The Empress – Season 2 Episode 5 Recap & Review

The Forest Inside Us

Episode 5 of The Empress season 2 starts with Princess Fienchen’s burial. Elisabeth is beside herself with grief and lashes out at Franz for taking her away when Frienchen needed her. She also confronts Sophia when she tries to intervene. After the funeral, Elisabeth returns home, where she spends her day taking long walks in the forest and refusing to eat.

At the palace, Franz is distracted from his duties even as reports that Maximilian is focusing on education, churches, and equipping hospitals and libraries in Lombardy-Venetia. Buol believes that Maximilian’s approach to quell the resistance movement in Milan is not working.

He tries to convince Franz to take military action against the resistance, but Franz barely listens to their concerns. Sophia worries that Elisabeth is not planning to return, and Franz has lost himself in his grief. She tries to get Franz’s mind back to the people by forcing him to go to plays to remind him of his duties. She reaches out to Louise and asks her to seduce Franz and comfort him. Louise turns her offer down.

Meanwhile, in Bayern, Elisabeth tries to dissuade her younger sister Mimi from marrying for love. The recent events have made Elisabeth lose faith in love and religion. Her mom tries to get her to get past her pain and loss, but it is hard since Elisabeth is stubborn.

In Milan, Maximilian hosts a soiree for the Milanese High Society, but he is caught off guard by news that the General forcefully enlisted young men to the military from the town to fight the rebels. Maximilian confronts him and fires him for undermining him.

The General is adamant that the revolution is coming and the rebels are attacking his soldiers and killing them.  Maximilian and Marie are also worried that they have been unable to convince. The doctor informs Maximilian that he might have become infertile after getting multiple STI infections in the past.

As for Elisabeth, she learns that her younger sister will be married in the coming year, and Helene fell in love with a man from a poor background, and Franz denied them his blessings. Frustrated, Elisabeth visits her dad, who is currently living with the circus group he sponsors. He talks to Elisabeth and encourages her to find her will to live again. Elisabeth later leaves and falls asleep in the forest. While there, she dreams of Fienchen.

The next morning, Elisabeth’s mom finds her and takes her home. She finally manages to get through to Elisabeth and get her to eat something and forgive herself.

In Vienna, Buol plants seeds of doubt in Franz’s mind about Maximilian’s intentions in Milan, and gets permission to handle the matter as he sees fit. Meanwhile, Alexander becomes upset when Buol uses his power to give General Gyulai authority to enhance military action in Milan.

Alexander rudely asks Sophia to intervene, but she cautions him to watch his tone. On the other hand, the news that the palace has cut their funds shocks Maximilian and Marie. They argue, and it ends up getting physical. Marie asks Maximilian to fix the problem or she will leave him.

Later, Margarete gets drunk before dinner, and Sophia calls Alexander for company, but their meeting is interrupted by Louise, who has changed her mind. Sophia sends Louise to Franz’s room, where she finds him drunk and grieving for his daughter, and he mistakenly confesses his love to her, thinking she is Elisabeth.

The Baroness is hurt because she initially thought he was talking about her. Meanwhile, Alexander and Sophia have a heart-to-heart conversation, where Sophia shares her tough exterior and Alexander reveals his heartbreak over learning Leontine’s secret. However, when Alexander tries to kiss Sophia, she rejects him.

After finally coming to terms with the death of Fienchen, Elisabeth decides to return home. Simultaneously, Franz decides to go to Bayern to fetch his wife. They end up meeting on the road and making up. We also learn that Elisabeth wrote to Franz and asked him to give Helene his blessing to man her beloved. The episode concludes with Napoleon discussing his plan with his trusted right-hand man. They intend to trap Franz into declaring war on Piedmont, ensuring that Franz is unaware of their scheme.

The Episode Review

The death of a child can turn any couple’s world inside out, but it seems Franz and Elisabeth find the grace to stay together. Elisabeth’s reaction is understandable, but Franz is not to blame for what happened to Fienchen. However, she needed someone to blame, and Franz was it. As for Sophie, I have no idea what she was thinking. Who sends a mistress to seduce her married son while he is grieving his daughter and on the verge of losing his wife? Thankfully, Franz didn’t take the bait. And what was Louise thinking? She is married! The things greed makes people do!

Alexander’s new friendship with Sophie comes as a big surprise. At the same time, Margarete is losing herself and making mistakes. The pressure to have a family and succeed in Milan has been getting to Maximilian. However, that was no excuse to get physically violent with his wife. With Buol giving Gyulai more power, it seems Austria will inevitably head into war with Piedmont, just as Napoleon is planning.