Nikki K

I think as long as we don't have a lot of dry wood lying around or hoist our chandeliers up on brittle ropes we'll be fine though.

BL.Arinna_1982

That just reminded me of Lucrezia/Juan's talk around the table in Vanozza's house.

Nikki K

The "I might just drop in on you" part? That was funny. They were both so aggressive but trying to keep it polite. I wish we would have seen Juan at the Spanish court though. I think that would have been interesting especially if we can compare it with Cesare at the French court (if they are going to show that) and both of their reactions to their respective brides.




Source: http://****yeahborgia.tumblr.com/

BL.Arinna_1982

I think they both used their wives for political games. If I'm not mistaken though.

Nikki K

Well I'd say to a degree. I mean Juan basically inherited his eldest brother's betrothed and his title as well. It was a match Rodrigo had set up because he wanted to gain influence in his homeland. So unlike what the show wants us to believe Juan never had a choice in who to marry. So if anything it was Rodrigo's game to get a foot in the door with the Spanish royalty so that some far day his family may be close to the Spanish crown.

As for Cesare – he definitely aimed for the crown of Naples by pursuing Carlotta, Sancia's cousin. But she rejected him. It wasn't just the French king's doing who obviously would not want for that liason to happen either because of his own rights to the Neapolitan throne. So lucky for him Carlotta felt insulted by the idea of marrying an ex-Cardinal in additon to the fact that I think she was in love with a French nobleman, having grown up at French court. So in the end it was the French king's game after all, he wanted to tie the Borgia and the papacy to France and drag them away from their Spanish and Neapolitan alliances, which is why it was his game plan from day one to get a French bride for Cesare which turned out not to be so easy. I guess the reason why he accepted Charlotte in the end was because he had to marry someone and he received heaps of French mercenaries from the French king so he fight and get the Papal States back from the nobles who only in name held their fiefs for the pope at that time but saw themselves as independant rulers more or less. In the end his marriage to Charlotte came in handy as her brother's kingdom of Navarre was close to Spain where Cesare had been imprisioned so he had a place to run to. Not that he cared for seeing his wife and daughter. We all know how that ended. But still.

So in both cases I feel they couldn't actually make the decisions themselves but were guided by bigger political powers much to their dismay – well I think Cesare's mostly (I'm sure he was happy about the mercenaries), I think Juan was happier with his lot, even though allegedly he slept with a lot of his wife's ladies in waiting which made Rodrigo livid.



Source: INF DESIGNS

PhoenixRising

Wow! I hope they explore that in the series. They have a lot of ground to cover, and I don't think they need to condense it down for the sake of expediency. I'd like to see Cesare's storyline more in-depth......as long as there's 'cestyness between him and Lucrezia as well.

Nikki K

I think they'll have to condense this a lot though otherwise he can't be back with Lucrezia ... there is this distance between Lyon and Rome... I'd say something around 1000 kilometres. Due the lack of a motor vehicle it might be best to ride down to Marseille and take a boat to Bastia then another one to Civitavecchia and go on to Rome. I'd say that's about a 95 hour trip.

PhoenixRising

Okay, I guess that's a no go. But I do hope they stick closer to the history as far as Cesare is concerned, because he's the most fascinating character in the history and on the show. No offense to Jeremy Irons, who makes a great Rodrigo.

Nikki K

Well, I'm obviously most interested in Vanozza but as far as movement goes and politics Cesare is obviously getting around most.

BL.Arinna_1982

Cesare, along with Rodrigo is the most famous member of the Borgia family. Vanozza is the mother of the family. So, I hope they both get more screen time the next season. Also, a little bit more of CL would be even better.

PhoenixRising

And it would be nice to see some of what Machiavelli would write about Cesare in The Prince.

BL.Arinna_1982

That would be interesting indeed.

PhoenixRising

Any word as to what Francois has been doing when The Borgias is on hiatus? I can't imagine that producers aren't clamoring for him.

bijou156

So far from what I seen in s2ep1, I'm loving Cesare : there is some magnetism, enigma and danger about him that I find charming I love how he told Juan that this cleric "prays and fights".
I also noticed his rivalry with Juan will be coming to a boil soon *I suppose*

BL.Arinna_1982

Just keep watching. I think the best episodes from s2 are the first three.