James: “In an effort
to take down your enemies, you run the risk of losing those you truly need.”
We saw first few battles and I’m not quite sure who won, if anyone.
Both queens dipped their toes into the art of war, resorting to espionage
and conspiracy.
Let’s start with England,
shall we?
Well aware of the lack of evidence against Knox Elizabeth invites him to
the Court in hopes to catch him in the act. With the help of Narcisse and
Gideon it almost worked if it wasn’t for a chatty servant. Her plan wasn’t a
bad one and the English Queen gets points for trying and for not killing Knox
with her bear hands - I bet, she wanted to. It wasn’t a total failure, she
might have missed Knox but caught fifty of her subjects instead. She was
sincerely shocked by the amount of people ready to betray her. Watching her I
was wondering if she is aware of how much she underestimates the men in her
life. Or maybe I am wrong and she knows it, but she just doesn’t have any other
choice. Take Gideon for instance, he was utterly shocked when she ordered to
kill those fifty traitors. Even though he is still loyal, her murderous
one-tone response to anything lately might turn him away. Or take Narcisse for
that matter. Elizabeth
made a deal with him since Knox is a common enemy, but she must have known that
Narcisse blames her for Lola’s death. Even though he says he understands that
she had to execute Lola, and I do think he is genuine about that, it doesn’t
mean he will forgive her. Is Elizabeth
so blind? She must have known he will try to avenge Lola’s death. What is this
– a misstep or the lack of choice?
Even though it feels like she might loose Gideon and Narcisse’s actions
will cost her Darnley and a bag of coins, she did kill the traitors and send
Knox back to plot against Mary, which she will benefit from. So, shall we say
the result of this little ‘Queen vs. men’ battle is 1:1? Yes, but barely.
Mary’s approach was less bloody and more elegant. If Elizabeth plan was ruined because of a woman,
Mary’s plan worked because of one. Mary is quite aware of women’s position and
men’s neglect. So, she seduced the wives of her generals with wine and nice
dresses to identify the traitor, and it worked like a charm. Mary also sent
James undercover right into Knox’s bedroom, which was devious and brilliant at
the same time. I’m not sure whether to applaud her or to be frightened. James
did deserve it, although I’m not sure Knox’s poor wife did. Like they say all
is fair in love and war, and Mary is using every single weapon available to her
with much better success than Elizabeth.
There is still something that bothers me. What is it? Ah, yes! Hate to
quote James, who said:
“Trust is given, but loyalty
is earned. And you, my queen, have not earned mine.”
People can’t be loyal out of necessarily or fear. He is absolutely right,
the loyalty must be earned. Being so long apart, I’m reluctantly admitting that
he might be the only one who sees Mary for who she is. Let’s stop and think for
a moment. Greer considers Mary a friend and she is loyal to her but she is
somewhat blindly confident that Mary will always protect those she loves. Greer
does believe this and Mary does try, but let’s look realistically. Do you
remember what happened to Aylee, to Lola, even Bash? Mary means well and might
genuinely believe she can protect those she loves, but every single time
someone ends up dead. Or worse. She convinced James to be on her side with
tears and sincere words about family, but at the end he will be the one to pay
for this, he will ruin that poor girl’s life and we know Knox will react
accordingly. Mary used her power of persuasion and made Greer stay in Scotland well
aware of how difficult it will be for her. It is almost as if she didn’t care
as long as she had someone to talk to who she knows won’t betray her. Is she
aware of what she is doing? I might be the only one who sees it in that way,
and maybe some of you or all of you think she doesn’t have any other choice.
Perhaps.
The result of this battle is definitely 1:0 in Mary’s favour, but at what
cost?
If I had
to pick a thing to complain about this episode it would be a certain
repetitiveness of the dialogues. Some of the conversations between James and Mary seemed like an awful
waste of time, since mostly they repeated the same thing over and over again. Same
with Catherine who seemed to have spent an entire episode saying the same thing
to different people and running around the castle in idle attempts to sign
papers to bring Narcisse back. There were no battles at French court. Claude is
still in mourning, Leesa is still obnoxious and always out of line. I am
curious however as to what the hell is happening to Charles?
Historical bits
King Charles IX was always fragile mentally, but there are no evidences
of it starting THAT early.
Some observations
None whatsoever….
Wardrobe department
The “Best Dress of the week”
Award goes to Lady Knox. Very simple, yet very charming.
The “Worst Dress of the
week” Award goes to Ldy X. In a midst of all those beautiful dresses, and there
were lots and lots of them considering a fashion show, organized by Mary, this
one stood out as not beautiful at all.
Memorable Quotes:
Catherine: “Another Mass.
God must be drowning in our adoration.”
Charles: “Again?
I'm sick of people asking things of me.”
Catherine:
“You are the King, that is the job.”
Narcisse: “So,
are you killing Knox, or am I?”
Elizabeth: “Knox cannot be harmed while he's here in England.”
Narcisse:
“Me, then.”
Sol’s rating: It was quite strong – 4.
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