Previously on Reign: Catherine’s dead twins and dead husband insisted she kill Claude. Mary told Francis she wants to live separate lives. Castleroy accidentally funded Protestant terrorists. Bash’s mother secretly tried to have him legitimized. Mary received Conde’s letter confessing he’s fallen for her.
Many, many things were revealed this week. But the best one, is that Catherine is still AWESOME.
The Intrigue
- Francis confronts Mary over avoiding him – again. She tells him she saw him, when he was asleep with Lola and their baby. She says he doesn’t need to explain, but it still hurts. She also rebuffs his touch, telling him she’s still anxious being near any man.
- Kenna is being petulant about Bash having left their bed, when he tells her that Francis summoned him to offer him lands and titles. Kenna is undressing him in excitement when they’re interrupted by his mother. The former king’s former mistress breaks the news to his other former mistress that Bash passed on a duchy to her and kept the barony for himself. Kenna isn’t pleased to hear that she won’t be getting to be a duchess.
- Catherine is lounging around her chamber, having conversations with her dead husband and their dead children. She wonders if she’s going mad. Signs point to yes.
- Claude tells Bash that Catherine was trying to poison her because she thinks Claude murdered her sisters when she was 5. She asks Bash to investigate and find out what really happened.
- Narcisse is having to help Francis parcel out all of his estates to the nobles. Mary comes in and asks what crime Narcisse ended up confessing to. He chose embezzlement. She commends his choice, telling him that if he’d been guilty of blackmailing them, they’d be taking his lands AND his head. She does it in such a threatening manner, that I might have squealed in delight.
- Mary receives a report that a man being questioned in the dungeons identified Castleroy as being one of the people who funded the attack on the castle. Greer denies that there could be any link between Castleroy and those men. Then Leith finds Greer tearing apart her chambers, in case there’s any evidence there. She tells him they were tricked by the radicals into providing the money. She proposes throwing herself on Mary’s mercy, but Leith says the Catholic nobles are too angry, and that won’t save her. She begs him to help make sure there’s no accounting evidence of Castleroy’s inadvertent treason.
- Catherine and Diane have a catty reunion where Catherine tells her to enjoy her expanded family – meaning Kenna. Claude greets Diane warmly, just to annoy Catherine. Ghost Henry reminds Catherine that he and their girls are there for her. No one seems to notice Catherine talking to herself ten feet away. Maybe Henry made them immune to crazy monarchs.
- Claude reminds Bash that royal children are never left alone and asks him where the nannies were on the night she supposedly murdered her sister. He’s looking into that.
- Conde arrives, planning to refuse the estates that Francis is offering to loyal Protestant lords. Mary tells him it’s all been more complicated politics than he realizes, but he doesn’t want to hear her defend Francis anymore. She puts her hand on his arm to detain him (which Francis sees from afar) but he storms away.
- Greer has no luck getting Castleroy’s ledger from the accountant because the man said he’s hidden it, so it cannot be seized by the crown. If Castleroy is branded a traitor, his money and holdings can all be seized.
- Bash located one of the nannies of the twins, who’s since married a nobleman. During intense questioning by Bash and Claude, in the presence of royal guards, the former nanny breaks down and reveals that Henry had ruthlessly pursued her, seduced her, and turned her into an opium addict. She passed out with him, and when she woke and went to the nursery, the windows had been open and the babies froze to death. When she realized what would happen to her, she got the idea to put the flowers from Claude’s dress in the babies’ throats and let Claude take the blame. She figured a 5 year-old princess would get off easier than she would. Bash promises there will be justice.
- Ghost Henry tries to convince Catherine that her real family doesn’t need her, but that he and the twins do. Then she chases the ghost girls out into the snow storm. He sends the girls off to play so that he can try to seduce Catherine while also trying to help her freeze to death so they can be together forever.
- Francis asks Conde about refusing his offer of lands. Conde knows that the lands are just another way Mary is trying to protect him and he makes the unwise comment that Francis didn’t protect Mary when she needed it most. Conde proposes airing their differences in fake sword play.
- While watching their mock duel, Kenna realizes that the men are really fighting about Mary. Francis gets the upper hand and snaps Conde’s pole. Conde makes to keep going after him (because he has a death wish?!) but he’s stopped by Mary and the guards.
- Bash finds Catherine lying in the snow, mumbling for Henry. Catherine is angry to hear the truth about the twins’ deaths, especially because she didn’t ask any questions at the time, afraid of hearing the answers.
- While Mary’s treats Francis’ cut face, he tells her that he knows Conde wasn’t just provoked by his issues with Francis as a ruler. “He has feelings for you, and now everyone knows it.” Mary asks if Francis thinks she somehow encouraged Conde, when she can barely stand the touch of any man, even her own husband. He tells her that he doesn’t want to bring it up, given what she’s been through, but when they produce an heir, there can be no doubt about the paternity. Mary knows her head would be on the block if there were.
- Ghost Henry is all “my bad about the freezing.” Catherine tells the ghost twins their time is over and tells Henry that he’s a lie she created, and she doesn’t want him back. She banishes him back to hell.
- After Catherine reminded Bash of all the gifts Henry showered upon Diane to calm her jealous rages, he confronts his mother about the twins. He was hoping that she just wanted the nanny dismissed for sleeping with Henry, and wasn’t actually trying to kill babies. But no, she wanted Catherine to suffer. Wow. That’s a new low, even for this court. Bash tells Diane that the estate he offered is no longer hers, but he’ll keep her secret if she leaves immediately. He can’t stand to look at her, but doesn’t want her to hang. In a last ditch effort to be awful, Diane tells him that Kenna was the one who told Catherine when Diane went to Rome to try to get him legitimized. It could have gotten them both killed at the time, and Bash declares that if it’s true, then neither Diane nor Kenna deserve his forgiveness.
- Mary leverages Lola’s loyalty and he has her offer herself to Conde as a potential match. She lectures him over creating gossip that Mary now has to diffuse. Conde appreciates her fierceness and decides he’s game to see where their orders take them.
- A guard arrives at the ball with Castleroy’s ledger, claiming it contains proof of his guilt. Poor, terrified, Greer is taken to the dungeons. Mary goes to her there and says the ledger is enough to convict her. Mary says she can spare her life, but that’s all. Greer loses everything else: title, holdings, money, and her rooms and position at court. Mary hugs her and tells her to take care. Really, Mary? Like, HOW?
- Bash confronts Kenna about telling Catherine of the Rome plan. She didn’t know he could have been executed at the time and was just protecting what was hers. Bash tells her that being willing to sacrifice other people’s lives for your own petty gain is unforgivable. Ugh, Bash. Down off that high horse before you fall off, son.
- Francis goes to Mary and is sad that she’s lost Greer and can no longer be friends with Conde and feels alone. He asks if he can stay with her, sleep on the couch and just watch over her while she sleeps. Aw… and still, a little creepy.
- Diane is packing when Catherine comes in and beats her over the head with a fireplace poker. She admits she was slow to put it together, but figured out what Diane did. Then she strangles Diane to death so she can join her beloved Henry. DAMN. Welcome back, your majesty.
History According to Reign
- Catherine and Henry never had twin daughters who died in infancy. Though they did have one who was stillborn.
- Diane de Poitiers died in exile at her estate. There is no evidence she was strangled by Catherine de’ Medici. (As if Catherine would leave evidence?)
- It seems so unlikely that a woman of that time would have been privy to her husband’s financial dealings, and therefore extra unfair that Greer takes the fall for them.
- “You have no idea what it’s like to be a girl in this world. Owning nothing, having no power, except the effect you have on men.” I love when the women get to speak the truth about that world.
Final Thoughts
- Ice Ball! I’ve missed the constant rounds of parties and festivals.
- Mary’s interaction with Narcisse was perfection. I hope we’ll be seeing more of him now that he’s out of the dungeon.
- Can Leith save Greer? I’m very concerned for her!
- Catherine about Diane: “That was a very expensive mistake.”
- During the mock duel: “Is there something between them we don’t know about?” Just imagine those are yardsticks they’ve got there, ladies.
- Catherine: “Why are you helping me?” Bash: “That’s a very good question.”
- “I don’t care if your heart leads you my way or not, but I won’t have it lead you to Mary.” I’ve missed Mary’s ladies getting to be spunky!
Next week: Francis hints at there being a lot of history between his family and Conde’s. Mary asks Conde to spy on his brother, and he doesn’t want her using his feelings against him. But, of course, his brother also expects him to spy on Francis.
