When Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons) first heard the French army landed in Rome, he thought they were under attack due to Cesare (François Arnaud) causing some great offense during his visit.  Soon, a smug Cesare arrived and informed him the French army was there on his invitation, and under his command. 
 
Rodrigo was livid at how far Cesare had overreached.  Cesare insisted he did what was needed to ensure their safety.  His plan was to wipe out the Sforza dynasty by starting with Ludovico in Milan, which he’ll then turnover to France.  Rodrigo was not happy about having the French in Italy, but eventually gave Cesare his consent. READ MORE

Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) was heartbroken she had to leave Giovanni with her parents to join her husband in Naples.  The king still refused to accept her child at court.  She openly slighted the king over this during her "Welcome Home" feast, but he remained steadfast. 
 
Micheletto (Sean Harris) had accompanied Lucrezia, and was appalled the mother was separated from her child.  Lucrezia planned on killing the king with poison, after meeting a witchdoctor in the woods, who pointed out a deadly mushroom that grew nearby.  Micheletto realized her plans, and convinced Lucrezia to let him handle it. READ MORE

 
Things were deliciously awkward when Cesare (François Arnaud) and Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) first bumped into each, following their night of passion.  It didn’t help that Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons) kept needling “blushing bride” Lucrezia about her wedding night. 
 
Alfonso’s cousin, the King of Naples, came by the next morning to get all the lurid details about what Lucrezia was like in bed, and quickly deduced his cousin was still a virgin.   Alfonso was even worse at lying about sex than Steve Carell’s character in The 40-Year-Old Virgin.  Defeated, Alfonso quickly admitted to his cousin nothing happened between them.  READ MORE

Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) still fretted over whether Giovanni would be accepted into her new marriage, on this week’s episode of The Borgias.  Determined to ensure his sister’s happiness, Cesare (Francois Arnaud) headed to Naples with Alfonso in order to finalize the marriage contract. 
 
All seemed well enough, until the subject of Giovanni was brought up and the king again refused to accept him at court.  Cesare threatened to call off the alliance between Rome and Naples (and by extension, Spain) over this, so instead cautioned the king to think it over and deliver an answer at the wedding.  READ MORE

 
On this week of The Borgias, Caterina Sforza (Gina McKee) had Rufio (Thure Lindhart) start assembling the bastard and second sons of Rome’s most prominent families.  The men were weary at first, but soon united.  Cesare (Francois Arnaud) and Rodrigo (Jeremy Irons) realized what Caterina was doing with the Get Borgia Gang (hereafter the “GBG”), and decided to subvert them.  The Borgias men also planned to pin Juan’s murder on Caterina.
 
Cesare, along with his trusty manservant Michelotto (Sean Harris), intimidated various members of the GBG, and as a result, received their confirmation of Caterina’s new plan of attack.  Each member of the GBG had Cardinal relatives.  READ MORE

The Season 3 premiere of The Borgias picked up with the immediate aftermath of Rodrigo’s (Jeremy Irons) poisoning. Cesare (Francois Arnaud) and the rest of the Borgias family, as well as the clergy, rushed Rodrigo to the Vatican doctor.

The physician relayed it was just a matter of time before the Pope’s soul “left this Earth.” Lucrezia (Holliday Grainger) was more proactive.  Employing a new technique she’d read of, Lucrezia pumped her father’s stomach. 
 
It was touch and go, but Rodrigo pulled through.  He woke, disgusted.  Apparently, he'd been aware of his surroundings, while lying seemingly unconscious. He'd heard all the cardinals plotting and praying for his death. 

He later confessed to Vanozza (Joanne Whalley) that while he laid on the precipice of death, God did not appear to him.  Might the Pope of Rome experience a crisis of faith? READ MORE