So, the last couple days I re-watched a few episodes of the 2005 Young Blades (with d'Artagnan's son and his own three musketeer buddies).
So, we know Duval believes Mazarin is responsible for his injury 14 years ago (though he can't prove it), so I wonder what he had against Duval in particular then. Sure, he's trying to use magic to take over Europe and maybe become immortal, but what possible threat could a young Duval have been then?
Ignoring the last episode (where the characters met Alexandre Dumas), what do you believe would be the best resolution - best way to take down Mazarin and Order?
I like the idea of this show's d'Artagnan Jr. (it's treated like a last name), having inherited a barony from his mom, as I understand was true of the "real d'Artagnan's" son.
Do you ever wonder how characters in very fictional versions of the past would react to real-world events? Louis XIV followed what he thought the purpose of a king and pursued "gloire"- glory, grandeur, and fame for France. He was very successful at that. France would, for the most part, be the place to look for art, fashion, food, etc. for centuries afterward throughout western Europe and the anglosphere - indeed, today it still has that cachet in some aspects. But the ordinary people didn't fare so well understand. Jacqueline is the only one that seems to be from French peasantry (albeit the better-off part, judging from what we saw of her home), and yet I think she'd be one of the most enthusiastic - I think it aligns with her perception of what's good for a kingdom, too. She has notions of the glory of battle and France, herself. Ramon is the most likely to think on those things, I think. But he's a Spaniard in France, so that's a whole different thing.
They're all Catholic, so how do they feel about the increasing persecution of Protestants in the coming decades? Certainly d'Artagnan didn't like Cromwell's persecution of Catholics (Cromwell and Charles II appeared in one ep), but I don't think he'd feel so strongly about it flowing the other way. Provided they don't die before then, I don't expect any of them to be thrilled over the Glorious Revolution, but which would see it in a purely political way, in regards to what was achievable in Britain - and possibly what it means for France, but GB really was small potatoes compared to France back then.
And how does Ramon feel about feel about the War of Devolution? I mean, he left Spain for France, despite them being often at war, so he can't be too fussed over that sort of thing. And countries going to war over valuable territory like the Netherlands would be typical and expected in the time, I thought.
While completely ahistorical (which I think suits the source material) I kinda like the idea, too, that just before his nature was revealed to Louis, Mazarin finally managed to get the musketeers disbanded (the show is set in 1652, when they actually were disbanded for a while). And I'd kill off Mazarin and several of his order. It'd still be mid-1650s, so too early for the real world, but I think it'd suit the story. Louis can't reform them immediately, because it would make the King look in-constant. And Mazarin's betrayal really leads to Louis' determination to keep as much power as possible in his own hands and he become his own Prime Minister (as he actually did when Mazarin died) and this is part of the aspect of why he's consolidating power in himself (which he really did, but it started earlier and he personally had the motivation of the Fronde, which is only passingly mentioned in the show).