Catherine's New Alliances Create a "Second Coming" in 'The Serpent Queen'

The Serpent Queen’s second episode of Season 2 sees Francois Guise completely destroy the Protestant church run by the secular preacher, Edith, a powerful demonstration of Catholic might. Both Ruggieri and Montmorency visit the smoldering ruins. Montmorency reports to Catherine that there are no survivors (there are also no remains, which seems odd) and that the fire was no accident.

Ruggieri: "Since the beginning of time, hatred has been the easiest story to tell."

Meanwhile, the young French King Charles is missing. Catherine knows, but has no proof, that the Guises Bros are responsible for the fire, and she is also furious with their rivals, the Bourbon Bros, whose bright idea it was to take Charles to the church as a gesture of goodwill. At a tense Privy Council meeting, Montmorency threatens to kill Francois Guise if he’s found guilty, and when the meeting is over, Catherine tells him in private that he has her permission to cut Francois’s throat. But Catherine is frustrated: “I had been played by all of them.”