Mateo enters the room and greets Hugo. He tells him that his lord Roger Puig has been appointed royal knight by King Martin, and asks if Hugo would be willing to meet with him to discuss the matter. Hugo is surprised, but agrees to meet with Mateo. ..
He is surprisingly civil, asking–or rather, ordering–Hugo to be Roger’s palace cellarman. Not having much of a choice, Hugo begins the job, and he’s able to pick up a lot of gossip about cargo that Roger is selling. ..
Mateo warns Roger not to look at Caterina, his favorite mistress.
Hugo finds Mercé with a high fever. He takes her to Regina, who takes care of her. Regina asks if he still thinks about Dolca. In all this time, she wonders if he’s ever thought about her. She invites him to stay with her; her husband won’t be back until dawn. He stays, and so starts the beginning of their affair.
Hugo is getting more information about the routes, but Mateo is catching him asking a lot of suspicious questions. He’s keeping a close eye on his old enemy. ..
Roger later called him in to discuss business. Important nobles are visiting, and he wants Hugo to outdo their wine offerings. ..
Hugo is looking for a way to get back at Roger, so he buys wine from a man who has a young daughter. Hugo falls in love with Eulàlia and decides to keep her secret. ..
Hugo makes a wine for Roger that includes aqua vitae and macerated fruits to add flavor, and sand to hide the impurities of the cheap wine. ..
Regina surprises him during this process. She asks him questions about Roger’s palace. She would love to be part of his court, serving his wife and the dames. He tells her his plan to serve Roger cheaply wine.
After Regina leaves, Barcha tells Hugo she doesn’t like Regina. She thinks he should be with someone more like Eulàlia, the young girl of Jofre’s. Hugo thinks she is too young. ..
Roger’s dinner goes well, and the wine is a hit. The visiting nobles bring Roger two dancers.
Mateo orders Caterina from the lord’s bedchamber. Roger wants to be with the dancers tonight. Hugo witnesses Caterina being expelled from the chamber.
Hugo goes to Regina the next night and tells her his whole plan. He wants her to write a letter for him to Bernat, so that he can get revenge on Puig.
As a result of Mateo’s news, Roger learns that they lost a ship because Bernat boarded it, plundered the cargo, and sank the ship.
Caterina next comes into contact with Roger, who tells her that he’s taken away her privileges because she doesn’t meet his needs anymore. Roger says that Mateo is better for her and gives her over to him.
Mateo takes him into her chamber and rapes her while Hugo stands outside. After, Hugo calls Regina to help treat Caterina’s many injuries.
Eulàlia and Hugo are now married, but Regina is still a part of their lives. Barcha tells Hugo that he needs to break up with Regina because she’s not living up to his expectations.
Hugo’s business is still thriving. It becomes harder to get information about Roger’s routes, but he is still able to gather important intel at the beach. He asks Regina to write him one last letter for Bernat.
Regina is asked to the palace to treat Roger’s wife. Roger comes in and notices her. He touches her breast and remarks on her beauty.
Hugo has to pay a bridewealth in order to marry Eulàlia. He doesn’t have the cash, so he signs over a portion of his vineyard in order to marry her.
He later overhears Mateo’s plan to have slaves spread false rumors about cargo routes all over the beach. Hugo knows he’s been fooled, and he’ll be found out if Bernat attacks the wrong ship or his letter is found. ..
He rushes to the beach. He finds a boat headed for Valencia, where Bernat is, and he gets on it.
Regina continues to take care of Roger’s wife. The lady asks Regina about her religion. Regina admits that she never felt Jewish. She feels more drawn to Christianity. Above being a Jew, she says she’s a person, a woman, a doctor. She’s tired of being persecuted, of being a Jew. Roger’s wife says her devotion is deserving of baptism.
Meanwhile, Hugo arrives in Valencia. He warns Bernat and gives him correct information. He makes his old friend promise not to kill anyone when he takes the ship. They catch up, and Bernat provides him with quick transportation back to Barcelona. ..
When Hugo returns to Roger’s palace, he finds that King Martin is visiting. Roger goes over military plans with the king. Hugo is surprised to find that King Martin is visiting, as he had not expected him for another few days. The two discuss military plans and it is clear that they have a lot in common. ..
Roger interrupts to bring him news of his ships. His ship was ambushed, and everyone on it was killed. Mateo goes to the cellar and suddenly punches Hugo so that he falls backward. “You’re the traitor,” he accuses him.
Roger orders Mateo to be locked up and dealt with personally once the king leaves.
The episode ends with Hugo being thrown into prison.
The Episode Review
In this episode, high stakes and risk-taking escalate as Hugo’s situation becomes trickier. It’s curious how Roger found out that Hugo was the traitor - was his arrest simply based off Mateo’s suspicions? Or perhaps Regina confessed his secrets?
The series has been pushing for viewers to distrust Regina. The only ‘heinous’ thing she has done is cheat on her husband (which Hugo is equally complicit in, I might add). But I believe Dolca’s comment about her not being a good person is supposed to ring in our minds.
Roger’s new job at the palace is good for the story. It has finally pushed Hugo to act on his promise of revenge.
Hugo has been hearing about confidential plans from everyone in the company, but he’s not sure what to make of it. He’s curious, but not sure if he should be sharing this information with anyone. Suddenly, he hears a noise coming from the cellar and decides to investigate. What he finds there surprises him and moves the story along quickly.
While the overall story of this episode is an improvement on the last two, this installment still fails to justify its treatment of women. Both rape scenes so far have only been framed in the way they have affected Hugo. In these scenarios, he somehow gets to be both hero and victim. ..
