Samantha Morton is ready to rule in an exclusive clip from The Serpent Queen's finale

Samantha Morton’s iconic career spans leading roles in Emma and Jane Eyre in the ‘90s to the villainous Alpha on The Walking Dead. The actor, who dissected some of her performances for The A.V. Club recently, returns to her period genre roots in Starz’s newest adventure, The Serpent Queen. Created by Justin Haythe, the entertaining series dramatizes the rise and reign of Queen Catherine de’ Mici, played to sardonic perfection by Morton.

Catherine marries Prince Henri as a teenager, expected to bring dowry and produce heirs as she joins the French court. However, she uses her wits and learns the political power game, using it to rule the country for 30 years eventually. As The Serpent Queen kicks off, Catherine narrates her life story to a servant named Rahima (Sennia Nanua), with both of them going through their own ups and downs in the process.

The Serpent Queen wraps up its first season on October 30, with an episode appropriately titled “A Queen Is Made.” The episode will continue to explore Catherine becoming the ultimate boss bitch, er, well-deserved ruler of the kingdom. As seen in this A.V. Club exclusive clip, she stops her traveling party to help her injured companion, surprising everyone in the process. But she’s using this as a power move to unfold a whole attack, apparently to “assume a power she knows should be hers, and hers alone.”

The show also stars Raza Jaffrey, Amrita Acharia, Antonia Clarke, Nicholas Burns, Barry Atsma, Beth Goddard, and Ray Panthaki. And if you’re worried about The Serpent Queen ending on a cliffhanger without resolutions, fret not. Starz renewed the historical drama for a second season, which means more Morton as the Queen is on the way.

The Serpent Queen’s season one finale airs on Sunday, October 30, at 8 p.m. ET.