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The Best Episodes of The Borgias

Every episode of The Borgias ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Borgias!

Binge this in 1d 0h•Peaking at 8.7/10

Set in 15th century Italy at the height of the Renaissance, The Borgias chronicles the corrupt rise of patriarch Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy, where he proceeds to commit every sin in the book to

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Borgias Season 2 Episode 10 - The Confession
    8.7/10(695 votes)

    #1 - The Confession

    S2:E10

    Tragic news for the Borgia family is followed by a shocking revelation from Cesare; Lucrezia surprises herself by falling for a new suitor, Alfonso of Aragon, and accepts his proposal of marriage; Cesare tortures the rebel leader Savonarola but can't extract a confession, so he fakes one and burns the heretic; the assassin finally strikes with a poisoned chalice of wine.

    Director:David Leland
    Writer:Guy Burt

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  2. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 3 - The Beautiful Deception
    8.4/10(697 votes)

    #2 - The Beautiful Deception

    S2:E3

    Alexander VI refuses to allow a Catholic burial for Paolo, despite his doubts about the stable boy’s suicide, causing Lucrezia to embark on a hunger strike that threatens the life of her infant son; the French army heads back to Rome, allied with Sforza; Della Rovere slips back into the city unnoticed to launch a plot against the Pope’s life.

    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  3. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 9 - World of Wonders
    8.4/10(612 votes)

    #3 - World of Wonders

    S2:E9

    It's Easter and Alexander makes plans for a celebration to end his pious fast even as Della Rovere's assassin ascends to the position of the Pope's taster. Lucrezia's lover asks for her hand in marriage but her father dismisses him and his request. Juan's wild behavior threatens the life of Lucrezia's child, forcing Cesare to make a chilling decision about his brother.

    Director:David Leland
    Writer:David Leland

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  4. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 1 - The Face of Death
    8.2/10(665 votes)

    #4 - The Face of Death

    S3:E1

    Pope Alexander fights for his life; the cardinals fight for control of the papacy; Cesare and Micheletto track the assassin; Della Rovere prepares to make his move.

    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Guy Burt

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  5. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 7 - The Siege at Forli
    8.1/10(605 votes)

    #5 - The Siege at Forli

    S2:E7

    Juan's triumphant return from Spain is marred by his unsuccessful siege of the Sforza castle; Lucrezia purposely scuttles a scheme to marry her off to a rich Genovese merchant; Savonarola's forces conduct the infamous "Bonfire of the Vanities".

    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:David Leland

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  6. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 10 - The Prince
    8.1/10(600 votes)

    #6 - The Prince

    S3:E10

    Micheletto returns to Cesare briefly to help him destroy the walls of Forli and capture Caterina Sforza and later recruit her assassin Rufio.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Borgias

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  7. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 8 - The Art of War
    8.0/10(680 votes)

    #7 - The Art of War

    S1:E8

    The invaders capture a fleeing and pregnant Lucrezia as they march on Rome, but she charms King Charles and is allowed to persuade her brother Juan to withdraw his hopelessly outmatched defensive troops; Pope Alexander VI awaits to learn of his fate as Charles enters the city and makes his way to the Vatican.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  8. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 9 - Nessuno (Nobody)
    8.0/10(700 votes)

    #8 - Nessuno (Nobody)

    S1:E9

    Abandoned by even his cardinals, Alexander meets King Charles with humility and saves his throne, even eliciting a confession from the conqueror he crowns as the new "King of France and Naples;" Della Rovere despairs as Charles abandons him; Lucrezia safely gives birth to a son in a convent as the Borgias secure an annulment of her marriage and plot revenge on their enemies.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 4 - Stray Dogs
    8.0/10(610 votes)

    #9 - Stray Dogs

    S2:E4

    Cesare recruits a band of mercenaries with the help of Micheletto to seek revenge on the retreating French troops for burning the nunnery where his beloved Ursula lived; the Pope forges more strategic alliances and enriches himself in the bargain; Lucrezia joins Giulia's quest to aid Rome's poor.

    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  10. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 5 - The Choice
    8.0/10(631 votes)

    #10 - The Choice

    S2:E5

    Cesare deals with the cunning Sforzas decisively; Alexander disguises himself and travels to Florence to hear the fiery preacher Savonarola, not realizing that Della Rovere is trying to recruit the rebellious holy man to his cause.

    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  11. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 7 - Death, on a Pale Horse
    7.9/10(690 votes)

    #11 - Death, on a Pale Horse

    S1:E7

    The invasion by King Charles of France and Della Rovere proceeds with victory seemingly inevitable as the French sack the city of Lucca and the Italian powers flee to their banner, with Lucrezia's husband Giovanni Sforza poised to join them in the name of Milan; inventor Leonardo Da Vinci (guest star John Lynch) shows his drawings and blueprints for war machinery to the invaders.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 8 - Truth and Lies
    7.9/10(582 votes)

    #12 - Truth and Lies

    S2:E8

    Juan returns to Rome trying to spin his combat injury as proof of his valor, but Cesare exposes his brother's ignoble behavior; Lucrezia takes a lover in her intended husband's younger brother; Della Rovere has recruited an angel-faced young friar as his suicide assassin, and the young man advances their agenda with a bold move against the Pope's food taster.

    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:David Leland

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  13. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 2 - The Purge
    7.9/10(576 votes)

    #13 - The Purge

    S3:E2

    Alexander tasks Cardinal Sforza with purging the College of Cardinals, old Roman families conspire against the Pope, and Lucrezia tries to seduce Cesare.

    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  14. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 3 - Siblings
    7.9/10(599 votes)

    #14 - Siblings

    S3:E3

    The King of Naples refuses to accept Lucrzia's child as part of the marriage agreement and pointedly invites Caterins Sforza and other Borgia enemies to the wedding.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Guy Burt

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  15. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 8 - Tears of Blood
    7.9/10(526 votes)

    #15 - Tears of Blood

    S3:E8

    Micheleto learns his kept lover is a Sforza informant, Caterina Sforza mounts the Shroud of Turin as a rival holy relic, and Alfonso puts Lucrezia under house arrest.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  16. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 9 - The Gunpowder Plot
    7.9/10(511 votes)

    #16 - The Gunpowder Plot

    S3:E9

    Lucrezia escapes with Alfonso and her baby from Naples while the Pope corners the market in sulfur, restricting others from manufacturing gunpowder.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  17. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 3 - The Moor
    7.8/10(859 votes)

    #17 - The Moor

    S1:E3

    His coffers depleted by his expensive rise to power, Rodrigo seeks funds through a profitable marriage for Lucrezia that will ally with him Milan, and charges a fee for safe haven in the Holy City to Jews displaced by the Spanish Inquisition; the Borgias host a charming Turkish prince; Micheletto is ordered to rid his patrons of the ongoing threat posed by Della Rovere.

    Director:Simon Cellan Jones
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 1 - The Borgia Bull
    7.8/10(725 votes)

    #18 - The Borgia Bull

    S2:E1

    Pope Alexander VI takes a new lover and throws a grand, pagan fete for the citizens of Rome when a cache of ancient artifacts is discovered; the rivalry between brothers Cesare and Juan spills into the streets; Lucrezia tends to her newborn child; now a pastoral priest once again, Della Rovere narrowly escapes an assassination attempt.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  19. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 2 - Paolo
    7.8/10(647 votes)

    #19 - Paolo

    S2:E2

    The stable boy who fathered Lucrezia's child travels to Rome to rendezvous with her but suffers an unfortunate fate at the hands of Juan; the Pope's lovers Giulia and Vittoria take him in disguise on a revelatory tour of Rome's indigent.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  20. The Borgias Season 2 Episode 6 - Day of Ashes
    7.8/10(580 votes)

    #20 - Day of Ashes

    S2:E6

    Alexander is convinced that a lightning strike on St. Peter's Basilica during mass was a sign of God's disapproval; Cesare tries to prove his worth as a military commander; the Pope pressures the reluctant Lucrezia to enter another political marriage.

    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:David Leland

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  21. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 4 - The Banquet of Chestnuts
    7.8/10(559 votes)

    #21 - The Banquet of Chestnuts

    S3:E4

    Cardinal Farnese exposes the embezzlement of Cardinal Versucci while the King of Naples insists the consummation of Lucrezia's marriage to his cousin be witnessed.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Guy Burt

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  22. The Borgias Season 3 Episode 5 - The Wolf and the Lamb
    7.8/10(534 votes)

    #22 - The Wolf and the Lamb

    S3:E5

    Lucrezia and Micheletto plot the death of King Ferdinand when he refuses her her baby as Cesare's promise of an annulment for Louis X!. gain him a wife and army.

    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Neil Jordan

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  23. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 1 - The Poisoned Chalice
    7.7/10(1146 votes)

    #23 - The Poisoned Chalice

    S1:E1

    Rodrigo successfully bribes and intimidates his way into an election as Pope Alexander VI, making him the new leader of the Catholic Church; powerful Cardinals Della Rovere and Orsini oppose his rise; the Borgias recruit a talented assassin named Micheletto to their cause.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 2 - The Assassin
    7.7/10(942 votes)

    #24 - The Assassin

    S1:E2

    The new Pope wastes no time consolidating power and balancing opposition to him in the College of Cardinals by elevating his children to high office, installing Juan as head of the papal armies and Cesare as a cardinal and his successor, while seeking a politically fortuitous marriage for daughter Lucrezia.

    Director:Neil Jordan
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Borgias Season 1 Episode 4 - Lucrezia's Wedding
    7.7/10(793 votes)

    #25 - Lucrezia's Wedding

    S1:E4

    Lucrezia's financially and politically motivated wedding to Milanese nobleman Giovanni Sforza is a disaster thanks to Juan's inappropriately bawdy play in his sister's honor, Cesare's brazen flirting with a married baroness, and the arrival of the Borgia children's illegitimate mother; Della Rovere seeks the aid of the illustrious Medici family and their counselor, Machiavelli.

    Director:Simon Cellan Jones
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"The Confession" is the best rated episode of "The Borgias". It scored 8.7/10 based on 695 votes. Directed by David Leland and written by Guy Burt, it aired on 6/17/2012. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Beautiful Deception".