The Three Musketeers (Dramatized) recap

Young d'Artagnan comes to Paris seeking a place among the king's musketeers and becomes inseparable from Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. The four repeatedly oppose Cardinal Richelieu's agents. They save Queen Anne from exposure by recovering a gift she gave the Duke of Buckingham, then enter the campaign at La Rochelle. D'Artagnan's affair with the cardinal's agent Milady de Winter turns to mutual hatred when he discovers her hidden criminal past. Milady escapes imprisonment in England by manipulating John Felton into murdering Buckingham, then returns to France and poisons d'Artagnan's beloved Constance. The friends capture Milady and execute her after hearing testimony to her crimes. Richelieu arrests d'Artagnan, but a document bearing the cardinal's own signature forces a settlement. The cardinal rewards his capable opponent with a lieutenant's commission, and d'Artagnan's three friends decline it in his favor as their shared adventures give way to separate futures.

Young d'Artagnan leaves Gascony for Paris intending to join the King's Musketeers. At Meung, a scarred stranger mocks him, defeats him, and steals his letter of introduction to Monsieur de Treville. In Paris, d'Artagnan's impulsive mistakes lead him to arrange duels with three musketeers in succession: Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. Before the first duel can proceed, Richelieu's guards intervene. D'Artagnan fights beside the three friends against the larger force and wins their respect as well as the king's notice. He becomes closely attached to their company while serving in a guards regiment. When his landlord, Monsieur Bonacieux, reports that his wife has been abducted because of her service to the queen, d'Artagnan enters a court intrigue. He rescues Constance Bonacieux from the cardinal's agents, falls in love with her, and agrees to carry a secret message for Queen Anne.

Constance arranges a secret meeting between Queen Anne and the Duke of Buckingham. Anne gives Buckingham a set of diamond studs previously presented to her by the king. Richelieu, aware of the gift, persuades the king to require the queen to wear the studs at a coming ball and sends Milady de Winter to England to steal two of them. D'Artagnan and his three friends race toward London with the queen's urgent request, but attacks and traps leave Porthos, Aramis, and Athos behind. D'Artagnan reaches Buckingham, who discovers the missing pieces and has replacements made. The complete set returns to Anne in time for the ball, defeating the cardinal's attempt to disgrace her. On his return, d'Artagnan encounters Milady and learns she is Lord de Winter's sister-in-law, without yet understanding the full danger she presents.

D'Artagnan searches for his scattered friends and finds them alive, each delayed by a personal crisis. With war approaching, all four struggle to obtain suitable equipment. D'Artagnan becomes infatuated with Milady, while her maid Kitty reveals that Milady despises him and loves the Comte de Wardes. He uses Kitty's access and impersonates de Wardes in darkness, beginning an affair founded on deception. Milady later offers herself to d'Artagnan as part of a scheme for revenge against the count. When he reveals the earlier deception, she attacks him. During the struggle he sees a fleur-de-lis brand on her shoulder, the mark of a convicted criminal. Athos then confirms that Milady is the wife he once believed dead, whose branded past he had discovered only after marrying her. D'Artagnan has turned a formidable agent of Richelieu into a personal enemy.

The friends join the royal siege of La Rochelle. Milady twice attempts to have d'Artagnan killed, first through hired attackers and then with poisoned wine presented as a gift from his friends; another soldier drinks it and dies. Athos overhears Richelieu giving Milady broad authority to travel to England, pressure Buckingham to end support for the rebels, and arrange his death if necessary. The cardinal also permits her to take revenge on d'Artagnan. Athos confronts Milady alone and takes the signed authorization that protects her actions. At a daring breakfast in an exposed bastion, the four friends discuss what they have learned while holding off an enemy attack. They decide to warn Lord de Winter and to locate Constance, who has been hidden in a convent for safety.

Messages reach England and Lord de Winter intercepts Milady on arrival. Knowing her history and her designs on Buckingham, he confines her under guard and plans to send her into exile. Her jailer is John Felton, a stern Puritan officer loyal to de Winter but already hostile to Buckingham. Milady studies his beliefs and gradually presents herself as a persecuted innocent. Through feigned despair, religious language, and a false account of abuse by Buckingham, she converts Felton's suspicion into devotion. He helps her escape shortly before she is due to be removed from England. Milady sends him to act against Buckingham while she sails for France, having turned her guard into the weapon Richelieu requested.

Felton assassinates Buckingham as the duke prepares an expedition to aid La Rochelle. Milady reaches France and reports to Richelieu, then moves toward the convent where Constance is hidden. The musketeers and Lord de Winter follow, but Milady arrives first, gains Constance's confidence, and poisons her before escaping. D'Artagnan reaches Constance only in time for her death. The pursuers capture Milady and bring together the charges against her, including testimony from Athos, Lord de Winter, d'Artagnan, and the executioner whose family she ruined. After their private trial, the executioner kills her. Richelieu arrests d'Artagnan, but Athos's stolen authorization bears the cardinal's signature and blocks a simple prosecution. Richelieu instead gives d'Artagnan a lieutenant's commission. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis refuse it in his favor; d'Artagnan later reconciles with Rochefort and continues the career that brought him to Paris.

Milady reaches the convent at Bethune before the musketeers and poisons Constance Bonacieux just as d'Artagnan arrives to recover her. Athos, Porthos, Aramis, d'Artagnan, and Lord de Winter pursue Milady, assemble witnesses to her crimes, and conduct a private judgment. The executioner of Lille, whose family she also destroyed, carries out the sentence. Richelieu then has d'Artagnan arrested, but the cardinal's own signed authorization, taken from Milady by Athos, protects him. Impressed by the young man's resolve and usefulness, Richelieu gives him a commission as lieutenant of musketeers. Athos, Porthos, and Aramis each decline the commission when d'Artagnan offers it to them, and their paths begin to separate. D'Artagnan eventually makes peace with Rochefort and continues his military career, having gained the advancement he sought at the cost of Constance and many others caught in the cardinal's struggle.