Marie Antoinette season 2 marks the return of the thrilling BBC historical drama telling the tale of the Queen and her life in the court of Versailles.
Focusing on the real-life events of the time, Marie Antoinette depicts the eponymous Queen as she navigates her life by the side of King Louis XVI.
In season 1, she moved from Austria to France as a young girl, meeting Louis for the first time. She birthed his children and, most importantly, a son and heir to the throne. And they took the throne themselves as King and Queen of France. But, there's plenty more of their historical tale left to tell in season 2.
Here's a recap of everything that happened in Marie Antoinette season 2 episode 5.
The episode begins on Vergennes arriving at Cardinal Rohan’s sermon with guards. They arrest him on suspicion of theft. Province and Josephine revel in the King’s public display. With Louis and Marie, Cardinal Rohan insists he knows nothing of the jewels. He insists he’d only bought some before for a woman and the charity. The Queen asks who has the necklace and he says it’s with her special guard. To which she says, she doesn’t have a special guard. Cardinal Rohan then speaks of the letters, to which Marie says she never wrote to him. Louis brings in the jeweller, Boehmer.
Boehmer explains how the guard was working for the Cardinal and he was there, too. But the Cardinal says he was making the purchase for his dear friend. He looks at the Queen with hope, but she denies everything. Louis sends Cardinal Rohan to the Bastille. The Queen asks after the charity Cardinal Rohan was donating to and he reveals it was for the Poor Fallen Women.
Elsewhere, Jeanne is breaking into Cardinal Rohan’s desk. She’s interrupted by the guards coming to conduct their own search. Just in time, Jeanne finds the letters from the Queen and takes them, leaving through the window. In a conversation with the prosecutor, he confirms that Cardinal Rohan stole the necklace, but Vergennes says they can’t find it to prove it. They say they’ll deal with the punishment discreetly and compensate the jeweller. Louis says it has to be discreet because the rumours of the Queen buying the necklace behind his back are already circulating.
The Queen says there would be a public trial if it was anyone else. Vergennes argues that Cardinal Rohan is a member of the most powerful family in France and they can’t harass him in public. The Queen pushes Vergennes because she knows the Rohan’s helped him get his position. The prosecutor thinks the Parliament will be displeased with a public trial, but Louis insists they will vote with the King and the Crown. Again, Vergennes is apprehensive. The prosecutor advises Louis to think on it before he acts.
At the Bastille, Vergennes goes to visit Cardinal Rohan. He asks him if he stole the necklace and the Cardinal says he didn’t. He explains that the Queen was writing to him. Vergennes says she’s denying everything. To this, Cardinal Rohan says the letters are in his apartment, but Vergennes says they can’t be found. He informs him of the chance of a public trial. Cardinal Rohan tells him that the Queen instructed him to buy the necklace without telling the King. Vergennes tells him to contact his family.
Felicite is speaking with Cogliostro in Palais-Royal. She says while Orleans is spreading his own ideas, Felicite needs a secret network of her own. She wants the Freemasons. Before they can discuss further, Orleans comes in and dismisses Cogliostro. He’s upset with her, but she says he needs to focus on the bigger picture instead of fixating on the Queen.
At Versailles, Calonne is suggesting a land tax on everyone as well as a program of economic stimulation to abolish internal customs barriers. Both of which Louis is happy with. He’s worried about the land tax being controversial and upsetting France. Calonne says they need to fix the deficit now, but Louis is concerned that if he angers the people of France, they will vote against him in a public trial.
Vergennes again tries to deter Louis from putting Cardinal Rohan on a public trial. But Louis says that he will do anything to defend the Queen and her reputation, which is their joint reputation. He dismisses him and Provence arrives. Provence explains how he’s had to deter upset people after Louis’s public display of scrutiny against Cardinal Rohan. He questions his stable mind and Louis informs him he has a plan.
Marie and Yolande are sitting together when Marie’s stomach starts to gurgle. She tells Yolande it’s nothing, just stress about Cardinal Rohan. But, she’s feeling sick and Yolande asks if she might be pregnant. She expresses she doesn’t want to do it again and Yolande asks whose baby it is. Marie says she’s been taking precautions with Louis, but not with Fersen.
Breteuil comes in and tells Marie that the Countess de Valois, Jeanne, has been telling the court that the Queen is the patron of the Poor Fallen Women. And that she has been taking donations in return for promises of her favour. Lamballe comes in and admits she believed it and felt she was her true friend, but has realised her mistake. The Queen orders Breteuil to find Jeanne and arrest her. As Lamballe tries to explain, Marie doesn't want to know.
Provence breaks into Louis’s desk and reads papers. Meanwhile, Josephine writes a letter to Marguerite. Provence comes to her and tells her he's just read about a land tax that Louis is planning for all social classes. They discuss telling a member of Parliament. They write to Malherbe, the prosecutor for Cardinal Rohan, informing him of all the details.
Back at the Queen’s room, Yolande says that Lamballe probably fell in love with Jeanne. But, the Queen defends her saying she’s lonely, which is Yolande’s fault since she used to love Lamballe and now loves her instead. Yolande brings her a concoction to drink that should help her to lose the baby and tells her to drink it and go for a ride. So, they do.
Jeanne burns the letters to Cardinal Rohan, but as she’s leaving the King’s guard arrives to arrest her. Instead, she breaks out of the window. As she tries to escape, the guards chase her. She steals a horse and rides off, but the guards block her way and take her in. Elsewhere, Lamballe tells Victoire they’ve arrested Jeanne. Victoire’s upset at the deceit and explains that she was trying to get forgiveness by knitting for the babies. She admits she could’ve been a fallen woman herself and that she had a baby when she was 14. She explains that a married man liked her, but as the King’s daughter, she had to get rid of her baby and Adelaide helped her.
The Queen is with her children and tries to help her son, telling her daughter the disease will get worse before it gets better. But, when Yolande goes to see Louis, he says all the doctors have agreed that there is no hope for his son. She suggests they should try something different and Louis agrees.
At Versailles, they’re discussing what to do with Cardinal Rohan. Madame de Rohan arrives alongside all of the Rohans to see the Crown. She wants to know why the Cardinal has been arrested and insists he’s released now. The Queen says that Cardinal Rohan has been damaging their family name and that he’s now dragging the Queen into it, too. Madame de Rohan says if they don’t release him, they will have to suffer the consequences. Instead, Louis says they’re putting him on public trial and that he’ll save her a seat. To this, they leave.
At Palais-Royal, Cagliostro continues to put on displays. Orleans discusses with his allies about Cardinal Rohan’s situation. Felicite says it has nothing to do with Rohan, it’s to do with the King and now they can act. She says they should send the Rohan’s their condolences and keep printing. For the rest, Felicite will enact a plan. She goes to Cagliostro for help and asks him to use his network to help Cardinal Rohan. But, he refuses.
In the Bastille, Jeanne admits to the prosecutor Fleury that she did take money from the courtiers, but she didn’t know the charity was fake and when she found out. Cardinal Rohan was going to say she was behind the whole plan. She denies any responsibility for the theft of the necklace, promising she had nothing to do with it. She says instead that Cagliostro is involved and that Cardinal Rohan is lying. Marie arrives to speak with her. She tells Jeanne they’re putting the Cardinal on trial and that if she testifies against him, they’ll consider reducing her sentence. Jeanne says she’s worried for her own safety if she did so, so Marie goes to leave. Stopping her, Jeanne asks for a new hat to make a good impression in court.
As Fleury and Marie leave, Marie asks him if he believes Jeanne. He says he does. He says instead they need to issue another arrest warrant for Cagliostro. Meanwhile, Yolande brings Cagliostro to the Dauphin to help heal him. He wants to speak with the King and Queen, but she says he can’t. But, Louis watches from the shadows as Cagliostro works. As he’s leaving, the Queen passes him in the hallway.
At Palais-Royal, Felicite hands out prints of a newspaper they’ve made with the headline to support Cardinal Rohan. Malherbe is also there, reading out his mysterious missive informing him of the King’s plans for land tax. Suddenly, the guards arrive to arrest Cagliostro. Orleans tries to stand in, but Felicite tells her to let them take him and they can use his arrest to help their cause.
The next day, Fersen is unhappy that the Queen didn’t tell him about the baby. He says he wants to be involved in their life, but she says he will never be the child’s father. Elsewhere, Orleans hosts the Rohans. He says they want the same thing and Felicite says they could help them and ensure the Queen’s demise. They want Madame de Rohan to meet Mr Target, the sharpest lawyer in France, that Orleans is willing to share with her to defend Cardinal Rohan. They cheers to being new friends.
Target meets with Cardinal Rohan in the Bastille. He says he needs the Cardinal to accept that he’s deluded and that the charity, Poor Fallen Women, does not exist. He says he’ll help him in his trial, but Cardinal Rohan must do exactly as he says. He accepts. Cardinal Rohan says if Jeanne faked the charity, then she also faked the letters. Meanwhile, Felicite goes to visit Cogliostro and he says he has information that could help Rohan and him. He speaks of the special guard, Armand. He says she needs to find him. She says he’s helpful for her in the Bastille because she can paint the King as a tyrant. He hands her his Freemason ring and says she can use the network.
Provence comes to see Josephine and shows her a letter he’s received. Malherbe wants to meet with him. Louis shares drawings that the children have done of Yolande, but he appears sad. She tells him he should tell Marie about the Dauphin. But he won’t because he doesn’t want to ruin her life. Provence arrives. Louis dismisses Yolande and asks Provence why he’s there. He tells him there’s a lunar eclipse that evening. He reminisces about how they used to watch the stars as kids and Louis says he’ll go outside later to look. When he returns to Josephine, Provence says it worked and that Louis will be there. He says now, they must make Provence a King.
Marie and Yolande discuss that the tonic still hasn’t worked. Marie is scared of having another baby. Meanwhile, Louis heads outside to watch the lunar eclipse. As he does, Provence meets with Malherbe to discuss the land tax. They discuss how there’s talk of voting against the King in the upcoming trial. As they walk, they come upon Louis walking around looking up at the sky. Provence explains to Malherbe that the King’s mental state has been getting worse, casting doubt in his mind. Malherbe thinks the King is unfit to rule, but Provence says the Crown would move to the Queen until the Dauphin is old enough. But Malherbe says it depends on whether the Queen’s reputation also survives the trial.
Lamballe comes to see the Queen. She’s looking at Dauphin’s first socks and the Queen says she’s worried about him. Although Louis says he’s going to be fine, she’s still worried. She apologises to Lamballe for being deceived by Jeanne. To this, Lamballe says Marie shouldn’t use Jeanne at the trial because she’s very clever and a great liar. She tries to tell her that Jeanne is dangerous, but the Queen doesn’t want to hear it. Marie tells Lamballe instead that she doesn’t want her at the trial. Lamballe wishes her good luck and leaves. Elsewhere, men drag Villette’s body into a coffin and a man wearing a Freemason ring nails the lid on top.
All episodes of Marie Antoinette, seasons 1 and 2, are available on BBC iPlayer.
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