Medici: The Magnificent season 2, episode 5 recap: Ties That Bind

In season 2, episode 5 of Netflix series Medici: The Magnificent, relationships are severed and Lorenzo risks war with the Pope!

This episode of Medici: The Magnificent occurs one year after the previous one. While things initially seem on an even keel, they are actually far from perfect. Jacopo de’ Pazzi (Sean Bean) is hardly talking with his nephew, Francesco (Matteo Martari), who is godfather to the child of Lorenzo de’ Medici (Daniel Sharman). Jacopo has a bitter resentment the Medici family and is not keen on letting it go. Meanwhile. Galeazzo Sforza (Tam Mutu) has acquired the city of Imola, which Lorenzo wants to buy, ostensibly to establish a more democratic republic.

Medici: The Magnificent suggests Lorenzo has this desire as his own family was common merchants not long ago. Of course, Jacopo wants to buy Imola, too, to drive a strategic wedge between the Medici and the papacy. At first, Lorenzo seemingly has the upper hand, negotiating with Galeazzo Sforza (while attending a 12-year-old girl’s marriage to the Pope’s nephew in Milan). However, no deal is officially struck.

Francesco’s wife, Novella (Francesca Del Fa), secretly meets with Jacopo, who is not even speaking to his other nephew, Guglielmo (Charlie Vickers), for marrying a Medici. While the meeting seems innocent enough, it will back to haunt Novella, as well as Lorenzo. Francesco Pazzi gets clued in that Novella spoke to Jacopo, for which Jacopo soon apologizes. However, Francesco instructs his uncle to not speak to her under any circumstances! It seems nearly any decision made between the Pazzis and Medicis is a political one, and it’s a delicate balance.

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At this point, buying Imola is key to strengthening ties to Venice. So, when Lorenzo’s brother Giuliano (Bradley James) rejects the control of Imola, everything becomes more precarious for the Medici family. On that note, Archbishop Francesco Salviati (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd) soon speaks with the pope about Lorenzo’s already powerful treaty with Venice. Salviati ⁠— a Pazzi ally ⁠—
notes that, if Lorenzo wanted, he could strategically cut off the Pope’s trade.

Manipulate, divide, destroy

Francesco eventually confronts Novella about meeting his uncle, saying Jacopo “smells out people’s weaknesses then uses them to manipulate, divide, destroy.” Then, as if to cement distrust in uncle Pazzi, Lorenzo offers the Imola position to Francesco.

The offer makes Jacopo look like a paranoid, bitter old fool, too stubborn to let bygones be bygones. However, Salviati’s still working his magic behind the scenes, meeting with Galeazzo Sforza. Salviati pressures Sforza to keep him in line. Basically, if ⁠Galeazzo doesn’t bend the Pazzi way, trade with Milan could be forbidden. Salviati even threatens that the Pope could excommunicate the entire city of Milan!

Things get even more complicated in Medici: The Magnificent, as Jacopo, strategically eases his demeanor against the Medici plan. He congratulates Francesco on acquiring Imola, saying he will not stand in his way. However, while being as subtle as possible, he suggests Novella is actually a tool of Lorenzo, and that Francesco’s entire marriage is built around Medici strategy

This gets to Francesco. When he sees his wife speaking to Lorenzo at a party, it brings out his paranoid side. Soon after that, Lorenzo is given a letter saying Pope Sixtus IV (Raoul Bova) wants a loan to buy Imola. Sensing that Salviati and Jacopo are behind hit, Lorenzo boldly decides they will refuse the loan. Then, to address any deal Jacopo might strike with the Pope, Lorenzo will use the debt of Pazzi bank to undermine its shares.

Portrait of infidelity

While this is all happening, things deteriorate between Simonetta Vespucci (Matilda Anna Ingrid Lutz) and Giuliano de’ Medici (Bradley James). She began an affair with Giuliano while posing with him for a painting by Sandro Botticelli (Sebastian de Souza). However, when Simonetta’s husband (Alessio Vassallo) finds sexy sketches of his wife, he soon denies her the ability to set foot in Sandro’s art studio again. Will this come back to haunt the Medici clan? Probably. In fact, Giuliano and Sandro Botticelli get into a physical fight over the loss of Simonetta, who calls off her affair with Giuliano.

Distrust and disunion

Medici: The Magnificent takes another dramatic turn. Apparently, Novella indeed initially came to Florence at Lorenzo’s request, which suggests to Francesco that his uncle may have been right in his suspicions. Is Francesco’s marriage to her merely a cynical, strategic ploy to keep the Pazzis in line? Why did Lorenzo invite Novella to a party, even though she never even knew Bianca de’ Medici (Aurora Ruffino)?

Francesco no longer trusts his wife Novella, and it rather swiftly has him realign with his uncle. Tensions mount even more when Salviati meets Lorenzo, saying Lorenzo will become an enemy of the papacy by denying them a loan. Francesco then directly accuses Lorenzo of using his wife as a spy, adding that he’s going back to his uncle to oversee their new papal accounts.

Meanwhile, as Bianca is having a baby, Francisco tells Jacopo to call for Salviati, then promptly leaves his Novella like their marriage was a total sham. In other words, business is firmly placed ahead of family. Lorenzo boldly refuses the papal loan request, then attempts to deny every other bank in Florence from making it.

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He has an additional tool at his disposal, too: Even though Jacopo agrees to the papal loan, the Medici are keeping control of alum, which is much more profitable (alum is used in dyeing, tanning, glass making, and even medical applications). Love him or hate him, Lorenzo certainly knows how to strategize. That alone might garner some dislike.

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