The Serpent Queen Part 7 is the seventh instalment of an American historical period drama TV miniseries revolving around the life of Catherine de’ Medici. Created by Justin Haythe, the miniseries is based on the 2004 non-fiction book Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France by Leonie Frieda.
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Entitled “An Attack on the King”, The Serpent Queen Part 7 is ostensibly told from the perspective of Queen Mary Stuart, as she visits Rahima to try to use her against Catherine. While technically, we pick up the story from the end of the episode, when King Henri is critically injured in the joust, the narrative contains events that could not have been within Mary’s knowledge. Presumably, the series is apply a whole lot of artistic license with that.
In any case, in The Serpent Queen Part 7, Catherine gets her heart’s desire – the departure of her cousin Diane from court – but at the cost of Henri’s life. Though, Catherine attempted to warn Henri against continuing with the joust, Henri did so, revealing subsequently that he did so believing that Catherine wanted him dead and obliging her. Very strange indeed. Be careful what you wish for, and all that.
READ OUR ANALYSES OF THE SERPENT QUEEN.
However, of course, with the ascent of her sickly son Francis as king, his wife Mary replaces Diane as the constant thorn in her side, with Mary embarking on a crusade of ‘righteous’ persecution of Protestants in France and a dream of an united Catholic Europe. With the aid of the Protestants, Catherine instigates a plan to separate Francis from Mary’s influence in a risky kidnapping scheme. However, as with Henri, Catherine almost sabotages her own plan by pleading with Francis before the execution.
In the final analysis, The Serpent Queen Part 7 is a mixed bag, with less of the fourth wall breaking seen in previous episodes and the conclusion of the Diane feud somewhat anti-climatic. With only one more episode, presumably we will get to witness how Catherine overcomes the Mary threat.
Watch The Serpent Queen on Amazon.
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