The Cursed Queen (TV Show)
The Cursed Queen is an American historical drama television series created and directed by George Powell. It is a highly fictionalized account of the life of Maleen of Adlkofen. It is filmed in Belfast, Bavaria, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The series premiered on August 9, 2016, had it's second season in 2017, and will continue with a third season on July 9, 2018.
The Cursed Queen is set in 16th century Germany, in the principalities of Kollstansze and Willmars and the Duchy of Adlkofen. The series chronicles the rise to power of Maleen of Adlkofen and the court intrigues surrounding her and her family. It is based on the legend that Maleen was cursed by either her cousin Adelaide of Scharrau or by Adelaide's mother, and that this is the reason why some of her children died so violently.
George Powell, after completing filming of his show In Search of Dragons, was in Bavaria in 2014 scouting locations for a different TV show that was never produced. While there, he met Elizabeth Raye-Muller, who had been working on 16th century documents from Kollstansze since 1995. Powell worked with Raye and her team to create the basis for The Cursed Queen.
Season One
Episode One
The show opens in 1559. Maleen and Conrad’s grandson Ludvik stabs their son, the prince, to death, but doesn’t recall the events surrounding the murder; Maleen becomes regent and begins to arrange an inquest; Conrad tells her that she needs to pardon their grandson and they argue. As he leaves, she says that she is cursed.
The action cuts back to 1524, when Maleen’s father dies and her betrothal to John of Willmars ends; she is betrothed to Prince Ludvik of Kollstansze. Conrad goes to Italy to get John’s new betrothed and stops overnight in Kollstansze, where he encounters cruel Prince Ludvik.
Episode Two
In 1559, ministers of state begin to question some of the people who witnessed younger Ludvik covered in blood after the murder. The doctor examines the body and speculates on the use of poison. William Brandt is questioned; Conrad interrupts as it moves into interrogation about Henrik. Conrad again urges Maleen to stop the inquest, this time because the doctors know about the poison; he is stopped by ministers on his way out of the room.
1524: While Conrad is in Italy, Maleen and John meet and she finds out about how unpleasant Ludvik is; Conrad and Wilhelm Brandt, in Italy, find Princess Barbara extremely unhappy about the prospect of marrying John.
Episode Three
1525: While Maleen packs up to leave for Kollstansze, her cousin Federica is called to court to accompany her; Maleen tries to convince her mother to end the betrothal, but her cousin Frederick refuses; in Willmars, Barbara is unpleasant and Conrad devises a solution.
1559: Conrad is interrogated; Maleen comes to interrupt. The inquest council presents Maleen with a list of names; her daughter Margareta refuses to speak to her; it is heavily suggested that Maleen is having an affair with a younger gentleman on the council.
Episode Four
1525: On the road to Kollstansze, Maleen and her cousin Adelaide agree to switch places; Frederick agrees to this plan. In Willmars, with Barbara more pleasant now that she’s distracted by her affair, John asks Conrad to go to Kollstansze as ambassador to keep Maleen safe.
1559: Maleen and Conrad’s younger grandson, Otto, is crowned prince with Maleen as regent. John, Mark, Barbara, and Franz are all present and talk to Conrad; Mark is sent to talk to Maleen, but she refuses. Alone, she visits the portraits of Adelaide and Federica—supposedly the same person—and talks to Henrik about the curse that’s been placed on her.
Episode Five
1525: Maleen and Adelaide arrive in Kollstansze and meet Ludvik, who gets extremely drunk at the first dinner and is crude to Adelaide; Maleen is afraid that she won’t want to go through with the marriage, but she says that she will. Conrad realizes something is wrong when Maleen (Adelaide) has no recollection of meeting John; Maleen doesn’t want Adelaide’s negative comments to get back to Willmars, so she follows Conrad and tells him that the princess remembered the encounter right after he left.
Maleen’s visit to the portrait gallery provides a bridge for the action to move to 1534, when, after Ludvik and his wife’s burial, Maleen and Conrad’s son Ludvik takes the throne with Maleen as regent. We see the happy events of that day, and follow a brief montage through 1546, when son Ludvik has a psychotic break during a meeting. He never recovers; Maleen serves as regent again and argues with Conrad over what to do, but they make up and take care of their frightened younger kids. We see his decline over the next few years culminates with his suicide by stabbing himself to death.
Episode Six
1525: John’s letter convinces Conrad that Adelaide is an imposter; he confronts Frederick, to no avail; Adelaide and Ludvik are married; Maleen begins to dislike Adelaide’s new abuse of power towards her; Maleen and Conrad begin a relationship.
1559: Maleen leaves the portrait gallery. Richard finds Henrik there and threatens to get him in trouble with the inquest; William arrives, tells him to leave, and stays with Henrik there. William is rather obviously in love but Henrik doesn’t notice. He goes to find his father, who is up late in the library, alone.
1550, From Henrik’s POV: After Ludvik’s death, Otto becomes prince. A few years pass; in 1555, Otto’s eye socket is pierced by a branch while he’s riding with Henrik; he dies slowly over the next year while Maleen serves as regent. Henrik dislikes his brother Conrad’s eagerness to take the throne, which he does after Otto’s death.
Episode Seven
1526: Several months after the marriage, Ludvik leaves; Adelaide takes full advantage of her new power over Maleen. John suggests a solution to the problem of preventing anyone from finding out about the switch between Maleen and Adelaide. Maleen and Conrad’s secret relationship continues, but they argue when she finds letters revealing that he has been sent here to protect her.
1559: After Henrik falls asleep, Conrad goes to find William and they dispose of leftover poison from Prince Conrad’s murder. They get back to the castle and hear grandson prince Otto crying down the hall. Henrik wakes up in the library to ask where they were, but Conrad convinces him they never left.
1558: Margareta’s future husband, Frederick, visits for the first time; his brother is unimpressed by Margareta.
Episode Eight
1526: Adelaide is pregnant and continues being cruel to Maleen; Maleen and Conrad make up; Frederick is initially reluctant to allow Maleen to marry Conrad, even at John’s suggestion, but decides that it is the best solution. Elsewhere, Ludvik continues on his usual lifestyle—drinking, riding, and visiting prostitutes—as he visits neighboring Zittau.
1559: Margareta is questioned by the inquest, specifically about why she and her husband haven’t started looking for a husband for eleven-year-old Ella, Margareta’s niece and ward. Margareta finishes the interview; Maleen finds her when it’s over, and Margareta pushes past her and says that she did what Maleen wanted. Margareta goes to find Conrad and says that she thinks they’re going to find Ludvik guilty and execute him; Conrad doesn’t agree.
1549(?) Margareta’s dreams that night go back to when she was about nine and her brother, dead Prince Conrad, was about eighteen; it shows them playing hide and seek in the castle, and there is the heavy implication that some kind of abuse occurred when he found her. After she wakes up, she goes to Ella’s room and sees her having nightmares, too.
Episode Nine
1526: Adelaide says that she won’t let Maleen marry Conrad and the wedding plans stop; Maleen tries to talk to Adelaide’s mother, who says that if Adelaide has to be married to someone awful, so does Maleen; Maleen finds out she is pregnant; Frederick overrules Adelaide and Maleen and Conrad are married in secret. Ludvik is publically humiliated by Sophia of Zittau when he wakes up outside.
1559: Ursula is summoned to the castle; her old husband stays at home, while his sister, Hildegard, who Ursula is having an affair with, insists on coming with her. Ramona is also summoned from Willmars. The meeting between the three sisters is frosty; Ursula and Ramona are excited to see Maleen. Later, we see that Ursula was acting—she is furious with Maleen when she and Hildegard are alone.
1549 (?): Ursula also remembers abuse by her brother prince Conrad, and her failed attempt to convince Ramona that it really happened.
Episode Ten
1526: Maleen’s brother announces he is coming for a visit; everyone scrambles to find a way to prevent him from finding out about the switch. Ludvik leaves Zittau and arrives in Willmars.
1559: Alarmed by the in-fighting in Conrad and Maleen’s family, William talks to his mother, and they blame the von Absbergs; William sees all of them meeting and follows to eavesdrop. The patriarch warns Richard to pull himself together and keep Henrik on their side – Richard blames William for making it difficult – they say that if Joseph can destroy Maleen and Conrad’s marriage after over thirty years, Richard shouldn’t find his job difficult at all – just as they’re about to say what Richard has said and done to rip that marriage apart, William gets caught and gets beaten up in the hall. The patriarch plans to dispose of him and he’s left alone while they go get ready to haul him out to the river; Henrik finds him and William is gone when they get back.
1551: William remembers the days before his father’s death; Wilhelm, convinced he’s about to have a heart attack, finishes preparing William to take his place as the most trusted of the servants, and fills him in on Maleen and Conrad’s full backstories. Elsewhere, William, about age 13, starts to notice Prince Conrad’s weird sneaking around, and catches him leaving Henrik, who is about eleven and in tears; Henrik tells him not to tell anyone. William agrees not to; his father dies that night and William promises that he’ll be loyal to Conrad first, leaving him conflicted about whether he should tell Conrad about his kids.
The show opens in 1559. Maleen and Conrad’s grandson Ludvik stabs their son, the prince, to death, but doesn’t recall the events surrounding the murder; Maleen becomes regent and begins to arrange an inquest; Conrad tells her that she needs to pardon their grandson and they argue. As he leaves, she says that she is cursed.
The action cuts back to 1524, when Maleen’s father dies and her betrothal to John of Willmars ends; she is betrothed to Prince Ludvik of Kollstansze. Conrad goes to Italy to get John’s new betrothed and stops overnight in Kollstansze, where he encounters cruel Prince Ludvik.
Episode Two
In 1559, ministers of state begin to question some of the people who witnessed younger Ludvik covered in blood after the murder. The doctor examines the body and speculates on the use of poison. William Brandt is questioned; Conrad interrupts as it moves into interrogation about Henrik. Conrad again urges Maleen to stop the inquest, this time because the doctors know about the poison; he is stopped by ministers on his way out of the room.
1524: While Conrad is in Italy, Maleen and John meet and she finds out about how unpleasant Ludvik is; Conrad and Wilhelm Brandt, in Italy, find Princess Barbara extremely unhappy about the prospect of marrying John.
Episode Three
1525: While Maleen packs up to leave for Kollstansze, her cousin Federica is called to court to accompany her; Maleen tries to convince her mother to end the betrothal, but her cousin Frederick refuses; in Willmars, Barbara is unpleasant and Conrad devises a solution.
1559: Conrad is interrogated; Maleen comes to interrupt. The inquest council presents Maleen with a list of names; her daughter Margareta refuses to speak to her; it is heavily suggested that Maleen is having an affair with a younger gentleman on the council.
Episode Four
1525: On the road to Kollstansze, Maleen and her cousin Adelaide agree to switch places; Frederick agrees to this plan. In Willmars, with Barbara more pleasant now that she’s distracted by her affair, John asks Conrad to go to Kollstansze as ambassador to keep Maleen safe.
1559: Maleen and Conrad’s younger grandson, Otto, is crowned prince with Maleen as regent. John, Mark, Barbara, and Franz are all present and talk to Conrad; Mark is sent to talk to Maleen, but she refuses. Alone, she visits the portraits of Adelaide and Federica—supposedly the same person—and talks to Henrik about the curse that’s been placed on her.
Episode Five
1525: Maleen and Adelaide arrive in Kollstansze and meet Ludvik, who gets extremely drunk at the first dinner and is crude to Adelaide; Maleen is afraid that she won’t want to go through with the marriage, but she says that she will. Conrad realizes something is wrong when Maleen (Adelaide) has no recollection of meeting John; Maleen doesn’t want Adelaide’s negative comments to get back to Willmars, so she follows Conrad and tells him that the princess remembered the encounter right after he left.
Maleen’s visit to the portrait gallery provides a bridge for the action to move to 1534, when, after Ludvik and his wife’s burial, Maleen and Conrad’s son Ludvik takes the throne with Maleen as regent. We see the happy events of that day, and follow a brief montage through 1546, when son Ludvik has a psychotic break during a meeting. He never recovers; Maleen serves as regent again and argues with Conrad over what to do, but they make up and take care of their frightened younger kids. We see his decline over the next few years culminates with his suicide by stabbing himself to death.
Episode Six
1525: John’s letter convinces Conrad that Adelaide is an imposter; he confronts Frederick, to no avail; Adelaide and Ludvik are married; Maleen begins to dislike Adelaide’s new abuse of power towards her; Maleen and Conrad begin a relationship.
1559: Maleen leaves the portrait gallery. Richard finds Henrik there and threatens to get him in trouble with the inquest; William arrives, tells him to leave, and stays with Henrik there. William is rather obviously in love but Henrik doesn’t notice. He goes to find his father, who is up late in the library, alone.
1550, From Henrik’s POV: After Ludvik’s death, Otto becomes prince. A few years pass; in 1555, Otto’s eye socket is pierced by a branch while he’s riding with Henrik; he dies slowly over the next year while Maleen serves as regent. Henrik dislikes his brother Conrad’s eagerness to take the throne, which he does after Otto’s death.
Episode Seven
1526: Several months after the marriage, Ludvik leaves; Adelaide takes full advantage of her new power over Maleen. John suggests a solution to the problem of preventing anyone from finding out about the switch between Maleen and Adelaide. Maleen and Conrad’s secret relationship continues, but they argue when she finds letters revealing that he has been sent here to protect her.
1559: After Henrik falls asleep, Conrad goes to find William and they dispose of leftover poison from Prince Conrad’s murder. They get back to the castle and hear grandson prince Otto crying down the hall. Henrik wakes up in the library to ask where they were, but Conrad convinces him they never left.
1558: Margareta’s future husband, Frederick, visits for the first time; his brother is unimpressed by Margareta.
Episode Eight
1526: Adelaide is pregnant and continues being cruel to Maleen; Maleen and Conrad make up; Frederick is initially reluctant to allow Maleen to marry Conrad, even at John’s suggestion, but decides that it is the best solution. Elsewhere, Ludvik continues on his usual lifestyle—drinking, riding, and visiting prostitutes—as he visits neighboring Zittau.
1559: Margareta is questioned by the inquest, specifically about why she and her husband haven’t started looking for a husband for eleven-year-old Ella, Margareta’s niece and ward. Margareta finishes the interview; Maleen finds her when it’s over, and Margareta pushes past her and says that she did what Maleen wanted. Margareta goes to find Conrad and says that she thinks they’re going to find Ludvik guilty and execute him; Conrad doesn’t agree.
1549(?) Margareta’s dreams that night go back to when she was about nine and her brother, dead Prince Conrad, was about eighteen; it shows them playing hide and seek in the castle, and there is the heavy implication that some kind of abuse occurred when he found her. After she wakes up, she goes to Ella’s room and sees her having nightmares, too.
Episode Nine
1526: Adelaide says that she won’t let Maleen marry Conrad and the wedding plans stop; Maleen tries to talk to Adelaide’s mother, who says that if Adelaide has to be married to someone awful, so does Maleen; Maleen finds out she is pregnant; Frederick overrules Adelaide and Maleen and Conrad are married in secret. Ludvik is publically humiliated by Sophia of Zittau when he wakes up outside.
1559: Ursula is summoned to the castle; her old husband stays at home, while his sister, Hildegard, who Ursula is having an affair with, insists on coming with her. Ramona is also summoned from Willmars. The meeting between the three sisters is frosty; Ursula and Ramona are excited to see Maleen. Later, we see that Ursula was acting—she is furious with Maleen when she and Hildegard are alone.
1549 (?): Ursula also remembers abuse by her brother prince Conrad, and her failed attempt to convince Ramona that it really happened.
Episode Ten
1526: Maleen’s brother announces he is coming for a visit; everyone scrambles to find a way to prevent him from finding out about the switch. Ludvik leaves Zittau and arrives in Willmars.
1559: Alarmed by the in-fighting in Conrad and Maleen’s family, William talks to his mother, and they blame the von Absbergs; William sees all of them meeting and follows to eavesdrop. The patriarch warns Richard to pull himself together and keep Henrik on their side – Richard blames William for making it difficult – they say that if Joseph can destroy Maleen and Conrad’s marriage after over thirty years, Richard shouldn’t find his job difficult at all – just as they’re about to say what Richard has said and done to rip that marriage apart, William gets caught and gets beaten up in the hall. The patriarch plans to dispose of him and he’s left alone while they go get ready to haul him out to the river; Henrik finds him and William is gone when they get back.
1551: William remembers the days before his father’s death; Wilhelm, convinced he’s about to have a heart attack, finishes preparing William to take his place as the most trusted of the servants, and fills him in on Maleen and Conrad’s full backstories. Elsewhere, William, about age 13, starts to notice Prince Conrad’s weird sneaking around, and catches him leaving Henrik, who is about eleven and in tears; Henrik tells him not to tell anyone. William agrees not to; his father dies that night and William promises that he’ll be loyal to Conrad first, leaving him conflicted about whether he should tell Conrad about his kids.
Season Two
Episode One
1526: As Maleen’s brother approaches, word arrives that he’s seriously ill and has stopped one town away. Maleen and Frederick sneak out to visit him; he doesn’t find out about the switch. Conrad deals with Federica, after Adelaide slaps her. In Willmars, John, Mark, Barbara, and Franz are unimpressed by Ludvik and decide they should do something change his behavior; Franz and Mark take him to the town where Maleen’s brother is, where they see Maleen slipping into the inn where her brother is. He thinks it is Adelaide-Maleen—while they hope he will be softened by seeing her be kind, he is not, and his behavior continues on as it has.
1559: William wakes up in Henrik’s room and starts to sneak out, but Henrik stops him; William evades saying much of anything and goes to Conrad to report what he heard from the von Absbergs. Richard arrives and seems to successfully distract Henrik, while really looking for William; Henrik pretends to be distracted while covering up evidence. Margareta and Ursula meet and decide that Ursula will reveal to the inquest how terrible their brother was, but Maleen catches Ursula before she goes in for questioning and convinces her not to tell. Joseph von Absberg berates Richard for making Henrik suspicious, and says he’ll show him how it’s done; he goes to Maleen and starts to suggest to her that William has left. Ursula lies in the inquest. William is afraid of putting Elka in danger and goes back to Henrik, and falls asleep in his room again.
Episode Two
1526: Ludvik arrives home and mocks Adelaide-Maleen and her brother; he dismisses Conrad as ambassador and commands him home immediately, with Maleen to follow. Adelaide is furious with Maleen for going to see him and provoking Ludvik and dismisses Maleen as one of her ladies; Ludvik hears Maleen crying, but doesn’t know who it is. While Ludvik is out, Adelaide goes into labor and dies giving birth to a stillborn daughter—Frederick suggests that, since Ludvik doesn’t know Adelaide had the baby, pregnant Maleen, who Conrad most likely wouldn’t recognize as someone else, be put into her place and never sent after Conrad. Adelaide’s mother curses Maleen.
1559: Maleen goes to Henrik and finds William there. She pretends to Joseph’s face that she hasn’t seen him, and slips off to find Conrad, who’s up working in the library again. He says that Margareta and Ursula are mad at her and think she’s going to get Ludvik convicted and executed; she argues that they can’t have any reason why their family would have wanted Prince Conrad dead.
1558: Grandson-Ludvik tells Conrad about what Prince Conrad has been doing to him and to Ella; when Conrad asks William, he says that he never noticed anything like that, but believes it; Maleen and Conrad argue about what to do. Henrik approaches William, who rejects him; Richard von Absberg notices and reports the possibility of advancing the family through Henrik to the Absberg patriarch, who tells Richard that he has to be the one to do it.
Episode Three
1526: As morning approaches, Frederick demands that Maleen take Adelaide’s place. He keeps Wilhelm with him as they debate, but Elka sneaks out and rides after Conrad. She catches him and they return to Kollstansze, where Conrad refuses the switch. He and Maleen hide out in the castle. Meanwhile, Ludvik, while out drinking, starts to think about the crying that he heard; he is bothered by it, and, while wandering around outside, sees riders and starts to return to the castle. There, Frederick tells him that his wife lost the baby and seems to have gone insane; he goes into the bedroom where Federica has been put in Adelaide’s place.
1559: Maleen goes to Ramona as she is called in for the inquest and says that she can’t reveal what Ursula told her about Prince Conrad. Ramona is startled; she says she didn’t know it was true; Maleen says that it is; Ramona is shaken and almost goes into premature labor; she avoids questioning and Hildegard provides medical care.
1558: Richard successfully seduces Henrik and returns to his family with the news that Maleen and Conrad have been arguing about something lately, but that he doesn’t know what. The patriarch suggests that Joseph try to seduce Maleen; mostly to spite Richard, Joseph says that he has to find out what the argument is about first. William is suspicious of Richard, but only reveals that to Conrad, not to Henrik.
Episode Four
1526: Ludvik believes that Federica is his wife; Conrad and Maleen try to convince Frederick to send her home when Ludvik leaves the next week and convince Ludvik that she died. Ludvik cancels his trip and begins to call in doctors to see Federica. The first realizes that she has not had a baby and confronts Maleen, who pays him to stay quiet. Maleen is put into confinement as her delivery date approaches, and finds herself with nothing but time to worry about the curse.
1559: The inquest pushes to question Ramona; Hildegard is taken in for questioning during the night, and Ursula goes to sit with Ramona, and they speak briefly about Prince Conrad. The von Absbergs continue looking for William, who is still with Henrik. Richard argues with Henrik. Margareta argues with Richard when he leaves – her husband gets involved. The patriarch is upset that Henrik told Richard not to come back.
1558: Joseph begins to put himself in Maleen’s way – they speak briefly once and she seems uninterested in him, but later argues with Conrad again about what to do with their grandchildren and Prince Conrad. Richard tries unsuccessfully to bribe William into telling him what Conrad and Maleen argued about. William reports to Conrad; Conrad tells Henrik, who goes to William to make sure he didn’t say anything to Richard about Prince Conrad.
Episode Five
1526: Ludvik continues to call in doctors and priests to see Federica, while refusing to have much to do with her. Conrad offers to have his father the doctor visit. Ludvik asks Conrad to come talk to him; he spends most of the night awake trying to convince Ludvik not to send Federica to a convent or divorce her. He succeeds in part; but the next day, when his father arrives and says the same thing, Ludvik accuses them of being on John’s side in liking Maleen-Federica, and calls in a bishop to perform an exorcism.
1559: Now with Ramona on their side, Margareta, Ursula, and Hildegard approach Maleen and ask her to stop the inquest before Ella can be taken in for questioning. Maleen refuses and Ella is interrogated. Joseph suggests to Maleen that William is guilty of something because of his sudden disappearance. Maleen plays along, but cryptically sends Margareta to tell William to hurry to get back to his regular room; when the von Absbergs take the inquest there, Elka is there and says he’s sick; they lose credibility in the eyes of the inquest.
1558: Margareta finds out that William knows about Prince Conrad and argues with Henrik, who argues briefly with William and then tells Richard. A von Absberg meeting occurs, but Richard doesn’t reveal anything.
Episode Six
1526: The bishop has not yet arrived; Ludvik tells Federica that she can’t come to Mass with him; she starts crying, and he panics; he asks Maleen what to do; she tells him to go apologize. He does; Federica calms down and they go to Mass; Maleen and Conrad begin further plans to feign Federica’s death the next time Ludvik is away.
1559: Joseph, trying to recover some credibility, goes to Maleen and tells her that they found William eavesdropping – Maleen says that’s his job and, after a brief kiss, sends him away. She goes to Conrad and says she’s afraid of trying to stop the inquest. They come close to reaching an understanding – she convinces him that it is almost over and that she will pardon Ludvik – but grandson-Ludvik wakes from nightmares and comes to find them, and Conrad backs away from their agreement and says that the trial this is leading to isn’t fair and is only going to make things worse – he wants to reveal that they poisoned Prince Conrad, but Maleen refuses and says that it will be easier to pardon Ludvik with her as regent than it would be to get pardoned as a murderer if they lost all power.
1558: Margareta gets married; Richard continues refusing to reveal anything to the von Absbergs, saying that he doesn’t know yet.
Episode Seven
1526: Convinced that he has been given a new life and calling by God, Ludvik announces that Federica is coming with him when the court visits Scharrau, which obliterates their plans to feign her death while he’s away.
1559: Ursula finds out that she is pregnant; she receives a letter from her husband asking if he should join her. The von Absbergs threaten William. Grandson-Ludvik is called in for further questioning – Maleen says that Conrad should be allowed to go with him.
1558: Maleen and Conrad argue again after a disastrous dinner with a prospective wife for grandson-Ludvik. Joseph pushes Richard to reveal what Conrad and Maleen argued about; Richard tells him what it was about, but tells a different story than the one Henrik told; it is suggested that it is his own story about Prince Conrad. Joseph finds Maleen in the council chamber, tells her that he knows what the fight was about, and starts to make friends with her
Episode Eight
1526: Maleen meets her great-uncle the prince of Scharrau; he is old and shown to be extremely unstable and violent. They visit the lodge where Frederick and Maleen’s mother grew up; horrified by the conditions, Ludvik abandons negotiations but is pushed to resume them by Frederick and Maleen. Maleen and Conrad argue after they disagree on whether or not he should negotiate with the prince of Scharrau. They lie awake lost in separate memories.
1559: Grandson-Ludvik remembers nothing and is distressed during interrogation. Conrad continues telling the story of the night it happened, but recalls poisioning his son with Maleen’s help.
1512: A teenaged Wilhelm is temporarily put in charge of John and Conrad, then about seven, after the abrupt departure of one of the tutors who had been in charge. He and Elka quickly figure out that something isn’t right with the other tutor’s behavior. He goes to Conrad’s father, who says he will arrange that tutor’s departure and offers to pay him to be quiet; Wilhelm refuses the money. Around the same time, Maleen—then about five—watches her parents through an evening. Her mother is clingy, nervous, and short-tempered with Maleen; she watches as her father puts food on her mother’s plate, and later follows them back to their bedroom, where her mother gets upset at the ladies touching her when they help her with her dress; she doesn’t want Maleen’s father to touch her, either, and the memory ends with her mother crying and the back of her dress open enough to show old scars from the Scharrau children’s lodge.
Episode Nine
1526: Still in Scharrau, Maleen talks to the prince’s heir and obtains his promise to shut down the lodge; this does nothing about her argument with Conrad; they argue again about sex. In Willmars, John and Barbara entertain the bishop on his way to Kollstansze; he is conservative and inflexible and they are both afraid of him and try to write to warn Conrad and Maleen; the bishop intercepts their letters, and Mark gets beaten up by some of the bishop’s men.
1559: Maleen is questioned by the inquest council.
Earlier 1559: Maleen and Joseph are clearly having an emotional affair. The court departs for a summit in Willmars. Conrad expresses his panic about Maleen and Joseph to John; Mark tries to talk Maleen out of it. Richard feels guilty about reporting everything Henrik says to the von Absbergs, and argues badly with Henrik.
Episode Ten
1526: The court returns to Kollstansze; the bishop arrives.
1559: The inquest council announces that they have found evidence of poison being used to subdue prince Conrad before he was stabbed, and accuse Joseph of poisoning him. They say that they need to have a full trial.
Earlier 1559: Joseph, while at the summit in Willmars, begins an affair with Maleen—Conrad finds out but doesn’t confront her.
1526: As Maleen’s brother approaches, word arrives that he’s seriously ill and has stopped one town away. Maleen and Frederick sneak out to visit him; he doesn’t find out about the switch. Conrad deals with Federica, after Adelaide slaps her. In Willmars, John, Mark, Barbara, and Franz are unimpressed by Ludvik and decide they should do something change his behavior; Franz and Mark take him to the town where Maleen’s brother is, where they see Maleen slipping into the inn where her brother is. He thinks it is Adelaide-Maleen—while they hope he will be softened by seeing her be kind, he is not, and his behavior continues on as it has.
1559: William wakes up in Henrik’s room and starts to sneak out, but Henrik stops him; William evades saying much of anything and goes to Conrad to report what he heard from the von Absbergs. Richard arrives and seems to successfully distract Henrik, while really looking for William; Henrik pretends to be distracted while covering up evidence. Margareta and Ursula meet and decide that Ursula will reveal to the inquest how terrible their brother was, but Maleen catches Ursula before she goes in for questioning and convinces her not to tell. Joseph von Absberg berates Richard for making Henrik suspicious, and says he’ll show him how it’s done; he goes to Maleen and starts to suggest to her that William has left. Ursula lies in the inquest. William is afraid of putting Elka in danger and goes back to Henrik, and falls asleep in his room again.
Episode Two
1526: Ludvik arrives home and mocks Adelaide-Maleen and her brother; he dismisses Conrad as ambassador and commands him home immediately, with Maleen to follow. Adelaide is furious with Maleen for going to see him and provoking Ludvik and dismisses Maleen as one of her ladies; Ludvik hears Maleen crying, but doesn’t know who it is. While Ludvik is out, Adelaide goes into labor and dies giving birth to a stillborn daughter—Frederick suggests that, since Ludvik doesn’t know Adelaide had the baby, pregnant Maleen, who Conrad most likely wouldn’t recognize as someone else, be put into her place and never sent after Conrad. Adelaide’s mother curses Maleen.
1559: Maleen goes to Henrik and finds William there. She pretends to Joseph’s face that she hasn’t seen him, and slips off to find Conrad, who’s up working in the library again. He says that Margareta and Ursula are mad at her and think she’s going to get Ludvik convicted and executed; she argues that they can’t have any reason why their family would have wanted Prince Conrad dead.
1558: Grandson-Ludvik tells Conrad about what Prince Conrad has been doing to him and to Ella; when Conrad asks William, he says that he never noticed anything like that, but believes it; Maleen and Conrad argue about what to do. Henrik approaches William, who rejects him; Richard von Absberg notices and reports the possibility of advancing the family through Henrik to the Absberg patriarch, who tells Richard that he has to be the one to do it.
Episode Three
1526: As morning approaches, Frederick demands that Maleen take Adelaide’s place. He keeps Wilhelm with him as they debate, but Elka sneaks out and rides after Conrad. She catches him and they return to Kollstansze, where Conrad refuses the switch. He and Maleen hide out in the castle. Meanwhile, Ludvik, while out drinking, starts to think about the crying that he heard; he is bothered by it, and, while wandering around outside, sees riders and starts to return to the castle. There, Frederick tells him that his wife lost the baby and seems to have gone insane; he goes into the bedroom where Federica has been put in Adelaide’s place.
1559: Maleen goes to Ramona as she is called in for the inquest and says that she can’t reveal what Ursula told her about Prince Conrad. Ramona is startled; she says she didn’t know it was true; Maleen says that it is; Ramona is shaken and almost goes into premature labor; she avoids questioning and Hildegard provides medical care.
1558: Richard successfully seduces Henrik and returns to his family with the news that Maleen and Conrad have been arguing about something lately, but that he doesn’t know what. The patriarch suggests that Joseph try to seduce Maleen; mostly to spite Richard, Joseph says that he has to find out what the argument is about first. William is suspicious of Richard, but only reveals that to Conrad, not to Henrik.
Episode Four
1526: Ludvik believes that Federica is his wife; Conrad and Maleen try to convince Frederick to send her home when Ludvik leaves the next week and convince Ludvik that she died. Ludvik cancels his trip and begins to call in doctors to see Federica. The first realizes that she has not had a baby and confronts Maleen, who pays him to stay quiet. Maleen is put into confinement as her delivery date approaches, and finds herself with nothing but time to worry about the curse.
1559: The inquest pushes to question Ramona; Hildegard is taken in for questioning during the night, and Ursula goes to sit with Ramona, and they speak briefly about Prince Conrad. The von Absbergs continue looking for William, who is still with Henrik. Richard argues with Henrik. Margareta argues with Richard when he leaves – her husband gets involved. The patriarch is upset that Henrik told Richard not to come back.
1558: Joseph begins to put himself in Maleen’s way – they speak briefly once and she seems uninterested in him, but later argues with Conrad again about what to do with their grandchildren and Prince Conrad. Richard tries unsuccessfully to bribe William into telling him what Conrad and Maleen argued about. William reports to Conrad; Conrad tells Henrik, who goes to William to make sure he didn’t say anything to Richard about Prince Conrad.
Episode Five
1526: Ludvik continues to call in doctors and priests to see Federica, while refusing to have much to do with her. Conrad offers to have his father the doctor visit. Ludvik asks Conrad to come talk to him; he spends most of the night awake trying to convince Ludvik not to send Federica to a convent or divorce her. He succeeds in part; but the next day, when his father arrives and says the same thing, Ludvik accuses them of being on John’s side in liking Maleen-Federica, and calls in a bishop to perform an exorcism.
1559: Now with Ramona on their side, Margareta, Ursula, and Hildegard approach Maleen and ask her to stop the inquest before Ella can be taken in for questioning. Maleen refuses and Ella is interrogated. Joseph suggests to Maleen that William is guilty of something because of his sudden disappearance. Maleen plays along, but cryptically sends Margareta to tell William to hurry to get back to his regular room; when the von Absbergs take the inquest there, Elka is there and says he’s sick; they lose credibility in the eyes of the inquest.
1558: Margareta finds out that William knows about Prince Conrad and argues with Henrik, who argues briefly with William and then tells Richard. A von Absberg meeting occurs, but Richard doesn’t reveal anything.
Episode Six
1526: The bishop has not yet arrived; Ludvik tells Federica that she can’t come to Mass with him; she starts crying, and he panics; he asks Maleen what to do; she tells him to go apologize. He does; Federica calms down and they go to Mass; Maleen and Conrad begin further plans to feign Federica’s death the next time Ludvik is away.
1559: Joseph, trying to recover some credibility, goes to Maleen and tells her that they found William eavesdropping – Maleen says that’s his job and, after a brief kiss, sends him away. She goes to Conrad and says she’s afraid of trying to stop the inquest. They come close to reaching an understanding – she convinces him that it is almost over and that she will pardon Ludvik – but grandson-Ludvik wakes from nightmares and comes to find them, and Conrad backs away from their agreement and says that the trial this is leading to isn’t fair and is only going to make things worse – he wants to reveal that they poisoned Prince Conrad, but Maleen refuses and says that it will be easier to pardon Ludvik with her as regent than it would be to get pardoned as a murderer if they lost all power.
1558: Margareta gets married; Richard continues refusing to reveal anything to the von Absbergs, saying that he doesn’t know yet.
Episode Seven
1526: Convinced that he has been given a new life and calling by God, Ludvik announces that Federica is coming with him when the court visits Scharrau, which obliterates their plans to feign her death while he’s away.
1559: Ursula finds out that she is pregnant; she receives a letter from her husband asking if he should join her. The von Absbergs threaten William. Grandson-Ludvik is called in for further questioning – Maleen says that Conrad should be allowed to go with him.
1558: Maleen and Conrad argue again after a disastrous dinner with a prospective wife for grandson-Ludvik. Joseph pushes Richard to reveal what Conrad and Maleen argued about; Richard tells him what it was about, but tells a different story than the one Henrik told; it is suggested that it is his own story about Prince Conrad. Joseph finds Maleen in the council chamber, tells her that he knows what the fight was about, and starts to make friends with her
Episode Eight
1526: Maleen meets her great-uncle the prince of Scharrau; he is old and shown to be extremely unstable and violent. They visit the lodge where Frederick and Maleen’s mother grew up; horrified by the conditions, Ludvik abandons negotiations but is pushed to resume them by Frederick and Maleen. Maleen and Conrad argue after they disagree on whether or not he should negotiate with the prince of Scharrau. They lie awake lost in separate memories.
1559: Grandson-Ludvik remembers nothing and is distressed during interrogation. Conrad continues telling the story of the night it happened, but recalls poisioning his son with Maleen’s help.
1512: A teenaged Wilhelm is temporarily put in charge of John and Conrad, then about seven, after the abrupt departure of one of the tutors who had been in charge. He and Elka quickly figure out that something isn’t right with the other tutor’s behavior. He goes to Conrad’s father, who says he will arrange that tutor’s departure and offers to pay him to be quiet; Wilhelm refuses the money. Around the same time, Maleen—then about five—watches her parents through an evening. Her mother is clingy, nervous, and short-tempered with Maleen; she watches as her father puts food on her mother’s plate, and later follows them back to their bedroom, where her mother gets upset at the ladies touching her when they help her with her dress; she doesn’t want Maleen’s father to touch her, either, and the memory ends with her mother crying and the back of her dress open enough to show old scars from the Scharrau children’s lodge.
Episode Nine
1526: Still in Scharrau, Maleen talks to the prince’s heir and obtains his promise to shut down the lodge; this does nothing about her argument with Conrad; they argue again about sex. In Willmars, John and Barbara entertain the bishop on his way to Kollstansze; he is conservative and inflexible and they are both afraid of him and try to write to warn Conrad and Maleen; the bishop intercepts their letters, and Mark gets beaten up by some of the bishop’s men.
1559: Maleen is questioned by the inquest council.
Earlier 1559: Maleen and Joseph are clearly having an emotional affair. The court departs for a summit in Willmars. Conrad expresses his panic about Maleen and Joseph to John; Mark tries to talk Maleen out of it. Richard feels guilty about reporting everything Henrik says to the von Absbergs, and argues badly with Henrik.
Episode Ten
1526: The court returns to Kollstansze; the bishop arrives.
1559: The inquest council announces that they have found evidence of poison being used to subdue prince Conrad before he was stabbed, and accuse Joseph of poisoning him. They say that they need to have a full trial.
Earlier 1559: Joseph, while at the summit in Willmars, begins an affair with Maleen—Conrad finds out but doesn’t confront her.
- Conrad met Prince Ludvik as early as 1521 but did not stop at his court in 1524 on the way to Italy.
- Viscount Frederick was Maleen’s first cousin once removed, not her uncle
- Federica was not raised by servants, but at an estate removed from court
- Princess Barbara did not have one long term affair, as the show suggests, but several different ones.
- It is unknown exactly who Maleen had an affair with – while it is known he was a von Absberg, his first name is unknown and George Powell invented the character of Joseph.
- There is no proof that Ludvik was drunk or crude the first night Maleen arrived at his court
- It’s unclear whether or not Adelaide was actually unkind to Maleen
- Henrik and William Brandt would have begun a relationship in 1558, not 1559. The date has been moved for added tension.
- The portrait gallery threats to William likely did not happen.
- Prince Conrad was not known to be especially eager to take the throne.
- William and Conrad likely poisoned prince Conrad, but there is no exact proof of that
- Adelaide did not forbid Maleen’s marriage to Conrad
- There is no proof that Ramona did not believe Ursula and Margareta’s accusations against their brother
- Maleen’s brother was several years younger, not older like he is in the show
- Maleen’s brother never came to visit her in Kollstansze
- Hildegard was a cousin of Ursula’s husband, not his half-sister
- The show suggests that Otto of Willmars is John’s son, while this is really unlikely
- There’s no proof that the von Absbergs tried to kill William Brandt
- Franz and Mark did nothing to try to change Ludvik’s behavior towards his wife; the 1526 scene did not happen. In actuality, Barbara intensely disliked John and Mark for most of her life, and her various lovers agreed.
- Ludvik did not dismiss Conrad or send him away in 1526; Elka did not ride after him to stop him
- There is no evidence that Richard’s relationship with Henrik was purely information-gathering to feed to Joseph’s real-life counterpart
- The inquest and trial were largely the same event; no real-life counterpart of Joseph was accused of poisoning Prince Conrad
George Powell, Interview
The Cursed Queen, by Elizabeth Raye-Muller
The So-Called Mad Kings, Kira Lennox
Love Letters, Julie Shipland
As Alike As Two Suns, Natalie Andrews
Interview With Kira Lennox
Analysis of Season 2, Episode 8
The Cursed Queen, by Elizabeth Raye-Muller
The So-Called Mad Kings, Kira Lennox
Love Letters, Julie Shipland
As Alike As Two Suns, Natalie Andrews
Interview With Kira Lennox
Analysis of Season 2, Episode 8