The worst episodes of Versailles
Ranked by viewer rating, lows first. Lit marks on the season rail place this list across the run. Vote on a placement to back it or contest it.
- 01
Paranoid insomniac Louis declares war, Sophie seeks a remedy to her cruel marriage and Father Pascal takes a risk in his battle with de Montespan.
- 02
Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes ?
Palatine gets frosty receptions from the court and her new husband, Marchal identifies a prime suspect in the poisonings, and Sophie learns her fate.
- 03
Louis prepares to send troops into the Netherlands while Madame de Montespan turns her attention to the Church and a jealous Chevalier picks a fight.
- 04
Louis takes the field against William of Orange while the queen reigns in his stead, banning debauchery and negotiating a treaty with a sultan.
- 05
Can Louis' longed-for loving touch help the ailing queen? An engraved blade holds a clue to who Philippe has antagonised. Jeanne challenges her brother's business-minded betrayal.
- 06
Suffering an identity crisis, Louis gets moody, unable to reveal the reason. Jeanne's protest pamphlets in Paris bring reprisals led by Marchal.
- 07
France, 1667. Proud young Louis XIV seeks to stamp his authority on court and country but faces resistance and betrayal, even from those closest to him. Shifting the seat of power to a luxurious rural 'lodge' that he plans to enlarge only adds to his problems.Louis begins to transform his father's hunting lodge into a majestic château amid plots on his life and preparations for the birth of his next child.
- 08
The king learns the identities of the nobles that acquired poison and launches a violent purge of the aristocracy that seals his grip on power.
- 09
Travellers to the rural palace are vulnerable targets when a dissident duke tries to pressure Louis to return the royal court to Paris, while a rich African prince suffers a curiously restrained reception.
- 10
Further poisonings confound Marchal while the Church frowns on the aristocracy's flagrant immorality and Philippe prepares to meet his new betrothed.
- 11
The queen orders an inquiry and entreats Marchal to return while the king's mental distress is not alleviated by a truce and dinner with William.
- 12
Louis returns to Versailles with newfound purity of purpose, and Philippe is surprised at his feelings for Palatine when she shows signs of poisoning.
- 13
Louis welcomes a defeated royal relative to the palace, but with unforeseen personal consequences. Philippe stumbles upon a mystery man. Madame de Montespan finds how to hurt a former friend, the King's prim companion Francois de Maintenon.
- 14
Little can be taken at face value as Louis negotiates with Leopold over Spain, the Bastille governor has a sorry tale for Philippe and Sophie surprises Marchal.
- 15
A betrayal by one of the women closest to the king has unforeseen consequences, while a graphic revelation results in a fall from grace for another. Philippe gets dangerously close to the mystery prisoner. Reprisals against the protesters in Paris place Fabien Marchal in peril.
- 16
Seeking retribution, Louis lashes out at the Parisian rebels though Philippe urges a more reasoned response. Word from Spain casts doubt on Marie-Therese's intentions. Sophie's loyalties are tested.
- 17
Louis hopes diplomacy will hide his duplicity as he works to undermine Leopold while winning over severe cardinal Leto. Marchal helps Philippe learn a family secret, and is troubled by a command from the king.
- 18
Harsh steps must be taken to preserve the royal reputation, while flamboyant Philippe causes a stir of his own. The king hopes that humiliating a suspect noble will bring others to heel.Continuing the lavish drama of infidelities and intrigues at the court of Louis XIV.
- 19
Seductive young ladies vie to attract the king's eye at court, where behind the scenes there is bloody business being conducted and investigated. Philippe's new-found fame as a warrior threatens to eclipse Louis as the war reaches a turning point.
- 20
A protest halts construction at the palace but Louis refuses to let Philippe help and matters escalate, allowing plotters to pose a genuine threat to the young king's rule.Things get physical as infidelity and treason take their toll in the decadent drama.
- 21
Philippe returns from war a changed man, and Louis prepares for a lavish celebration in the palace gardens. The still-base appetites of dissident duke Cassel must be pandered to by Madame de Montespan.
- 22
With Louis laid low by a major fever, those conspiring against him grow in strength and confidence while Philippe is caught in the middle, as are medic Masson and his daughter Claudine.
- 23
Henriette suffers a miscarriage, but Louis wants her to visit her brother in England for an alliance against the Dutch. The Chevalier, destined for the gallows, is freed. Montcourt foils an assassination just to be reinstated.
- 24
Doubting his royal divinity, Louis consults the pious Madame Scarron while a rejected former lover summons dark forces to win back his affections.
- 25
Has Louis finally learnt the identity of the man in the iron mask? Cardinal Leto is still determined to use his knowledge against the king. Fabien Marchal is in pursuit of fugitive Sophie and the young woman he must kill.
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