Reign: 3x11 “Succession”

Mary: “Now I am a guest at court, an ornamental queen, here and in Scotland.”

We have spent so little time on Scotland, all the bad news were given through third parties, all the protests and uprisings were happening off screen, and over three seasons we literally spent like five minutes in Scotland, so it is difficult to be sympathetic.

Mary has never really been the Queen of Scots, only in name. And now, a catholic Queen almost in exile, without husband and child, she is faced with an ultimatum to accept Protestantism or never be able to return to Scotland. She will never accept that and she will fight for her country, as she should. Only what exactly can she do from that far? Not much, and even though she is so adamant to get her power back, that she decides to go to Rome to ask the Vatican for funds, will she actually go? We have heard these plans before, but so far there were nothing more than just words. 

I continue to enjoy her love affair with Gideon. I know, it's not love, nor is it an affair per se, but how else would you call this family trip to the fair? Right now, anywhere Mary looks she sees the things she lost, the country that isn't hers anymore, the husband that died, a child she never had. I like this character and I want her to find love again and be happy; so much I keep forgetting that Mary's story is a tragic one and doesn't end well.

The two queens are somewhat similar in their desires and misfortune. Elizabeth has lost so much lately and now she learned her trusted advisor wasn’t that trustworthy after all. Points to Lola for figuring out a way to do a favor to the English Queen, although it is a quite dangerous game; Elizabeth might be grateful or she might be willing to remove the witness. We'll see. As for William, he got off cheap. Elizabeth will never punish him for the crime committed, because then his reasons will be known, and she can't have that. She can't really prosecute him for sleeping with prostitutes; however he chooses to call them. Nevertheless, he lost his position and her; not that he ever had her, but just serving her and being near seemed to have been enough.

We finally got an explanation why so much attention was paid to Catherine's lover boy. It became clear very early on that he was the killer. They hinted and implied so heavily, that I started to think that maybe that's a red herring. It wasn't. After his disposal site was discovered, Christophe had to find a fall guy and poor butcher who had to know better than to talk smack to nobles paid the ultimate price. Christophe seemed to have won this battle, someone else was hanged for his crimes and his position at court stayed secured. For now. You don't back Catherine de Medici into a corner. I can’t wait for round two.

Historical bits

Well, needless to say William Cecil was never in love with Elizabeth, nor was he ever banished from court. He was her chief advisor for the most part of her reign.

The whole ultimatum never happened in real life, after Francis’ death Mary left France and returned to Scotland where she was greeted with joy. I guess, that ship has sailed.

Some observations  

Charles is keeping his promises to Francis; how honorable of him was to invite Mary to join the procession, in spite of tradition. I like Charles. A lot.

Mary in returned showed him support, found the right words and gave the best advice ever for the future king; part of me thinks she would’ve been a better Regent, if that was at all possible.

Where is Claude and how come she wasn’t present at her brother’s coronation?

Wardrobe department

The “Best Dress of the week” Award goes to the three queens - simply awesome!

 

The “Worst Dress of the week” Award goes to Lola. 

Sorry, girl, this flower-type colors are a ‘no’.

 

Now, that Elizabeth has burned most of Lola’s  dresses, I’m afraid Lola will win a permanent spot in my ‘worst dress of the week’ category.

Memorable Quotes:

Catherine: “Once you have children, you come to realize that you've never known true love before. When you lose a child, you come to know true pain.”

Just because it was fun to see Narcisse suffer almost physically  through this speech, I decided to include it in Quotes section.

Narcisse: “A toast to Catherine de Medici, Queen Mother and Regent of France. A woman of great honor,  defender of her people, protector of the realm. May the entire Valois family and this great nation of France rest easy in her exceptional care. To Catherine.”

Sol’s rating: solid 3.5