Three months have passed since the previous episode. Cardinal Richelieu has framed Count Mellendorf for the attempt on Queen Anne's life, and he awaits trial. Despite the Cardinal's desire to have him executed, Queen Anne has persuaded King Louis to delay until further inquiries are made, as his execution would likely result in war with the count's Prussian and Swedish allies.
Athos has deduced that Milady de Winter was the one who hired Gallagher. He drunkenly takes Milady hostage, and the other Musketeers try to intervene. Milady appeals to d'Artagnan and reveals their relationship, which causes a rift to develop between him and the others. When Athos shoots d'Artagnan, Milady takes him in and persuades him to get revenge and fulfil a promise he made when they first met. Though reluctant to kill Athos, d'Artagnan relents when Treville strips him of his commission.
It's a tense moment as d'Artagnan goes to the Garrison to confront Athos. He's shunned by Porthos and Aramis, until Treville brings the four of them to his office. They exchange barbs, before laughing and sharing a group hug, revealing that their rift was staged in order to expose the Cardinal. However, Milady has a contingency; she meets with her previous patron, a criminal gang leader named Sarazin, played by Sean Pertwee. In exchange for working with him again, Sarazin agrees to kill the Musketeers, abducting Constance to bait them.
Every character gets their moment to shine. Richelieu is becoming increasingly frantic as he fears discovery, losing his temper at Milady. King Louis offers Charlotte Mellendorf reassurance that he won't execute her father right away, and even puts the Cardinal in his place (as does Queen Anne later on). Even Constance gets her moment when she's abducted by Sarazin. While guarded by his perpetually drunk mistress, she's able to free herself and even cuts her guard's face on a broken bottle. She actually would have escaped if Milady hadn't shown up. Knowing that she dies in the original story actually makes this scene genuinely tense. Of course, it's the Musketeers who truly steal the show in this episode. They out-gambit the most powerful man in France, and go on to single-handedly take down Sarazin's gang. In the end, you've just got to have some action.
However, after all that triumph, the ending is kind of bittersweet.
After the battle with Sarazin's gang, Athos can't bring himself to kill Milady, telling her to leave France. Constance reconciles with d'Artagnan, but they're unable to re-kindle their affair when Monsieur Bonacieux - who had initially assumed she'd eloped with d'Artagnan when she was abducted - tries to kill himself to guilt her into coming home. Furthermore, King Louis announces that Queen Anne is pregnant, and it's implied that Aramis is the father. It's also implied that the Cardinal suspects this.
Of course, there isn't much that the Cardinal would be able to do; Peter Capaldi had to depart from the series due to his then-recent commitment to Doctor Who.
The episode ends with the Musketeers lamenting that they haven't got anything that makes life pleasant: No glory, no money, and no love. They eventually settle on having their honour, and ride into the sunset for their next adventure.
Oh yeah, they say the line. You know the one I mean.
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