Season 2 of Da Vinci’s Demons: What’s next for Lucrezia?

There is a greater story here and it’s still being written, so we learn in the opening scene of Season 2 of Da Vinci’s Demons. David S. Goyer’s historical fantasy returns to Starz with 10 new episodes beginning Saturday, March 22 at 9pm ET/PT.  Below we give a quick breakdown of where we left off,  where Season 2 is heading and what’s next for Lucrezia Donati (Laura Haddock), Florence’s celebrated beauty and now outed spy, who will stop at nothing to protect those she loves. We sat down with Haddock and had a lovely chat about the new season.

Da Vinci's Demons Season 2 2014But first things first, where did we last leave off — how did Da Vinci’s Demons Season 1 end …
Season 1 ended with some major cliffhangers — there was an assassination attempt by the Pazzis to kill the Medici family and replace them. Da Vinci was trying to help a severely wounded Lorenzo de Medici (Elliot Cowan) to safe keeping.  A spy was uncovered, and it was somebody who was very close to both Leonardo (Tom Riley) and Lorenzo. Of course, the spy was Lucrezia (Laura Haddock). We found out that the pope is not the real pope, that there’s somebody in prison who might be the real pope. And, of course, da Vinci and Count Riario (Blake Ritson) are still obsessed and in a race to find the fabled Book of Leaves, wherever that may take them.

So what’s in store for Season 2 …
The structure of the second season is not necessarily linear, as the season opener starts in foreign lands with da Vinci and Riario as possible frenemies facing a rather dire situation but then flashes back — thankfully — six months earlier to the end of Season  1 where we will get answers to the cliffhangers. Season 2 will see Florence in complete chaos. Press materials detail that the Medicis will now go to unthinkable lengths to deal with new threats and that Lorenzo will be forced to confront past demons to bring about peace. Da Vinci’s search for the Book of Leeves and his mother’s secret history will take him to far away lands and force him to reevaluate everything he knew about the world and his own history.  Riario’s similar quest threatens his all-consuming faith. The mysterious prisoner (James Faulkner) is making plans of his own, where press materials state: “God help those he plots against.” Joining the cast this season is Colombian model/actress Carolina Guerra as Ima, an Inca high priestess. Guerra is no stranger to fame and is well known in her native country, as a former Ms. Bogata, for her work in numerous telenovelas and for serving as host of Colombia’s Next Top Model.

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Laura Haddock of Da Vinci's Demons Season 2But let’s get to Laura Haddock and, specifically, this “thing” that happened to Lucrezia. Haddock shares a bit on Lucrezia’s motivations and the flashback episodes part of Season 2.
“In the second season I get to go back 10 years so I played her 10 years before we’ve seen her in Season 1. She was this young, hopeful, naive, excited girl who was ready to take on the world , fall in love, have her heart broken, and it would be OK, because she was OK and life was just going to present itself and she was going to run with it. But then this ‘thing’ happened, which meant that everything just shut down in her life — that curiosity in that young hopeful girl, suddenly she’s experiencing something that nobody should experience, let alone that age — never should they have to experience that so it changed her forever. When I read that, and that’s in this season, I thought: ‘Oh my goodness, every decision I made in Season 1, I feel like I can trust in those decisions now because I didn’t want to have to be just a baddie — going out and killing all these people, lying to all these people she’s suppose to care about. Why does someone do that? Something must have happened to that person – triggered that in you.”

When it comes to da Vinci, Lucrezia never intended to fall in love with him …
“When I read the scene in Season 2 I realized, ‘Oh, OK she’s avenging what happened to her when she was little.’ She’s avenging this ‘thing ’that happened which is huge, so I trusted that every time she killed someone she felt remorse. She felt guilt. She felt pain. She felt all these different things and with Leonardo, I think she probably made the decision that she would never be able to love anyone —she didn’t have it within her, she was incapable of feeling those feelings — and he just came in and suddenly she was feeling these feelings she never felt before, or was incapable of feeling, so he just changed everything for her. She realized she was capable of love and capable of feeling happy. She’s never felt happiness like she has with him even though their relationship was surrounded by lies and even though they weren’t able to be honest with each other, ever. But when she was with him she felt nothing could hurt her anymore.”

It appears as if there is little hope for da Vinci’s and Lucrezia’s relationship in Season 2 …
“In the last scene in Season 1, it felt like on the tip of my tongue was the truth and I just wanted to blurt it out all over him and say, ‘This is why I am the way I am.’ And for him to say, ‘I totally get it. I’ve got those issues too. Let’s just be together and it will be OK.’ But she couldn’t so Season 2 is just her again out on her own — solo flyer — just desperately trying to rid herself of this thing that happened and avenge what happened so she can finally let go of it, and let herself fall in love with someone and let herself be loved by someone and not have to lie about it.

Da Vinci’s Demons airs on Starz Saturdays at 9pm ET/PT.