‘The Serpent Queen’ Recap: ‘To War Rather Than To Bed’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode Two of ‘The Serpent Queen’. To revisit the series premiere, click here.
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When we think about or examine the lives of people that have committed dark acts in the course of our history, to better understand ‘evil’, we like to look at their ‘body of work’ so to speak. Such as the series of decisions and actions that genuinely brought them to their peak darkness. Since that helps us to understand the mindset of the person and the path that brought them to infamy. But what we often forget in that analysis, or perhaps don’t focus upon at all… is that they came to this point for one reason and one reason alone… a singular choice. A moment when they decided to commit to that unsavory path and that, is where we should truly start our exploratory journey of such individuals.
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For that is where we come to truly understand… what pushed them down their respective path and why they committed to it fully and it just so happens, that the next episode of The Serpent Queen on STARZ, took the time to do just that. For when we catch up with Princess Catherine de’ Medici in ‘To War Rather Than To Bed’, she’s living her best life in France. She’s working to produce an heir; she’s living in relative peace and sadly… it didn’t take long for that peace to be completely upended. For she struggled to produce an heir in this tale and some problems back home… put her in a tough place mentally. Because another family member died at the hands of the people violently and that left her wondering… if her future her was safe.

For the death of the Pope would keep the dowry incomplete, and that would undoubtedly bring forth scrutiny or an end to her safety and wouldn’t you know it? The Pope died. Courtesy of a poison meal and that… put Catherine at her lowest. For her enemies were doing everything to undermine her and ensure that a lack of a dowry and an heir would bring about her end and/or shift to exile or servitude and that… is where that singular decision came into play. Simply because Catherine was in fact, at a crossroads, one that could have potentially threatened her very survival on this planet and when faced with that possibility, Catherine made quite the powerful choice.

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In that, she was going to ensure that she would see tomorrow and be seen and have agency. Which in turn, pushed her to begin to carefully examine her world and her enemies. All so she could come to understand their weaknesses and manipulate them to do either do her bidding or get them to back off, and at first it appeared this was going to be more trouble than it was worth… since there were counter maneuvers to her early tests on this decision, and a loss of life. Granted other factors played into that. But the deceased in question, the stable hand, was still someone that had significance to her life since there was a brief and passionate affair between them in an effort to get that heir. But once the dust settled from this mess and she realized that putting feelings into getting what she needed and wanted was going to cause harm, she doubled down on this choice and refined its parameters.  
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Wherein she was going to switch off those emotions and do whatever was necessary to achieve those goals. Which in turn, allowed for her to exploit those weaknesses in question. Since her cousin was quickly put in her place via some clever machinations, and she even worked on creating some backchannel alliances to make her husband look the hero. And that, gave her protection and comfort and safety, and more time to ponder upon what comes next for her and how she will survive in the long term and well, in the end, all of these elements not only made for a fascinating and compelling tale, but it truly explored how important that singular big choice is when it comes to changing the course of one’s life.

Because in that moment, the snarky and ruthless queen we met in the premiere and enjoyed here as well, was born. All because her decision to do what must be done, influenced every subsequent decision in her mind, allowing for a sequence of tough choices to be made, the kind that would become routine when she became queen. Making this quite the masterful and powerful character study, one that truly connected the dots for us in a subtle and powerful manner. Which just goes to show that this miniseries is simply sublime and is going to give us a powerfully comprehensive look at Catherine’s life and well, now that we know the origin moment where the Serpent Queen was born, we can kick back and watch a true villain form right before our eyes as Catherine de’ Medici rises to power in the most ruthless way imaginable. Until next time.  

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