The latest episode of The Musketeers opened up with Feron (Rupert Everett) giving a speech about death. He explained that the day you die is the same as any other day and that death doesn’t discriminate, the only concern of death is that your time is up. At the end of the speech Feron was seen forging a letter as though it was from Minister Treville (Hugo Speer). Grimaud (Matthew McNulty) watched and then vowed that the musketeers would all be dead by the end of the day.
During the speech the musketeers were shown and they each initially appeared in danger before it was revealed that they were not. Athos (Tom Burke) looked to be held at gunpoint but it was just Sylvie (Thalissa Teixeira) and they slept together. D’Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) seemed to have a knife at his throat while in the bath but it was Constance (Tamla Kari) shaving him. Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) was blindfolded but he wasn’t held captive, instead he was gambling with Porthos (Howard Charles) and making money by shooting bottles out of the air.
Back at the Garrison, some of the money they made was taken by Constance who said they were expensive to feed. Constance gave the letter that had arrived to D’Artagnan and he told Aramis and Porthos that Treville wanted them to meet the General’s aide to provide him with an escort. They decided to leave without Athos who had started spending most of his time with Sylvie.
Sylvie went out to get breakfast for her and Athos and noticed Grimaud pass her while she queued for food. He crept up on Athos and attempted to shoot him in the back but Athos caught a glimpse of him in a mirror and was able to deflect the shot. Grimaud attacked with a sword and Athos managed to get to his own to fight back. However Grimaud had the upper hand and wounded Athos before knocking him off a balcony.
An injured Athos was unable to fight back as Grimaud put a chain around his neck but Sylvie saved him with a pistol. Her shot glanced the side of Grimaud’s head and she managed to grab another pistol to shoot him again as he came for her. She left him for dead and rushed to Athos who demanded to see Grimaud’s body. She showed him where Grimaud fell but his body had gone meaning he had lived and managed to escape. Athos knew this meant the rest of the musketeers were in grave danger.
Meanwhile, Feron went to see the King’s brother, Gaston (Andre Flynn), who was recently imprisoned. While Gaston ranted about his treatment, Feron plunged his dagger into Gaston’s guard. He then told him to swap clothes with the dead guard as he was breaking him out.
Back at the Garrison, Constance patched Athos up before he insisted going after the other musketeers feeling they were being led into a trap. Minister Treville was called and Athos asked him to confirm if the letter was a forgery. Athos said Grimaud was behind it and Treville mentioned seeing him talking to Feron. They then got the cadets ready and prepared to ride out after Aramis, Porthos and D’Artagnan.
At the palace, King Louis (Ryan Gage) was beginning to look rather ill as his Tuberculosis set in and appeared to be coughing up blood. It was the anniversary of his father’s death and he had some clothes altered to look more ordinary so he could leave the palace. Queen Anne (Alexandra Dowling) offered to go with him but he refused saying he had an escort.
As Aramis, Porthos and D’Artagnan rode off on their supposed mission, they heard horses approaching. It was Marcheaux (Matt Stokoe) and the Red Guard. They said the King had given them orders to find Aramis and have him go immediately to the palace. They were suspicious but didn’t want to risk refusing a royal order so Aramis left with them.
Feron took Gaston into hiding and told him to lay low for the day. He gave him a new name of Victor and said he would help him get out of Paris under the cover of darkness. After Feron left to go back to the palace, Grimaud turned up. He was wounded from Sylvie’s shot and used a dagger to dig it out of his abdomen.
Back at the palace, King Louis was showing off his normal clothes and got upset when Queen Anne suggested he take a royal guard for safety. Instead he had decided to take Aramis who returned with Marcheaux. The King told him that they were going on a pilgrimage to the Royal Mausoleum.
Porthos and D’Artagnan arrived at the requested location and found nothing but derelict buildings in the middle of nowhere. They were suspicious so Porthos went to look around while D’Artagnan stood guard.
Grimaud went to see Feron and was angry to hear that Aramis had returned to Paris. Feron told him of the King’s plans and Grimaud suggested they kill them both outside the Mausoleum. Feron was surprised and said that they couldn’t kill the King. Grimaud threatened that if Feron didn’t do as he asked that he would kill him.
As Porthos and D’Artagnan they found a barrel of wine and sat for a drink. Pleased they had found themselves on an easy mission they made a toast and didn’t notice the large number of men gathering outside. When their horses were spooked they realised something was up and D’Artagnan pushed their barrel of wine outside. Porthos was horrified but it saved their lives as it was peppered with shots from the waiting assassin’s.
They returned fire from cover but soon realised that they had little ammo with them. Suddenly flaming torches were dropped into their building from the roof but Porthos managed to put them out. The guy on the roof was shot and D’Artagnan managed to drag him inside while Porthos gave covering fire. Grimaud arrived on the scene and suggested the use of gunpowder to flush them out.
During a quiet moment in the battle, Pothos and D’Artagnan sat and talked. They decided that it was not their day to die unaware of the gunpowder Grimaud was about to detonate outside. When it exploded it brought the building down on them and Grimaud fired some shots into the rubble before leaving.
Moments later Athos, Treville and the cadets arrived on the scene and began frantically digging through the rubble. Porthos and D’Artagnan were alive beneath the rubble and began to shout when they came around. They were soon found and freed. A message arrived from the palace to say that Gaston had escaped the Bastille.
Elsewhere, Aramis escorted King Louis outside the palace. Aramis raised concerns when that rumours were spreading of a man giving out money and suggested they head back to the palace. The King refused as he wanted to visit his father’s tomb.
At the tomb, Louis made Aramis stay outside while he went in to pay his respects to his father. Inside Feron was lurking in the shadows with a small pistol and his dagger-cane. The King embraced him and Feron drew the dagger ready to stab him in the back. However the kind words of his brother changed his mind and he broke down in tears. Louis requested that Feron be the Dauphin’s guardian after his death and wanted him to raise, teach and look after him.
After Feron left, Aramis entered and spoke with Louis who demanded to know the truth about his wife. Aramis admitted that he had slept with Queen Anne and Louis promised him that he would hang for treason.
Nearby, Feron met with Grimaud and explained that he hadn’t killed the King or Aramis. Grimaud was angry, drew his dagger and stabbed Feron then left him for dead. Feron managed to fire a shot into the air which alerted Aramis.
Aramis came outside and fired upon Grimaud and his men, they returned fire. Louis came out and joined Aramis and demanded a pistol to help. Suddenly the musketeers and Treville appeared and made short work of Grimaud’s men. As usual Grimaud managed to sneak away but not before Aramis almost managed to shoot him dead.
Treville tried to get Louis escorted to safety but as he left he spotted Feron. He wept for his dead brother calling him a hero and declared that he would have a full state funeral.
At the end of the episode, Athos broke up with Sylvie, Anne met with Aramis who told her Louis was dying and Gaston escaped with Grimaud.
The next episode is Fool’s Gold. In pursuit of Grimaud, the Musketeers stumble across a battle-scarred village where the women thrive without men. Quick-witted leader Juliet is quick to warn the Musketeers off. Is she simply protecting her community, or is she hiding something? When a gang of hardened war deserters attack, the Musketeers must earn the women’s trust to help them defend their independence – unearthing a secret history far darker than anything they’ve encountered before. Meanwhile at the Louvre, Anne makes a bold confession to secure her son’s future.
Tune into BBC One at 8:30pm on Saturday to watch the episode. Preview episode 7 with our gallery below:
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