Da Vinci’s Demons S02 Ep02 – The Blood of Brothers

Much to my content, the season’s story takes shape in ”The Blood of Brothers.” There are a lot of twists and turns this week, making this episode far less predictable than the previous one.

Florence is ruled by chaos and a distressed Lorenzo is reluctant to fight for it. Giuliano, his beloved brother whom he misses dearly, doesn’t stay by his side anymore, but he helps Lorenzo from the grave. Giuliano’s unborn child gives His Magnificence hope. I didn’t expect Vanessa to tell Lorenzo the truth (at all), but I am happy she did; it was one touching scene. Enough with hiding pregnancies just to make everything more dramatic. In the last episode’s review, I said that I would be happy if Vanessa lived at the palace. Well, now she does, but this is nothing like her home and she feels alone and unhappy. Not to mention Clarice’s behaviour towards her. Even though I really liked Clarice in “The Blood of Man”, now I dislike her. A lot. I’ve never been too fond of her, really. However, this is the best for Vanessa and her child so Lorenzo made the right decision.

Leo quickly makes a full recovery after the transfusion that nearly cost his life. In order to make the Pazzis fall into disgrace, he comes up with another of his brilliant ideas: Lorenzo’s speech is heard by the Florentines who are now on the Medicis’ side. In fact, they sided with the Pazzis only because they thought Lorenzo dead with no heir to take his place. Lorenzo’s triumphant return to the palazzo is one of the best scenes of the episode. I was happy to see Francesco and Cardinal Orsini in chains and later brought to the piazza to be hanged. They totally deserved it, especially Orsini, who had betrayed his own sister and then asked for mercy. Yeah, right.

In the previous episode’s review, I said that I didn’t really get why Riario kept Nico on the boat and Zo and Lucrezia’s kiss. Well, that was no ordinary kiss. Once more, Lucrezia proves how smart and cunning she is: passing a hairpin through a kiss in order to release themselves? Brilliant, or “dazzling,” as Zo says. When it comes to Nico, Riario says that the reason he didn’t kill him is that he “likes” him. OK, what sick plans does Riario have in store for Nico? Talking about Riario, he’s actually having a great time on the boat. It’s nice to see this side of him too. He’s not that ruthless after all (he took the slave with him, realizing that otherwise she wouldn’t be safe and he does seem to care about her).

Meanwhile, the Pope and Naples are now allies. By the way, I didn’t get the “tooth thing”, but it freaked me out for sure.

I’ve never been disappointed in Da Vinci, but in this episode he really screws up: Zo was about to die (Da Vinci would have been guilty too; Zo and Nico were on one of his missions) and what does Da Vinci do? He starts criticizing him from the moment Zo shows up. Come on, give this man a break! No wonder Zo is out after this journey ends. However, I feel sorry for their friendship. I really hope things will change in the coming episodes.

Leo and Lucrezia’s encounter is a bit heartbreaking. My God, Leo even cries. They have to take different paths (for the moment, at least) and that’s very upsetting.

Lorenzo finally understands that Da Vinci may be right about the Book of Leaves and he is willing to help him. What’s more, as a token of his total support, Lorenzo entrusts Leonardo with “one of Cosimo’s swords”. They are now brothers, each carrying a part of the sword as the same blood is running through their veins.

As for the next episode, Leo, together with Zo and Vespucci, will probably set out for Pisa to steal a ship. I cannot wait to see what happens next!

What do you think of the second episode of season 2? Let us know in the comments.