Diksha Sundriyal
Things escalate for Nan in the third episode of Apple TV+’s ‘The Buccaneers’ Season 2. The previous episode ended with Lord Seadown telling Theo about Guy’s presence in the castle the night before his and Nan’s wedding. This leads Theo to confront his wife, and this is where the third episode picks up from. As Theo fumes in anger and asks his wife about the true nature of the events that transpired that night, Nan confesses to everything. She admits that she slept with Guy, that she was supposed to run away with him, but she stayed because the status that the marriage with Theo provided her was the only way for her to save her sister. This is a huge bombshell on Theo, and it sets the tone for the entire episode. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Lizzy’s Birthday Party Opens the Way for New Beginnings
It has been three weeks since Theo left his castle, leaving Nan and his mother wondering if he will ever come back. In the meantime, things go on as they are supposed to, and Nan throws a birthday party for Lizzy, inviting all of their friends, including Hector, who has already made his intentions clear about Lizzy. In fact, a proposal is so sure that even Lizzy’s mother comes all the way from America. As elated as she is about her daughter getting married, she is also concerned about Mabel, whom she asks to become “normal” again.
Meanwhile, Conchita arrives at the party with Richard and Cora, frustrated with the latter, who cannot seem to make up her mind. It seems that Cora is set on a love match, but she has entirely unrealistic expectations on the matter. Conchita tries to put some sense into her mind, but the girl believes that her ward knows nothing of love or love matches. Fortunately, her mind is changed by the end of the evening as she witnesses Conchita and Richard’s affectionate display of love. As she opens her heart and mind, Conchita is glad to find out that she can actually make things work.
It seems that her work has already attracted a lot of attention, so much that Mabel’s mother asks her to find a suitable match for her daughter for double the fees. While Conchita needs the money, it remains to be seen whether she will treat her friend as just another customer. In other turn of events, Hector and Lizzy go on a walk. He proposes to her under a big, beautiful tree, and she gladly accepts. When she looks around for Nan to share the good news, she finds Theo, who is already in a sulky mood. He tells Lizzy that she shouldn’t settle for Hector as she is too good for him. This sows doubts in her mind, but not enough to call off the engagement.
Theo and Nan’s Marriage Reaches a Breaking Point
After three weeks of disappearance and silence, Theo comes back to Tintagel, having made up his mind about Nan. He knows that he cannot forgive her betrayal and does not wish to live with her in the same place. When he shares these thoughts with his mother, she advises him to have an heir first, following which he and Nan can live apart from each other without any fuss. Of course, at this point, Theo has no idea that his mother knows about Guy because Nan did not reveal that information during her confession.
The thought of getting an heir pushes Theo to meet with Nan. In an effort to make up, he kisses her, and Nan believes that he has finally forgiven her. But then, he breaks off, confessing that he cannot even look at her, let alone touch her or be intimate with her. At the same time, he also tells her that the only reason he hasn’t sent her away already is that he needs an heir. This angers Nan, and she confronts her mother-in-law, going as far as to state that this is the end of her line because she will not serve as a vessel for her son to produce an heir. Convinced that her and Theo’s relationship is over and feeling betrayed by the Dowager Duchess, Nan storms into her mother-in-law’s room to find anything that can lead her to Guy and Jinny.
Eventually, she finds some letters and documents that suggest the couple is in Italy (where they have a moment of levity when Jinny tries to make a meal but messes it up, and they eventually end up throwing food at each other, including their landlady Paloma). Now that she finally has what she wants, Nan is in no mood to wait. She immediately runs out, but is intercepted by Lizzy, who tells her Guy wrote to her, but she burned the letter because she thought Nan was moving on from him. However, Nan says that she can never let go of Guy, so Lizzy encourages her to go find him.
The Dowager Duchess Meets a Blast from the Past
Lizzy’s party brings all sorts of people to the Tintagel Castle, and one of them is Reede, Hector Robinson’s father. It seems that his son’s proposal is not the only thing that brought him here. He has known the Dowager Duchess, whom he calls by her first name, Blanche, for a very long time. In fact, there was a time when they used to be lovers. But she chose to marry the Duke of Tintagel because she wanted the power that comes with the title. Still, all these years have done nothing to fade her affection for Reede, and the same holds true for him.
As Blanche and Reede reminisce about the old days and how they used to be, he talks about how she and Nan are similar in the sense that they chose the title over their true love. By this time, Blanche is already in a dilemma about whether to come clean to her son about her involvement in Nan and Guy’s split and her subsequent wedding to Theo. Reede encourages her to be honest because without this information, Theo and Nan’s relationship will deteriorate, and this will beat the very purpose that Blanche’s actions were meant to serve.
This leads the Dowager Duchess to find her son and come clean to him about everything. He is revolted at the fact that his mother knew his bride-to-be had slept with her best friend, and yet, she forced Nan to marry him. He tells her to leave his sight, but at the same time, he realises that he and Nan are in the same prison and she is just as much a victim of his mother’s manipulations as he is. He decides to find and make up with her, but unbeknownst to him, Nan has already left. Outside the castle, he finds Lizzy, who has just said goodbye to her best friend.
Lizzy tries to broach the previous conversation where Theo told her not to settle for Hector. However, Theo is too distracted by the thought of his wife at the time, and he apologises for his previous comments, saying that he was wrong in trying to paint Hector as unworthy of her. As he leaves looking for Nan, Lizzy is left behind with an expression that suggests she is disappointed and maybe even a little heartbroken at Theo’s response.
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