Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Starz’s ‘The Serpent Queen’ brings back the titular character and her fight to maintain her hard-earned power and influence in the French court. If the first season focused on a young Catherine’s journey to carving a place for herself in France, where she was not welcomed at all in the beginning, the second season is dedicated to her strong presence in the court and how she is now effectively the ruler of a country that is brimming with conflict. Apart from her, we also follow the threads of other stories as the secondary characters from Season 1 come into focus and try to hold their own against the queen. Notably, two of the most important side characters transform significantly. SPOILERS AHEAD
Rahima’s Recasting Reflects the Season’s Time Jump
In Season 1, Catherine recounts her story to a young servant girl called Rahima, who establishes herself as the queen’s staunch ally by the end of the season while climbing the social ladder rather quickly. Sennia Nanua plays the role, but when Rahima returns in the second season, she is played by Emma McDonald. Being one of the most important characters in the show, the casting change is very noticeable, but considering the time jump between Season 1 and 2, it makes complete sense.
The first season ends with Charles IX becoming the king while his mother serves as the regent because he is still a child. This happened in 1560. The second season begins in 1572, which means that twelve years have passed since we last saw Rahima. In Season 1, she was a teenager, barely crossing over into adulthood. She was new to French politics and had a long way to go.
By the second season, however, she has spent quite a lot of time under Catherine and is a changed woman. She is not just twelve years old but also much more experienced with politics and dirty games played on the court. She has also risen the social ladder considerably and is now Catherine’s trusted confidant. Over the course of the season, we see her develop in a much more complex manner as she finds herself going toe-to-toe with Catherine, and things start to clash between them. The change of casting reflects this growth in Rahima while also showing the audience that the girl they knew last season is gone.
Montmorency Recasting is More Technical Than Plot-Related
While Catherine has her ways of claiming power in the French court, where the Bourbons and the Guises are constantly trying to gain the upper hand, there is another character whose presence cannot be understated. Montmorency emerges as an unlikely but strong ally of Catherine, without whom it would become much more difficult for her to get regency of France and keep things from going downhill due to the clash between the Catholics and the Protestants. In the first season, the role is played by Barry Atsma, but in the second season, we see Alexandre Willaume take on the role.
Unlike Rahima, the time jump doesn’t work for Montmorency’s character. The recasting of younger actors for older ones works in the timeframe of the twelve-year time jump, but with characters like Montmorency, the recasting has more to do with the conflict in the schedules of the actors. The creators of ‘The Serpent Queen’ and Barry Atsma have not commented on the reasons behind his departure from the series. Still, it is most likely due to scheduling conflicts as the actor may have been busy with other projects when the filming for the second season was supposed to commence.
While the actor may have changed, the core of Montmorency’s character remains the same. The last time we saw him, he surrendered the regency to Catherine because he saw her as the best chance to save France. Twelve years later, he believes the same, and the only thing that has changed is his equation with Catherine, as they seem to have grown much closer.
Read More: Starz’s The Serpent Queen: Where Was the TV Show Filmed?
