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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!

The Best Episodes of The Borgias

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...

Seasons3

  1. Background image for The Confession
    8.7/10(681 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.

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    Director:David Leland
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for The Beautiful Deception
    8.4/10(682 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.

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    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for World of Wonders
    8.4/10(602 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.

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    Director:David Leland
    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for The Face of Death
    8.2/10(648 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.

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for The Prince
    8.1/10(580 votes)

    #5 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for The Art of War
    8.0/10(652 votes)

    #6 - 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.

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    Writer:Unknown
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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Borgias

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  8. Background image for The Choice
    8.0/10(608 votes)

    #7 - 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.

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for The Siege at Forli
    8.0/10(587 votes)

    #8 - 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".

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Nessuno (Nobody)
    7.9/10(671 votes)

    #9 - 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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for Stray Dogs
    7.9/10(587 votes)

    #10 - 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.

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    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown
  12. Background image for The Purge
    7.9/10(556 votes)

    #11 - 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.

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for Siblings
    7.9/10(576 votes)

    #12 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Tears of Blood
    7.9/10(507 votes)

    #13 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for The Gunpowder Plot
    7.9/10(491 votes)

    #14 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for The Moor
    7.8/10(816 votes)

    #15 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Death, on a Pale Horse
    7.8/10(657 votes)

    #16 - 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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for The Borgia Bull
    7.8/10(698 votes)

    #17 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Paolo
    7.8/10(620 votes)

    #18 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Day of Ashes
    7.8/10(556 votes)

    #19 - 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.

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    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Truth and Lies
    7.8/10(560 votes)

    #20 - 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.

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    Director:John Maybury
    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for The Banquet of Chestnuts
    7.8/10(536 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  23. Background image for The Wolf and the Lamb
    7.8/10(514 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.

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for The Assassin
    7.7/10(894 votes)

    #23 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for Lucrezia's Wedding
    7.7/10(751 votes)

    #24 - 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.

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    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for Relics
    7.7/10(490 votes)

    #25 - Relics

    S3:E6

    Cesare unites the sons of the five Romagna families with his own army against Forli, and the Pope negotiates for a with Constantinople Jews for a holy relic.

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    Director:Kari Skogland
    Writer:Unknown

Best Episodes Summary

"The Confession" is the best rated episode of "The Borgias". It scored 8.7/10 based on 681 votes. Directed by David Leland and written by Unknown, it aired on 6/17/2012. This episode scored 0.3 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Beautiful Deception".