#if the situation was reversed at forli; juan would've warned cesare and rescue him byee

[earlgodwin]

tapping the mic to say 🎤 when do u think the real shift in cesare and juans relationship happened and when did it begin to sour (or the audience could argue there were always notes of sourness and love mixed in together that just developed as time went on to be less fondness and more envy on both sides) bc lowkey ive been thinking the rift began when juan was chosen to go defend rome against king charles's army in s1 and cesare was desperate to don the armour and go and so when juan came back defeated, he was so ashamed with himself but cesare felt petty vindication and in this essay i will...[the audience cuts me off]

"He's not making excuses for what he is anymore, and what he wants to be. He ultimately feels that killing Juan was the right thing for himself. It's something that he focused on and I think he can control his mind into having no second thoughts. And that's the only way you can rule in that era, really." - Francois Arnaud

you're right! it's a mixture of sourness and love because, while cesare resented juan's weakness and naivety, but i think he still cared for him at first because he feels obligated to protect him since he was his family. but mainly, rodrigo's vicious cycle of ambitions tore them apart as he made cesare believe he was inadequate, despite loving, admiring, and relying on him. rodrigo's deliberate self-delusion (he is aware that cesare is the driven and more competent one) and self-loathing prevented him from embracing cesare's true self. appointing juan to a task desired by cesare fueled the hatred and envy as he started thinking juan was rodrigo's favorite. eventually, his frustration towards juan led him to murder him because this is where he becomes the cesare borgia we read about in machiavelli's 'the prince.' and like i said before, juan shaped the rest of cesare's story till the end. he was the one who drove him to finally become what he always meant to be and take the path he was always destined to. it's why juan's death is necessary to him because it was also a way for rodrigo to release him from his position as a cardinal. he claimed to rodrigo that he killed juan because he brought dishonor to the family, but cesare pretty much did contribute to bringing dishonor to the family by not wanting to warn juan about ludovico's army coming his way at forli after machiavelli informed him about it. cesare could have spared his family from another failure but decided not to because his priority was to humiliate juan just to prove a point to rodrigo, that he is the better son. he even gaslit juan about it by telling rodrigo that he wasn't aware of the attack, which makes cesare self-contradicting, just like how he went all "we're borgias, we never forgive" while killing juan because he was well aware juan struggled all his life questioning himself if he was truly rodrigo's son or not and desperately wanted to belong. cesare very decidedly excluded juan because he wanted to even emotionally hurt him in his final moment, then later was begging for "forgiveness" from rodrigo, a borgia, after the murder. also rodrigo feels a great deal of guilt (as he was hallucinating and dreaming of juan in s3) for making juan envied by cesare which led him to the decision to murder him, as that was the only way for cesare to gain his father's attention and the papal army. and when rodrigo finally forgives cesare for his sin of fratricide, rodrigo also forgives himself of the blame he's placed upon himself and the guilt he feels for letting his ambition destroy his family. they finally let go of the past and rodrigo can finally embrace cesare for the person he really is and has always loved deeply.

"he loves his errant son, does he not? More than he loves his dutiful one." - Cesare Borgia

cesare was proven wrong after all the time he was thinking juan was the favorite. he came to the realization that even though rodrigo saw so much of himself in him, he still planned from the beginning to make cesare his true heir. this brought relief and a sense of validation after years of feeling inadequate. rodrigo always intended for cesare to succeed him in the church, which was the only way that truly mattered to him. he made cesare a cardinal, a prince of the church, with the ultimate goal of cesare becoming the future pope and king. when rodrigo shared his dream of creating a papal bloodline to be passed down to cesare and his own son, cesare's perspective shifted. he began to heavily care about the perceptions of others, which not only fueled his power hunger but also led to him becoming classist. he even felt ashamed of his mother when she offered him counsel and to join him in war, rejecting her because of her former occupation as a "whore." it was a chilling development in cesare's character and honestly he became more interesting to me than he was in the first two seasons.

"One thing that I've always said about Juan is that every action that he does is heartfelt and genuine. When it was the war against the French, he was there and he was going to go to war, even though he knew he was going to die. He saw them getting ripped apart, but he was there and he was going to do it. I believe if Lucrezia hadn't come over, he would have led all his troops into death. I don't think there's anything that he's done which was through general cowardice. In terms of his survival, he died how he lived, and that's laudable, in itself." - David Oakes

rodrigo sending juan to war against the troops definitely (and rightfully) triggered cesare because juan has no idea what the hell he is doing and even though juan is incompetent, he never asked for the position he was given, but he tried his best to fulfill his responsibilities. like when he showed bravery by willingly risking his life against the french, even after his troops were torn apart in front of his eyes, insisting to lucrezia that he would never accept defeat and that he will keep fighting because he'll never let king charles of france destroy rome and get rid of their father, but only surrendered because the prospect of him dying would upset lucrezia, and lucrezia told him she already had a plan to prevent this.

"It’s interesting that Juan’s attempt at relieving pain is through closeness and hugging and love. When he forgives Cesare at the end saying how they’re brothers and wants to be together, I think that’s genuine. That’s the first time you realize what he’s always wanted." - David Oakes

juan felt deeply isolated because he never had a peer, and unfortunately, he was too weak and succumbed to his darkness, impulsiveness, and insecurities. he had a deep love for his family, but he lost himself in the pressure of the role and even committed heinous acts to prove himself, unaware that it would make his siblings hate him. all he wanted was to be included in their world. however, he struggled intensely in expressing his feelings, which led to him being shunned. it is tragic because ultimately he longed to feel like a 'true' borgia and have a close relationship with his family, especially with cesare. but the lack of moral guidance and the weight of expectations pushed him to behave inappropriately, resulting in everyone pushing him away and his death going unmourned except by his father, the one's responsible for his failure and feels guilty for it.

byeeee i really went on and on answering this oops sorry zaynab!!! anyway i hope these insights help lol