If you are lost in a forest, you see a landmark, is that landmark manipulating you upon a certain path? I am merely your guide.
I have a lot of feelings about this show. I thought I didn’t. I was so horribly wrong. I’m always so horribly wrong. For one this was a greatly crafted episode, tying in much of what the entire show was leading to. I love conclusive seasons that bring everything together, even if it does end in a cliff hanger.
It starts off and we see five people on a cliff side thirteen years ago. One is shrouded in blue robes while the other four are Al-Rahim, Cosimo Medici, the Jew, and the Abyssinian. They predict Leonardo’s future as well as the fact that one of them will remain alive the longest and suffer the most from this.
A modern Leonardo visits Al-Rahim and he learns from him that he must travel forward in order to find the Book of Leaves which is found somewhere under the Hitching Post of the Sun/Son. In order to navigate to an undiscovered South America however, he needs Cosimo’s astrolabe, which he has yet to find. Throughout much of the episode Leonardo spends it caught between two worlds, the need to find his mother and his need to protect the city. Finding the astrolabe, he and Zo and Nico decide to head out and leave Florence behind.
Sadly it’s not that easy. Even after booking passage, he’s held back by Lorenzo and Lucrezia. Both are suffering from Rome’s coming forces, as the Pazzi plan to kill all of the Medicis and sieze control of Florence. Entreated by Lucrezia, Leo is unfazed, rejecting Florence as well as Lucrezia.
Lorenzo struggles with his allies as he learns from Leo that Urbino has left his side and the failure of the Giuliano’s engagement to the Pazzi woman since Giuliano was nowhere to be found at the time. The entier episode balances on some really good timing. Had the Pazzis known that Giuliano had died they could have killed Lorenzo, but they were not sure and in the end Giuliano was able to come back and stop their poisoning.
Speaking of Giuliano, I was so happy to see that he wasn’t dead. Although, that happiness backfired as he returned to Rome. First he was met by the Dragonetti Captain who was sent to kill him. However Giuliano is able to convince him not to for the sake of Florence. Making his way back slowly but surely, he manages to stop them just in time before the priest delivers the poisoned Eucharist to Lorenzo. Sadly he doesn’t survive long after he outs the Pazzis for conspiring with Rome.
Already injured after Lucrezia stabbed him, he is taken down by two of the priests who stab him continuously and then leave him to go kill Clarice and her daughters. They are foiled just in time by Lucrezia who saves their lives and tells them to run. As Giuliano lays dying on the ground, Vanessa attends to him and tells him that she is pregnant with his child, which is great. Seriously, thank god someone is having a child and it’ll probably be an unacknowledged male bastard, let’s be real.
As Lucrezia leads Clarice and the girls to safety they are stopped by Riario who takes Lucrezia and threatens her. The Dragonetti Captain comes and protects Clarice, leaving Lucrezia to Riario. We are also told that Lucrezia’s father is actually brother of the Pope, making Riario and Lucrezia cousins.
Lorenzo fights off Pazzi in combat but is nearly defeated, taking a severe blow to the neck, but is foiled when Leonardo runs back. After seeing a sign in Zo’s tarot cards, he runs back to the church and manages just in time to save Lorenzo. He sets off a grenade as distraction and hauls Lorenzo to safety. While dressing his wounds behind locked doors, Lorenzo realizes Leonardo has been with Lucrezia. Furious, he threatens to kill both Leonardo and Lucrezia when it is all over. Ok, Lorenzo, worry about yourself right now.
Dragging Lucrezia with him, Riario is outside the locked doors and in a final moment he pulls out a god damned rocket launcher and blasts the doors. That’s the last we see. YUP. This show managed to suck me all the way back in, despite killing off Giuliano twice and making me suffer through that kind of emotional baggage (I knew he was going to die, I was not expecting to be so sad about it).
I’m excited to see where they are going to take Vanessa’s story line, as well as Lucrezia’s father. Also I had always assumed that Nico was Niccolo Machiavelli, but they did not make a huge reveal about that, and we’ve only seen a glimpse of his Machiavellian side through his interactions with Riario, so I have no idea.
The next installment of Leonardo’s story and more glimpses at his demons will be in 2014, unfortunately. Until then, I’ll have plenty of time to browse Tumblr and wallow in my feelings.
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