| "The Good Soldier" | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Featuring: | Marsac | |
| Key crew | ||
| Writer: | Adrian Hodges | |
| Director: | Richard Clark | |
| Producer: | Colin Wratten | |
| Music: | Murray Gold | |
| Release details | ||
| Series: | 1 | |
| Story number: | 4 | |
| Premiere broadcast: | 9th February 2014 | |
| Production code: | 1.04 | |
| Navigation | ||
| ←Previous | Next→ | |
| The Musketeers | ||
| "Commodities" | "The Homecoming" | |
The Good Soldier was the fourth episode of the first series of The Musketeers. The episode was written by head writer, Adrian Hodges and directed by Richard Clark.
Synopsis[]
When Aramis's old friend Marsac, a former musketeer, unexpectedly returns to Paris, the musketeers are thrown into turmoil, fully aware that they should report him for desertion. His appearance coincides with the royal visit of the king's beloved sister and her husband, the Duke of Savoy, whom the musketeers must protect.
Marsac believes he finally knows the truth behind the infamous massacre which killed his troops, and wants Aramis' help to prove it. Despite their misgivings, will the musketeers help and can they prevent Marsac exacting his own revenge?
Plot[]
In the courtyard of the Louvre palace, King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu are preparing to greet the Duke of Savoy and his envoy for a treaty between the principality and France. In the Chatelet, prison Cluzet hears the arrival of someone in the city and believes it to be the Duke. As the two leaders greet in the courtyard, an assassin attempts to shoot the Duke, and the Musketeers chase after him. While the delegates are rushed into the palace, Aramis discovers that his old friend and ex-Musketeer, Marsac, is the assassin. But before he brings him into custody, Aramis decides to hear him out and Marsac believes that the Duke was responsible for the massacre of a group of Musketeers in Savoy, five years ago.
Aramis finds his old friend Marsac.
Aramis brings D'Artagnan on board and they take Marsac to Constance Bonacieux where he is allowed to stay. When Captain Treville questions them about the whereabouts of the assassin, they try to bluff their way out of it. Athos and Porthos suspect something and they are eventually forced to reveal where Marsac is hiding. When Constance hears of Marsac's true identity, she scolds D'Artagnan for his lies. Meanwhile, the Cardinal visits and taunts Cluzet in his cell about the treaty that will be happening in Paris.
Eager to prove the Duke's involvement, Marsac shows the Musketeers an old Savoy soldier who he captured and placed in a warehouse. The soldier explains that Captain Treville was the one who gave them the information. Athos and Porthos don't trust this new information, but Aramis is determined to search for evidence of the truth. He secretly searches through Treville's papers, and finds that all information on the Savoy massacre has disappeared.
The King and Cardinal watch the Duke duel.
Keen to continue with the deliberations, the Cardinal invites the Duke to the palace to begin the matter of the treaty. The Duke delays matters as he orders Athos to duel him. If he manages to draw blood first, he will return to Savoy and not complete the treaty. Athos eventually overwhelms the Duke, and he looks furious as he leaves the palace room. In his own quarters, he talk with Gontard about their suspicions for the whereabouts of the ex-chancellor Cluzet. Athos discovers from the wounds on the Duke's back that he was in fact the one who led the attack in Savoy.
Porthos follows Gontard to a tavern where he bribes a jailer to real ease information about a prisoner in the Chatelet. Meanwhile, Athos decides to question Treville about what he knows, but instead of answers he is told to return to his duty. Angry, he punches the captain and finds Marsac to explain that he will organize the captain to be court-marshalled for his treachery. Wanting to kill Treville instead, Marsac knocks Aramis out. In the palace, the King and the Cardinal and confronted by the Duke and his first minister and are called traitors and liars. The Duke demands to be taken to the Chatelet to seek out Cluzet, whom he believes resides there.
Queen Anne and the Duchess of Savoy at the treaty.
Urgently called upon by the Duchess of Savoy, Porthos, Athos and D'Artagnan ride to the Chatelet to replace Cluzet with a decoy as the Duke visits. They keep Cluzet quiet in a corner. Embarrassed by his mistake and angry with Gontard for causing him such ridicule, he apologises reluctantly to the Cardinal as he returns to the palace. On the way out, the Cardinal thanks D'Artagnan for their help. In Treville's quarters, Marsac points a pistol at the Captain and threatens to kill him, but not before explains why he betrayed them. Treville pleads that it was all done to protect the identity of France's agent, the Duchess of Savoy. Aramis arrives in time to kill Marsac, before he shoots the captain in cold blood. His friend dies in his arms.
A final treaty is completed between Savoy and France, initiated by the Cardinal. Aramis and Treville dig a grave for Marsac as they say their goodbyes to a loyal Musketeer. D'Artagnan helps to teach Constance how to shoot as he promised and she eventually improves her accuracy. Next, she wants to duel with swords.
Cast[]
- Athos - Tom Burke
- Aramis - Santiago Cabrera
- Armand Richelieu - Peter Capaldi
- Marsac - JJ Feild
- Porthos - Howard Charles
- Anne - Alexandra Dowling
- Louis XIII - Ryan Gage
- Constance Bonacieux - Tamla Kari
- D'Artagnan - Luke Pasqualino
- Treville - Hugo Speer
- Cluzet - Simon Paisley Day
- Jailer - Martin Hancock
- Gontard - Adrian Schiller
- Duke of Savoy - Vincent Regan
- Duchess of Savoy - Phoebe Fox
- Louis Amadeus - Daniel Rchichev
- Old Serge - Peter-Hugo Daly
- Savoy soldier - Uncredited
Crew[]
to be added
Continuity[]
- At the beginning of his career as a Musketeer, Aramis was great friends with Marsac. In 1625, on Good Friday while patrolling the border of Savoy, his fellow Musketeers were slaughtered in a massacre orchestrated by the Duke of Savoy. He and Marsac were the only survivors.
- D'Artagnan begins to teach Constance how to shoot and sword fight.
- Queen Anne mentions to the Duchess of Savoy about her inability to conceive a child for France.
Gallery[]
