The Tortoise and The Hare

 Huzzah! Rocco the true Duke has returned and Piero's evil plans have been thwarted once more! But trouble still looms. Mac is in love with Lorenzo's bride-to-be Angelica and Leo has been tricked into making fabulous and dangerous war machines for the nefarious Piero.

Rocco, the Duke of Milan (But for how long?)

Piero is put into further jeopardy when the enthusiastic Rocco proves ready to invade Milan and avenge his father's death. Naturally Piero (who poisoned the Duke and blamed it on Milan) does not want him anywhere near Milan, so he has to come up with a quick plan to distract him. Leo is working on a war machine designed after his pet turtle Tiberius. This provides a convenient distraction for Rocco.

Tiberius, whose shell gives Leo the idea for a powerful weapon

However, he is skeptical about relying on the designs of a teenaged boy expounding on the defensive potential of his tiny pet. 

Skeptical face

Drama unfolds when a lovestruck Mac confesses his feelings for Angelica to Leo who thinks he should "go for it". Tom is not at all surprised at the revelation as she noticed the couple exchanging lovey dovey glances. Lorenzo does not agree and is furious at Mac for falling in love with his fiancée, even though he thinks she is the most tiresome person on the planet.

Property c. 1467

 Leo decides to test out his new invention which is a panel of wood joined together with brass rivets. He fires a cannon at the panel, which alas splinters and allows the cannonball through.

Luckily, they moved first

 Unfortunately, it also breaks the statue of the former Duke, earning Leo the wrath of his son. He accuses Leo of treason and orders him to be put to death. Despite Verrocchio's pleas for mercy, Leo is lined up to face a firing squad. Tom stubbornly refuses to move out of the way and is soon joined by her friends.

Pulling a Spartacus

 Unwilling to have multiple Florentines cut down in public, Rocco postpones Leo's execution and Lorenzo begs Piero to use his influence and convince Rocco to spare Leo's life. Leo spends his time in jail covering the walls with his latest design: an early prototype of a tank.

In jail... again

Upon seeing this design, Piero decides he must save Leo's life so the ultimate weapon can be built. He discovers that Rocco's anger towards Leo's actions is based on an underlying guilt at his failure to save his father. He persuades Rocco to both pardon Leo and allow him to build his prototype tank. Leo improves his design and successfully demonstrates it to Rocco's satisfaction. Piero is delighted that his evil plans are back on track as all he has to do is polish off Rocco when Leo completes his fabulous weapon.

Pictured: new and improved tank material thingy

Meanwhile, back at the Medici palace Lorenzo confronts Angelica about her relationship with Mac. She readily admits that she is in love with Mac and that she doesn't want to marry Lorenzo. Lorenzo decides to ask his father if they can break the betrothal. Predictably, Piero is not pleased with their decision and tells him in no uncertain terms that the marriage will proceed as planned.

Did we mention that he is evil?

This was probably one of my favorite episodes of the season. Piero's plotting actually had some action to back it up. There was a romance storyline without it dominating the plot and the new Duke Clayton Boyd (looking like a taller version of Errol Flynn) had some pretty funny lines.

"WTF? I'm in charge of funny lines!"

Sadly, I am afraid that enormous creaking noise you hear is the Mac/Tom ship being dismantled for scrap. She seemed unfazed that Mac likes someone else, and is still so into Leo that she almost got shot by a firing squad.

Devotion

Also, the music! In this episode Colin Ryan sings the famous Carnival Song written by Lorenzo de' Medici himself. The original Italian version can be heard below.

 He also sings an English translation of the Italian poem "Una dona el cor m'ha tolto" ("Thus did a lady take my heart"). With luck there'll be more tunes from Colin in future episodes!