Louis XIII

King Louis XIII
Position:	King of France
Affiliated with:	The Musketeers
Place of origin:	France
Family:	Marie de Medici (mother) Queen Anne (wife) Dauphin (presumed/legal son) Feron (half-brother) Duchess of Savoy (sister) Duke of Savoy (brother-in-law) Louis Amdaeus (nephew)
First seen in:	Friends and Enemies
Final appearance:	The Prize
Main actor:	Ryan Gage

Louis XIII is the King of France throughout the show and is married to Queen Anne. Queen Anne is an Infanta of Spain and Portugal and an Archduchess of Austria by birth. A most advantageous match for the young king of France. King Louis XIII is the son of former king Henri IV and Marie de Medici. He is a supporting character in The Musketeers and played by Ryan Gage.

Personality

A vain and arrogant snob, Louis XIII takes advantage of his aristocratic lifestyle. He does allow his council to advise him, but nevertheless, does make rash decisions himself. Ultimately, he shows great ignorance in his position, and isn't consistent with his loyalties. He turns both to the Cardinal and Treville for support, unknowingly changing his mind all the time. There is one instance where he allows the Cardinal to deal with Emile Bonnaire himself. He has a great disregard for people who don't concern him, such as the people of the Court of Miracles whom he attempts to banish as he rebuilds the city of Paris.

On a softer side, when he is fearful that he has made the wrong decision he turns directly to his advisors for the answers and is quick to judge their actions if something goes wrong. For instance, he blames the Musketeers for many slip-ups. When it comes to a threat on his life, the King is very fearful, and only when his Queen is determined to risk it does he comply himself, showing quite a self-centred thought process.

One of Louis's greatest flaws is that he is a terrible judge of character. He failed to see how ruthless and corrupt Cardinal Richelieu was during his time as First Minister, despite everyone else seeing the Cardinal for who he is. Like Queen Anne, he trusted Rochefort upon his return to France, but despite everyone else growing to see him for the monster he was, Louis continued to trust him until Vargas proved Rochefort's treachery. He was also blind to Governor Feron's corrupt rule of Paris, though it was partially because Louis was dying of the white plague and wanted to spend as much time with his son as possible. Despite Gaston's intent to betray him, even after discovering incriminating letters, Louis instead kept giving him a chance and valued him over the lives of Parisians.

Louis shows that he can be very hypocritical. Despite claiming that he valued loyalty above all else, there were times when he himself did not display said loyalty. Despite being angry at Aramis for sleeping with Queen Anne, Louis showed no qualms in having Milady de Winter for a mistress and giving her more attention than his own wife. When his brother, Gaston, and Captain Marcheaux killed former soldiers in Paris, instead of siding with them for their sacrifices to the country, Louis instead chose to protect Gaston, who had every intent to betray him.

Though he stated that he wanted to lead France to greatness, Louis often didn't concern himself with the welfare of the people or the nation and instead focused on his own lavish lifestyle. This hypocrisy is doubled down on when despite seeing human trafficking firsthand and how his actions led to Marmion attempting to kill him and his family, Louis does nothing to improve the welfare of the common people nor address their issues. This is further shown in Season 3 when he does nothing to help the people of Paris, letting them starve and doing nothing to correct Feron's corrupt rule of the city. He despised the idea of being viewed as a coward, yet at times when he faced hard situations, like Marie de Medici returning to France or when he was Marmion's captive, he let fear overwhelm him and hid away. Louis states that he enjoys having honest men at court such as Treville, yet often sided with those who showed him blind loyalty and were quite sycophantic.

At his core, Louis was a well-meaning man, but his immaturity, arrogance, and inability to learn from his mistakes left people to view him as weak, ungrateful and incompetent.

Biography

Early Reign

King Louis XII and his sister The Duchess of Savoy

In The Good Soldier it is revealed that King Louis XIII most important spy is his sister Christine, the Duchess of Savoy, who is at risk of being exposed by Cluzet the former chancellor of Savoy. Not wanting this to come into the light and not wanting to lose his best spy, he sacrifices a troupe of Musketeers who are camping at the border of Savoy. He orders Captain Treville to inform the Duke of Savoy that his Musketeers are there to plot his assassination. By revealing the location of his musketeers Captain Treville saves King Louis XIII most important spy.

War with Spain

During a bird-shooting session, the King was told by Cardinal Armand Richelieu that there had been reports of rampaging Musketeers. Despite dismissing them at first, the King was persuaded to make an inquiry and he ordered Treville to provide his full cooperation.

When Athos the Musketeer was put on trial by the Cardinal, the King is required to make a decision based on the evidence. He decided to execute Athos as an example, ignoring Treville's pleas. Following the trial, the King was confronted by Treville who explained about Cornet's disappearance with the King's confidential documents. Livid, Louis demanded that Treville found the Musketeer as soon as possible, and indicated that he was very disappointed in the captain.

In the middle of a conversation with the Cardinal about the inevitable war between France and Spain, the King decided to tell him directly about the letters containing a request for a peace treaty for his brother-in-law. Naively, he told the Cardinal that he would do anything to resolve the situation.

Hearing from Cardinal Richelieu and Treville about the threat on his life during Easter mass, the King was initially skeptical about going through with the traditional ceremony. However, when his Queen vowed that it would be unseemly for them not to appear, he hurriedly agreed. At the Easter mass, the King was unceremoniously escorted to a carriage away from the attack that occurred where he was joined by the Queen and the Cardinal.

In the midst of creating his latest ship model, King Louis was informed by the Cardinal of Emile Bonnaire's actions, which had broken the treaty between France and Spain. King Louis ordered him to be punished accordingly. On the subject of Spain, King Louis mentioned to the Cardinal that he was keen to build a model of the Spanish Armada, and emphasised how it was a catastrophe.

Louis became increasingly annoyed when he was forced to wait for the Duke of Savoy to arrive. When they finally did, he greeted the Duke and Louis' own sister in the proper manner. However, their meeting was interrupted by a gunshot from nearby, which hit one of the stewards. Ushered into the Louvre palace by Treville, he was distraught to hear that the Duke would not sign the treaty until the culprit was caught. Later, the King agreed to duel his nephew, Louis Amadeus, in a fencing match. While at first surprised at the boy's skill, the King ultimately won.

The King and Cardinal watch the Duke duel.

In the lead up to signing the treaty, King Louis oversaw a duel between the Duke and one of the Musketeers, Athos, in order to determine whether he would sign the treaty or head home. He asked the Cardinal whether the duel was a good idea, and Richelieu replied that it depended on the outcome. To make one final stab at completing the peace treaty, the King and Cardinal met with the Duke, but were forcefully accused of being liars. First minister Gontard explained that they had proof that ex-Chancellor of Savoy, Cluzet had been captured by Musketeers and brought to Paris. The King looked on worriedly as the Cardinal was forced to follow them to meet with Cluzet. After the Duke didn't find Cluzet, he returned to the palace to complete the treaty.

In an attempt to make Paris a great city, the King suggested that they demolish the Court of Miracles because he believed it was a filthy place. The Cardinal agreed, however, he believed that it would be difficult to clear the people from the area as they had grown so accustomed to their depravity. Captain Treville later arrived to plea to the King for the postponement of Porthos' execution to find evidence to support his innocence. Under the Cardinal's advice, Louis granted this plea. Emile de Mauvoisin attempted to take hold of the Court by arranging its destruction and offered a deal with the King. The deal was quickly put on hold, however, as the plot to destroy the Court failed.

Following a day of hunting in the forests outside Paris, the King was prepared to enjoy a feast with his court when they were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his mother, Marie de Medici, and her escort, Vincent. Frustrated by the fact that she disregarded his order to leave Paris or be beheaded, Louis faced a dilemma in which he decided to protect his mother from assassins who were trying to kill her.

New heir and Death

The King was blessed with a son, although biologically he belongs to Aramis. Despite this, the King raises him, seemingly oblivious to this fact. A few years after his son is born, Louis contracts Tuberculosis and becomes violently ill. He admits to Aramis that he knew all along that he is not the true father to his supposed son, and forbids Aramis to see him.

After a few months pass, the King's health takes a turn for the worse and he becomes more and more weak. Whilst fencing with Treville, he takes a moment to wave to his son from afar but begins to cough blood and convulse violently. He collapses and dies from his illness, leaving France in turmoil as they are at war with Spain and the King's brother, Gaston, is plotting to take the throne.

Relationships

Queen Anne

Louis is seen to talk rudely and seems at first to resent his wife, for she has not been able to give him heirs to the throne. At court, there does not seem to be any conversation between them. However, he does listen to her sometimes. In any case, he would not allow his Queen to appear to stronger and more determined than him, considering himself higher than her in almost every way.

Louis later finds out that Anne love Aramis and not him also he is not the Father of her son Aramis is and never forgives Anne again or forgets it.

Aramis

King Louis and Aramis's relationship is mainly a professional one, due to Aramis being one of the kings Musketeers. Throughout the three seasons of the show they encounter each other often most being due to assignments that Aramis must fulfil. But other than a professional relationship on a more personal level they have a deep set hate for one another. This comes from the fact that Aramis is in love with the Queen who is married to King Louis. On top of this the king found out about their affair and that fact that they had sex. Louis also finds out that his son is not truly his but rather Aramis's son. After finding this out they share and equal hatred for another, long with this Louis forbids Aramis from seeing his son ever again and that if he did, he would be made an example of Musketeer or not.

Both King Louis and Aramis are often seen having conflicting personalities and opinions. Aramis a very outspoken man and will not hesitate to voice is opinion whether or not he is talking to the king. Often the two men are engaged in a shouting match because of their big differences. The reason for this might be (and I am speculating) the fact that King Louis although married to the young and beautiful queen never earned her love and is thus jealous of the love she and Aramis share. Thus causes him to hate Aramis and Queen Anne.

The Cardinal

The Cardinal is the Kings closest adviser and in a way is almost seen as the more parental and father figure to king Louis XII. He is seen as a fatherly figure because king Louis's father died when Louis was only eight years old. The cardinal is the kings more trusted adviser and the king trust him beyond measure. Throughout the show King Louis often asks for the Cardinals advice in certain political and non political matters.

It is revealed throughout the show that Cardinal Armand Richelieu is the main antagonist and only truly has the welfare of France in mind and not any of its people. Mostly the Cardinal only cares about his power over the King and will not hesitate to go behind his back and cause for certain facts to be put into other peoples shoes. He manipulates the king and others around him. Of course king Louis does not know this. He is later lured into a trap to confess what he has been doing which to his surprise the queen witnesses. But the truth is not revealed in fear of the kings breakdown.

Captain Treville

The King believes Treville has great loyalty to him, and finds his counsel invaluable. However, he is quick to judge Treville and his Musketeers when their plan to exchange messages with a Spanish ambassador goes horribly wrong.

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