Medici: The Magnificent Season 3, Episode 7 recap: Lost Souls

Episode 307 of Netflix series Medici: The Magnificent deals with the investigation into the death of Tommaso Peruzzi (Toby Regbo). Viewers may recall that, in the previous episode, his death was certainly no accident, as we saw Bruno Bernardi (Johnny Harris) murder him by pushing him from a window, apparently for the benefit of Lorenzo de’ Medici (Daniel Sharman). While we have seen that, the city of Florence only has its suspicions. As a complicating factor, Bruno is a composite character, so Medici: The Magnificent shouldn’t be regarded as an absolute bastion of historical accuracy regarding how this (or any other) historical figure would have actually died.

In any case, Tomasso’s death had an impact. In fact, Piero de’ Medici (Louis Partridge) is not even speaking after Tomasso’s death, as if in a mournful vow of silence. Additionally, Lorenzo appears dispirited about everything, not even seeming particularly happy about his wife, Clarice (Synnøve Karlsen), being pregnant. To further set the scandalous and disheartened tone, Savonarola (Francesco Montanari) gives a funeral oration about Tomasso, hinting at the Medici’s theft from the city. He publicly hints that Tomasso was murdered and accuses the killers of “turning away from God.”

Medici: The Magnificent or Medici the murderer?

Though Lorenzo’s motives are understandable, in his very unique position, it’s nevertheless shifty that he also wants Pope Innocent VIII (Neri Marcorè) to make Giovanni de’ Medici (William Franklin Miller) a Cardinal, to further insulate the family from scandal. Savonarola is damaging reputations all over, as artist Michelangelo (Ettore Bernabei) blames Savaranola (and perhaps Lorenzo, by proxy) for having his art space attacked. Similarly, Sandro Botticelli (Sebastian de Souza) is now refusing to work for Lorenzo. As an interesting tactical distraction, Lorenzo tasks Bruno Bernardi with announcing a reward for information on Tomasso’s death.

The shiftiness increases when an unnamed witness (Lidia Vitale) brings a bloody, broken pair of glasses to Lorenzo, claiming she found them by Tomasso’s body. Although Lorenzo assures her that Tomasso never wore glasses, he still pays her off to retain her silence. This scene of corruption is followed by another with Giovanni heading to Rome.

When in Rome…

As a bit of foreboding, Giovanni arrives to pester the Pope to appoint him a Cardinal. Upon meeting the young Giovanni, Innocent’s son, Franceschetto Cybo (Nicolò Galasso), says disdainfully that he can smell the money on him. Also, the Pope himself swiftly rejects the idea of making him Cardinal and sends him home, mission unfulfilled. Unfortunately, things won’t be much better for him at home, as the very next scene shows the Medici house set on fire after a guard or two are murdered.

Lorenzo attempts to chase the unknown arsonists, climbing out of a window using a sheet. However, he embarrassingly falls and ends up burning himself in the process. If this episode of “Medici: The Magnificent” isn’t dramatic enough for you, we next learn that Lorenzo has some sort of disease, which he was attempting to keep secret. On the bright side (from Lorenzo’s perspective), Savanarola is put under inquiry regarding the arson attack, among other things.

Further developments and extraneous betrayals

The inquiry is short and bittersweet. Lorenzo asks Savanarola for any evidence that Tomasso was murdered, but Savanarola can only offer some weak “I know it in my heart” response. Shortly after that moment, Lorenzo’s ex-lover, Lucrezia Donati (Alessandra Mastronardi), confronts him about his corruption, appearing to side with Savonarola. Seemingly indifferent to the accusations, Lorenzo tells Bernardi to find the ones who attacked him and his family (separately, Clarice tells Savanarola to stay away from her family).

One of the darkest moments of the series

It’s difficult bracing for this next big moment, but it definitely threatens to shatter any positive perceptions you may have still had of Lorenzo: As a purely political move, Lorenzo pledges his daughter, Maddalena de’ Medici (Grace May O’Leary), as Franceschetto’s ward until she comes of age. For obvious reasons, Clarice is not very pleased with the idea, saying, “You sold our child to that drunken fool!” Ostensibly, the move was to “secure the Medici legacy” with Florence and to assure Giovanni will become Cardinal.

Historically, it might be a stretch to present things this way, but Medici: The Magnificent suggests such stressors helped exacerbate whatever health issues Clarice had. Clarice also breaks down crying after seeing the unnamed witness (the woman with the glasses) woman repenting for accepting Lorenzo’s bribe regarding evidence of Tomasso’s murder. In fact, not only does Clarice fall ill after such news, she dies surprisingly fast! While this might seem like a result of rushing into the next (series finale) episode, it’s nevertheless true that people can be here one minute, gone the next.

What are your thoughts on this Medici: The Magnificent episode? Let us know in the comments!