Richelieu — Season 1, Episode 1: The Flight of the Squire
War & Politics, Family • 52 min • 1 season, 6 episodes • ★ 9.5/10
Episode synopsis
Born into a family very loyal to the crown, Armande du Plessis de Richelieu, fatherless, but cherished by an attentive mother, experienced the insecurity of a troubled time. However, he benefited from the protection of King Henri IV. When peace returned, and his older brother having refused to remain bishop of Luçon, the young man was obliged to take holy orders. Despite his young age, in Rome, at the age of twenty-two, he received the crosier and the miter. Back in Luçon, Richelieu was bored there and dreamed of serving in a larger theater. Finally, having distinguished himself as a deputy of the clergy, during the meeting of the States-General of 1614, he was called to the capital, where the queen mother, Marie de Medici, made the doors of the Royal Council open to him, despite the reluctance of King Louis XIII...
About Richelieu
In a France fractured by court rivalries and personal ambitions, Richelieu moves without ornament. No flourish, no glory — only the cold machinery of power. Caught between a hesitant king, a nobility dreaming of defiance, and enemies multiplying on every front, the cardinal enforces his line: centralize, control, crush resistance. The series follows a strategist who doesn’t hide behind morality. He acts to keep the State standing, even if it means breaking those who stand in his way. Espionage, secret negotiations, decisive strikes… Richelieu plays a game where mistakes are fatal, and the survival of the kingdom rests on one man willing to go further than all the others