The Musketeers S2E1 - "Keep Your Friends Close" Recap

It's been ten months since we last saw the Musketeers and their arguably biggest foe, Cardinal Richelieu is dead. There's not a whole lot of delving into the who and the why, as we are instead introduced to Comte de Rochefort, one of the Cardinal's most trusted lieutenants. The Musketeers rather reluctantly save him from being hung, as they're not all that fond of Rochefort, but he claims to bear important news for the King.

Speaking of the King, he's a new "father," as his Queen has just given birth (but remember… that baby was actually conceived by an affair with Aramis). The King offers Captain Treville a job on his council but Treville's not fond of politics and thus turns it down. This does not please the King one bit, making him all the more ripe to be won over by the newly arrived Rochefort.

Constance is given a position by the Queen which will entail her living in the palace. She warns D'Artagnan to stay away from her. Aramis is able to steal a close-up glimpse at his son, the future King, and Athos warns him not to be so careless.

Rochefort is actually a spy for France's enemy nation and he is shown to be arguably even more ruthless than the Cardinal. He even slits the throat of a holy man who had overheard an incriminating exchange between Rochefort and Spain's ambassador Don Fernando.

The deceased Cardinal's spy in Madrid has news that General De Foix, France's chief military strategist has been captured. The king orders him to be rescued and the Musketeers and Captain Treville are thereby forced to work with Rochefort. Rochefort informs them that their orders are to not allow De Foix to remain alive if they cannot remove him from Spanish hands. While on the road, the group is attacked by a band of assassins as part of a plot organised by Rochefort to get rid of the Musketeers.

The Musketeers carry on with their rescue and reach the castle. D'Artagnan infiltrates the castle and meets Lucy, General De Foix's sister. Together, they reach De Foix and just as D'Artagnan is about to carry through on his orders to kill De Foix, they are interrupted by the rest of the Musketeers and Rochefort, whom Athos overrules by saying that De Foix's sister Lucy will be brought along to be rescued. De Foix also seems to know Porthos, though the circumstances of how and why are not yet revealed.

With a lengthy, well choreographed, and entertaining action sequence, Team Musketeers is able to get away. Rochefort does away with the Spanish prisoner they had taken while making it appear that he was trying to get away. De Foix is returned to the King, and Rochefort accepts the King's offer to work as a member of the King's court.

D'Artagnan confronts Constance for not pursuing her love for him and she chides him for not understanding that she is a woman living in a world built for men and that they would not be able to be married, and if they had any children and he died in battle, she would be left penniless and likely have to resort to prostitution to provide for them.

Aramis and Athos learn that Adele Bessette, the former mistress of the Cardinal as well as the woman who loved and was loved by Aramis, is now dead. Her grave is inscribed with, "Died For Love." They are also left with a cryptic message about the Cardinal knowing all of Aramis' secrets, which he can expose from beyond the grave (a thinly-veiled threat regarding Aramis' being the father of the Queen's baby).

De Foix also speaks in private with Captain Treville about Porthos. They apparently knew Porthos' father, and they had done something horrific, leading to the death of her mother in which she died of a broken heart after being abandoned in the slums. De Foix is insistent that the truth be revealed, and hopes to make amends before he dies (he is on the brink of death). Captain Treville, however, is less keen on doing so.

Finally, Rochefort is shown to be planning to try to drive a wedge between the King and Queen that will tear the country apart.

The Musketeers airs on Fridays on BBC One at 9PM.