The Musketeers have been tasked with bringing Lucien Grimaud to justice for the murder of Ferron. After learning that he's fled Paris, Sylvie reveals that he mentioned having lived in the village of Episee. The Musketeers follow the trail, but end up being captured. They're taken to a hidden commune populated almost entirely by women from the village seeking refuge from soldiers who periodically loot their homes. Amongst them are Juliette and Therese, who both happen to have known Grimaud's mother. Another resident is Elodie, the pregnant widow of a soldier, whom Porthos bonds with. They also meet Bastien, played by Harry Melling, whom they took in after rescuing him from a band of soldiers. However, it's then revealed that he's a spy for a group of deserters from a penal battalion, who seek a treasure which the commune allegedly stole from them.
This episode attempts to explore the effects that war has on people, especially women living near the front lines. Since many wars at that time were fought by mercenaries, and since soldiers weren't always well-paid or well-supplied, it was common for soldiers to resort to looting and pillaging.
While this episode starts out as the hunt for Grimaud, he doesn't actually appear except in dreams. We do get some insight into his past, which I'm not going to discuss here. As a warning if you're watching the episode: it discusses sexual assault, and an attempted infanticide.
If there's an issue I do have with this episode, it's with Juliette. She's the de facto leader of this hidden community, and is built up to be a fierce fighter. But then she gets captured by Bastien's men, who demand the treasure in exchange for her release. While it does result in a pretty cool battle as the Musketeers fight with the villagers, I was a little disappointed that she ultimately has to be saved.
This is very similar to "The Return" from the second season, with the episode largely taking place away from home. However, there is still some story to take place back in Paris. Queen Anne admits to King Louis that Aramis is the Dauphin's biological father, and Treville encourages him to make peace. After all, if the Dauphin is declared illegitimate, that would be dangerous once the king dies.
All in all, it's a good episode, but also a pretty dark one.
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