Reign – Hanging Swords

By: Stacy Miller

As the episode opens, Ambassador Richards shows Queen Elizabeth (Rachel Skarsten) the body of the assassin that tried to kill Lord Darnley (Will Kemp). Elizabeth says that all she needs is a reason to invade Scotland and if England does, there will be no way Mary (Adelaide Kaine) can stop Elizabeth’s army.

Meanwhile in Scotland, Mary brings Greer (Celina Sinden) to a tranquil clearing near the river and tells her friend that she and Darnley stumbled upon it while riding.  Mary thinks it would be the perfect place for them to marry. But Greer reminds that the wedding of Queen Mary has to have more pomp and circumstance as it is a huge court affair. Though Greer can certainly understand how Mary wishes that she and Darnley could just run off and get married.

In France, Narcisse (Craig Parker) alerts Catherine (Megan Follows) that her daughter Queen Leesa (Anastasia Phillips) intends to have a letter written stating that King Charles (Spencer MacPherson) has abdicated the throne and since his brother Henry is too young to be king, Leesa will try to get her husband King Philip to assume the French throne.  And if King Philip becomes King of France, the country will obviously fall into Spanish rule. Catherine reminds Narcisse that as long as Leesa can’t find Charles, she can’t get him to sign the abdication letter. They just need to find Charles first and convince him to return as France’s king.

James (Dan Jeannotte) is angry that Mary has taken away some of his land in order to give to Darnley to make him befitting to marry the Queen of Scotland. That land earns James some of his income due to its trading port location.  Mary promises to thoroughly compensate her brother for his financial losses. James is also annoyed that Darnley took his favorite horse as well.  Mary says that she will talk to Darnley about the horse. But it is more than just land or a horse for James as Mary’s brother tells her that he doesn’t like Darnley or think that he’s good enough for her.  James reminds Mary that Darnley started a fire just so he could appear the hero in her eyes; this speaks to the kind of man he is.

Lord Darnley confronts his mother Lady Lennox (Nola Auguston) about the letter she forged that made his true love Keira (Sara Garcia) believe he didn’t love her anymore. Lady Lennox doesn’t deny it. Darnley tells his mother that she ruined his happiness and doomed Keira to a loveless marriage based on a lie. Darnley is starting to care for Queen Mary and knows how important a marriage between them could be for both of them.  But that doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his love for Keira. Darnley tells his mother that Keira is waiting for him at the inn until he decides what to do. However, as far as Lady Lennox is concerned, there’s nothing to decide.  He should send Keira home at once. If he doesn’t and Keira’s husband finds out she’s there, he would have Keira imprisoned for adultery and the Queen of Scotland would be humiliated once word got out. In short, Darnley stands to lose everything.

Elizabeth finds Gideon’s (Ben Geurens) daughter Agatha (Macy Drouin) playing with her doll. Gideon tells Elizabeth that the medicine Agatha took gave her a surge of energy, but it’s only temporary and not a cure to her affliction.  Elizabeth approaches the child and tells her that she loved to play queen when she was a child. “Would you like to play queen with me?” Elizabeth asks. Smiling, Agatha happily agrees. When next we see them, both Elizabeth and Agatha are dressed in their finery and walk down the palace hall where the guards snap to attention. Agatha likes the sound the guards make and asks them to do it again. “You heard Queen Agatha,” Elizabeth says and the guards comply.  Agatha loves it when Elizabeth refers to her as queen as the guards as well as her subjects must obey her every command. With that, Agatha commands “her subject” Gideon to hop on one foot and dance. Her father obeys.  Then, it’s off to the library via a piggy-back ride.

Mary gives Darnley the land that once belonged to James and admits to him that her brother is not happy with parting with it. She tells him that she wants their marriage to be more than political.

Catherine and Narcisse arrive at a small farm and find Charles.  He seems happy to be living the peasant life among good people and a caring family. They sit down to dinner, which includes pigeon soup (Catherine makes a face when she learned the meat was pigeon and not pheasant). When Charles responds disrespectfully to his mother, the farmer tells King Charles that they don’t talk to guest like that it his house. It’s obvious that manners and courtesy mean a lot to these humbled people. Catherine wonders how she’ll convince her son to return to the life of a king.

James tries to convince Mary that she is blind when it comes to Darnley; he is a different man than the one his sister sees when no one is around. James is worried that Mary is falling in love with Darnley and he is unworthy of that love. Meanwhile, Darnley finds Keira in his room as she waited at the inn as he instructed but he never returned.  Darnley reminds Keira of the risk they would both be taking by being together. Keira is willing to be his mistress. She knows that Darnley still loves her; if her kisses her and doesn’t feel anything she’ll go and never come back.  Keira and Darnley kiss.  “No one can ever know,” Darnley tells Keira as he begins to undress her and leads her to the bed. They make love and Darnley says that no one makes him feel as strong or has loved him as much as she has. Darnley requests Keira to go back to the inn, but promises he’ll come to her before she leaves because he can’t let her go without seeing her again.

At the farmer’s home as she watches her son playing with the children, Catherine comments to Narcisse that she’s never seen Charles so happy. She regrets that she could never give him the kind of family he deserved. Catherine wishes that she could just let her son stay there but France needs King Charles. The problem still remains as how do they convince Charles to go back with them? Their talk is interrupted by the farmer’s daughter, Nicole (Ann Piru), who seems to have developed a closeness with Charles. Maybe this girl can do the convincing for them. Catherine tells Nicole if she talks with Charles about coming back to be king, she can come along to the castle as well.

In England while Gideon is putting Agatha to bed, he sees a figure of a warship in her hand and asks her where she got it.  Agatha admits that she took it off a map she saw in the library.  It is explained to the little girl that the warships depict how England plans to be ready in the event of an attack. As some were pointed towards Scotland, Agatha asks whether Elizabeth plans to hurt Mary, who is so nice. Then, Agatha comments that if she were a real queen she’d want everyone to live in peace. “Then you’d be a wise ruler indeed,” Elizabeth says with a smile. Later, Elizabeth learns of a skirmish at the border and requests that her troops be put in position to attack Scotland.

In Scotland, Mary tells James that she plans to speak with Lord Bothwell (Adam Croasdell) to use his trade ports as a substitute for the port James loss when she gave his land to Darnley. But she’ll have to wait to meet with Lord Bothwell because he’s sick. To the contrary, James takes Mary to the inn where she finds the supposed sick Lord Bothwell in a backroom playing cards. James is not with Mary because a man directed him to the stables where James’ prized horse (the one Darnley took from him) is. James finds Darnley in bed with Keira, but agrees not to tell Mary if Darnley ends it. But James warns that if Darnley hurts his sister, he’ll kill him. Mary negotiates with Lord Bothwell. He declines her offer, but slyly says now the others know how high she’s willing to go.

Agatha gives a servant girl her doll saying she won’t need it soon. She questions Elizabeth about dying. Queen Elizabeth assures her that Heaven is a great place where she be reunited with her mother in her love.

In France, Charles announces to his sister Leesa that he is now a Protestant King. He tells Catherine and Narcisse in private that he won’t recant his statement and there’s nothing Leesa can do about it despite her threats to bring the Pope in on the matter.

When Narcisse finds Nicole in his bed, she tells him that being with Charles is fine but she’d rather get to know him better. She says she could also persuade Charles to recant his statement.

In England, Elizabeth tells her troops to stand down from attacking Scotland. She also had blueberries flown in to make Agatha’s favorite pie, but sadly the child has died. Elizabeth comforts a grieving Gideon.

Queen Leesa is finally leaving Scotland, but reminds Catherine of their agreement. Catherine tells Narcisse that the agreement was to remove Charles as king and replace him with his younger Catholic brother Henry, which could lead to a civil war and the death of one of her sons.

Mary receives a message from her royal watchman and later confronts Darnley about his affair with Keira. She tells him that if she decides to marry him, it will be in name only for the good of Scotland and the hope of someday gaining the English throne.