I'm going to be a little bold and call this episode of The Musketeers the best of the entire season. 

After such a long wait, all of the most anticipated plots of the season are finally coming to a head! With so much to talk about, it's hard to know where to start with The Musketeers Season 2 Episode 8.

Watch The Musketeers Season 2 Episode 8 Online

Since I tend to like my dessert first, let's begin with one of the only happy developments of the episode. Constance's hesitation to immediately live happily ever after with D'Artagnan was understandable, but Lemay's proposal was a bit of a shock. I half expected him to ask her to work for him as a physician's assistant since she seems to have a talent for that.

Regardless, watching Constance come to her senses and rush to D'Artagnan's side was worth the wait. Not only was the scene visually beautiful, with her skirts billowing all around her as she ran, it was a truly touching moment to watch.

Shut up and kiss me.

D'Artagnan

• Permalink: Shut up and kiss me.

Elsewhere, things were decidedly less happy.

After all these weeks, we finally got to meet Porthos' father. At first I was happy to accept the tragic tale of a forbidden love story turned kidnapping. Porthos seemed happy to accept it too. Sadly, Belgard proved to be pretty villainous, trying to play Porthos all along.

I'm not entirely sure what Belgard's endgame was, which is a little frustrating. Did he always plan for Porthos to show up and he was just waiting to enact his plan? What was that plan? To get rid of Eleanor and Levesque? More importantly, we never got a real sense of how involved Belgard was in the auctioning of innocent girls. 

Overall, the story could have used a little more development. However, it did serve its purpose, giving Porthos the answers he'd always wanted and cementing his place with the Musketeers. They are his real family. 

Milady was spinning her tricks as always, and I'm interested to see if she does turn Rochefort over for the good of France. Athos might have inspired her to be a better person with his tough love policy. 

My God... there really is nothing in there left to save.

Athos

• Permalink: My God... there really is nothing in there left to save.

Finally, Rochefort's true feelings for Anne came out, giving us the most explosive scene of the whole episode.

I was terrified for Anne, first with Rochefort's still kind of craziness, and then his violent attack. I cannot tell you what a relief it was when Constance barged in on them. Rochefort's obsessive love was terrifying enough when it was all in his head, but watching him try to rape Anne was just awful. 

Rochefort: Tell me you love me.
Anne: You're a moster!

• Permalink: You're a moster!

We also got to see Rochefort lose his eye, a physical trait that he was known for in the books. 

Rochefort seems to have finally snapped, and there's no telling what he'll do now. Potentially something murderous since the teaser for The Musketeers Season 2 Episode 9 shows King Louis choking on poison. 

Remember to watch The Musketeers online via TV Fanatic to watch this explosive episode again!