Reign: 1x08 “Fated”

Mary: “I’m walking away from France” 

And she did. That was a fantastic and heavily packed hour. We had a blissful morning after, one very romantic proposal, the possibility to claim the English throne, the death of someone, if not beloved, but certainly fairly lovable and departure of three main characters. Those are just the highlights, the episode contained lots of delightful scenes yet it played out very organically and didn’t feel crowded.

The chance to claim the right to the throne of England came a bit earlier in the series than I thought, yet its timing was impeccable. Talk about how one piece of news sent by the papal emissary in England triggered so many events. The Queen of England is dying and of course Mary’s value in King Henry’s eyes has grown tremendously, her being the rightful heir to the English throne and all. He announced that Mary and Francis should wed, like yesterday. Having France backing her up Mary must make her claim and deliver him England. King Henry wants it so badly that he can’t think straight. His hatred for England and his hunger for more power clouded his judgment and he didn’t even hear the quite reasonable arguments presented by Francis, Mary and Queen Catherine. Wow! Hell has frozen over! Those three agreed on something, even for the same reason - fear. Catherine is afraid of loosing her son, Francis is afraid Mary would loose her head, and Mary is just scared. In this fight of hatred against fear hatred wins, and Henry even threatened to kill his wife is she intervenes. One can imagine how pissed off he will be by the end of this episode.

And I'm pissed off at his mistress. Kenna, oh, Kenna! What do we do with you? First, you can not keep a man, let alone the King of France, by whining [constantly] and begging for attention. No wonder Henry run back to Diane. Who wouldn’t? Second, when you learn something that might compromise your enemy, you think twice before doing something. "Enemy of my enemy is my friend" does not work here. To have that kind of card up a sleeve and not to play it? To just give it away? To Catherine? That is not even stupid. That is something else.

Queen Catherine in her turn used this information wisely. She got rid of both mistresses, killing two birds with one stone [actually three – she killed an actual bird].  Diane is gone but I’m sure this is not the last we saw of her. She will find her way back to king’s bed and heart in no time. I’m also glad she wasn’t the one who killed Aylee, although we were meant to believe it was her until almost the very end. Why didn’t she do it? She had no problems setting up a trap for Francis in the previous episode, knowing well what might happen to him. Or is it OK, as long as she doesn’t have to do it herself? She hides and manipulates and plots on the quiet and immediately retreats when caught. She is certainly no match for Catherine, but does she have to be so spineless? I’m having a bit of difficulty to figure out who and what she is, because writing for the character has been a bit uneven.

Clarissa on the other hand has a habit of sending people to the other side, still it was a twist that I did not see coming. She poisoned the tea, not really thinking that anyone could drink it, poisoned Aylee and pushed her down the stairs. Did she feel remorse and that’s why she pushed her? I imagine death by poisoning is much worse than fatal fall. Clarissa did it to protect Mary. We all know about good intentions. 

Speaking of things we do for love, Queen Catherine has tried pretty much everything to drive Mary away from Francis, she used Francis’ old flame, terrorized Mary, even sent someone to rape her just to destroy her reputation. The only thing that’s left was murder. Thankfully she agreed to follow Nostradamus’ advice and try honesty. If Mary was a different person that move could have easily cost Catherine her life. It was a wild card to play. She played it anyway. She even begged [now, that is a sentence I never thought I would write about Queen Catherine].

Fortunately for Catherine it paid off. Mary decided to walk away. From France, from the man she loves, from the alliance her country needs. What finally made her do that? It could be that whole lion\dragon fight in the field of poppies or Aylee’s death. But I thing ultimately it was Francis who said that he would die for her.

Nostradamus: “Can the future I see for you and Francis be changed?”

Who am I to question Nostradamus’ visions, but all those visions are open to interpretation. Plus we didn’t see the other visions that he told Mary about.

“I see Francis, barely older than he is now, cold to your touch. You are wed but childless. Alone at this court.” 
But we didn’t see it. Why not show us that?We were shown all the others. And all of them came true, including the one of Francis falling on his knees as he watched Mary riding off with Bash. In the previous episodes I thought we were meant to believe that this is the shot of him dying. Maybe I'm mistaken. Anyway, Francis didn’t die, only his heart. 

Historical bits

Mary’s ladies-in-waiting all “survived” their stay at French court.

Some observations  

Father Ronissi must be really not very smart. How could he have mistaken Kenna for Diane? Yes, they do look alike [King Henry certainly has a type], but to think that she could have a child that actually looks older than her. I mean, come on!

Bastard-born, as they technically belong to no one, can choose their own symbols. Bash chose lion.

We saw bits of Clarissa’s face, still not enough to make a positive id. I hope they’ll tell us more about her in the future episodes.

The writers don't shy away from killing off characters. I just wish it wasn’t Aylee. It was sad to see her die. I liked her. Damn!

At least at the end Kenna realized the tea was meant for her. I hope.

Memorable Quotes:

Diane: “She may care for Francis, but Mary will wed the next king of France.”

Bash: “That's no way to win a woman.”

Well said, Bash!

Henry: “In God's eyes, she doesn't even exist.”

Catherine: “How convenient God has this opinion, as Elizabeth happens to be Protestant.”

Henry: “Together, you will some day rule half of Europe. England, Scotland and France.

Don't let fear keep you from greatness. This is your destiny.”

Francis: “I'll pressure you, and listen to you, and argue with you, and love you until the day I die.

Together, we'll decide what is right, as husband and wife. Marry me.”

That might very well be the most romantic proposal I’ve ever heard. 

Lola: “England's an enormous risk. Are you taking that risk for us, your people, or for the man you love?

Good question. Impossible decision.

Greer: “Mary, come. Let's try different things with your hair.”

Yes! Please! Do that!

Catherine: “There are two things I can't abide, betrayal and stupidity, and Kenna's guilty of both.

One can be tempered, the other can never be remedied.”

Catherine: “Why must I always be the one with blood on my hands?”

Megan Follows delivered it perfectly.

Greer: “The only magic I believe in is love. She should marry him. To the power of love.”

Mary: “I’m leaving. I’m going away”

Bash: “Away where?

Mary: “Far.”

Bash: “That's my destination as well.”

Sol’s rating: 5 out of 5.