History YMMV / TheBorgias

* Fridge Horror: Giovanni Sforza repeatedly rapes & abuses Lucrezia. This ( because of the Truth in Television of that time) would be frightening enough but, (if actual history is to be respected) it gets worse Giovanna had already married Maddalena Gonzaga ,whom (who?) was 17 at the time, before she died and he married Lucrezia. Then, after the annulment of his and Lucrezia's marriage, he (in about 1504) he married Ginevra Tiepolo. This troper knows that the Real Giovanni Sforza was probably not as much as a monster as in the show,but still, in the show-verse, Fridge-Horror

* NightmareFuel: The scene in 1.03 where the Prince of Naples shows della Rovere what his father had done to some enemies who'd plotted against him: [[spoiler: fed them a poisoned buffet, then locked them into an airtight room. They're still there after ''decades''.]]

** And now, [[spoiler: Ursula is dead too. Since she's regarded as TheScrappy by most people, it's unlikely anyone will be too upset by this, even though Cesare all but lampshades the fact that her role was to make him more ruthless; "[her death] has released my heart of all emotions but one; vengeance".]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The murder of [[spoiler:Paolo is more or less resolved in logical but very undramatic fashion in the first fifteen minutes of the episode following. Lucrezia remembers Paolo did not read or wite and couldn't leave a suicide note; she knows of only three people who even possibly knew about them, two of them were, if not in favor, then at least accepting, and the third reacted violently to even the possiblity. She mentions Juan to Rodrigo, who confronts him with Cesare and their mother, and Juan admits it, because he's ''proud'' of "defending her honor".]]

* MoralEventHorizon: Cesare had the first candidate for his MEH when he built a relationship with Ursula completely around lies and killed her husband.
** Or it could have been in the second (or first, depending on how you watch them) episode, when he, you know, ordered the murder of an innocent bystander in order to save his father's political career.

** [[PayEvilUntoEvil [[spoiler: Cesare killing Giovanni Sforza]]]] may be extremely well-deserved, but it's still pretty horrible, especially where his head gets forced slowly forward onto the point of his knife.

* HighOctaneNightmareFuel: The scene in 1.03 where the Prince of Naples shows della Rovere what his father had done to some enemies who'd plotted against him: [[spoiler: fed them a poisoned buffet, then locked them into an airtight room. They're still there after ''decades''.]]

** And now, [[spoiler: Ursula is dead too. Since she's regarded as TheScrappy by most people, it's unlikely anyone will be too upset by this, even though Cesare all but lampshades the fact that her death was in order to make him more ruthless; "her death has freed my heart from all emotions, except vengeance".]]

* IdiotPlot: [[spoiler:After Paolo's death Lucrezia refuses to feed her baby. While everyone is looking for a solution because the child is starving ''no one'' thinks about finding a wet nurse (an issue that had been talked about in the first episode, and never again)]].

*** Or it could have been in the second (or first, depending on how you watch them) episode, when he, you know, ordered the murder of an innocent bystander in order to save his father's political career.

* StuffedInTheFridge: [[spoiler: Maria, the maid in "The Assassin". Micheletto seduces, then brutally murders her, with her death being the "proof" needed for Micheletto and Cesare to set up della Rovere to be banished from Rome. She basically dies so the audience can see how ruthless Micheletto and Cesare are, and to set up della Rovere's revenge angle.]]

* IdiotPlot: [[spoiler:After Paolo's death Lucrezia refuses to feed her baby. While everyone is looking for a solution (a way to bring Lucrezia out of her HeroicBSOD so she would resume feeding the child) ''no one'' thinks about finding a wet nurse (an issue that had been talked about in the first episode, and never again)]].

* IncestYayShipping: The majority of Internet fans ship Cesare and Lucrezia.

*** It's become very popular on {{Tumblr}} to compare the Borgia family to the Bluths from ''ArrestedDevelopment''- particularly Cesare to Michael and Juan to GOB.

* XMeetsY: ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' meets ''Series/TheSopranos''.

* MemeticMutation: Ursula is referred to as [[SpongebobSquarepants Squidward]] on LiveJournal and {{Tumblr}} so often, in many cases her real name isn't even brought up and the fans still know who's being discussed.

* XMeetsY: ''AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' meets ''TheSopranos''.

* HeyItsThatGuy: If you've seen TheTudors then you recognize Ursula as Bessie Blount, Henry VIII's first on-screen mistress and mother of his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy.

* HeyIt'sThatGuy: If you've seen TheTudors then you recognize Ursula as Bessie Blount, Henry VIII's first on-screen mistress and mother of his bastard son, Henry Fitzroy.