General Tariq Alamand, a Moorish officer in the Spanish army, visits Captain Treville and expresses an intention to defect to France. He demonstrates a highly potent form of gunpowder which he has developed, and presents King Louis with a coded formula to develop more of it. In exchange for the cipher to decode it, he asks the Musketeers to help him rescue his daughter Samara. She had been kidnapped by Spanish agents in Paris led by Tariq's protégé, General Balthasar, who is demanding the cipher in exchange for her life.
Meanwhile, the Dauphin falls ill and is placed in the care of Dr Lemay. But Constance expresses a concern that his treatments aren't working. And yes, they involve leeches. Lemay must have been a student of Dr Hoffman of Stuttgart (owner of the largest leech farm in Europe). Anyway, Aramis learns of the Dauphin's fever before the Musketeers head to a busy market to make the exchange with Balthasar. His fears distract him, and the exchange goes south. A fight ensues in which several bystanders are killed, while Porthos is wounded and captured by Balthasar's men along with Samara. And while all that's going on, Milady seduces King Louis, and becomes his mistress.
I must admit that I wasn't keen on the ill Dauphin sub-plot. I reckon it could have been handled a little better. When Lemay's treatments prove ineffective, Constance tries to point this out and is reprimanded by King Louis. In response, she abducts the Dauphin and takes him to a laundrette, hoping that the steam would decongest him. She's found by Rochefort after her husband rats her out, and narrowly escapes being executed when Lemay admits her remedy had worked. Which leads me to wonder why she didn't consult with Queen Anne first. While Louis was dismissive, she's still the queen's confidante and could have suggested it to her. I suppose it gave Rochefort something to do, since he's not really involved with the main plot. It's a means for him to curry favour with Queen Anne, whom he is besotted with. To the point of paying sex workers to roleplay as her. Creepy.
B-plot aside, this episode still has some good moments. The exchange scene at the market is tense. Aramis takes up a sniper position to shoot Balthasar once the cipher is handed over. As a woman walks past with a crying baby, he begins to think about the Dauphin and loses his clear shot. And when Porthos is captured, we get some great snarky dialogue between him and Samara. The climax of the episode is both awesome and poignant, but I won't go into details here.
And need I mention that Balthasar is a racist prick? It's great to see him get his just desserts.
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