The Serpent Queen season 2 episode 2 recap: Catherine knows how to play both sides

Friday means a new episode of The Serpent Queen season 2, and we're definitely excited about this one! I thought the premiere episode was a great establishing one, which is the job of those first episodes. Episode 2, "Second Coming," dives deeper into what we're going to see this season and hints at the continued religious tensions. Here's what happened! SPOILERS BELOW.

The aftermath of the fire

As we saw last week, Francois was blackmailed by his own mother Antoinette to set fire to Sister Edith's church, and this happened while King Charles was on his way there to listen to one of the sermons as a way to show that he accepts his Protestant people as well. However, there are no survivors. Or so we, and they, think at first.

The Bourbon brothers start to make preparations for war against the Catholics, even though they really don't want to fight. Though they go through those preparations as a way to try and force Catherine to do what they want, thinking she's not on to their plan. The serpent queen has an idea - blame the fire on a few "disgruntled people" who they can find and execute instead of charging Francois.

She knows he did it, but doesn't have the proof. And that way, the Bourbons can get what they want as well, which is the trade deal with Queen Elizabeth and England that they had initially proposed. They accept, and war is averted for now. Let's see if that continues the rest of the season though! After appeasing the Bourbons, Catherine heads over to the Guises to tell them their plan to start a war is not going to succeed.

And not only are they going to accept that, the family and Catholics will also fund a new palace Catherine wants to build for King Charles in Paris. It'll be a palace that "will make all Frenchmen proud to be the subjects of their king, regardless of their faith." Reluctantly, they agree.

Welcome back Diane de Poitiers

Honestly even though I don't like Diane de Poitiers, King Henry's mistress who is the bane of Catherine's existence, she does always bring a certain kind of air to the scene. And her and Catherine's complicated relationship is fun to watch. Though she's been banished from court for years, Catherine has asked for her to return so she can watch over her royal children while she's away in Italy to kickstart the palace for Charles. Because as we've already seen, they can't stay alone without supervision even though they're adults.

Catherine and Diane talk for a while, with the latter sharing how much she loves Catherine and Henry's kids. She even gave them more attention than her own daughters, which she now regrets because they're not very fond of their mom. In exchange for watching them, Diane would like Catherine to change a rule. And that's when she passes, she wants her fortune and anything she owns passed down to her daughters. During this time, only a male heir could inherit it. Catherine accepts. When she does leave for Italy, it seems like Diane doesn't show up. Hmm.

Surviving the fire

We end on another great cliffhanger, and that's the fact that Edith and many on of her followers are still alive. It's not true that there were no survivors. We're not sure how they managed to escape, but she sees this as a miracle and that God protected them. And so because of this, Edith is convinced that they must "rise up in his name" because the queen and the rest of the royal family are not going to help or protect them. Based on the synopsis of the season, this is probably what leads to her loyal following.

Aabis and her assistant are still alive as well and made it out of the fire. On her way to Italy to secure the funds for the palace, Rahema tells Catherine that it's a rumor the Protestant followers survived. And Catherine says let's hope it stays that way. But, it definitely isn't. And Francois goes to see the camp for himself. They're going to have trouble on their hands for sure.

The Serpent Queen season 2 episode 2 airs/streams Friday, July 19, 2024 on Starz.