Versailles season 3

 Versailles is a fantastic series, with awesome visuals and strong acting performances.

 

Yet somehow, the thrid season always slipped backwards on my to watch list...

 

But no more, I started the year with binging through the 10 episode long final season of the rise of Louis XIV, le Roi Soleil.

 

This final season builds further on the shisms that have been growing over the course of the first seasons, the political machinations, the shifting of alliances and the brothers becoming more and more opposed to each other.  In his ever glowing delusions of grandeur, Louis first starts imposing draconic measures on the defeated Leopold I of the Holy Roman Empire, instigating the distrust of the church.  This results in the Vatican taking action, going as far as threatening to excommunicate him should he not become a puppet to their will.

 

In order to do so, they have the one trump card that Philippe had accidentally discovered.  A prisoner in an Iron Mask.  Ever since the time of Louis XIV this prisoner has been an urban myth and the many writers and historians have made their own theories about who this was.  An italian envoy (the most likely theory imho), the twin or older brother and rightful heir of the throne of France (the most often used one in stories and movies ever since Alexander Dumas used this in his Musketeer tales), and so much more.  In this series, it turns out to be the real father of Louis and Philippe, after they first chased an actual unknown brother of them, but who had died as an infant.  Members of the court had been in the loop on this, but they convince their father to take poison in the end, widening the chism between the brothers even further, but securing the throne and robbing the church of their possible hold over France.

 

The queen also died, making Louis having to look for another wife, and he falls for the charms of Francoise d'Abignee, a marquise that spend time as a prostitute, then turned devote christian and wow his heart.  But her fanatiscism causes Louis to prosecute all protestants in Paris, causing the people to revolt against him.  But when he invokes a ritual of Thaumaturgy to come closer to the people, he survives an assassination attempt thanks to his brother.

 

It was a good season for sure, and yes, the debauchery of the first seasons continues as chastity was not one of Louis's christian virtues he went by, even though he has convinced him he is the only true man of God put on Earth, and conquers the surrounding countries as such in name of the Lord.  George Blagden stars again as the king, but for me Alexander Vlahos (Philippe) and Evan Williams (the chevalier of Lorraine) remain by far the strongest performers for the series, especially the transformation they go through over the series from pompous dandy's.  One becomes a believer of freedom, the other a fighter for the protestant rights respectively. 

 

It is these deep character arcs that make Versailles such a strong series, not only the visual marvel that it is, and definitely worth checking out have you not done so over the years.