Versailles

Louis has every reason to be happy - his palace is expanding and is admired the world over; and his troops are preparing to invade Holland and crush Guillaume d’Orange. However, he is still haunted by nightmares, and his paranoia grows, whilst his brother, Philippe, refuses to set foot back in Versailles.

The Church rises up against the King, commanding him to end his adultery with Montespan. The bishop Bossuet forms an alliance with Father Pascal, who has come to the Court at the Queen’s behest to return order and morality to the Palace.

Poisonings continue to spread, and Fabien’s investigations have reached a dead end. The King’s decisions are criticised, such as his appointment of Cassel to the position of Minister of Justice. To ensure Cassel is kept under constant surveillance, Louis decides that he must marry Sophie.

Madeleine de Foix is thrown into prison for murder by poisoning. Before her last breath, she sends Gaston to the only person who may be able to help him win a position in Court: Madame Agathe. At the Palace, Louis and Montespan's child has become gravely ill.

Louis is afflicted by terrible insomnia, which feeds his paranoia. He dismisses Fabien from his duties, and distances himself more and more from his entourage - with the exception of Montespan.

The King’s army wins several victories on the Dutch front, but it isn’t enough for Louis, who wants to crush Holland and bring Guillaume d’Orange to his knees. But he doesn’t foresee Guillaume's guile. He draws Louis into a trap and forces his army to retreat.

Louis and Guillaume d’Orange engage in a merciless face-off. In a game of cat and mouse, they size each other up, study, and challenge one another. At the end of this formidable one-on-one, Louis finally emerges from the tiredness that paralysed him, and made him so dread his own creation, the Palace of Versailles

Louis is determined to regain control over his palace and his life. He begins by ending his relationship with Montespan. Humiliated in front of the Court, she decides the unthinkable: if God has forsaken her, then it's to the Devil she must now turn.

Montespan seals a pact with the Devil by taking part in a black mass orchestrated by the defrocked priest Etienne Guibourg. Fabien and his men interrupt the satanic ritual at its climax, but Montespan manages to escape without being seen.

Agathe's arrest shocks the Palace: Montespan and Gaston keep a low profile as one by one the royal guards arrest every noble person implicated in the poison scandal. Humiliated by her fall from grace, a desperate Montespan prepares for revenge: if she cannot have Louis, then Louis must disappear.