Reign - Recap: The Trouble With Henry

So on with the plot, as it's a doozy: If he had been showing any signs of recovery before, King Henry (Alan Van Sprang) has now doubled-down on his madness, as the episode reveals that he not only plans to invade England -- despite the exhaustion and dwindling numbers of the French army -- he's also planning to have Francis (Toby Regbo) killed so he can wed Mary (Adelaide Kane) and have a claim to both England and Scotland. It's the sort of wildly brazen plan that basically has no chance of working, but it makes for some thrilling TV all the same, as the question of Henry's possible goodness makes us question whether Mary and Catherine (Megan Follows) are really doing the right thing in plotting to have Henry killed. On the surface, they want to prevent all-out war with England, since it's a war they simply can't win. But it's clear that there are still personal motivations beneath the surface that are, at least in part, catalyzing their actions. It isn't just the pragmatism of wanting to protect France and save thousands of lives, or spare Francis the heartbreak and indignity of being a part of his father's death. Put plainly, Mary and Catherine just want the headache of Henry gone from their lives for good. Allying the two queens like this adds urgency to the plot, as it's not exactly easy to get to the King of France, nor will the aftermath be a political cakewalk. But this is a moment of desperation, and that desperation lends immediacy to the plot on both ends: Henry wants to invade England and wed Mary before his plans are compromised, while Mary and Catherine need to kill Henry before he actually gets the chance to enact those terrible plans. And Francis is caught in the middle, a son torn between fidelity to his father and fidelity to his country. "Long Live the King" is Reign at its absolute best.

Credit: The CW

For the first half of the episode, everything is going France's way: Calais has officially been retaken, Mary Tudor of England is dead, and Henry announces his intention to see our Mary placed on the English throne. Francis returns home to Mary, they have some joyous reunion sex, and that's about it for the sunshine and rainbows. It's all downhill from there, as Catherine uses the feminine wiles of her spies to get to the bottom of Henry's plot to invade England. In short, France has neither the manpower nor the strength among soldiers they already have to take England. And, to make matters worse, the Duke of Guise (Gil Darnell) is continuing to insinuate himself at Henry's side, publicly applauding him for deciding to retake Calais in the first place (Catherine's frustration that Francis didn't do this first is a nice touch). He even goes as far as to argue that Mary's attempts to connecting with her cousin, Queen Elizabeth, are completely pointless. In a letter to the English Queen, Mary offers to relinquish her claim on England in exchange for a portion of land on English soil. But, as the Duke astutely notes, England is pretty much Mary's only bargaining chip at French court. If she gets rid of that possibility, her safety and position at court is far less secure. So it's ultimately up to Mary and Catherine to solve this untenable situation, as they plot to have Henry poisoned at communion. Mary is reluctant, but ultimately decides it is in the best interest of Francis, France, and her own country to go along with the plan.

Credit: The CW

However, things quickly snowball out of control, as Francis becomes convinced that he can talk his father out of his mad plan to invade England. Together, they go on a hunting trip, and just like any good villain whose death might be imminent, he starts to show signs of remorse for how he's acted. In a fairly poignant scene with Francis, father and son go on a hunting trip, and Henry reveals how much he regrets not showing Francis the same affection he showed Bash (Torrance Coombs). As he explains, his harshness with Francis was something he learned from his own father, who traded he and his brother in their youth as a bargaining chip with the Spanish. "Sons must always sacrifice for their fathers," Henry tells him, sadly. It's as if Henry recognizes, with genuine remorse, how he's perpetuated the cycle of emotional distance instilled in him by his own father. He even recalls the sting of his brother's loss, as the young man died during a tennis match some years after their three-year Spanish imprisonment, having never really reconciled with their father. This brother has been the tennis racket-wielding ghost that's been haunting Henry all these months, and the unsettling relationship Henry has with that ghost serves as a sort of dark mirror with the relationship between brothers Francis and Bash, though it's not nearly as tortured. Francis, for his part, pleads with Henry to turn away from his plans for England, arguing that he still has work to do in France. His argument is that God has anointed him, and that he's won the glory, but now must do the good required of him. Henry, who earlier likens God to a father that's impossible to please, relents and agrees with Francis, saying he'll stay to see that the work required of him in France is completed.

Credit: The CW

But whatever progress Francis makes in that conversation is undone when the assassination attempt on Henry goes awry. An assassin attacks Henry at communion, and although the King is able to furiously bludgeon his attacker to death with nothing but his bare fists, he never actually finds out who sent the assassin. This is important, because we know that Catherine and Mary were planning on poisoning Henry, not sending an assassin. And our suspicions are later confirmed: Francis convinced Catherine and Mary to call off the poisoning at the last moment, meaning the assassin wasn't theirs. By process of elimination, they conclude that the Duke of Guise was behind the assassination attempt, having used his spies within the castle to discover that Catherine and Mary's plan had been called off. Basically, the Duke of Guise stood to gain the most from the assassination attempt, regardless of whether it succeeded or failed. If it succeeded, Francis must remain true to his word and elevate the Duke to the position as his right-hand man. If it fails, the Duke is the man who warned Henry of enemies within the castle, which will earn him favor in court. It's a difficult situation made all the more impossible by the animosity it creates between Francis and Mary, as the Dauphin resents that his wife would try to have his father killed, while Mary says she was only doing what was best for the country he continually puts ahead of her. It's an understandable conflict, and I don't think either person is wrong for being upset, as they both have valid, relatable reasons for feeling the way they do. It's the best kind of conflict, really, as it feels germane to who these people are. As Mary reminds Francis, they're rulers. They don't have the luxury of average marital difficulties. Hell, what other woman has to worry about her father-in-law murdering her husband so he can marry her?

But the craziness doesn't stop there. We learn the truth about Lord Julien (Giacomo Gianniotti), who isn't really Lord Julien after all. His name is Remy, and he was Lord Julien's secretary before a fire spontaneously broke out and claimed the man's life. However, in the aftermath, he had all of Lord Julien's belongings, and the authorities naturally assumed he was the late Lord. Thus, Remy kept up with the lie, receiving the stipends from Lord Julien's wealthy family...until the money stopped flowing, at which point he planned to mary Lola (Anna Popplewell), gain her dowry, and then split town. But things changed after he fell in love with her, as things often do. Not that Lola is all that understanding of this, since he's reneging on his promise from last week never to lie to her again. Worse, the secret is only coming out now because he needs Lola's help in fooling Lord Julien's uncle, who's come searching for his nephew.

And this is where things get insane, as Lola goes along with the plan at first, only for things to get out of hand once Lord Julien's uncle discovers the truth anyway due to the presence of a servant who inadvertently exposes the lie. A brawl breaks out, Lola tries to intervene, and Lord Julien's uncle ends up getting accidentally impaled, because this is the kind of thing that happens on this show. Remy realizes he can't stick around any longer, since he's effectively ruined Lola's life. However, Lola doesn't seem to think so, since she now has a name and title for her unborn child, which is more than someone else could have given her. And with Lord Julien and his uncle's bodies burned beyond all recognition, no one will ever know she didn't really marry the real Lord Julien, so his family will always provide for her and her child. But things, unfortunately, must end for Lola and Remy, and so they part, their brief courtship and marriage coming to an end amid fire and lies. Yet, before parting, Remy gives Lola one last piece of advice: if the father of her child is a good man, she should find a way to allow him to be in that child's life. Lola is torn, since she can't exactly reveal to him the paternity of the child, but she promises to let the child's real father in on the secret anyway. But will she actually go through with telling Francis? Also, can anyone stop all the death that this show appears to have headed its way?

Credit: The CW

I ask this because of the final big plot of the night, as we get a storyline in which Bash, while searching the Blood Woods for The Darkness, stumbles across a frightened orphan. He brings the young boy back to the castle, believing that he might have seen The Darkness with his own eyes. However, the boy refuses to talk -- although he does form a quick, deep bond with Kenna (Caitlin Stasey). And, for her part, Kenna grows to enjoy having the boy around, even though she plans on moving away from court with Bash as soon as he's able. Of course, because this is Bash we're talking about, he only lies and tells Kenna they'll be moving right away. In reality, he plans on sending Kenna ahead and staying behind to finish The Darkness, once and for all. Kenna is furious until Bash, in a very effective romantic moment, reveals that he deeply cares about her, stating that this marriage is no longer something that happened to him, it's something he wants to come home to. "Come back to me then," Kenna says, kissing him. "Or I'll kill you myself." Did I mention I kind of love this pairing? And it gets better, as the little boy, who reveals his name to be Pascal, tells Kenna what happened to his father: he was killed in the woods by a "bad man." And who was that bad man? Pascal's flashbacks reveal it was none other than BASH! Turns out, the pagan Bash killed back in Episode 6 was Pascal's father; and, worst of all, Pascal saw the entire thing. All of a sudden, what seemed like the sweet story of newlyweds creating their own family unit by temporarily adopting a wayward boy is something much darker now. Is Pascal looking to seek revenge against Bash? If so, how will he enact his revenge? By harming Kenna? This kid is dangerous, I tell ya!

"Long Live the King" is an episode of heightened drama that plays out effectively, particularly in how it sets us up for the monumental business of the Reign season finale. I can't wait to see how The CW dramatizes one of history's biggest events, as the show is far more soap opera than history lesson (if it can be called anything but "loosely historical" at all). Either way, count me among those excited for next week.