best.
Be not sorrowful even as others who have no hope are sorrowful.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then we sleep in Jesus.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who are asleep.
For this we say by the Word of God that we, who are alive will remain alive until the coming of the Lord.
Amen.
Amen.
She cannot eat.
She cannot sleep.
I fear Lucrezia will waste away.
She will go to Nepi and be restored.
Nepi.
Why Nepi? The city is away from Rome, yet not too far.
She will recover more quickly where she can escape her memories.
Where she can escape her memories? Or where you will not have to bear witness to her sadness? There is no greater sorrow than to see our children suffer.
- Who? - Alfonso d'Este.
Yes.
I come to return this.
I have granted your request, allowing you to murder di Calabria, yet guaranteeing that Lucrezia will never suspect you.
She already thinks the worst of me, But you she believes to be a mountain of virtue.
I am not a good man, but I gladly endanger my soul out of love for Lucrezia.
Yes.
You truly love her.
And she, you.
Yet, I am surprised that you would entrust your sister's life to a murderer.
What am I but a murderer? And for you, murder is the exception, not the norm.
Soon she and I will wed.
I have fulfilled my promise not to leave her children without a father.
As little Rodrigo's true father, I am forever in your debt.
Yes.
Yes, you are.