The Hunt

 is the fourth episode of the first season of the Netflix series The Empress.

Synopsis
Sophie and the council push for military action, but Franz refuses to engage. Elisabeth upsets the czar's son, leading to severe political consequences.

Plot
Esterházy told Sophie that Elisabeth may be pregnant, as she had not bled in a month. Sophie insisted that hope must become reality. Esterházy followed Sophie's instructions and forced Elisabeth to eat raw eggs and the placenta of a woman who just gave birth to her 8th son.

After Maximilian's betrayal of Franz, Napoleon severed diplomatic relations with Austria. The royal council were concerned and Sophie implored Franz to reinforce their troops. Believing that the tsar of Russia's son, Alexander, had views on war more like himself, Franz decided to invite him over to Austria to wager peace. Sophie said that there was not enough time to organise a grand reception, so Elisabeth suggested a hunting trip instead, which Franz agreed to.

Franz and Elisabeth spent time together alone by a river. Elisabeth drew a picture of Franz standing in the river, and the two then made out.

Franz no longer trusted Maximilian, but his mother Sophie recommended that Franz gives him something to fill his time. During a fencing match, Franz offered Maxi the role of Chief Commander of the Imperial Navy. Maxi took offence as he knew that Austria was not strong in Navy, so he asked to be the Governor of Bohemia, or at least Tyrol, but Franz could not trust his brother with such an important role.

At the hunting trip in Auhof, Elisabeth wanted to hunt with the men, but was not allowed to. Instead, she took a walk with the Court Mistresses, and they met Franz's father, Archduke Franz Karl. He claimed to know Leontine von Apafi's family. However, when asked to speak French, like Leontine was known to be able to do, she could not. The other Court Mistresses, especially Amalia, began to suspect Leontine.

The hunting trip in Auhof went extremely well, with Franz managing to barter peace with the Russian tsar's son, Alexander. However, Maximilian, who was plotting to overtake Franz as emperor and informed the council of this, showed up to the hunting trip uninvited, much to Franz's annoyance. While alone with Alexander, Maximilian told him the same thing he told the French ambassador, that Franz wanted the Russians and the West to destroy each other so that he could take the Ottoman Empire by himself. When he heard this, Alexander became angry that Franz tried to fool him into peace.

Later in the afternoon, Elisabeth joined the hunt. She walked to the tsar's son, Alexander, who made inappropriate comments and got very close to her. Before he could do anything more, he spotted a wild boar and shot at it. Alexander missed and enraged the boar, who began charging at them. He shot at the boar again and missed, so Elisabeth took out her gun and shot the boar dead.

Alexander was offended by this and argued with Franz. He claimed that Franz's pledge for peace is too good to be true. When Franz demanded that Alexander removed his troops from the Austrian border, the two agreed to meet on the battlefield.

The hunt ended badly, and Sophie reminded Elisabeth that Elisabeth did not know what she was doing when it came to politics. Franz was infuriated and headed back to the palace without her. He asked Elisabeth returned the next morning with the Court Mistresses.

Elisabeth sat in a carriage, upset. She was joined by Maximilian, who consoled her, and accompanied her on the way back to Schönbrunn Palace. The two drank and returned to the palace drunk. Franz met them at the gate and saw the two drunkenly getting out of the carriage. Franz was not comfortable with Elisabeth constantly running to Maximilian, as he did not trust him. He told her to get to bed and walked away. After Franz left, Elisabeth realized that she was bleeding from under her dress, indicating that she was not pregnant.

When Leontine returned to the palace, she secretly met Egon, her co-conspirator. He was angry that Leontine did not tell them about the hunt because it would have been the perfect time to infiltrate the palace. He suspected that her loyalties had changed. After spending so much time with Elisabeth, Leontine believed that the royals were not that bad. She told Egon that their plan was a mistake. Egon would not accept her words and asked Leontine to quickly decide on which side she was on.

Main Cast

 * Devrim Lingnau as Empress Elisabeth of Austria / Princess Elisabeth of Bavaria
 * Philip Froissant as Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria-Hungary
 * Melika Foroutan as Archduchess Sophie
 * Johannes Nussbaum as Archduke Maximilian
 * Almila Bagriacik as Leontine von Apafi
 * Wiebke Puls as Countess Esterházy
 * Elisa Schlott as Duchess Helene
 * Jördis Triebel as Princess Ludovika

Additional Cast

 * Alexander Finkenwirth as Baron Alexander von Bach
 * Hanna Hilsdorf as Countess Amalia von Salm-Reifferscheidt
 * Rauand Taleb as Theo
 * Runa Greiner as Countess Charlotte von Stubenberg
 * Michael Fuith as Archduke Franz Karl
 * Vladimir Korneev as Alexander Romanov
 * Leopold Hornung as Count von Buol
 * Elzemarieke de Vos as Maria Romanowa
 * Merlin Rose as Egon
 * Volker Meyer-Dabisch as Hunter with Horn
 * Ralf Hocke as Field Marshal Cronberg
 * Volker Ringe as Commander Moring
 * Silva Bieler as Elisabeth Chambermaid #1
 * Frédéric Stromenger as Wilhelm von Österriech
 * Tanah Freitag as Henriette

Quotes
"You are not a countess, Ava. Have you forgotten? Where you really come from? You were born in the gutter, and that's exactly where you'll end up. And you act so refined. In your pretty clothes. But we both know what you've done. These people are going to die. Decide now which side it is you want to be on."

- Egon speaks to Ava after her loyalties shift