Marie Antoinette season 2 episode 6 recap: the trial against Cardinal Rohan begins

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 6.

The episode begins with Madame de Rohan arriving at the start of the public trial for Cardinal Rohan. The public are chanting for and against the King and Queen. Madame is greeted by Orleans, but is upset that the trial is being used as propaganda for his radical ideas. She says if Orleans doesn’t get Cardinal Rohan freed, she’ll have him called a traitor. Felicite tells Orleans that he should tell the Madame that they can’t prove his innocence without witnesses. Marie, now heavily pregnant, arrives and watches the trial from a private viewing box. The Crown versus Cardinal Rohan begins and Rohan is brought forward.

The prosecution states that the Queen’s special guard who stole the necklace was in fact working for the Cardinal. They call Cogliostro a co-conspirator. The defence stands and Target begins to question Cardinal Rohan. Rohan states that he was manipulated by a woman and names the thief as the Queen. He says that because he was out of favour, he donated to the charity run by Jeanne, Countess de Valois, actually Le Motte. He explains how he was writing letters to the Queen, but they became intimate friends.

He speaks of meeting the Queen in the gardens at midnight, where she gave him a rose that he kept. He holds it out, and the gallery gasps. Orleans notices the prosecution looking up at where the Queen is secretly sitting to watch. Cardinal Rohan accuses the Crown of being flawed. Yolande suggests Marie returns to Versailles as she doesn’t look well. She refuses and sends Yolande back instead to look after the children.

During a break from the trial, the prosecution privately asks the Queen where she was on the night of the garden meet, but she strictly denies ever meeting him there. Breteuil asks the Queen how they can argue against Rohan’s lies without also lying. She thinks they need to find the person who was pretending to be her. But by doing so, it would reveal Cardinal Rohan was actually a fool, not a thief. The Queen asks Breteuil to investigate outside official channels.

At Versailles, Calonne shows Louis that they are running out of money. But Parliament won’t approve another loan because they’re concerned Louis's prosecution of nobility is a power move. He says that there’s also the rumour about the land tax reforms. Louis asks Calonne if he told anyone about their plans because only him, Louis and Vergennes knew. Provence enters and Louis accuses him of going through his desk, but he denies it. He brings a notice from the Palais-Royal looking to separate church and state.

At the trial, Jeanne is brought in to speak. Prosecutor Fleury asks her about her relationship with Cardinal Rohan. She says her innocence was exploited. She describes her poor childhood and that when she met Cardinal Rohan he asked her to collect donations for his charity. She denies knowing about the necklace. But now that she knows the charity was a lie and that Cardinal Rohan had large debts, she thinks that he stole the necklace alongside Cagliostro. Marie is relieved.

Afterwards, at the Bastille, Cardinal Rohan is angry that he wasn’t allowed to tell the truth. Now the Queen is angry at him and Jeanne will be freed. Madame de Rohan wants more witnesses, especially the Queen’s special guard. Orleans says they can’t find the guard, but they think they’ve found the woman who was pretending to be the Queen. She fled, but they’re tracking her down. Orleans says they need a new strategy and Felicite smirks.

Fersen and Marie speak together and Fersen asks if the Cardinal is innocent. She says he can’t be because they accused him publicly. Louis enters. He says he heard the trial went well, but she’s unhappy she has been accused. He says he’ll come to the trial with her tomorrow. Elsewhere, Provence is rejoicing that Louis is starting to look paranoid. He tells Josephine they don’t want the Crown to be charged, but Josephine argues if Cardinal Rohan is charged, the people will sympathise with Marie. He says they want to damage her. Josephine suggests persuading Jeanne to help them. She says she’s tired of plotting, but Provence says if she wants Marguerite back they need to go to Bastille to see Jeanne. They send Beaumarchais to the Bastille on their behalf.

Beaumarchais meets with Jeanne and tells her that she’s putting on a performance because she must have someone powerful on her side. He suggests if it’s the Queen, she is not to be trusted. Instead, he suggests that Parliament might be happy to hear anything damaging targeting towards the Queen. She says the Cardinal must have sent him. He says he didn't, but that his friends are happy for both the Cardinal and the Queen to go down together. He muses whether the Queen can be trusted to save Jeanne.

The trial resumes. Jeanne La Motte is brought to speak. She insists she’s the Countess de Valois. She says Cardinal Rohan told her to use the name. Target questions Jeanne over letters she forged previously and says he knows that she’s spent lots of money since the necklace was stolen. He accuses her of being a fantasist and a criminal.

In response, she insists the Cardinal is obsessed with the Queen, sexually. The gallery gasps. She says he would tell her about visiting the Petit Trianon to see the Queen. She then says that the Queen buys diamonds behind the King’s back and watching, Louis becomes angry. As Beaumarchais watches on, Jeanne brings up the Queen learning Swedish and that Cardinal Rohan called the King a cuckold. Both the Queen and the King are angry.

Louis says he’s leaving and that he can’t listen to her insult them publicly. Marie says Yolande will go with him. She expresses that she now knows Jeanne has her own agenda. When she asks Breteuil about whether he's discovered anything about the meeting in the garden, he says the woman who impersonated her is missing. He has spies looking for her. He says they’ll have to make sure she doesn’t appear in court if she tricked Rohan.

At Palais-Royal, they rejoice over how the trial is going. Orleans is unhappy because Cardinal Rohan is losing in court, but they’re pleased the Queen is going down with him. Saint-Georges and Felicite ask Orleans to join them in their celebrations. Felicite tells Orleans they’re not trying to humiliate the Queen, but he says he knows that. He’s trying to drive a wedge between Parliament and the Crown.

Felicite says she can help, but first she wants Orleans to promise that if he becomes King, she wants women to have equal rights to men. She says she has what he needs to win the trial and asks him to follow her. Taking him down to the basement, she reveals Villette, the missing special guard and Jeanne’s friend. Villette insists he won’t damage Jeanne’s reputation, but Felicite invites him to the Bastille to see that Jeanne isn’t actually dead.

Marie goes to visit Louis. She says that at least they can rely on Parliament to vote in their favour, but Louis says he’s not sure that’s the case. He explains how they know about the land tax and that Parliament are worried about France's finances. He reveals they are in debt. He says that they might defy him and vote that Cardinal Rohan is innocent. He apologises for not telling her, but says that if Parliament votes against him in the trial, it will show France he’s not in control. They realise that the trial now means their reign is in question.

At the trial, they bring in the woman that impersonates the Queen in Palais-Royal and as her for the meetings in the garden. Breteuil apologises for failing her. She introduces herself as Mademoiselle Nicole d’Oliva. She says she was paid to meet Cardinal Rohan and that she is also paid to act like the Queen in bed at night. Prosecutor Fleury says the defence have paid a prostitute to back up their story. To this, Target says he’s bringing a man back from the dead.

At Bastille, Jeanne speaks to Villette through the walls. She says that she was unconscious, but she didn’t die, but that Nicolas betrayed them both. She says for their freedom, they just have to blame Cardinal Rohan and stick to the same story, hers. Villette is brought into trial and admits to being the Queen’s guard and forging letters. When asked on whose orders, he says Jeanne La Motte. Target proves it with a draft of one of the forged letters. The crowd applauds and Orleans and Felicite smile at each other. The Queen gets up to leave, realising that Cardinal Rohan will be found innocent of theft.

At Versailles, Fleury tells Louis that Rohan will be found innocent. But Vergennes says they’re working behind the scenes to convince the Parliament to vote he’s guilty. Marie says they could propose a new charge, punishing them for accusing the Queen of theft. Louis says instead they should charge them all. Vergennes says it could end in public execution, but Marie says that’s better than losing France.

Target calls Cagliostro forward to speak, despite his wrongful arrest. He says he’s there purely for his reputation. Marie sits forward and realises that Cagliostro is who she saw at Versailles that night when he returned. He looks up at the Queen’s private box and Marie asks Yolande if Cagliostro was there to attend Dauphin. She denies it. To this, the Queen leaves and says she needs to go somewhere.

The trial comes to its final speeches with Target saying that Jeanne and Villette are guilty of the theft of the necklace and Cardinal Rohan and Cagliostro are innocent. A member of Parliament is handed a note and stands to say there’s been a development. The Crown wants a second, more serious charge raised. Against all of them for tarnishing the Queen’s name.

Target is asked for his opinion. He says that it’s common knowledge that the Queen has lovers, spends money, and does so behind the King’s back. Target thinks that they shouldn’t be hanged for what they’ve said about the Queen. The blame should be in Versailles and the Queen’s own actions. Meanwhile, the Queen goes to sit with her son.

In front of the Rohans, Provence pays Beaumarchais money for his job well done. But he asks Josephine what they should do about the second charge. She reassures him that they just need to damage the Queen. Malherbe takes him to one side and says Parliament is split. But they’re worried that if the Crown loses, that Orleans will gain even more popularity. They want Provence to step into Louis’s shoes.

Parliament stands to deliver their charges. They find Cardinal Rohan and Cagliostro innocent. Jeanne La Motte is found guilty of theft. On the second count, a capital charge of damaging the Queen’s name, they find all the defendants not guilty. The crowd celebrates. Cardinal Rohan steps out of court with Madame and Target. Jeanne is sentenced to a beating and branding and sent to a women’s prison for life.

That evening, she is brought in front of a crowd for her punishment. As she screams, Orleans and Target arrive in Palais-Royal to rapturous applause. He shouts for victory. Fersen arrives and slaps Orleans round the face before he’s dragged away by his men. Provence approaches and says the people have no say in who rules them. Orleans says: “Let the best man win”.

Meanwhile, Felicite goes to speak to Cogliostro. He thanks her for his freedom and she returns the Freemason’s ring. He says there’s no secret in their brotherhood, but that it’s just men working together. She says she wants to make them see that women deserve a seat at the table.

At Versailles, Louis signs a letter to banish Cardinal Rohan. Vergennes says that the loss means that they can’t rely on the Parliament to help them with land tax or any further loans. Calonne says he should call an Assembly of Notables for the reforms. Marie enters and demands Vergennes and Calonne leave. She asks Louis how much time the Dauphin, her son, has left. He finally tells her, no more than two years. She’s upset at his lies and though he apologises and says he’s trying to protect her, but she keeps hitting him. As he asks her how they’ll survive, she leaves.

All episodes of Marie Antoinette, seasons 1 and 2, are available on BBC iPlayer.