The Rose of Versailles

- Season 1

(1979)

General Jarjayes, deprived of the son he desperately wanted, names his newborn daughter Oscar and raises her as a boy. Now an adult she vies for the position of Commander of the Royal Guards for Princess Marie Antoinette.

Marie is set to marry Louis XVI and Oscar must ensure her safe passage across the Rhine River. But is Oscar prepared for the dark conspiracy that threatens to ruin the wedding?

New to the French court, Marie is still learning proper etiquette regarding nobility. But things become bad when Marie unwittingly snubs the King's mistress, Madame du Barry, and makes a dangerous enemy.

Antoinette sends her own invitation to Madame Jarjayes in order to counteract Du Barry's. Both know that the one to get the Jarjayes' on their side will be more popular, as Oscar is highly liked in court.

Marie reluctantly accedes to Madame du Barry's presence at the court. Meanwhile, du Barry and Duke Orleans plan to ensure that Marie and Louis-Auguste never come to power.

Marie and Louis visit Paris which presents an opportunity for Duke Orleans to dispose of them. Meanwhile, two sisters, Jeanne and Rosalie, dream of one day escaping poverty.

Louis's self-indulgence drives Marie to go to a masquerade ball where she meets Count Hans Axel von Fersen. Unfortunately, her interest in him inspires Duke Orleans to spread rumors about Marie's morality.

Marie has a severe accident while horseback riding and Andre is consequently issued the King's harshest punishment. Luckily Oscar persuades the King to spare Andre, but will his pleas make a difference?

King Louis the XV has fallen gravely ill. While Louis the XVI and Marie prepare to succeed him, Madame du Barry fears for her fate in the French court after his passing.

Louis-Auguste and Marie are crowned King and Queen of France. Jeanne has managed to find a way out of poverty, but when her sister approaches her amongst the nobility, Jeanne reacts harshly.

Antoinette is ecstatic to be Queen and believes that it will grant her the happiness and freedom she's been searching for. Her first act as Queen is to promote Oscar to High Commander of the Royal Guard, giving her a rank similar to that of a Colonel and doubling her salary and pension.

Antoinette is easily swayed by Beltin Dressmakers into spending an extravagant amount of money on their finery. She spends more time entertaining herself than attending to her duties as Queen.

Against the rules of her confinement, Oscar takes a trip to Arras, a peasant village under her family's care. There, she learns of the terrible condition of the common French people.

Oscar and Andre return to their manor. Polignac manipulates Antoinette into giving her family undeserved wealth and ranking, causing resentment among the nobles. Oscar tells her father about everything she had seen in Arras

Oscar is released from confinement and put back on duty. Orleans and Guemenee place pressure on Antoinette for her lack of an heir, using her rising insecurity and tarnishing reputation to their advantage

Oscar is teaching Rosalie how to fence so she may avenge her mother. Rosalie attends a local ball to find the murderer, but instead finds herself under the scrutiny of Polignac's daughter.

Oscar and Rosalie go to court to introduce Rosalie to the Queen. Rosalie finally encounters Polignac and the two of them recognize each other at once.

While Oscar recovers from her wounds, Fersen takes the opportunity to visit Marie. However, her joy in this unexpected reunion is cut short when he delivers startling news.

The identity of Rosalie's birth mother is discovered, but the truth only causes her more grief. Meanwhile, Charlotte is in a dreadful state as she will soon marry the much older Duke Roland de Guiche.

Rumors of Marie and Fersen's affair have spread like wildfire and Oscar feels powerless to stop it. Meanwhile Fersen must make a difficult choice after receiving news of a dear friend's death.

The sleazy Cardinal Rohan tries to seek the Queen's favor but she will not speak with him as she's aware of his dark past: He was fired by Empress Maria Theresa for consorting with prostitutes.

Marie, blessed with a son, seeks respite in her villa outside of court, but the nobles consider this a slight against them. Meanwhile, Jeanne plans to scheme Rohan and the Queen out of money.

Jeanne's plot against the Queen has been exposed and she stands trial. But rather than accept punishment, Jeanne uses the trial as an opportunity to slander the Queen and Oscar.

Jeanne escapes prison and uses her freedom to publish scandalous memoirs regarding the Queen's indiscretions. While France eats up the gossip, Oscar searches for Jeanne's whereabouts.

Fersen has returned to France. When he hears the news of how much Marie's image has been damaged, he opts to help protect her reputation. Meanwhile, Oscar struggles with her own feelings for Fersen.

A man known only as the Black Knight has been robbing the rich and giving to the poor. Though his actions may be noble, a crime is still a crime and Oscar resolves to bring him to justice.

While Andre struggles with the possibility going blind, Oscar continues to hunt the Black Knight on her own. When she captures, severely wounds, and unmasks the Knight, an interesting discovery is made.

Fersen learns of Oscar's feelings for him, leading her to quit the Royal Guards. Meanwhile, Andre struggles with his love for Oscar.

After leaving the Royal Guards, Oscar enlists with the French Guards and is made the new commander of Company B. Unfortunately the members are against having a noblewoman as their leader.

Oscar's father now wishes to see her happily married. Meanwhile the men in Company B notice Andre's connection to her and take their anger out on him.

Oscar and Company B are charged with protecting a visiting Spanish Duke. Unbeknownst to Oscar, one of the members of her unit is a traitor working with terrorists.

Oscar gets the General to reverse a condemned soldier's sentence, earning Alain and the Company's respect. On her way to thank the General, she and Andre are attacked by an angry mob.

Facing a debt crisis, King Louis is pressured to make some hard decisions surrounding the Estates-General. But his main concern is the failing health of his son.

As support grows for the commoners'' faction, the nobility and clergy take drastic measures and Oscar is ordered to prevent the commoners from assembling.

After refusing to remove the commoners' faction from the assembly, Oscar is found guilty of treason and awaits execution. Soon her father takes it upon himself to deal with the situation.

Necker to talk the King into approving the Assembly, knowing that this is the only way to avoid bloodshed. Antoinette still believes in the Royal Family's invincibility and that the National Assembly will be dissolved. She orders 100,000 soldiers from every part of France to suppress the revolutionaries, and tells Oscar that she might have to join them soon.

Oscar discovers that she has tuberculosis. Since the only known cure for it is rest and a good environment, her doctor tells her to quit the military and move to a country mansion or else she would die in half-a-year

Company B is summoned to subdue the protest at the Tuileries Square in Paris, but they decide to fight with the civilians under Oscar's command if a riot breaks out.

Oscar's men rush to take Andre to a doctor, relentlessly charging through rows of firing enemy soldiers. At Tuileries, more than 10 doctors tend to his wound. Andre expresses a strong will to live

Mortally wounded, Oscar's last request is that the former French Guards continue firing and seize Bastille Prison

A summary episode of the whole series showing memorable scenes.