The Musketeers, including the newly-commissioned d'Artagnan, are tasked with guarding Queen Anne while she visits a spring reputed to have powers of fertility. Back in Paris, King Louis woos Charlotte Mellendorf, the daughter of a wealthy banker from Hamburg. In private, he vents his frustration to the Cardinal over Anne's inability to give him an heir, and would prefer to marry Charlotte for their shared interest in outdoor pursuits and a sizeable dowry from her father. After he offhandedly wishes that Anne was dead, the Cardinal also realises that an alliance with Hamburg would be in France's interest. He sends Milady to hire Gallagher, an exiled Irish mercenary (who isn't Italian), to assassinate the queen.
This one is definitely action-packed. The Musketeers have to flee from the spring while being pursued relentlessly by Gallagher's men. It's reminiscent of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Eventually, they're forced to split up. Athos and Aramis shelter the queen at a convent, which Gallagher's men besiege. Porthos and d'Artagnan flee to Paris, only to find that the rest of the regiment is hunting with King Louis and the Mellendorfs.
The nuns at the convent are pretty badass. Although Gallagher allows them to leave unharmed, they opt to remain and help to reinforce the convent. They initially spend the first assault praying, until a stray bullet damages a statue of the Virgin Mary. At that point, the mother superior leads them to help the fight. They cut the grapple lines of the men scaling the walls, and they drive them away with beehives and incendiaries made from bottles of brandy.
We do get some drama as Aramis discovers that one of the nuns, Sister Helene, is actually his old flame Isabelle. He'd gotten her pregnant and was engaged to marry her, but her father sent her away after she lost the baby. This builds upon a discussion he had in an earlier episode, but also provides some interesting insight into his character. After she's killed by two of Gallagher's men, Queen Anne comforts Aramis as he grieves and they end up sleeping together. Yeah, I know I'm spoiling that, but it's something that has ripples throughout the series, so I have to mention it sooner or later.
The episode has a good amount of humour as well. There's a scene at the beginning in which d'Artagnan is sparring with Athos and Porthos, who drag him through the dirt to make his uniform more battle-worn. Gallagher is introduced riding to a farm where he shoots some apparent bandits which turn out to be large rodents. Queen Anne tries to cook fish while they're camping, which turns out to be...a little on the well done side, but the Musketeers are too gallant to complain. While at the convent, the mother superior offers Athos a musket, claiming it's for shooting rabbits (and Protestants). And there's a ton of casual danger dialogue between Athos and Aramis.
All in all, this is an episode I rate quite highly. I'm excited for the next one.
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