The Borgias (2011–2013): Season 2, Episode 5 - The Choice - full transcript

Previously on The Borgias...

Giovanni Sforza.

And my cousin,
Catherina Sforza.

You would have a taste
of vengeance.

Giovanni Sforza-
he proved ungallant?

He betrayed our father,
the pope.

If he misused you,

he shall pay a
different kind of price.

You think the blood of the
Borgia pope could cure us?

We could bathe in it
together, Majesty.

Catherina Sforza
rides with the French.



She has the arms she needed

and has retired to
her castle at Forli.

And we forgive her?

Priorities can change,
Cardinal Borgia.

The French have laid
waste to the papal states.

Our proposal is that
the armies combine...

to rid us of this
French plague.

You think we can
defeat the French?

We can strike them at night.

They move like smoke
in the darkness.

Do you have anything to
confess about this past night?

My night was as satisfactory
as I'm sure was yours.

I would beg your
permission to investigate

the office of public
works even further.



Found more irregularities?

There are so many in
this Vatican of yours.

You are? Nicolo Machiavelli.

Ambassador to
the House of Medici.

The Medici family are
bankers to the world.

To the Vatican itself.

Father Savonarola
calls it usury.

This pope is a
lecherous abomination!

Florence, you will
pay for your greed...

when he drags you to perdition!

Savonarola prophesied
the end of days...

not the murder of the pope.

If I had his approval,
would I have yours?

[♪]

Libera animas omnium fidelium
defunctorum de poenis inferni,

et de prof undo lacu.

Libera eas de ore leonis...

It is ingenious,
when you think of it.

St. Peter's? The Church.

Like an enormous bank machine.

The faithful pay to maintain
it in its magnificent splendor.

This theatre of redemption.

The greater the display,

the more they gather from
all corners of Christendom.

The more they pay.

Can the College of Cardinals
be made to see the light?

They each have their secrets.

If we can find them.

The French munitions
were destroyed

by some brave Roman souls.

Were you one of them?

I dress in red satin,
Father, not in armour.

So you are a
cardinal still, hmm?

Though sometimes in disguise.

Dare we say it, like us.

So, now we got
rid of one enemy,

it's now time to
deal with another.

Friar Savonarola?

Your cousin, Catherina Sforza!

Oh, so it continues.

She has retired to
her castle in Forli

with an abundance
of French cannon.

Well, then I can defend her
no longer, Your Holiness.

We would have her come to Rome

and kneel at our feet

and have those beauteous lips
kiss the papal ring.

Let me be the
messenger, Father.

You?

You care so little
for your hide?

I care more for
my father's well-being.

Oh.

So while we make the
acquaintance of Florence,

Cardinal Borgia will
journey to Forli.

And you tell that lady that
if she does not obey us,

we will reduce her
fortress to dust

and drag her in chains
through the streets of Rome.

The choice is hers!

To Florence...

and its heretic, Savonarola!

Do you know anyone in Forli?

I know everyone in Forli,
Your Eminence.

How?

I was born there.

I can't imagine you being born,
Micheletto.

Or dying, for that matter.

But you must show us
your ancestral home.

I preach against Rome,

I preach against the
sale of indulgences!

I preach against
the display and pomp

of the lords of the Church!

Of their gold and jewellery!

And who pays, who pays
for such decadence?

You!

The faithful.

Where does your charity end up?

In the Medici bank,
in Florence...

...where it multiplies like
maggots through usury.

So the root of...

You should leave, Holy Father.

No, we would hear more.

The friar is eloquent.

And dangerous.

If we are discovered,

they will tear you
limb from limb.

Know your enemy, Cardinal.

Know him better
than your friend.

...with the sword
of righteousness!

Did Adam need gold coin?

Did Eve need diamond and pearl?

We must drive the
Medici bank from Florence

or burn it to the ground.

Pray with me.

Ave Maria, gratia plena,
Dominus tecum.

Benedicta tu in mulieribus,

et benedictus fructus
ventris tui, lesus.

Fuck the bloody Pope in Rome,

my bambino has come home.

Mama no.

The Pope of Rome
can wipe his ass.

I've got my baby back at last.

She can go on like this
for hours, Your Eminence.

Eminence?

Is he eminent?

In my own small world.

He is your dottore, is he not?

His dottore?

If you are my son's dottore,

I must surely bring
out my best wine.

You have a name, dottore?

Cesare.

And you have read many books?

Books?

What kind of dottore are you?

My son studies medicine,
he has to read the books.

His dottore helps
him read the books.

Ah.

But it takes so long,
this student business.

Indeed. It takes forever.

He has to learn to
wield the scalpel.

The knife.

To cut up the cadaver?

To find out where
the spleen resides.

The liver. The heart.

He is a good student?

The best.

And he has but one ambition.

Ambition?

To look after his mama
when she's old.

He told you that?

He tells me daily.

When he wields the scalpel.

What does he say?

For Mama!

No! This one's for Mama!

The next one's for Mama.
It's always for Mama.

Ah, my boy.

My sweet, dear blessed boy.

Look at those hands, dottore.

The hands of a healer, no?

A maestro.

My dottore maestro.

Augustino!

He's back, Augustino.

Our Micheletto has returned.

Augustino's getting married.

You remember Violetta,
from the baker's shop?

Yes. With the...

Lazy eye.

Augustino's not looking
at the lazy eye.

No. Her hips, more like it.

Big hips, yes?

Big childbearing hips.

And on that happy note,
fair lady,

I must leave you.

You won't stay the night?

I have business in Forli.

Dottore business.

Yes, as have you.

Mama...

We must go heal the sick...
yes?

But before you leave,
you come back?

For your Mama's bean stew?

He would not miss it, Mama.

Not for the world.

So, dottore,
shall we heal the sick?

You must forgive my mother
her fantasies, Your Eminence.

Has she many more of them?

She believes her husband died
reaping corn in a field.

Your father? And he didn't?

No, I killed him.

Was there a reason? Many.

Friar.

Are you the cleric in red?

I find the robes of your order

suit me better at
this pitiful juncture.

Have you taken our vows?

I can no longer serve
the Pope of Rome.

Ah, yes, I heard of your plans
for his deposition.

Your plans failed miserably.

Indeed.

I must confess to failure.

Oh, so have you come here
to make

a confession of your failure?

No.

I am here to propose

a solution to the sickness
in our Holy Mother Church.

A solution?

We must remove him.

From the chair of St. Peter's?

From the chair of St. Peter's.

But you tried that already.

From the chair
of St. Peter's...

...and from this world.

I shared a vision
with you once.

Of the bloated figure
of the Borgia pope,

lying blackened with sickness
on the floor of St. Peter's.

No one dared approach it.

Are you saying you're the one
to bring this to pass?

Only if I have your
blessing, Friar.

And the blessing of your order.

You have the
blessing of the Lord.

For he shall bring it to pass.

And if my vision
was a true one,

you will have my blessing.

And the blessing of
the Lord Himself.

Be the sword of the apocalypse,

the sword of righteousness.

Ride out like death,
on a pale horse.

Your Holiness.

Signore Machiavelli.

Had we been graced with
news of your arrival,

we could have done
justice to your presence.

We cannot always travel
in public splendor.

A pope must learn the problems
of his subjects.

And your humble subject,
Piero de Medici awaits.

Oh, good.

Cannon. French cannon.

Too many of them.

Would we be safer

in your mother's humble abode,
Micheletto?

You will always be safe,
whenever I am near, Eminence.

This Sforza family
are not to be trusted.

Stay close and keep
the horses saddled.

My son, Benito,
longs for a soldier's career.

Hm.
It has much to recommend it.

You bear arms yourself,
Signore Borgia?

No, my love, he wears
a cardinal's skirt.

But your dress is that of...

I am a civilian today.
An ambassador.

He comes bearing a
message from his father,

the Pope of Rome.

Have I guessed
correctly, Cardinal?

You think so little
of your charms?

You've come to
sample them, perhaps?

Perhaps.

While bearing a message
from the Pope of Rome.

The pope does send
his best regards.

And would request your
beauteous presence

at the chair of St. Peter's.

He would sample my charms also?

Perhaps.

He would feel your lips
on his papal ring.

He would have me kneel to him?

Bow?

The whole world must
bow to the Holy Father.

Whom does your mother
bow to, my son?

Nobody.

You heard him, Cardinal?

His mother bows to nobody.

And if nobody were
to sit at her table?

She would not bow.

But there are other
forms of obeisance.

Are there, Mother?
Indeed, my son.

There is a form of surrender
which implies no submission.

It gave birth to you.

I confess I am lost, Mother.

Indeed, you are truly
a soldier made of hard wood.

But the cardinal must know
I only kneel when it suits me.

As must the Holy Father.

If you do not come
willingly, my lady...

Oh hush, Cardinal, hush.

You are our guest
this fine evening.

I'd have no discord between us.

You can relay
the Holy Father's message

in its fullness tomorrow.

We live in a fortress now,

barricaded against a sea of
zealots in the streets outside.

Zealots?

Their fervour for the friar's
visions increases daily.

They would ban
all art and ornament

and they have set their sights

on the coin of
the realm itself.

Money?

Dear God.

They see gold and silver coin
as part of the fallen world.

They would reduce all exchange
to the state of barter

only possible in
the garden of Eden.

And what of banking?

Did Adam need gold coin?

Did Eve need a bank?

Did Cain charge
interest to Abel?

And what of the Church's
deposits in your banks?

They would scatter
them like chaff.

And if they knew, Holy Father,
of your personal accounts,

they would burn
the bank to the ground.

Well, then,

perhaps we had
better have our wealth

brought back to Rome.

How?

The friar has his
spies everywhere.

Perhaps the good
friar could be bought.

With money?

No, bishopric.

The generalship
of the Dominican order.

The Dominican order
already does his bidding.

And how can you buy one who
would outlaw trade itself?

You offer him something
that money cannot buy.

Heaven itself.

Is it good?

Benedictus, Benedicat per
Jesum Christum Dominum Nostrum.

He has the voice of an angel.

Not a soldier, then?

No.

No, never send this boy to war.

So, you've come back,
Micheletto.

To haunt me.

Must we always meet
among old bones?

You know why.

Ghosts.

Only the dead should walk here.

And us.

You remember.

I've tried to forget.

You should.

You're to be married,
are you not?

And you?

Did you not forget?

I forget nothing.

My father, Galeazzo Sforza.

He lost one eye in battle.

His nose then occluded his
vision so he sliced it off.

The Sforzas of Forli
never surrender.

And never kneel.

Oh, we can kneel all right.
But only willingly.

Giorgio will now show
you to your rooms.

Indelicate, Cardinal...

To invade a lady's chamber.

I was led here. By whom?

Your manservant.

By mistake.
I must have him whipped.

May I leave?

I could scream in terror.
Call my soldiery.

I am still your guest here.

In my room?

An intruder, surely.

So then...

Scream.

Help.

Is that blade truly necessary?

You can stab me with it
whenever you wanted.

Is that a promise?

Ah!

A promise.

I am a freak of nature,
Cardinal.

An aberration.

A free woman in a man's world.

I should deal with
you harshly then.

You should put me down.

Ah!

Your marriage will be a lie.

Like your studies.

But I have no books.

You will have a wife.

I'm a wheelwright, Micheletto.

I live in Forli.

I will marry in Forli,
and I will die in Forli.

Then come to Rome.

I know what your
life is in Rome.

My life, what is my life,
Augustino?

It does not involve healing.

It involves punishment.

I punish this world for
not being as I want.

And you frighten me. Huh.

Then you must not come to Rome.

Those cannon were fake.

What cannon?

I was wondering how you had
whipped up numberless pieces.

Then I heard a rumour.

There was no metal in them.

Plaster, not bronze.

Ah.

Which is the trouble
with you Borgias.

Nothing is what it seems.

We are commoners, my lady.

But of a rare Spanish breed.

So, how do we entice
this friar to Rome?

As you said, with the offer
of a bishopric.

A bishopric may not
be carrot enough.

Maybe a cardinal's hat?

You would have him
sit in Consistory?

Bring his fire and
brimstone to St. Peter's?

We would have him come to Rome.

Clap him in the dungeons
of the Castell St. Angelo.

Charge him with heresy.

Burn him at the stake?

Do you intend the same
thing for my cousin,

Catherina Sforza?

Dear God, is she a heretic too?

She is a woman
who bears a man's arms.

We would befriend
your cousin, Cardinal.

We would hold her close...

and dear.

As you hold myself.

Indeed.

Make way there!

Make way for His Holiness!

Stand aside!

Make way for His Holiness,
the Pope of Rome!

Yah!

Yah!

Form up!

A cardinal's stocking, Giulia.

You are indeed observant.

And what do I spy between
those mounds of sleeping flesh?

Why I believe it's...

It's a cardinal. Another one.

Fuck off.

Oh, can I help you-ladies?

We're in search of cardinals.

Well, you've come to
the right place then.

We should have called this
place the Sistine Chapel.

But the Sistine Chapel is
fragrant with incense.

Its floors sparkle
with cleanliness.

Here, the cardinals
lie in filth.

As do we, madam.

And you are?

The committee for
the betterment

of the lives of the
ladies of the Roman night.

There is such a committee?

There is now.

And you have the blessing of?

The pope of Rome.

Oh, goodness.

Well, you must come and
meet our madam, then.

Oh Madam, there are some
ladies here to see you!

La Bella.

We so rarely have ladies
within our walls.

Hm...

The girls who work here do
not qualify as ladies, then?

Good God, no.

A lady has a future.

And your girls have none?

Unless they find a patron,
my lady.

As you yourself must know.

I was a courtesan, my dear,
never a streetwalker.

My girls might
walk the streets,

but they ply their trade here.

In the vilest conditions.

And you would better their lot?

And yours...

if you play your cards right.

You have a certain clientele.

Of clerics. Cardinals.

I am bound to discretion

with regard to my clientele,
my ladies.

We have a proposition
for you, madam.

That we pay for the
refurbishment of your premises.

We restore it to
cleanliness, comfort,

a condition of absolute health.

In return for?

Names, on occasion.

Dates.

The details of any cardinal

who crosses the bounds
of propriety.

Huh.

Brother Guiliano, you
bring news from Florence?

Friar Savanarola commanded us

to be the sword
of the apocalypse.

Death himself,
on his pale horse.

But how?

He is surrounded at all
times by a ring of steel.

There may yet be a way.

As the friar has said,

the pope is surrounded
by a ring of steel.

But if we can
penetrate that ring,

discover his weakness...

What is his weakness?

Fornication.

Food. Wine.

And I propose we use the weapon

the Borgia family
uses so effortlessly.

Against me, among others.

Cantarella.

I'm afraid I can delay it
no longer, my lady.

Delay what?

The reason for
my presence here.

Oh yes.

There was a reason.

Something to do with Rome.

His Holiness the Pope-
What a pity.

Pity?

To ruin this sweet dalliance
with issues of politics.

When we were
getting on so well.

Indeed.

There is no cause for rancour
between our families.

Is there, my son?

That would be such a pity.

A pity indeed.

But proceed, Cardinal,
if you must.

His Holiness dictates

that if you do not
come to Rome willingly...

Oh.

Now you have quite
put me off my duck.

And I sense a threat
behind those words.

Perhaps a "choice" would
be the better word.

Oh dear.

A choice.

And I am so bad at choosing.

He would have you travel to
Rome willingly or in chains.

And this duck did
taste so good.

Hmm...

You must break fast with me
tomorrow, Cardinal.

I will give you my answer then.

And now...

let me show you to your rooms.

Tell me your answer.

You shall have it
in the morning.

I think I know it already.

What do you care
if I come to Rome?

The pope has made an edict...

Written on paper?

Or plaster, like your cannon?

So, your answer is no?

You said I had a choice.

To go willingly...

or to go in chains.

Who is going to chain me?

You?

Someday, perhaps.

Your brother?

I have heard of his bluster.

Fake, again, like your cannon.

Let us dispense then
with these niceties,

and let me leave.

Oh, but that, Cardinal,
I am not yet prepared for.

You think I appreciate
this game of yours?

No. But I do.

And you did admit, Cardinal...

...the game is mine.

The bed is mine.

The choice is mine.

And...

Hmmm.

...for one more night at least,

you may be mine.

As a poison, cantarella
is undetectable.

If given a sufficient dosage,

it will definitely be fatal.

But the pope has tasters
for his food, his wine.

He does indeed.

So one of us must seek
employment as his taster.

And be prepared to
die for our cause.

Is there one among us
who is willing to die?

To administer the poison?

Taste the poison?

Serve it to the Pope of Rome
and share his fate?

If one among you can
find it in his heart

to offer himself
for this sacrifice,

think carefully.

Make your peace with God first.

And only then come forward.

I of all people know...

It will be a terrible death.

Ahh!

You should throw away those
cardinal robes, you know.

I thought I had.

You should wear armour.

This body of yours
deserves nothing less.

Ahh!

Micheletto.

We cannot meet again.

Why?

If I were found in your arms,

I'd be disembowelled and burnt.

It's a cruel world.

Too cruel.

Now, I have killed many,

with an embrace such as this.

Did you love them too?

This grave...

this is my father's
grave and I loved him.

When I held his head, thus...

Now, you go and you be married.

St. Paul says
it is better to marry...

Than to burn.

You came.

When called.

Walk with me.

We have a choice, it seems.

You seek one who
would give his life

to restore the
church to its glory.

Yes.

And you don't offer yourself?

This is too well known.

So...

You need one without fame,
without acquaintance,

a neophyte within
the Vatican walls.

Nobody can know of him.

Nobody knows of me.

You realize the
implications of your words?

Yes.

I would gladly die to rid the
world of the Borgia pope.

By poison.

Cantarella.

It will be a grisly death.

But Heaven will await my soul.

I would welcome it.

Corpus Domini Nostri
lesu Christi

custodiat animam meam
in vitam aeternam.

Amen.

Cardinal.

Your lady is...

Lady Sforza is awake.

My Lord Sforza.

I arrived in the early hours.

You must have.

You have business
with your cousin?

On matters of state, always.

So she requested
your presence here?

She told me it would
be appreciated.

Hmm...

And can you tell me why?

You brought your father's
proposal with you.

My father, the pope?

I can only think of him
as your father.

And the father of that...

slattern I was tricked
into marrying.

Be careful, Lord Sforza.

Of what?

I hold my sister's
interests dear.

Hmm... I am aware of that.

You humiliated me before
the whole of Rome.

Corpus Domini Nostri
lesu Christi

custodiat animam tuam
in vitam aeternam.

Amen.

You shall have your answer,
Cesare Borgia.

It is why I am still here,
my lady.

My answer is simple.

It is no.

Let me be clear.

You refuse to come to Rome?

My cousin refuses
to debase herself

before that swine that
wears the papal tiara.

That question was for her,
my lord.

And you have her answer.

Yes and you will have mine.

Ahh! Ahh!

Run!

I promised my sister
your heart...

on a dinner plate!

Holy Father!

Ahh! Ahh!

I can find no heart!

Stay there! Don't move!

Go! Now go! Go!

Run, run, run!

Ah! Ah!

Murder! Murder!

Murder!

You! Come with me!

No...

No!

Guards, stop him!

Here!

Oh!

Ahh...

Help!

Somebody, help!

Oh please God.

Oh, come.

Come on.

Are you...

Papa, I can't... Shh.

...feel my leg.

Ohh...

We'll get you some help.

Borgia!

No!

Stop him!

Micheletto!

Seal the city!

Yah! Yah!

Archers ready! Release!

Shoot them!

Papa...

What...

Oh, no. Oh...

Oh!

Ego te absolve ab omnibus
censuris, a peccatis,

in nomine Patris et
Filii et Spiritus sancti.

Amen.

We should ride different ways.

Wrap this in your saddlebag.

I would give it to my sister.

Whose blood?

Giovanni Sforza's.

Come! Yah!

There are others
alive in there!

Let me, Holy Father.

So, if anybody's willing...

It is the judgment of God,
Holy Father.

And God will judge
your actions now!

So, please, if anyone
is willing...

Wait!

Was it a sign from God,
Cardinal?

No, Your Holiness.

It was a bolt of lightning.

It signalled His displeasure.

We must atone for our...

...sins...

...with fasting and prayer.

For how long?

Until He...

smiles on us again.