Lucrezia may be the fastest thinking Borgia of them all. And the bravest. She asks the King to hold his fire for a moment and rides across the field to meet Juan, who is shocked to see her. "We have a battle to fight." Lucrezia tells him to offer the French safe passage into Rome, "Believe me, you have lost it already." Juan is not convinced, and seems as fearful of the repercussions back home from his father as the enormous army in front of him, "He will pillage the place." But Lucrezia is fully confident of her powers of persuasion. "Leave that to me." She rides back and tells the King that the Duke her brother bids him welcome to Rome, and that she has assured Juan that the King's goal is Naples — he certainly had no intention to sack Rome. Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones, but there is no stopping Lucrezia. Her gambit works and King Charles agrees.
Cesare and his right-hand man Michelotto (Sean Harris) watch Juan and the soldiers slink back into the city, "Rome is like an old whore, waiting for her ravishment." They may not have gotten the memo that the French are giving them a pass, as they are all acting as if they are about to be sacked. The Pope dismisses Juan, telling him to take his mother to safety. Cesare tells his father he won't leave him, but then rushes off to ex-lover Sister Martha/Lady Ursula (Ruta Gedmintas), telling her to flee the city. The Pope, ever the strategist and showman, removes his fancy vestments and puts on a brown robe and sandals to face the crowds. Only one more episode this season and we know that the Borgias are not going to give up any of their power base without a fight...
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