- Pronouns
- he/him
Discuss the latest article by @Alex Richards here
I suppose the obvious POD happens before the war begins- what if Henry IV avoids his assassination? He was fifty six, so probably not due too much longer in early modern conditions.
But let's give him another, oh, fifteen years- Good King Henry dies at age 71. That lets him see the war kick off.
What are the consequences? On the one hand, France is probably a tad more stable though possibly slightly poorer. Henry will be viewed with even more suspicion as a pseudo-Catholic at best, but I can't imagine he'll be leaping in any more than Richelieu did.
He did have more luck facing down Spain, though- possibly the Northern Italy intervention goes to France in this timeline?
Its kind of a shame that Cardinal Richelieu will never be more than the villain in the Three Musketeers to 99% of the population. I admit that I myself often conflate the character with the historical figure.
I think the part which he would mind is that he is usually portrayed as a murdering arch traitor seeking to bring war and ruin on France and replace and murder one King usually after having killed his father and is cast down by virtuous Frenchmen and the Queen.I don't think he'd mind. Why do they cast me as evil? Because you control all things in France and you pursue your aims ruthlessly without letting morals or sentiment hinder you for the glory of your king and your country. Oh, swell! You mean I succeed?
I think the part which he would mind is that he is usually portrayed as a murdering arch traitor seeking to bring war and ruin on France and replace and murder one King usually after having killed his father and is cast down by virtuous Frenchmen and the Queen.
Maybe being the bad guy would be a mark of success but the cinematic versions at least normally portray him as a bit of a scumbag thwarted by better men despite every advantage and only just keeping his skin if indeed he does do so.
I prefer the TV/cartoon series adaptation that I always recall being far more along the lines of 'we must ensure the Queen's honour remains unstained, the King cannot be allowed to find out about this or the Cardinal will have the excuse he needs to force her to do what he wants her to.'
I think the part which he would mind is that he is usually portrayed as a murdering arch traitor seeking to bring war and ruin on France and replace and murder one King usually after having killed his father and is cast down by virtuous Frenchmen and the Queen.
Maybe being the bad guy would be a mark of success but the cinematic versions at least normally portray him as a bit of a scumbag thwarted by better men despite every advantage and only just keeping his skin if indeed he does do so.
It occurs to me there's probably good mileage in a take where our musketeers are called in by A to resolve a domestic intelligence issue that turns out to have been entirely due to R at Foreign Intelligence organising a scheme without telling anyone.