The Musketeers “Musketeers Don’t Die Easily” 

Athos, Porthos, Aramis and D’Artagnan come up with a plan expose the Cardinal’s treachery. And it’s good enough to fool Milady and good enough to get the Cardinal to confess the details of the crime within the hearing of the Queen. Anne decides to spare Richelieu because she believes he thought he was acting in the best interests of the country. She also knows that if she exposes him the King will be devastated. But she warns Richelieu that this is his one and only free pass. Athos is also merciful, but perhaps he spares Milady as a way to also save himself.

The Cardinal has been trying to put an end to the Musketeers since the beginning of the season, but now he’s got additional motivation. He wants Mellendorf dead, but the King doesn’t want to be so hasty without additional proof. They do have Mellendorf’s signed confession, but Treville is quick to remind the King that the confession was signed under duress.

At the end of “Knight Takes Queen,” Athos tells Richelieu he’ll expose the woman connected to the attempt on the Queen’s life and anyone associated with her. So the Cardinal knows he’s operating on borrowed time and he enlists Milady for one last mission. He knows she wants to see at least Athos dead as much as he does, so he thinks he can trust her to take them all out.

When Milady goes to see D’Artagnan, who is recovering, she pulls a gun on him. It’s not like we can expect anything less from her though. This is a woman who’s had to fend for herself for a long time and she’s wise not to trust only herself. But she wants to trust D’Artagnan and admits that the Cardinal is her patron. Since he has no future with the Musketeers, Richelieu can be D’Artagnan’s patron as well. But D’Artagnan has never hidden his dislike for the man and he doesn’t do it now. He does want to know what really happened between her and Athos though.

She tells him she was born poor and turned to a life of thievery to get by. In fact, we meet the man who taught her everything she knows – but more on Sarazen later. When she married Athos, his brother Thomas was mad with desire for her. He tried to rape her and she killed him, but she claims she did it for love. D’Artagnan warns her that he won’t kill his best friend for her, but when Treville tells him Athos won’t fight beside him and that he should resign his commission quickly in order to keep his honor, D’Artagnan is understandably upset. He tells Milady to meet him in the town square at midday.

When D’Artagnan goes to the garrison, seemingly to confront Athos and the rest of the men he considers brothers, we realize it’s all a ruse. I didn’t believe this set up to begin with, so I’m glad they clued us in so quickly. I mean, I know these men would die for each other and that no one could ever become between them. But they need a way to expose the Cardinal and they can’t do that unless Milady believes she’s driven a wedge between them and that D’Artagnan would kill for her.

But even though it looks like her plan is working, Milady has never been a fool. She goes to see Sarazin, the man she learned everything from. He’s only interested in helping if she agrees to come back and work for him when she’s gotten her way and the Musketeers are dead.

D’Artagnan challenges Athos to a duel in the town square and it’s made to look like D’Artagnan kills him. He tells Milady that Aramis and Porthos will never forgive him. Now he’s ready to ask the Cardinal for protection, but Richelieu is only too happy to see D’Artagnan hang. Duels are illegal and he’ll see D’Artagnan punished for it. The Cardinal still isn’t moved when D’Artagnan threatens Milady, but his ears perk up when D’Artagnan tells him Aramis and Porthos would make a trade for the letter they have implicating Richelieu for the attempt on the Queen. They’re honorable men, but this is personal now that Athos is dead and they’ll want to deal with D’Artagnan themselves.

An unexpected complication in their plans arises when they realize Constance is missing. The trio decide not to tell D’Artagnan, who needs his wits about him. This distraction could lead to his death. As soon as they get the Cardinal to confess, their next order of business is Milady. But her backup plan comes in handy. If Athos kills her now, they’ll never see Constance again. The Musketeers know what they need to do, but they also know they’ll be going into an ambush. But not before they say make a pledge to each other:

“All for one. And one for all.”

They survive the onslaught, kill Sarazen and his men and distract Milady when she takes Constance prisoner. But Athos lets her go, telling her if she ever steps foot back in Paris he’ll kill her. She tells him there can be no peace for either of them until they’re both dead. And I think those words are true. Even though she gone for now, I can’t imagine that Milady will be gone for long.

Constance and D’Artagnan don’t get a happy ending either. When it looked like Constance had left him, Bonacieux tried to kill himself. And he warns her that he’ll try it again if she doesn’t stay. D’Artagnan thinks he’s bluffing, but Constance can’t have his death on her conscience. Maybe they can be together eventually, but for right now she decides to stay with her husband.

When the Cardinal is summoned by the King he is understandably nervous. But the news is good: The Queen is finally pregnant again. Of course, we know that Aramis is the father of that child, and so do Aramis and Porthos. The Cardinal seems to suspect something when he comes across Anne and Aramis talking privately. So maybe the Cardinal has at least one more card to play. He just needs to play it in the right way at the right time, but I have a suspicions that the Musketeers will put an end to whatever plan he can devise.

Season one of The Musketeers will be available on DVD Tuesday, August 26th.