Diksha Sundriyal
Netflix’s ‘The Empress’ (originally titled ’Die Kaiserin’) follows the story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, tracing her journey in court as a naive young girl who is wedded to the Emperor to an Empress who her people love. The historical drama series focuses on the most important events that happened during the Empress’s reign, but to create intrigue and make the subject matter more compelling, it mixes fiction with historically accurate accounts. The character of Countess Leontine von Apafi is one of the fictional additions to the story. SPOILERS AHEAD
Countess Leontine von Apafi was Created to Serve the Plot of the Rebellion
A lot of things were happening at once in the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph, the most important of which was the rebellions rearing heads throughout the empire. Every season of the show has Franz dealing with the rebels in one or the other part of the empire. In the first season, one of the rebels poses as a noblewoman to infiltrate the royal household and get close to Franz and Elisabeth. This rebel is Ava, and she kills Countess Leontine von Apafi to take her place. In real life, there is no account of the said Countess or of any rebel named Ava. The character is entirely original to the series and was created to sow tension into the story.
In fact, there was no one named Apafi who served as Elisabeth’s lady-in-waiting. There was, however, the Apafi house that served in the role of the Prince of Transylvania, though they never factor into the Netflix series. Hungarian noblewoman Ida Ferenczy is considered one of her closest confidants and friends. She served as the Empress’s lady-in-waiting from 1864 till the day she died. Considering that the show begins in 1854, it makes sense that the show hasn’t introduced Ida yet. Still, with Elisabeth coming into an entirely new environment, she would have needed someone to trust and fall upon. Considering her unencumbered personality, she would have needed someone who is as open-minded as her, which is where Leontine, aka Ava, comes into the picture.
The creators of ‘The Empress’ used Leontine as a stone to target two birds in the plot. The first thing that she does is bring the revolution into the picture, focusing on the rebels’ increasing desperation to have their voices heard and revealing the lengths they were ready to go to get what they wanted. The danger so close to the palace also heightens the urgency, propelling the narrative forward fairly quickly. The second thing served by Ava/Leontine’s character is the increasing influence of Elisabeth. Ava comes into the palace with the intention of assassinating the Emperor. She has nothing but hatred for the royal family. But when she lives with them, especially Elisabeth, her heart starts to change. By the end of Season 1, Ava has betrayed her own people for Elisabeth. This plays out in tandem with Elisabeth’s growing popularity amongst the masses, showing us the power and influence of her character.
Read More: Netflix’s The Empress: Is the TV Show Based on True Historical Events?
