We are only too happy
to receive Rome's favored son.
Girolamo: The manufacture of armaments
could be construed as a provocative move.
I believe there may be a spy in my court.
Girolamo: If we have something to convey to you,
we will inscribe the letter omega.
Tell your Pope that neither Florence
nor da Vinci will be contained.
Whatever lock this corresponds with...
I'd wager the key represents only half.
The key is useless without its counterpart.
Have you heard of the Book of Leaves?
It's a myth. No more real than a unicorn.
You and Salviati should assemble the largest army you can find.
Get to work, Maestro.
Florence is counting on you.
( theme music playing )
( distant dogs barking )
Show me.
( metal clanking )
I find the game fascinating.
Deceptively simple, isn't it?
I have a repast.
Say it.
Panpepato, cheese, and wine.
You made the panpepato?
Yes. Because you like it.
( speaking Amharic )
- Was that Amharic? - Man: Yes.
I spent time in Abyssinia.
I said that you hold her in high regard.
- ( door closes ) - Girolamo: She labors hard...
and has embraced both the Lord and our language.
- You taught her, didn't you? - I did.
Just as you teach me this game--
with patient persistence.
Now, shall we get to playing?
That's the thing.
I have yet to touch the board, but already I've begun.
The first principle is to take the corners.
The strategy is obvious.
Corners are easier to defend.
It's brilliant, high-grade...
beautifully milled...
but it's missing something.
I know, a jaunty bobbin lace is what it needs. Yeah.
Prisoner: But even as we engage
in localized conflicts,
it is important to keep the broader landscape in mind.
The game can only be won
by pursuing seemingly opposing objectives
simultaneously.
- Prisoner: At any given moment... - Lucrezia, my dear.
Come tell us what you think.
Prisoner: ...a stone can be considered to inhabit
one of three states--
alive, dead, or unsettled.
Niccolo: Lucrezia, can you come out here, dear?
Prisoner: An unsettled stone naturally presents the player
with the largest potential outcomes.
- Are you heading out? - Yes.
- After curfew? - I'll be fine.
- Is that wise? - I'm calling on Ginevra.
I bought some herbs from the montebianchi to treat her tetta.
But I may need your help.
I'm confident that Enzo is capable of handling all of your needs.
Good night.
Prisoner: An opponent who can control the flow of the game
while appearing to play defensively
is often the most formidable.
- Go on, move on. - Ah, leave me alone.
Guard: Come on. Stand up straight.
Guard: Go on, move on.
Guard: Look down here on the left.
Dragonetti: Signora Donati?
Captain Dragonetti.
Isn't it late for a woman of your standing to be out for a stroll?
In principle, I could arrest you for violating curfew.
True, but we both know that it would be you
and not I who would receive punishment.
Enjoy the evening air, Signora.
Man: Whoa.
- Good evening, Gualberto. - Signora.
You look lovely this evening, as always.
Thank you.
Your heart is racing.
I didn't expect you to be here.
I couldn't wait for you any longer at the palazzo.
Lorenzo...
let me.
( bell tolling )
( rooster crows )
- ( horse neighing ) - ( chatter)
Prisoner: One of the most difficult strategies to master
is called Cross the Sea Unseen.
- ( pounding on door ) - Becchi: Da Vinci!
Prisoner: It entails identifying a weakness
in an opponent's position
and exploiting it beneath their notice.
( pounding continues )
Da Vinci!
Lorenzo believes you are already at the forge.
( pounding at door )
Becchi: Da Vinci?
- What? - Why weren't you there at first light?
They cast guns at sunrise.
I don't have to pour the metal myself, Becchi.
These weapons are vital to Florence's safety
and you've sold yourself as a war engineer.
- What is that noxious smell? - It's an experiment.
I'm assessing the implications of my guns.
( pounding on door ) Da Vinci!
( flies buzzing )
( hammers clanking )
( clanging )
Becchi: Da Vinci.
Ah, there you are, Maestro.
Production progressing smoothly, I trust?
Well, as smoothly as can be expected
given these working conditions.
- ( clanging continues ) - Yes, but my guns.
We will have 10, as promised, yes?
Our refusal to accept Rome's Archbishop of Pisa
only reinforces the need to bolster our defenses.
I am acutely aware of the pressures converging on His Magnificence.
What the devil is that cloudy-eyed miscreant
doing over there?
The tonality is off!
Stop!
( snaps ) Our sightless friend's keen ears
detected an impurity.
This is absurd.
Your methods, what's changed?
Nothing. I've used the finest ore, as dictated.
- Well, then the heat. - Precisely as instructed.
Well, there was that one moment where we ran out of sulfur.
- Why wasn't I consulted? - It was incidental.
What exactly is the issue here?
If they've used an inferior alloy,
in this case, too little sulfur, then the sound the guns make
will only be half as loud as they should be.
Who cares about the fucking sound?
We're not doing more of your goddamn theater.
They need to obliterate the enemy, blow them to bits.
- Please unhand me. - Or what?
Are you threatening me with a spoon now?
Giuliano!
As I was saying, the timbre of the barrel
is also indicative of its general properties.
( light clang )
Start again.
Don't scrimp on the sulfur this time.
He won't.
You treat me like a fool,
but I'm capable of leading.
The people love me.
They love your face, but that smooth nose of yours
won't keep Rome from striking.
Only da Vinci's guns will.
Leonardo: Come, Nico.
These Medici currency vouchers are weighing me down.
I need to fly, be free of this world.
( screeching )
How much for your entire inventory?
More than you gave me last time.
Two florins?
Have at it, bird man.
A little help, Nico.
Sorry, excuse me.
Now.
I never tire of watching that.
Nico: Why didn't this one fly away?
( Leonardo whistles )
Signor da Vinci.
When will you ever finish my portrait
if we sit together so infrequently?
Maestro, I'll pick up some more eggs for your pigments.
On your way to or from Lorenzo, then?
You know my situation, Leonardo.
( whistles )
Just go.
This is your chance.
The cage is open.
Do you think your pursuit of knowledge
makes you immune to your emotions?
You can't outrun them, you know.
Do you know, I'm not running.
I just have competing interests...
like you.
Merchant: Curious, that bird.
And paid for.
You take it or I eat it.
Prisoner: So, the plot thickens.
You've broken off from the local exchange
and opened up a new front.
I thought it was time a little chaos was introduced into the play.
( woman screaming )
- What's going on? - ( sobbing )
Inside me--
the-- the-- the devil!
Clawing at my womb and damning me.
- ( screaming ) - ( crowd gasps )
- Oh, dear God. - ( screaming continues )
- It can't be. - No, no, no. Don't touch her.
- We don't know what afflicts her. - I have to help her.
It's Sister Dolores. I knew her at the convent.
- What is this? - Vanessa: Sweetest, most innocent soul.
Dolores?
You there, find some officers, bring them here.
It's me, Vanessa.
- Oh! - ( screams )
You, your brother, Lorenzo, making a new Sodom.
Gorging on filth!
Spewing out sin onto Florence's streets!
The Lord hates you!
What has befallen this woman?
A demon, signor.
Five of our fellow sisters from the Convent of St. Anthony
have been possessed.
- ( spits ) - ( crowd gasps )
The Medicis are copulators,
blasphemers corrupting our city!
My eyes
burn to look at you.
Shh.
( crowd screaming )
You let a madwoman seize your blade.
I ought to kill you with it!
Take her away...
carefully and with respect.
The rest of you go home.
Pray for her soul.
Go on. Go.
( sobbing )
And what in God's name are you doing with these bodies, Leonardo?
They're beginning to putrefy.
And the stench has carried into my studio.
Andrea, please.
Can you not see that I'm trying to pursue something here?
- ( sighs ) - Now, look at this.
Look at this, okay?
Africa...
and Europe here.
Yes?
See how they fit into this?
So Europe and Africa here and here.
And the Jew's map.
It can only be where there are now two land masses,
there once was just one.
( sighs )
Drifted apart over ages.
And between them, the great Atlantic.
The Book of Leaves has to be here, Andrea...
on this land mass to the west.
Yeah, but you don't even know that this land mass actually exists.
Ignis fatuus.
That's what this Sons of Mithras business is.
Foolish fire.
Children chasing after luminous insects, thinking them fairy lights,
and finding themselves neck-deep in swamp mire.
- Well, I'm not a child, Andrea. - Oh, really?
And yet you pursue this folly
while your legitimate commissions languish.
( thunder rumbling )
- Maestro, Maestro! - Yes, what is it, boy?
Signora Donati witnessed Vanessa leaving for the Convent of St. Anthony.
And your point is?
Demons possess the nuns there.
I saw one of the sisters myself.
She stabbed her own eyes out.
Vanessa can fall victim to the demons, too.
To my knowledge, demons have yet to be proven the cause
of anything except some rather tedious sermons.
- We need to help her! - Fuck, Nico!
If I dropped everything every time any one of you wanted to pursue
some ill-conceived and asinine flight of fancy,
I would never get anything done!
( sighs )
Well, I'll remember that the next time you decide
to strap me or Vanessa into your glider wings.
( door closes )
The violence of her movements, her screeching.
She seemed possessed, Lorenzo.
My brother saw one mad nun
and thinks the devil is at large in Florence.
It's not just the one.
They say the devil's influence is spreading
and so must be a judgment on this city,
a judgment on the Medicis.
We rise and fall on the people's will.
Until we can assess the cause, demonic or otherwise,
we'd best seal off the convent.
Yes, agreed.
Given our trouble with Rome, we don't want our own people
questioning our piety.
Let me handle it.
The people beheld this woman kill herself at the sight of me.
If I resolve this, I end the gossips as well.
I'll take Dragonetti and a couple of his officers.
I'll get to the bottom of this.
I promise you.
Oh, go on, then.
Go!
( sighs )
Out with it.
You have the look of having eaten something distasteful.
If we can speak freely anywhere, it's here
in our family chapel.
The Vatican often appears to know our strategies
just as we employ them.
They murdered Sforza to end our alliance with Milan.
They asked to meet da Vinci just as we hire him.
Understandably, you've suggested we have a spy within our court,
but before we take more aggressive steps
towards rooting out Rome's agent,
I believe there's something else we should consider.
You married Clarice to build ties with Rome.
She still has family there.
Are you suggesting that my own wife is trying to destroy us?
Not trying, no.
She may be guilelessly expressing things in her letters.
She may be unaware--
Clarice is exceptional and she is loyal.
When life's path is steep, keep your mind even.
You taught me that when I was a boy.
Keep your mind even.
( sighs )
First this crisis in the convent and now a traitor in our midst.
Take whatever steps you must to find our spy.
Do it quickly.
There's someone ahead.
- I'll handle this. - Signor, I must insist.
It's just a girl, Captain.
( horse neighs )
Steel yourself, Bertino.
Giuliano: Sister...
can you hear me?
We're here to help you.
I am Giuliano de Medici.
( panting )
( growling )
( horse neighs )
- ( screaming ) - ( yelling )
Stay with the horses.
Sling her onto my horse, tie her down.
We'll take her back to the convent.
- ( woman screaming ) - Dragonetti: Look out!
( screaming )
How many deaths of the faithful will be laid at the feet of the Medicis?
- ( wind howling ) - ( crow cawing )
- Dragonetti: Bertino! - ( kisses )
( woman screaming )
( women rasping )
( whispers ) Dragonetti.
( women screaming )
- ( woman murmuring prayers ) - ( woman #2 screaming )
Salva mi!
( women screaming )
Woman #3: Abyssus abyssum invocat.
Sed libera nos a malo.
Abbess: Abyssus abyssum invocat.
"Hell calls hell."
One misstep leads to another.
That's what's brought the devil to our doorstep.
You and your brother have denied God's will.
Did you think there wouldn't be a cost?
Well, the cost is dear, to be sure.
( sobbing )
But I'm not yet convinced it was the Lord who levied it.
- What are you doing here? - I've come looking for a friend.
( groaning )
( Vanessa screams )
Vanessa, shh, shh, shh.
No. Here, here, here. Shh, shh, shh.
I know this woman.
Abbess: She was one of us.
A fellow sister.
Then this lecher sold her promises of a more colorful life.
- Burning. I'm burning. - Shh, shh.
There's a fire inside me.
Nun: The poor girl came to aid us,
but she was struck down like the others.
Well, how long have these...
possessions been going on?
What business is it of yours?
Are you for God?
I know what goes on in your workshop.
The nude modeling, the carnal relations,
the cadavers you debase in the name of science.
Your endeavors condemn all they touch.
We want none of your assistance.
Nor yours, Signor Medici.
Only fervid prayer and penitence will stop this.
Artista...
a word with you.
Others are paid to do that, no?
My father taught me no matter the business surrounding you,
never lose the count.
The Medicis are bankers before all else.
A wise man taken before his time.
"Piero the Gouty."
Of everything he was, he's remembered most for his sickness.
He is honored as a father to Lorenzo the Magnificent.
For now.
Soon they may call me by other names.
Perhaps I'll be the banker who lost the papal accounts
to the Pazzis or the heretic who incurred the wrath of Satan
on Florence's innocence.
My beloved, you must get some rest.
( sighs )
Today, I thought of sending Becchi away.
What? Why?
I love him.
He's been a second father to me, but--
but he questioned you.
He thought that you could be
mistakenly sharing information with your family,
with Rome.
Do you think asking would offend me?
- It offends me. - It shouldn't.
We live in craven times.
A man would have a city in flames to make his life more comfortable.
You don't come at a snake from the front, Lorenzo.
If I were one,
bringing this up would be pointless.
It would make you vulnerable.
You simply should have had my letters read without my knowledge.
In my last letter to my family, I told them this.
"There are none more loyal to Lorenzo than I.
There are others...
who, if Lorenzo fell, would move on."
I could never move on.
I understand your need for escape, Lorenzo,
to feel apart from your responsibility.
You can have that escape, but you do have to come back.
You must always come back.
Attend to your guns, da Vinci.
I've been tasked to handle this matter.
And you're doing an admirable job.
I hear you actually slaughtered one of the poor sisters on the way in.
- It was an accident. - Mm, incompetence often is.
How dare you?
Dragonetti: Stay put, boy.
What, this is how you prove your worth to Lorenzo?
By killing his war engineer?
( nuns chanting )
Ahem, tell me something, Giuliano.
What is your plan?
To seal off this condemned place until the evil spirits retreat.
You will not even inquire into possibilities other than possession?
Of course, I will.
Well, grace us with your alternate theories, then.
Please.
- Disease. Perhaps. - Disease. Right.
Scrofula, plague.
I know of no disease that can ravage its host this quickly.
Well, what, then?
Before we accept the devil's work,
shouldn't we first eliminate the more profane causes?
Consider panther cap mushrooms.
They're known to cause hallucinations, even death.
Right, let's see what we've found.
No.
None of these are the culprit.
Right, next on our list: wolf spiders.
The poisonous bite of the Lycosidae.
That can cause a hysterical state of movement called tarantism.
Wait!
Alas it's not the venom we seek.
Dragonetti: Then what now, scribbler?
( sighs )
Some art appreciation, I think.
Giuliano: What possible contaminant can be found in here?
Leonardo: Considering the florid images the sisters live amidst,
not to mention the amateurish technique on display here,
is it any wonder the afflicted believe themselves possessed?
Have you gone mad, too?
I thought the pigments might contain too much mercury.
- But, no. - Enough, da Vinci.
When you start licking paintings, I think it's time to accept
- that the devil is here. - Soldier: Riders from Rome!
For once, Giuliano, you may be correct.
- Captain Grunwald. - Giuliano de' Medici.
- ( doors close ) - Grunwald: Pretty, as always.
I'd have thought you loath to return
after your last mission to Florence.
We bring help to the dear sisters
in the person of Prefect Mercuri.
Leonardo: Lupo Mercuri?
Curator of the Vatican Secret Archives?
Today, I come as Prefect for the Sacred Congregation of Rites.
Giuliano: Your offer of assistance is gracious, Prefect,
but the abbess is quite able to lead the prayers for her flock.
My orders are to execute the holy Rites for demonic exorcism.
I have no plans to leave the good sisters
at the mercy of the Deceiver.
Leonardo: And are you so attuned to the infernal
that you could sense their problems all the way from Rome?
We sent for aid days ago, painter.
We dare not reject Christ's warriors in our hour of need.
( bell tolling )
- Sixtus: Nephew. - Your Grace.
How goes the business at the convent?
I fear the casualties mount.
The Lord often requires sacrifice.
The Medici crossed the Lord,
refusing to appoint our archbishop in Pisa.
Employing a war engineer.
It is God's will to break Lorenzo and all who support him.
With the possible exception of da Vinci, I agree with you.
Lucrezia Donati has him tied up between her thighs.
His alliance with the Medicis is a fragile one.
Those weapons he makes--
they could all be ours.
( sniffs )
And what of da Vinci's other alliances?
Has he not sided with the Sons of Mithras?
Da Vinci can deliver us the Book of Leaves.
All signs point to it being in Florence.
And then he can aid in unlocking its unparalleled knowledge.
Surely the Lord wills that we embrace him.
Do you tell me what the Lord wills?
Of course not, Father.
Holy Father.
Find a way in.
Make this da Vinci ours, if it amuses you.
Oh, and, Riario...
your slave girl, the Abyssinian--
I want her for tonight.
Don't fret.
You'll have her back in the morning.
Whoa.
Thank you, Gualberto.
Lorenzo?
Clarice: No.
I know how he summons you.
Gualberto...
the carriage, the rose.
They're all up there--
Lorenzo, his father, his grandfather, Cosimo,
Giuliano, his links, his sisters...
me, Becchi,
even that pig, Duke Sforza...
because he was important to Florence.
Lorenzo doesn't summon me.
Oh, but he does.
It hasn't always been you.
Lorenzo's had other diversions.
Well, what do you want?
For me to stay away from him?
I love him and I love this city.
Perhaps because he is this city.
You see, we have to prevail.
And do you think me an impediment to that end?
You cannot be as brazen with your affections.
Not in public.
There is a conspirator in our court.
As we speak, Lorenzo continues to eliminate suspects
and draws the noose tighter.
They will find the traitor and execute him,
but until then, any vulnerability against Lorenzo could be exploited.
You could be used as leverage against him.
You are a distraction. That's your function.
I will tolerate that,
but I will not tolerate you becoming a vulnerability.
Wait five minutes after I leave.
Clarice...
I know you love him.
How can you even stand to look at me?
Because I know you'll never be up on that wall.
Ah, Signora.
Might I have a word before you depart?
Are you and your husband at home tomorrow?
It's vital I question you about any recent travels.
Our travels?
Forgive my indelicacy, but Lorenzo requests
I track the comings and goings of everyone with access to the palace.
Given these vexing times, I'm afraid we can't make any exceptions.
Absolutely.
Niccolo and I will assist you in any way that we can.
Excellent Tomorrow, noon, then?
Yes.
Good day, Gentile.
Gualberto...
you shall retrieve me again this evening.
Lorenzo requires my presence.
- ( whip cracks ) - ( horse neighs )
( woman screaming, groaning )
I cast you out, infernal adversary.
Begone from our Sister Oriana,
from all made in the image of God
and redeemed by the precious blood of the divine lamb.
The most high God commands you.
- Man of Rome... - The most high God commands you.
- I know why you came. - The eternal word of God made flesh...
- I know what you crave. - commands you.
The sacred mystery of the cross commands you.
I know what you crave.
The exalted Virgin Mary commands you.
All you think about is fucking!
I adjure you by the living God, by the true God.
- Cease your deception of this woman! - ( choking )
Begone!
- Begone. - Prefect Mercuri.
- Silence! - ( choking continues )
( bones crack )
I command you, begone!
The moments before she died,
I saw the light of God in her eyes.
- She is saved. - ( nuns chanting )
Tell me something, Prefect.
In all your time doing this,
have you ever met a demon that you couldn't expel?
No.
Ex umbra in solem.
From shadow into the light.
Epigram of the Secret Archives.
( gasps, panting )
- Shh, hey. - What am I doing here?
You're at the convent.
Shh, shh, shh.
- But I left it for you. - Well, you returned.
You came back to aid your friends.
- Oh. - Shh.
Oh, you lied, Leonardo.
You promised me wonders.
You said we'd fly,
you said we'd...
burn like the sun,
but there's no sun in your world.
No. There's only coldness and...
shadows.
Shh, shh, shh. Calm yourself.
You've taken ill.
You're so smart.
You're so beautiful.
But we're just toys to you,
aren't we?
I think it is time to cleanse this dear soul as well.
Don't touch her. Don't.
Surely she deserves a chance to fight this herself.
Just one more day.
In God's name.
Till dawn, then.
If you cannot solve this by morning,
we must burn this evil out of them.
( flies buzzing )
Foolish fire.
( crow cawing )
- ( doors open ) - ( women screaming )
- Shit. - I'm going to fly for you, Leo.
Fly to the sun.
( women screaming )
( choking )
( gasps )
( gasping )
You are on Florentine soil, you sheep-biting scut,
and I want you out now.
Tough talk from the golden boy...
- ( soldiers chuckling ) - without your brother to back it up.
( soldiers laugh )
No matter.
It won't be long till the both of you are run out of town.
- And how do you figure that? - Simple.
Rome has more men
and the Lord on its side.
Well, we've got 10 pipe organ muskets
capable of firing 33 rounds a minute on ours.
10 guns.
Good to know.
- Thank you for that. - ( soldiers chuckling )
I'll be fine on my own.
As you wish, Signora.
We're starting to eliminate suspects.
Some of the counters, the cooks.
The circle of suspicion grows smaller.
( knock on door )
Becchi: Most will prove loyal. One will slip.
And then we'll have him.
I didn't send for you.
I think you did.
I felt it.
Matters of state obsess me.
Please, go.
There are those who saw me arrive--
Gualberto, Officers of the Night.
And they know I only come here for you.
They may think that you've finished with me
prematurely.
They'll think what I'll have them think.
I don't want you here.
No.
Of course, you don't.
( moaning )
( gasping )
You're troubled.
Tell me what it is.
Is it the spy?
Your wife.
She summoned me this morning.
- I'll have words with her. - No, please, don't.
Her actions were only out of concern for your safety.
My love, this traitor could be anyone,
no matter how close they are to you.
Clarice's suspicions are justified.
You can't let your investigation overlook anyone.
Search even those that you suspect the least,
for the threat may reside anywhere.
Even in your own home.
Maestro, that's 20. Can I stop now?
- Wash it all down. - Why are you making me do this?
Well, we've eliminated accidental causes,
so that means only intentional contaminations.
The wine and the wafers are poisoned?
Well, apparently not.
It was a thought.
( sighs )
Is it not possible demons are the cause?
It goes against logic.
God punishes His admirers
and leaves heathens like us unscathed.
No, this has the makings of a plot.
Invoke the devil, make people afraid,
and when they're afraid, they stop asking questions.
No, this isn't the work of the Deceiver.
This is a counterattack.
Rome is inducing this possession.
I know it.
I just-- I don't know how.
( sighs )
( man screams )
( screams, chokes )
Bertino!
INRI.
I carved the letters from our savior's cross into his neck,
driving out the demons.
Which of you will I save next?
Devil!
No devil, just a Medici.
Bind him securely.
( screaming )
For this curse to pass from the nuns
to one of the Officers of the Night...
Oh, God, the answer has to be right before us.
- What has your man eaten today? - Nothing.
He offered up a fast to our Lord to help the afflicted nuns.
- A pious man. - The most pious of all of us.
Every moment, he would pray to St. Anthony
to end the women's agony.
- How did he pray? - Kissing the feet of the statue.
It's been a custom for centuries.
And Vanessa, the others, do they practice the same custom?
Many of the sisters here do.
Leonardo: Well, then it may be time for your patron
to shed some light on our problem.
I need fireflies.
( scream echoes )
A capture.
You've taught me well.
My first victory is close at hand.
You should be careful not to press
a desperate foe too hard,
or you may find yourself
at the mercy of a divine move,
the inspired play
that turns a losing game into victory.
Have your man douse the lanterns.
What are the fools up to now?
It matters not. This ends now.
On occasion, the distinct properties of different lights
enable us to see clearly what may previously have been hidden.
The glow of the firefly, for instance,
intensifies anything red.
I've used it in the past to calibrate crimson in my paints
to the most specific degree.
But what does any of this have to do with the demons?
Everything, as it turns out.
Because some fungi, for instance,
appear bright red in certain lights.
( women moaning )
Burning. Make it stop.
I will, my child.
Prepare them with oil.
It is time to burn the devil out.
I'm...
Burn them.
Red ergot fungus!
Normally grows on rye. The effects are dire.
Spasms, vomiting, dropsy, gangrene,
and according to survivors,
the distinct sensation of being burned,
as if by hellfire.
Scrambles the mind, you see?
Causes hallucinations, mania.
Your mind is as scrambled as theirs, da Vinci.
Now move aside or burn.
We must cleanse this convent, cauterize the infection.
The nuns are beyond help,
victims of a spiritual assault.
Oh, on that account, I agree with you.
An assault perpetrated by agents who would seek
to weaponize the Holy Spirit.
The feet of the statue outside are dusted with ergot.
All of the victims kissed the feet of St. Anthony
before falling sick.
All of the stricken sisters, Vanessa,
even your pious officer, Bertino.
- To a person. - What you're suggesting is absurd.
Is it? Well, then, why have neither you
nor Captain Grunwald's men fallen sick?
Hmm?
Why aren't heretics like Signor Medici
or the young Nico or myself falling sick?
It's because we made no abases to the statue.
Nor did you or your men.
I won't stand for this fatuous slander another moment.
Well, all you need to do is kiss the feet of St. Anthony.
You'll prove me wrong.
Red ergot?
Whoever heard of such a thing?
Stop!
I will tell you.
A historian by the name of Geoffroy du Breuil
recorded one such outbreak in the 12th century.
Perhaps you have a copy of it
hidden amongst your Secret Archives.
Hmm.
A treatment for this affliction is known to exist.
It's a green ointment in these herbs
and vinegar
and a vigorous regime of leeching.
If we use this, we may still be able to save those who've fallen sick.
Well done, da Vinci.
Abbess: Thank you, Maestro.
( huffs )
( laughs )
( sighs )
( gasping )
( shouts )
( yells )
( Leonardo gasping )
You know why you brought us here.
We died to prove your genius.
- ( beating ) - ( whimpers )
Leonardo: Riario.
( shouts )
Tell me what to say to win the other key.
Tell me what to say to win the key.
Tell me!
I am a son of Earth and Starry Heaven.
I am the son
of Earth and Starry...
Mother?
( wings flutter, screeches )
- ( woman laughing ) - ( bird screeches )
Mother?
( Giuliano echoing ) Da Vinci, can you hear me?
I think he's starting to respond.
Mother? ( gasping )
Maestro?
Are you all right?
You kept staring and crying out.
( whispers ) Vanessa's lips.
They brought the poison.
- I was in a deep vision. - Giuliano: Yes, we know.
The sisters have been treating you all day long.
- V-V-Vanessa? Is she-- - Perfectly fine.
Giuliano: You've kept Rome from claiming a beautiful victim.
It's all over now.
For me, I fear it's just begun.
( gasps )
Begone, Satan!
For it is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God
and Him only shall you serve."
You know your scripture.
I know now a great many things, Cardinal.
It's a message worth delivering to Riario.
Believe me,
Count Riario and I have much to discuss.
How did they do it, Maestro?
( coughs ) Wouldn't have been hard.
Their convent's open to all worshipers, as the prioress said.
Just one single sympathetic agent
could have strolled in,
contaminated the toes of St. Anthony...
and waited.
And then...
"Abyssus abyssum invocat."
One misstep leads to another.
Lorenzo: They poisoned the pious.
Oh, God have mercy on the believers.
We just bought Florence more time.
Mm.
What is it?
The rider brought word.
Your brother let slip how many guns we have.
Production continues, but...
Giuliano could've hidden his error, but he admitted it.
For all the good that does us.
Rome will strike when it knows exactly what it faces.
( door opens )
We'll have to produce even more guns now.
Oh, yes. I ordered a full search of the palace.
No stone unturned.
Well, have you discovered something?
Your Magnificence, perhaps we should discuss this in private.
Show me now, Conti, or I'll think it's you with something to hide.
Where did you find this?
- Where? - In Signor Becchi's quarters.
You lie!
These are not mine.
It was on a shelf, il Magnifico, I swear.
Hidden amongst other books.
It was you.
All along, the traitor was you.
Lorenzo, this is a mistake.
Roman scudos,
papers with the papal seal,
a list of locations to hide them for delivery to Rome--
found in my home.
- Please, Lorenzo! - Silence!
Or I'll cut out your tongue myself.
- Remove him. - ( snaps fingers )
To the Bargello.
Prisoner: It would appear you've won again.
( game piece clatters )
There will be other games.
Difficult choosing which path to follow.
Trying to see a way through all the strategies you've initiated.
No.
No, that's not difficult.
You simply have to believe.
In my experience, there's nothing simple about belief.
That's the difference between you and me.
- ( clangs ) - Not the only one.
Leonardo: I heard you.
Tell Zo to dispose of these. They've served their purpose.
I gather he quite prefers it in there, no?
Doesn't seem to be interested in his freedom.
Maybe he likes his pretty cage.
Ignis fatuus.
( sighs )
( puffing )
( blows )
As one game ends, another begins.
( theme music playing )