The Serpent Queen Season 2 Finale Recap and Ending, Explained

The second season of Starz’s ‘The Serpent Queen’ takes the audience deeper into the cut-throat politics of France. The Catherine of this season is far from the young and naive teenager who arrived in the French court with dreams of love and family. This Catherine proves more brutal and ruthless, especially when she is cornered. This season sees Catherine’s power challenged on different fronts. The Guises and the Bourbons are trying to play their own games, while a new Protestant leader, Sister Edith, is gaining popularity and momentum. The English Queen is also trying to get something out of the discord in the French court, and all in all, it looks like Catherine is surrounded on all sides with no one to turn to. But by now, we know that what appears on the surface with Catherine is often not the truth. SPOILERS AHEAD

The Serpent Queen Season 2 Gets Its Own Red Wedding in Episode 8

Weddings are a strenuous affair, and it becomes even more so when the fate of your family and the entire country rests on it. Catherine knows the importance of marrying well (no matter if there is love involved), and she wants the same for each of her children. She also understands the importance of weddings, which is why, while her daughter Elizabeth’s wedding takes place in secret, Margo’s wedding is an entirely different affair. In the previous episode, Catherine made a deal with Sister Edith to have Margo wedded to Henry, son of Antoine Bourbon, to have the Catholic Valois bloodline merged with the Protestant, with Sister Edith given the regency.

Margo is angered by her mother’s decision, especially after Catherine agrees to have her wedded to Francois, Duke of Guise. Antoinette tries to ruin the wedding by getting Fracois to sleep with Margo so that Catherine has no choice but to wed them. But Catherine has a new card up her sleeve. She knows that Charles would side with Margo, so she has him turned against his sister by showing him that Margo manipulated his feelings to have Francois freed earlier. An angry Charles does exactly what Catherine wants, and Margo has no choice but to go forward with the wedding. It is when the festivities begin that the real game starts.

Are Montmorency and Sister Edith Dead?

A lot of people are shocked by Catherine’s decision to give up power, and considering how violently she has clung to it, it seems impossible that she would give up so easily. The Bourbons smell trouble, but no one listens to them, especially not Sister Edith, who is too hungover on her newfound power to see Catherine’s murderous designs. By the time she realizes what is going on, her throat is slit, and her entire Protestant army is massacred within the walls of the palace, led by Anjou, who only stops when Margo comes between him and her husband, Henry.

Before the killing begins, Montmorency offers Catherine to meet her in the garden later that night. Believing that Catherine really has given up her power, he sees no reason for them to stay in France anymore and offers her to leave the palace with him. While he waits in the garden, the massacre begins. It isn’t Catherine who shows up, but Angelica who stabs him to death. Interestingly, the person she names for her actions is not Catherine, but the Guises. The same thing happens at the wedding feast, where the Guises are the only ones left unharmed, while all of the Bourbons and the Protestants are brutally murdered, while the killers name the Guises as the ones who ordered the killings.

Knowing that the rest of the commoners will rise in response to their leader’s death, Catherine carries out a massacre, as the rivers of France run with Protestant blood. In the end, it is not too heavy a price to pay for Catherine because it has given her exactly what she wants. All of her enemies have been subdued, she is still in power, and, more importantly, the future of her children is secure.

Are Alessandro and Aabis Dead?

In an earlier episode, Caterhine was told that she is surrounded by backstabbers and must deal with all of them if she is to ensure the survival of the Valois bloodline. Apart from the Guises and the Bourbons, Alessandro is also named as one of the people who have been plotting behind her back, and this is particularly hurtful to Catherine because she finally thought that she had someone in her corner, someone who was her blood and family. In fact, Catherine had been so blinded by this connection that, initially, she refused to see that Alessandro was only fooling her to get what he wanted. It is only when she discovers that he has been having an affair with Rahima that everything is cleared up for her, and she decides to do something about it.

In theory, Alessandro wasn’t going to be much of a problem for Catherine for long because he was ready to set sail for America, especially after he secured the support of Queen Elizabeth. But Catherine couldn’t have him leave without paying his dues. She lets him know as much when she leaves the silver coin of Judas at his table during the wedding and has him killed with the rest of the people.

Alessandro is not the only one in Catherine’s inner circle who dies following the wedding. When the killings spill out of the palace and the commoners meet the blade, Aabis is one of the people to fall as well. Her arc this season focused on her transformation, as she slipped from Catherine’s service and, despite her initial doubts, found herself aligned with Sister Edith. Even though she had known Catherine for so long, she was fooled by the queen’s false act of giving up power to Edith. her eyes are opened soon enough when she is killed with the rest of the Protestant masses, ending her story for good.

Are the Bourbons Dead? What Happens to the Guises?

One of the constant sources of trouble for Catherine has been the unending rivalry between the Bourbons and the Guises. The Protestant side wants to have a stronghold in the country, and they even go as far as to get help from Queen Elizabeth. Meanwhile, the Catholics don’t want to lose their grip on the French court and are ready to do whatever it takes to maintain that control. None of them understands Catherine’s desire to have a balance between the religions, which would allow her to focus on meeting the needs of the French people, giving them the stability and security they want.

Because both the Guises and the Bourbons plot behind Catherine’s back, she cannot choose to align with one or the other. The balance must be maintained, and so it happens during the massacre as well. When Sister Edith and her Protestant following is put to the sword, someone needs to be blamed for it. Catherine cannot take the blame because it would mean her end, and that is not good for anyone. Instead, she blames it on the Guises and the Catholic Church. Only Charles and Fracois are left alive in the massacre, and the next day, the cardinals are publicly hung to show the Protestants that the Crown will not let the bloodshed go unpunished. To drive the point home, the Guises are thrown into prison, awaiting trial.

It is assumed the Bourbons perished in the massacre, but both Antoine and Louis turn out to have survived, though they are heavily wounded and would need some time to recuperate before jumping back into the game. None of them has any doubt in their mind about the fact that the whole thing was orchestrated by Catherine. It makes them angrier at Catherine, and this might be the thing that finally brings them together as they set aside their differences to deal with their common enemy, who has bested them at every turn.

The only good thing going for the Bourbons is that Antoine’s son, Henry, who is now married to Margo, has been allowed to live. He has already established a common ground with the princess, who was revolted at the idea of marrying him. The couple, in their hatred for Catherine, might be the lifeline the Bourbons and the Guises need. But there are bigger problems to deal with at the moment. The Guises need to figure out a way to get out of prison, while the Bourbons have to hold on to dear life.

Is Rahima Pregnant? Who is the Father of Her Child?

The one thing that Catherine has emphasized since the beginning of her story is to trust no one. She learned this lesson the hard way, and she makes sure that the people around her know it, too. In the first season, as Rahima learns the way of the French court, she too learns this lesson, and she adopts it for the most part. That is until she meets Alessandro. She sees through him when Catherine refuses to, but instead of being driven away, she is pulled closer to him, and they begin an affair, which ticks off Catherine on multiple levels.

By the end of Season 2, Catherine is sure about killing Alessandro, but she doesn’t extend this feeling towards Rahima. Instead, she has Rahima locked in her room while the bloodshed happens. Knowing Catherine well, Rahima discerns the reasoning behind her lockup, and by the time Catherine shows up in her room in the morning, the servant girl has deduced everything that happened the night before.

Scared that she will be killed too, Rahima tells Catherine that she is pregnant and that it is Alessandro’s child, a Medici by blood. Surely, Catherine wouldn’t want to kill a child of her own bloodline. Or so Rahima hopes. Catherine is not fazed by this revelation, and it is clear that she has other things in mind for her servant. Had Rahima outlived her purpose, Catherine would have killed her, but perhaps the Serpent Queen has a soft spot for the girl in whom she saw her own image. Perhaps she is just tired of all the bloodshed and is interested in keeping the Medici line going with Rahima’s child. Who knows how it could benefit her in the future? For now, this is enough to save Rahima’s life, and she lives to see another, which isn’t something a lot of people could say by the end of the second season.