The series premiere of Da Vinci's Demons , titled " The Hanged Man
," sets the stage for a "secret history" that blends Renaissance politics with dark mysticism. It introduces a 25-year-old Leonardo da Vinci (Tom Riley) not as the venerable polymath of history books, but as a restless, swashbuckling insurgent. The Genius and His Demons
Leonardo is portrayed as a man "tortured" by superhuman intellect. He struggles with:
A "Void" of Memory: Despite his photographic memory, he cannot recall his mother’s face, viewing it only as a void.
Addictive Escapism: He uses "opium" (hallucinogenic tobacco) to quiet his "endlessly raging thoughts".
Bastardy and Ambition: As an illegitimate son, he yearns for legitimacy while simultaneously mocking the elitist society of Florence. Key Plot Developments Da Vinci's Demons, Season 1, Episode 1: The Hanged Man da vincis demons season 1 episode 1
The first episode of Da Vinci's Demons , titled " The Hanged Man
," serves as the pilot for the historical fantasy series. Written and directed by David S. Goyer, it premiered on April 12, 2013, and introduces a fictionalized, brilliant, and often brash young Leonardo da Vinci in 15th-century Florence. Episode Summary
The episode sets up a world where knowledge is a battlefield between religious suppression and scientific reason.
The Medici Alliance: Leonardo, a restless artisan in Andrea del Verrocchio's workshop, captures the attention of the powerful Medici brothers, Lorenzo and Giuliano. He is commissioned to create a "Columbina" (a mechanical dove) for an Easter spectacle to inspire the people of Florence.
Military Engineering: Seeing an opportunity to fund his more ambitious ideas, Leonardo convinces Lorenzo to hire him as a military engineer to design advanced war machines to defend Florence from the rising threat of the Vatican. The series premiere of Da Vinci's Demons ,
The Mysterious Turk: Leonardo encounters a mystical figure known as Al-Rahim (the Turk), who tells him of the secret "Sons of Mithras" and the legendary Book of Leaves, which supposedly contains forgotten, world-changing knowledge.
Espionage: Leonardo becomes infatuated with Lucrezia Donati, Lorenzo de' Medici's mistress. Unbeknownst to him at the time, Lucrezia is actually a spy for the Vatican and Count Girolamo Riario. Main Cast Leonardo da Vinci Tom Riley Lucrezia Donati Laura Haddock Lorenzo de' Medici Elliot Cowan Girolamo Riario Blake Ritson Al-Rahim (The Turk) Alexander Siddig Clarice Orsini Lara Pulver Season 1 – Da Vinci's Demons - Rotten Tomatoes
Unlike other historical fantasies that ignore politics, Da Vinci’s Demons weaponizes it. The pilot introduces two key power players:
The pilot cleverly uses Lucrezia to bridge the two halves of the show: the political thriller (Medici vs. the rival Pazzi family, backed by the Vatican) and the mystical quest (the search for the Book of Leaves, which contains all knowledge).
The episode opens not with a brush, but with a jailbreak. Within the first three minutes, we see Leonardo da Vinci (Tom Riley) escaping Florentine guards using a crude grappling hook and a smirking contempt for authority. Goyer’s thesis is immediate: What if Leonardo was the world’s first superhero? The Political Chessboard: Medici vs
This is not the dour, methodical genius of The Agony and the Ecstasy. This Leonardo is 25 years old—vain, volatile, and haunted. The pilot wastes no time establishing the central conflict of the entire series: the war between the Church’s dogma and the Enlightenment’s curiosity. When Leonardo dissects a human corpse by candlelight, he whispers to his apprentice, “Knowledge is the only thing that is truly holy.” It is a line that functions as the show’s thesis statement.
The episode opens with a flash-forward to a traumatizing event in Leonardo’s future—a mysterious "Vault of Heaven"—before snapping back to Florence, 1477. Leonardo (Tom Riley) is struggling to make a name for himself independent of his father, Piero da Vinci. He is presented as a man of boundless energy: an artist, an engineer, and a lover, engaging in a illicit affair with the courtesan Lucrezia Donati.
The central conflict is introduced through the machinations of Count Girolamo Riario, the ruthless nephew of Pope Sixtus IV. Riario pressures Lorenzo de' Medici to repay a massive loan owed to the Vatican. When Lorenzo cannot pay, Riario suggests a trade: a weapon of great power or the surrender of Florence's fleet.
Simultaneously, Leonardo is arrested for sodomy—a historical fact woven into the narrative as a setup by his father to curb his wild behavior. After a humiliating public trial, Leonardo is exonerated but ostracized. Desperate to prove his worth and secure his place in Florence, he pitches himself to Lorenzo de' Medici. To gain Lorenzo's favor, Leonardo creates a spectacle: he creates a primitive pigeon-drone (an ornithopter) to drop flowers over the city during the Feast of the Ascension. The demonstration goes awry when the bird crashes, but it succeeds in capturing Lorenzo's attention.
Lorenzo eventually commissions Leonardo to create a "weapon" to satisfy the Vatican. Leonardo designs a primitive multi-barreled cannon (a precursor to the machine gun). However, during a test run for the Turks—who are in Florence to inspect the fleet—a catastrophic failure occurs. The cannon explodes, killing the Turkish emissary. This disaster frames Leonardo for murder and sabotage, forcing him to go on the run from the Medici guards.
In the chaos, Leonardo discovers that the explosion was sabotage. He uncovers a hidden message left by a mysterious man—a man he later realizes is a Turkish slave who died in the blast. This leads Leonardo to the episode's titular revelation: the Tarot card of "The Hanged Man," and a map that points toward a grand, secret quest involving the "Book of Leaves."
As a pilot, Episode 1 must establish character motivations, stakes, and narrative momentum. It succeeds by: