The Serpent Queen season 2 episode 4 recap: Another child lost

Catherine has lost too many children already, and now Hercules is also added to the list. At the end of episode 3 last week, a Protestant man hit Hercules with a rock in the head thanks to Anjou's actions. And now, there's heartbreaking consequences. Here's a recap of The Serpent Queen season 2 episode 4, "Judas" on Starz. SPOILERS BELOW.

The consequences of Hercules' death

Because it was a hit to the head, it's difficult for Hercules to recover. He passes away, and Catherine quickly makes her way back from Italy when she hears the troubles of her children. She knew she shouldn't have left them alone. Surprisingly the Holy Roman Emperor, now much older, appears for the funeral. In terms of his actions, Catherine is angry at Anjou. But some of the Catholic people aren't. When once they saw him as a "deviant," they now look up to him for drowning the Protestant man.

Some zealots connected to the Vatican are doing third Baptisms of their own, following in his footsteps of sorts. Cardinal Charles wants Anjou to lead a military expedition in the woods to avenge his brother's death, further encouraging his violence. But his mother and Montmorency stop him before he goes, and now he's essentially under house arrest.

Of course Edith was already fired up, and now this makes her even more determined to stand up against the Catholics and the royal family. To try and get rid of her, Aabis is tasked with poisoning Edith. And though she drinks it, and forces Aabis to drink as well, nothing happens and it's like a second "miracle." Of course I think she just somehow found out about it and perhaps there was no poison in there at all. So by the end of the episode it's unclear whether Aabis is now a believer of Edith, or she's just pretending to be.

Queen Elizabeth and Louis' meeting gets steamy

Without Catherine knowing since she wasn't there and seizing that opportunity, Louis Bourbon himself travels to England to meet with Queen Elizabeth for the trade deal. She wants him to go back and trick Edith into thinking she has their full support, all the while he and the queen will "dethrone" her of sorts when the time is right. That's because Queen Elizabeth has realized how much influence Edith is now gaining.

Later that night, the queen uses her womanly wiles to convince him to sign a document to make their alliance official, without giving him a chance to show it to his solicitors. Which of course is what the queen wanted anyway and the two sleep together. There's going to be consequences to this I'm sure. Finally, the Duke of Guise was arrested as we saw in episode 3 for the fire. But, now he's released once again. And Margaret clearly has feelings for him. Hmm.

The Serpent Queen season 2 airs/streams Fridays on Starz.