François Arnaud as Cesare Borgia: Oldest son of Rodrigo, he is his father's consigliere in the church.His favourite children are clearly shown to be Juan and Lucrezia, and he has a special fondness for their mother, Vanozza. The Pope, despite his corruption and cunning, believes he is doing what is right but often questions himself and his actions when innocents are caught in the crossfire. Shrewd and scheming, he is utterly devoted to his family but enjoys the company of beautiful women, as well. Jeremy Irons as Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI: An ambitious clergyman and patriarch of the Borgia family, he uses his position to acquire wealth, power and influence, becoming pope in 1492.
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The series cancellation prevented the death of Pope Alexander VI and the succession of Pope Julius II from being explored, and the downfall of Cesare Borgia.
The show also addressed Lucrezia's first and second marriage, her illegitimate child, the affair between Alexander VI and Giulia "La Bella" Farnese, the rise of Girolamo Savonarola in Florence, his Bonfire of the Vanities and eventual burning for heresy. Their youngest sibling, Gioffre, is a minor player in the first season, not seen at all in the second, and doesn't become a major plot point until the third and final season. Between Cesare and Lucrezia, there is an abiding intimacy and closeness which finally delves into incest in Season 3, as the show's take on the persistent rumors about the real-life siblings. Juan's descent into addiction, illness, malice and madness in the second season leads to a shocking confrontation between him and Cesare which forever changes the family. Between Cesare and Juan, there is deep rivalry, with jealousy and resentment on Cesare's side inferiority and aggression on Juan's. The series also follows the complicated sibling relationships between Cesare, Juan and Lucrezia. Meanwhile, enraged by his loss of the election to Borgia, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere travels across Italy and France, seeking allies to depose or kill Alexander: this would force another papal conclave and race for Pope which della Rovere is convinced he would win without Borgia to oppose him. Upon winning the election, Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI, which then thrusts him and his family deep into the murky heart of politics in fifteenth-century Europe: from shifting loyalties within the College of Cardinals to the ambitions of the kings of Europe to the venomous rivalries between the noble families of Italy at the time.
The beginning of the first season depicts the election of Rodrigo Borgia to the papacy through simony and bribery, with the help of his sons, Cesare and Juan. The series follows the rise of the Borgia family to the pinnacle of the Roman Catholic Church and their struggles to maintain their grip on power.
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On August 12, 2013, it was announced that the two-hour series finale script would be released as an e-book, after it was determined that a movie would be too expensive to produce. A fan campaign was started in an attempt to convince Showtime to revive the series. The cancellation was implied to be due to the expense of production, with plans for a two-hour wrap-up finale also scrapped. On June 5, 2013, Showtime canceled the series, a season short of Jordan's planned four-season arc for the series. On May 4, 2012, Showtime ordered a third season of 10 episodes, which premiered on April 14, 2013. The second season premiered on April 8, 2012. Eastern ( UTC−04:00) on Bravo! in Canada, and received its first major television network premiere on June 21, 2011, on Canada's CTV Television Network. ET on Showtime in the United States and 10 p.m. Colm Feore also stars as Cardinal della Rovere (later Pope Julius II). It stars Jeremy Irons as Pope Alexander VI with François Arnaud as Cesare, Holliday Grainger as Lucrezia and David Oakes as Juan. Mercilessly cruel and defiantly decadent, the Borgias use bribery, simony, intimidation and murder in their relentless quest for wealth and power that make them history's most infamous crime family. The series is set in Renaissance-era Italy and follows the Borgia family in their scandalous ascension to the papacy. The Borgias is a historical-fiction drama television series created by Neil Jordan it debuted in 2011 and was canceled in 2013.