Medici: The Magnificent Season 3, Episode 4 recap: Innocents

Netflix’s Medici: The Magnificent Episode 304 recap: Innocents

“Innocent” picks up seven years after the previous episode of Medici: The Magnificent, suggesting a relative calm, even if tensions didn’t totally dissipate. In fact, Lorenzo (Daniel Sharman) tells his young daughter, Maddalena (Grace O’Leary), about peace treaties and envoys. However, not all is well. Girolamo Riario (Jack Roth) is up to his old tricks, attacking the land of Ferrara and holding citizens of Florence hostage. We get to see some of his men climbing castle walls, fighting castle guards, and being total jerks.

They’re really after Tommaso Peruzzi (Toby Regbo), who goes into hiding. He hides quite well, as the menacing Ricci (David Brooks) cannot find him. Bastiano Soderini (Jacopo Olmo Antinori) wants to declare war, whereas Lorenzo wishes to keep the peace. However, Lorenzo is very hesitant to meet Pope Sixtus IV (Raoul Bova), who Lorenzo holds responsible for the death of his brother, Giuliano de’ Medici (Bradley James).

Medici: The Magnificent — Sickness / Riario’s fiery rage

This episode is a bit depressing overall. Not only is a war looming, but Lucrezia (Sarah Parish) appears to be ailing. On top of that, we learn that Giulio de’ Medici (Jacob Dudman) has been injured in a duel with Tucci’s son, further setting a tone of conflict.

After Maddalena startles Lucrezia and makes her drop her medicine glass, Lucrezia tells Clarice (Synnove Karlsen) about her lung problems.

Not depressing enough? Well, Riario likens Ferrara to being “the fire to burn Lorenzo down.” Nicolò Ardinghelli (Pietro Ragusa) and Spinelli (Giorgio Marchesi) are agitating merchants by blocking roads. Lorenzo wants to avoid military action, so he coordinates things differently, such as using mines in Volterra to get their salt. It becomes a test of the Medici and The Ten.

Hope from the Pope?

Bruno Bernardi (Johnny Harris) may be a composite character on Medici: The Magnificent, but he gives an indication of what Lorenzo’s advisors might have been like. In this case, he helps convince Lorenzo to shift his views on making a personal appeal to Pope Sixtus IV, who is Riario’s uncle. So Lorenzo heads to Rome to ask the Pope to attend the peace conference in Florence.

Though the Pope says Lorenzo has hatred in his heart, he asks Lorenzo’s forgiveness for the death of his brother in the Pazzi conspiracy. He offers to stop Riario if Lorenzo will repent for his anger. However, Lorenzo counters that there’s only one way to stop Riario, meaning death. Later, Riario’s wife, Caterina (Rose Williams), warns Soriano (Antonio Zavatteri) that Florentines under Riario’s control are about to be killed, rather than exiled.

A tactical slaughter

As Girolamo Savonarola (Francesco Montanari) is elected Prior of the San Marco convent, Lucrezia admits to Clarice that the Medici has been stealing from the city to balance their books. Also, as a strategic goal, Loreznxo proposes they transform Giovanni into a Medici Pope, so they plan to send him to seminary. It is a rather cynical plan, but arguably no more so than anything Riario is up to.

Speaking of which, Riario is using Tommaso Peruzzi and other exiles as a trap to get finally get Lorenzo. However, Lorenzo orders his men to stand down, leaving them to be slaughtered. Peruzzi escapes, but no doubt understanding the disgusting play. Sure enough, Lorenzo actually the Pope renderings of men, women children being murdered by Riario.

Lorenzo’s cynical ploy works

Lorenzo’s plan works. The massacre indeed upsets the Pope, who condemns Riario for the slaughter. The Pope also agrees to attend the peace conference, provided it occurs in a neutral territory (they decide on Bagnolo). On that note, Medici: The Magnificent offers another vision of possible war.

An apparently dying Lucrezia finds Giulio has left with his sword, leading her to have a vision of Giuliano (her murdered son) before passing out. We don’t know how soon Lucrezia dies, but her death inspires Giulio to throw away his sword (one of her final wishes).

The peace conference

In Bagnolo, August 1484, the peace conference is held. Lorenzo asks forgiveness for the hanging of Salviati (Jacob Fortune-Lloyd). It is granted. Sometime later, plans to send Giovanni to seminary are coming to fruition. Giovanni wants to be an artist, however, so he feels rather bitter about the whole thing. Giulio ends up going to the Curia with him, and we soon learn that the Pope has died.

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