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"Ondata di Calore"
- July, 1492. Rome and the Papal States are ruled by one authority: Pope Innocent VIII. He is advised by the College of Cardinals, comprised of ambitious men, sons of Rome's ruling families. They all hate each other. The Pope's most powerful adviser is Vice-Chancellor Rodrigo Borgia, a man determined to forage a legacy. A legacy many wish to prevent. He draws support from his married lover Giulia Farnese, and his family: Juan, Cesare, and Lucrezia. His trust may be misplaced. Still, Rodrigo is determined that none shall forget the name Borgia.
Cesare has a feeling he's going to die soon, so him and and Alessandro go to a seer. He gets a prophecy: "You will not die soon. But five will die before the summer heat cools. Deaths that will change you."
Alessandro plays Mr. Exposition on the way home, reminding Cesare and the audience that the pope doesn't like witches, and wouldn't like him going to one.
There's a banquet in honor of Giovanni de Medici being made a cardinal.
At the banquet, Lucrezia finds out she's not going to marry Querubi de Centelles after all. Now it's Don Gaspare de Procida, son of the count of Almenara and Aversa—richer and handsomer, Giulia promises.
Then a girl throws up. She has the fever. The Plague is here! Then Giovanni says his father is sick.
Rodrigo pulls Juan and Cesare aside to tell them that in Turkey, Bajazet has defeated his brother Djem, and Djem is being sent to France.
The frail Pope gives a not-very-inspiring speech to the peoples of Rome... and the Shahzadeh Djem shows up! And as a present, he brings the Pope the The Lance of Longinus, the blade that stabbed Jesus. And then the Pope turns to Rodrigo, and quietly thanks him.
Goffredo shows up at the Cancelleria, telling Lucrezia that their mother is sick with the fever, and that Lucrezia has to come to her. Adriana says no: Lucrezia is preparing to meet her future husband, and being exposed to the sickness is dangerous. Giulia encourages Lucrezia to go, but Lucrezia says Giulia is just baiting her, knowing that Rodrigo would be mad if she went. Lucrezia says no, she can't go, an Goffredo leaves in tears.
Lorenzo de Medici—Giovanni's father, who he said was sick—has died. Cesare says it's the first of the 5 deaths. Giovanni mourns for his father, and fears for him—the monk Savonarola refused to grant him absolution. Cesare is a good friend, and tells him not to worry. Cesare, Giovanni, and Alessando have a trio Man Hug, while Juan watches jealously.
Later, Alessandro is The Confidant while Cesare talks about his emotions—how he always feels that there's a beast and archangel struggling inside him, and the beast usually wins. He's consumed with jealousy, of Juan and of Giovanni. He's Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life. Alessandro says Cesare can find greatness though another route—that he's nice when he's calm. He should make restitution to those he's sinned against...
...so Cesare goes to apologies to Marcantonio, the guy whose finger he cut off. Marcantonio tells him to go to hell, and shoots arrows at him. Cesare says Please Kill Me if It Satisfies You—if it could end the Borgia-Colonna feud, then do it. Marcantonio doesn't—thought he's still mad, and says the Borgia will all be screwed when the Pope dies.
Lucrezia meets her fiancé, and there's a party. Juan and Cesare gossip about politics. Turns out Djem's brother Bajazet is offering a lot of money to the man who kills his brother. There's one man—Castanea—they think is planning to go that, so they plot against him. They go to a brothel with Castanea, to befriend him and find out his plan. Yup, he plans to Djem. They give Castanea their man Rudolfo as his valet, and head out.
Lucrezia was underwhelmed by her fiancé, and is now refusing to marry him. Giulia, and later Rodrigo, say whatever—she has to. Rodrigo asks Giulia to talk Lucrezia into it.
The Pope is sick, and on his deathbed. The doctor says there's nothing more he can do, so the cardinals scramble to get ready. They all have to secure their palaces, and they all want to control the treasury when he dies.
Giulia talks to Lucrezia's Don Gaspare, and convinces him that he really should seduce Lucrezia. So he goes to Lucrezia and gives her a rose, saying that with the city in turmoil, he was thinking of her.
Goffredo shows up again, this time going to Juan and Cesare, telling them that their mother is sick and dying, and that they must come. Cesare goes.
The cardinals all gather for the reading of the Pope's will, which gives the keys of the treasury to della Rovere. The will was changed 5 days ago—and 5 days ago, the Pope was too sick to speak. They get into a fist-fight, right then and there, in front of the dying pope. The Pope's son tells them off.
Borgia says he has to keep the Pope alive until he can get this will stuff dealt with, and he must move the money from the treasury to secret location of theirs.
Goffredo takes Cesare home, where they mother Vannozza, her husband, and their little brother Octavio, are dying of the fever. Cesare sends for the witch, the one who read his fortune.
Giulia talk to Lucrezia about her engagement, and Lucrezia confesses that she's starting to like him. Giulia talks about how as women, and they can use their sexuality as power. "Are you shocked because you have never heard such words, or do you pretend to be shocked because you know if your heart that I speak true?"
To keep the Pope alive a little longer, Rodrigo brings a wet-nurse for him.
