The Revolution Lands at ‘Marie Antoinette’s Feet in the Season 2 Finale

Violence has always been a breath away, and Marie Antoinette’s Season 2 finale brings the danger home to Versailles. “The End of the Beginning” (alternately “The Winds of Change,” due to the recurring theme of windows blowing open) hails the end of an era, namely the monarchy. The revolution is about to break, and there will be casualties. The show secures sympathy for the one-percenters by giving Antoinette and Louis pathos and depth, while the commoners’ plight is largely unexplored. Antoinette is repeatedly shown as an empathetic ruler, caring about her people’s welfare and wishing to help in whatever capacity she can (without a mention of cake). 

While the royals are our main characters, it still feels odd to root against people whose motivations are starvation and inequality. That said, there’s a definite condemnation of mob mentality and the manipulations Orléans perpetrated to make things worse. To keep the country from going broke, Louis convenes the Estates General to try one more time to pass his tax reforms. He’s barely recovered from depression, and both he and Antoinette are anxious about how he’ll present himself. Perhaps to stave off opposition and shore up their nerve, they arrive wearing their absolute finest, looking more glorious and regal than they have in the whole series. 

Louis gives a convincing speech, and it seems the representatives of France’s three estates might just grant the king’s proposal. The Third Estate, however, representing the commoner against the political powerhouses of the nobility and clergy, is upset by how their votes are counted. They vow not to vote until it’s addressed, or the king intervenes. Necker advises Louis to stay neutral.

The king has other pressing concerns. He and Antoinette spend as much time as possible with the upbeat but ailing dauphin. This is the year he will succumb to his illness, and the boy dies in his sleep with his mother and father at his bedside. But there’s no time to mourn: the Third Estate confronts Louis while he’s vulnerable, backing him into a corner and demanding he resolve their voting issue. Louis deflects, but they warn that delaying even to mourn may result in the end of the kingdom, which is precisely what happens. The Estates General fails when the frustrated Third Estate proclaims itself a law-making body called the National Assembly and drafts a constitution to limit royal power.

Meanwhile, softened by his nephew’s death and a sudden turn in his health, Provence now seems protective of Louis (or at least protective of the crown, so it’s still there when he wants to usurp it). Provence blocks the Rohan clan and Malherbe when they demand to see the king, wishing to register their complaints that the National Assembly is illegal and against the natural order. 

Provence unironically accuses them of laying the groundwork for treachery and defying the king’s authority at every turn. He almost slaps Madame de Rohan-Soubise until Josephine stops him.

The queen approaches Provence privately for advice, and an uneasy alliance forms between them. She suspects a potential coup with Orléans on one side, and on the other, Necker supporting the National Assembly and urging the king to give up his “God-given” power. Provence agrees they should get rid of Necker, but Antoinette doesn’t know how without Paris turning against them: Necker’s been courting popularity with the people and the army. She’s worried they don’t have enough troops to protect themselves. Provence suggests she order reinforcements from the border countries, who are likelier to be loyal.

Louis also believes Necker is a threat and acts swiftly without consulting Antoinette, sending Necker to exile in Geneva. Though Louis swears it was done secretly and no one will find out, Antoinette worries about the consequences.

Later, while walking the grounds with their youngest son, rebels suddenly attack, looking for the grain the queen supposedly hoards. The family escapes harm, but barely, with the royal guard’s numbers much reduced due to budget cuts. The royal family discusses whether to flee, and Provence favors staying: What are they made of if they leave? He also points out they’re totally exposed outside of Versailles. Louis decides they’ll stay.

Across the English Channel, Jeanne and la Motte are shacked up in a lovely London flat. Jeanne is restless, wanting a new adventure and stealing her husband’s remaining diamonds. She books passage to America but doesn’t make it. Not only does la Motte catch her, but soldiers suddenly arrive to arrest her. Rather than surrender, Jeanne jumps out a window, aiming for but missing a cart below. She dies in the street, but on her own terms.

Back in France, Josephine joyously reunites with Marguerite, who then moves back into Versailles at Antoinette’s invitation. Provence is shocked at Marguerite’s return and slightly less surprised when Josephine confesses she’s been poisoning him. More than a little relieved he’s not dying, he makes a plea for their unconventional marriage and how they’re stronger together. “That’s why I didn’t kill you,” Josephine tells him.

The peasants start burning effigies of the king and queen, and Orléans delights in having won the people’s hearts and minds. Conceding a bit of ground, Antoinette attempts to reason with him one-on-one. She asks him to calm the mob in Paris and reject the National Assembly, but he places the blame on the crown for its deficit and political failings. He’s still bitter she didn’t allow his son to marry her daughter and insists that would have united their families and their causes. Antoinette begs Orléans to think of his son, but he rejects her instead.

The mobs supporting Orléans are also parading his wax bust on a spike and attacking nobility on the streets. It’s July 14, 1789, and Félicité wants Orléans to join her at the Bastille, where they’re releasing the king’s political prisoners. He thinks the people don’t want radical change – otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen a “prince of the blood.”  She finally dismisses him as an arrogant prick and leaves to join the revolution.

People are fleeing Versailles – Yolande, the courtiers, the staff, but not the royals. Lamballe and Breteuil tell the king and queen about the Bastille attack: it’s not a revolt, it’s a revolution. (This is an actual quote, just not by Breteuil.)

Although July was months earlier, time got condensed, and the series tees up the attack on Versailles, which happened in early October 1789. The Bourbon family battens down the hatches and waits for the advancing masses. A paltry legion of soldiers faces off against hundreds of angry citizens, many armed. Antoinette watches the mob approach, perhaps seeing a glimpse of her own fate. The whole episode marks a solid end to a strong season and implies there’s at least one more season to go.

All episodes of Marie Antoinette Seasons 1 and 2 are available to stream for members on PBS Passport, the PBS App, and the PBS Masterpiece Prime Video Channel. Season 3 has not yet been commissioned.