Original subtitles

( theme music playing )

- What have you done to me? - Lorenzo, wait.

We cut open your veins and my arteries

and created a vacuum between them

which allowed my own blood to replenish yours.

Do you mean to say your blood flows within me?

I realize I'm not your ideal candidate for blood brother,

but the procedure was too dangerous.

I couldn't allow anyone else to risk it.

Where is Giuliano?

Now stay calm

as our attempt to save you will be at risk if you don't.

I wasn't asking you, Maestro!

I was speaking to him!

You've been through much, Magnifico.

Please, put down the knife.

Where is my brother?!

( groans ) By your allegiance, Verrocchio, tell me now!

Noble Giuliano fought bravely...

but was slain.

I'm sorry, my lord.

- ( coughing ) - ( groans )

( grunts )

Take me home.

It won't be that simple.

The streets are perilous.

The Officers of the Night have been helpless

to stop the mob from burning homes,

looting shops.

You do have Medici support,

but the Pazzis grow stronger by the hour.

And Urbino's forces stand outside the city ready to invade.

I need to see my city.

( shouting )

Let us through! I have a reverend father within.

Get down! Pull them down!

Get down!

No! ( screaming )

- Go on, get hold of them! - Go! Get it!

( screaming )

( screaming )

I'll take everything you've got.

Leonardo: They're rebelling against all authority.

It's mine! Give it to me!

- Give it to me! - No, it's mine! Get off!

Man: Take it all.

My family spent generations building up this republic.

And at the drop of a sword,

the people devour each other like swine.

They need their leader.

I never wanted to lead.

It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter what you want.

Fate made you a leader.

Accept your role or Florence is lost.

Florence is lost, da Vinci.

And I have no reason to win it back.

I have no heir, no brother.

I have no future to offer the people.

My lord.

Vanessa, is this wise?

Perhaps you do have a future for Florence, my lord.

Giuliano's fire

burns still within me.

I'm bearing his child.

Is this true?

It is.

I must return to the palace.

Can you provide me with a sword?

We will need a lot more than a sword.

( gasping )

It's brilliant, passing a hairpin through a kiss.

It's dazzling.

Leonardo says you're a master lockpick.

Genius. You, not him.

He's a fool for ever letting you go. I have never been more fully erect.

- Do you want to finish the job? - Gladly.

Not that, the chains.

Of course.

( men shouting )

Don't you care for cured meats?

Or are you so loyal to da Vinci

that you'll starve for him?

Although, will you ever even see him again?

- He's rescuing Florence. - He's rescuing Lorenzo.

Lorenzo is Florence.

Lorenzo is a purse string.

Nico, you took the key to the Vault of Heaven from me,

something da Vinci himself could not manage.

And yet...

he chose to save Lorenzo over you.

I'd say you're undervalued.

As I was at your age.

Like me, you will learn your worth in time.

Not like you.

And if you think I'll help you find the Vault of Heaven, you're wrong.

- I'd die first. - ( laughs )

Oh, Nico.

The Widow's Tear has already shown us otherwise,

proving my theory that it is better to be feared

than loved.

Why are you keeping me alive?

Because I like you.

Francesco: Faithful citizens, we burn this effigy of the tyrant.

( cheering )

So his wicked soul burns in hell's fire!

Death to the Medicis!

( crowd shouting )

Infernal Pazzis.

If we try to bring Lorenzo through this frenzy,

Francesco's dogs will finish him off.

No longer will their vainglorious cabal of merchants

dictate how all of Florence shall live.

Can you make out a word that hypocritical windbag is saying?

( scoffs ) No, thank God.

Can you?

No.

The just and pious Pazzi family...

But what if we could?

What if the entire city could?

His lies would spread like wood rot

until there wasn't a safe corner for Lorenzo in all of Florence.

But what if we could counter those lies?

Do you have any brass in your studio?

Yes, I'm using it for the Vitale commission.

Not anymore.

All is secure, my lady.

Do you have a family, Captain?

A wife, a son,

a little girl.

Who protects them whilst you're protecting us?

My wife has always understood my duty is to Florence

as hers is to our children.

I'll admit, I sometimes envy the time she spends with them.

Don't envy us wives, Captain.

We pray more than priests, sleep less than watchmen,

and grow old before our time

waiting and worrying.

Signora? Signora?

Signora, you have our condolences

on this very black Easter Monday.

- Identify yourselves now. - It's all right, Captain.

This is Signor Sassetti, general manager of the Medici Bank

and Signor Portinari who oversees the London branch.

Portinari: If you'll excuse us, Captain.

The captain will remain by my side.

Very well.

Rumors of your husband's death

are spreading panic amongst our investors in Europe.

If we lose their confidence,

the bank will collapse.

Tell them Lorenzo is alive.

If we could but see him.

Any business you have with him you can submit to me in writing.

Portinari: So the rumors are true?

Lorenzo is dead.

Captain, drag him somewhere to reflect on his loyalties.

I know this is difficult, signora,

but you must understand our responsibility

is the fidelity of the bank.

Lorenzo's absence, however temporary,

has created a void.

Perhaps it's prudent to appoint an interim head of the bank.

I suppose you think yourself the obvious candidate?

Signor Portinari and I have the experience for the job.

But not the name.

We are speaking of the great Medici Bank after all,

and your name is not Medici.

Neither is yours, Signora Orsini.

Captain.

Come, weevils, the lady is weary of your presence.

Come.

( crowd shouting )

I thought you were leading me home.

I am.

Lorenzo: Look at them.

It's hopeless.

No, you haven't read your Vitruvius.

What?

Sound moves like ripples on water.

And when a ripple touches a soft surface like bodies in the crowd

or a wooden building, it's absorbed

as water is absorbed by a cloth.

Speak plainer, da Vinci.

Look out across the piazza.

Do you see those shimmering plates of reflected moonlight?

Lorenzo: Yes.

Those are brass panels positioned according to my calculations,

each held at precise angles by Verrocchio and his assistants.

When a sound ripple reaches a reflective surface,

it's deflected-- under the right circumstances, amplified.

Acoustically speaking, this tower

is the most strategic point in Florence.

You want me to make a speech?

What does it matter?

Francesco Pazzi is winning.

Only because everyone thinks you're dead.

You have to tell the people

that you haven't abandoned them.

- ( ringing bell ) - Da Vinci!

Da Vinci.

What's that bastard doing?

Man: Look, up there!

Pull! Put your backs into it.

Pull, for goodness' sake. Quickly, damn it.

If this doesn't work, the mob will pull them both to pieces.

Wait. Out, out, out. Out here.

Careful. That's it. Good. Good. Good. Good.

The stage is yours, Magnifico.

If this fails, they will throng my palace and slay my family.

Face your city.

( coughing )

There, see what they make of you.

( crowd quiets )

( coughs )

Look to your people, Lorenzo.

You need to inspire them, to invite them to join you,

to dare them to be as great as they are.

( echoing ) Citizens of Florence.

Woman: It's Lorenzo! It's him!

( echoing ) I grieve with you tonight

for the injuries inflicted on our noble city,

on our families,

and on my beloved brother Giuliano.

Get him down from there.

- ( crowd murmuring ) - Go! Move!

Lorenzo: I once embraced

Francesco Pazzi and his family as my friends.

I thought them noble citizens of Florence.

But as I stand before you tonight,

as our city is aflame

and my brother lies dead,

I was naive,

blind to their ambition,

ignorant to the lengths they would go

to see our city

under Rome's thumb.

( murmuring )

He's a salesman. A usurer.

Man: Yeah!

Citizens, don't let him bedevil you.

Lorenzo: Yet we have not fallen.

In Florence,

power has always been derived from the people...

not from traitorous whispers in quiet, dark halls,

not from individuals,

not from conspirators.

And so, as it should be,

I put the fate of our republic

in your hands.

Do with me as you please.

For whatever you command,

I will perform it willingly.

Jacopo: This is not good.

Lorenzo: For tonight,

as always,

you are my friends.

My protectors.

My brothers.

Do you think they heard me?

Palle!

Crowd: Palle! Palle!

Palle! Palle!

The Medici rallying cry.

I'd say they did.

Palle! Palle!

Palle! Palle!

Palle!

Francesco, let's go!

Palle! Palle! Palle!

Palle! Palle! Palle!

( gasping )

( cheering )

Now, Dragonetti.

Now we apprehend the Pazzi traitors.

My pleasure.

- There they are! - No, no. Wait!

- Hold him. - I'm a reverend father!

- Wait! - God help me, no!

Help me, Orsini!

( screaming )

( crowd chanting ) Palle! Palle!

( footsteps running )

He's the leader! Pazzi scum!

( crowd continues chanting )

( coughing )

( grunts )

( shouting )

( cheering )

( whimpering )

( screaming )

( screaming )

( crowd chanting ) Palle! Palle! Palle!

Lorenzo: My dear lady.

I commend you for your strength and courage

in holding our home against those who would seek our life.

Welcome home, husband.

( cheering )

I'm told our awaited guest has a penchant for such curiosities.

It's said he keeps a kind of ghastly museum in his dungeon.

Surely the museum is apocryphal.

King Ferrante's reputation as a ferocious,

bloodthirsty warlord is not.

Alessandro: His dress bespeaks a warrior.

That's the son Alfonso. Behind him is the king.

This is your warlord? Looks more like a bookkeeper.

May I present His Majesty King Ferrante of Naples

and his son Alfonso Duke of Calabria.

You'll forgive us for not kneeling and kissing the ring.

I, too, am anointed by God.

And are you also Christ's vicar here on Earth?

His holy sign that He will come again?

Ferrante: It matters not.

Down to business.

As the only king on the Italian peninsula,

you understand our need for stability?

We command the largest standing army in Italy.

It is we who assure stability.

We also command a sizable force.

A flock of mercenaries.

Rome has her priests, Florence her art,

Genoa her trade, but it is Naples

and our forces who have been tasked by God

as a first line of defense against the Ottomans.

You must know that the tyrant Lorenzo de Medici

and his heretic war engineer Leonardo da Vinci

openly flout us.

I've known Lorenzo since he was a child.

He's an unscrupulous villain who's a little too proud of his prick.

I'm sorry. I misspoke.

Holy Father, disregard what I said.

He knows better than to be here when the tooth falls.

( doors shut )

Where did you find such an interesting specimen?

Consider it a gift. One of many to come.

Lorenzo's regime must be eroded from within

to keep the armies of Milan and Venice

from allying against us.

Once you have helped us seize Florence,

the other secular states of Italy will fall into line

and into the control

of the godly state of Naples.

You seek an alliance with us against Florence.

How may we be of service?

There is a papal ship in the port of Pisa

carrying slaves to Genoa.

If your brave son travelled there

under both the Neapolitan and papal flags,

the Republic of Florence will be cowed by our alliance.

Lorenzo is a heathen, but he's not a fool.

We will apply unrelenting pressure

until he does what's best for his people

and surrenders.

( priests singing )

You asked to see me, Your Magnificence?

You were leaving before this massacre began.

I assume you still intend to leave.

But we need you here.

Rome's aggression will not stop.

We need more pipe organ muskets.

- More military inventions. - And then what? Then what?

They return with more soldiers, more allies.

The way to defeat them is not by racing them to the next weapon.

But you alone know how to deal with Florence's enemies.

I search for an ancient tome called the Book of Leaves.

It's a compendium of hidden wisdom that men have died to protect.

Sixtus and his cohorts, they moved mountains to find it.

I believe it contains secrets

that could put an end to these petty wars that besiege us forever.

Whispers.

Forbidden knowledge made up to entertain adolescent boys.

Well, perhaps you recall lying on a slab

while my blood pumped into your veins.

Forbidden knowledge just saved your life.

And in the name of this knowledge,

you would desert Florence again?

Do you know what this is?

One of my grandfather's trinkets.

It's the symbol of the Sons of Mithras.

- Have you heard of them? - Cosimo had many secrets.

They were an ancient brotherhood committed to humanism.

Cosimo was one of its members.

He had faith in this city, in you.

Your grandfather, he saw Florence as the essential city.

Where, for once, freedom, knowledge,

they'd been allowed to take root.

He tasked me from beyond the grave

to retrieve the Book of Leaves.

And when I do, you must ensure

that Florence is still here to receive it.

But I can't leave Florence without...

money.

( sighs )

Without a ship.

( chuckles ) Da Vinci, I cannot help you.

Florence need weapons, not magic.

Go, leave us. Do as you wish.

As my family have done for quite some time,

I will preserve this city

without your help.

Farewell.

( door closes )

Sister. Oh, my prayers are answered.

Francesco, you sought to sweep the Medici name from the Earth

and we will answer your conspiracy in kind.

Tomorrow, go to your death

knowing that it is your name that will be expunged.

Your properties will be divided among the Signoria,

all male cousins will be exiled,

and anyone who dares to marry a Pazzi woman will be disinherited.

You'd wipe out the oldest and most noble family in Florence?

My ancestor was the first over the wall in the siege of Jerusalem.

Save your creaking anecdotes.

We are sick to death of your Pazzi ancestor.

Future generations will only remember

that the meaning of the word Pazzi is madmen.

You left your robes in your quarters when you fled, Cardinal.

I have them here for you.

Thank you, sister.

I have prayed for you every day.

The populace should see the fate of those who ally themselves with Rome.

So you will put on those robes

and we will dangle you from the gibbet in your Sunday best.

Think of your eternal soul.

Do you dare kill a cardinal?

One who defiled the Lord's house on Easter Sunday? Yes, I would.

No, please. I am your brother.

I have no brother.

Ah.

Oh, your confidence as a thief is beguiling.

Yes, well, I have no intention of being recognized on the road to Florence.

Stop gaping like a pike and move.

You know what Riario is capable of.

Has anyone ever told you you'd make a beautiful man?

Has anyone ever told you you're a bit of a pig?

- Oh, you're a bit of a traitor. - Pig and a knave.

Traitor and a whore.

That's a compliment.

All my favorite people are traitorous whores.

So unsettling, isn't it?

One of your kinsmen had it inscribed in his flesh

for safekeeping, little good that it did him.

I believe it's a legend,

a key to reading a map.

This map. Can you decipher it?

Oh, much of it is beyond my understanding.

But these,

these are written in the ancient Ge'ez script of my people.

They are numbers.

13,

1,631 over 10,000.

It's a fraction.

Arabs use them to represent parts of a whole number.

What does this one say?

72 and...

341 over 625.

The astrolabe.

The numbers indicate latitude and longitude.

Captain de Noli will be pleased.

And what will please you?

The Bible counsels us against indulging ourselves.

Men of the Bible took their pleasures.

King Solomon visited the kingdom of Sheba,

my homeland of Abyssinia.

There he met the beautiful queen

and invited her to a banquet at his palace.

She asked Solomon to swear not to take her by force.

He agreed

as long as she would take nothing of value from his home.

Seems an easy vow to keep.

But when she awoke at midnight,

the queen was thirsty.

And as she reached for water, Solomon appeared,

warning she was breaking her oath.

For nothing in the desert is as precious as water.

She chose to drink,

setting Solomon free from his promise not to take her.

And they spent the night together willingly.

The queen of Sheba fell in love with Solomon.

She converted my homeland

to the Lord God of Israel

without regrets.

Well...

that story is not in the Bible.

Not everything is, my lord.

What do you know of Daedalus?

What? Just indulge me.

What were the sins of Daedalus?

He fashioned wings for himself and his son Icarus.

Flight-- is that a sin?

Or is it invention?

Whilst I was unconscious, Andrea,

I had a vision.

I was in the presence of something.

Something.

You'd lost a lot of blood, Leo.

Don't be troubled by dreams.

The dream was real, Andrea.

Look.

There, that figure.

A man being savaged by a bull?

Yes!

Here, on the reverse of the Turk's coin,

a man slaying a bull.

It's the inverse image.

I've met the enemies of the Sons of Mithras.

These aren't fables, Andrea.

You may be right, my boy.

All the more reason to leave it alone.

Oh, we can't do that.

Maestro.

Zo, you stayed in Florence?

Not quite, but I made it back here.

Where's Nico?

He's on the Basilisk with Riario.

You let Riario take Nico?

I wasn't exactly given an option.

I was supposed to be on that ship, not Riario!

Certainly not Nico with him. Me!

Without you didn't the Turk say the ship wrecks itself in a storm?

- How does Nico survive that? - Do I fucking know?

I'd go after them. I've got n-n-next to nothing.

I've got no ship, no astrolabe.

I mean, there's the original charts,

but the Abyssinian's map that explains it all is with Riario.

Surely you can reproduce the Abyssinian's map from memory.

Yes, but I cannot will a crew and ship into existence.

Well, there's someone that can help.

Yeah, but you've got to promise to stay calm,

accept the fucking help.

Why would you come to my aid?

Why did you miss your ship to assist Lorenzo?

There is a man named Vespucci.

He solves import and export problems for the Medicis.

It's his business to know every boat that comes in and out of Pisa.

He could find you a ship and a crew.

And he collects rare maritime maps.

Perhaps he has one like the one that you lost.

And what do you want in return?

From you, nothing.

Sixtus destroyed my family.

What I want, what I have always wanted,

is to see him dead.

Nonetheless, you came here to face me first.

I look at you and see how you refuse

to be trapped by your birth, by your circumstances.

I just fight to be free.

I need a future where I control my own fate.

And my pursuit of the same freedom...

will take me far from you.

( exhales )

This belongs to your father.

Um, perhaps you could return it to him.

With my regards.

It's mine now.

And I would see it stay with you

since I can't.

I--

I still think of a world in which we met differently.

Lived differently.

( exhales )

As do I.

( crowd shouting )

( clamoring )

Sister!

They call for your death, Francesco.

Only hours ago they cheered for yours.

And yet...

here we are.

Now let us send a message

to your master in Rome

that Florence still shines.

( cheering )

( cheering )

Amerigo Vespucci?

He works for the Medicis. Lucrezia recommended him.

I knew him. We grew up together in Peretola.

He's a fixer and a fuck.

Oh, this is the worst idea you've had since you stopped eating meat.

Amerigo Vespucci is as slippery as a buttered eel.

A well-connected eel who has yet to lose a map,

an astrolabe, a ship, and Nico to Riario.

- Perhaps he can apprentice you. - I did as you asked.

- I asked you not to go. - You asked me to stall.

To stall the barge, not the Basilisk.

You should have realized that was far too great a risk.

When have you considered anything too great a risk?

You knew we'd do whatever we could to aid you in your damned adventure.

We always have.

And you make the whole thing sound so fucking important.

It is important!

Perhaps more than I even realized.

There are worse things crouching in the shadows than Riario.

Things I cannot yet understand.

We will get Nico back, Zo, I promise.

But then we must recover the Book of Leaves.

- Can I count on you? - ( sighs )

I will go to the edge of the Earth with you to find Nico.

After that...

I'm sorry, I'm done.

I don't care about your Book of Leaves.

This is the place.

( sighs )

( knocks )

Yes?

Uh...

excuse us, signorina.

We're here to see Amerigo Vespucci.

Bless you for coming to pay respects to my poor father.

lgnored while the rest of Florence grieves Giuliano de Medici.

Please, come in.

- ( Zoroaster sighs ) - Leonardo: That's your father?

Amerigo Vespucci? Yes.

- And you must be his friends. - ( sniffs )

Well, that's us, then. Very sorry for your loss.

Hold on.

That stench.

Yeah, it's the body, Leo. We're too late.

If we hurry, maybe we can catch Lucrezia,

see if she knows any living people that could help us.

No, I have spent enough time around cadavers

to know that is not the scent of human flesh.

( groans )

- That was completely unnecessary. - ( laughs )

Any friend of Lucrezia Donati is a friend of mine.

Zoroaster. Last I saw of you was in prison.

Never trust a Spanish Moor. Am I right?

( laughs )

Run along, Beatrice.

I will find you next time I'm in need of a daughter.

Arrivederci, signores.

Typical. I should have known.

I apologize for the theatrics.

I was afraid you were sent here by my creditors.

- You understand? - Absolutely.

I like you, signore.

Da Vinci.

Leonardo da Vinci, Lorenzo's bastard war engineer.

The pleasure is mine. What is the nature of your problem?

Well, I'm supposed to be on board a ship.

The Basilisk.

Three-masted carrack, Captain Antonio de Noli, crew of 15,

carrying top-of-the-line Florentine textiles.

Left Pisa two days ago sailing west, yes.

It's been commandeered by Count Riario,

Captain General of the Holy Roman Church.

I see. So you wish to sail west,

but the Vatican has stolen your ship.

If you're here, you have not the coin to hire such a vessel yourself.

Which leaves but one choice available.

Am I right?

We head to Pisa,

we steal one of theirs.

Hmm?

( laughing )

Signora.

This is Vanessa Moschella.

Clarice: Moschella? A little flea?

How amusing that you work at the Barking Dog.

If you think so.

We're told that you carry Giuliano's seed.

Yes, signora.

How can we be sure that you're telling the truth?

I'm not really concerned whether you believe me or not.

Clarice: Lorenzo believes it.

And right now, he's in need of some hope.

So you will remain with us.

Piero will see to your needs.

Here?

You don't like our home?

I prefer the freedom of my own.

You should have thought of that before Giuliano bedded you

in some sordid back alley tavern.

He had dozens of women.

From milkmaids to duchesses.

God help us if they all come knocking with their bastards.

Lorenzo: We are--

we are here to honor

Giuliano di ser Piero de Medici...

my brother.

You knew him as a prince of youth.

The light of Florence.

So he was.

So he was.

You're doing fine.

It is a splendid eulogy so far.

He deserves better.

- What's this? - It was our grandfather Cosimo's.

One magnificent sword to be shared by two boys.

I never understood why.

Cosimo told us we would learn to use it.

One day.

When we were ready.

When we became men.

We never did.

I think Giuliano would want you to keep it.

( exhales )

( clicks )

You're leaving?

I wish I could go with you, Leo.

Where I'm going...

I can no longer keep you safe,

much less your child.

So now I'm one of them.

Zoroaster: Is that really so bad?

You'll note the only time he brought me here was to say good-bye.

The Medicis are wise.

They will realize

how lucky they are to have you among them.

Oh.

Release her.

She's not to be swept into your madness any longer.

The guards saw you entering.

Lorenzo wishes one more word.

You can wait in the pantry.

Vanessa carries a child

whose father never married its mother.

Make sure you take care of this one

better than the last bastard you dealt with.

( footsteps approaching )

This Book of Leaves you seek,

do you really believe it could help Florence?

More than help it.

Magnifico, I believe it can save it.

You and I are not that different, da Vinci.

It took me a while to realize that.

( Leonardo gasps ) Did this belong to your grandfather?

He told me

that one day,

when the time was right,

I would learn how to use it.

( exhales )

I saw you fight off many men in the Duomo.

I would say you already have.

That's not what he meant.

( clicks )

- ( gasps ) - Giuliano and I,

we were always meant to share it.

That's what brothers do.

Two men whose blood flows in each other's veins.

Take it with you on your journey.

All I ask is that you return to Florence

when your quest is completed

along with whatever wisdom your book promises.

There are words inscribed on the blade.

Not just words.

It's what the Medicis have sought for generations.

"Libertas Populi."

Freedom for the people.

Freedom for Florence.

It's time to save our city, Leonardo.

Our future.

( music playing )