Previously on reign...
What are you doing? It's a binding ritual.
I don't feel like myself.
That's because you're not yourself.
Should I feel mistreated,
My response will be a hell of a lot worse
Than a grisly piece of meat.
The royal family will be evacuated.
I want john to have something.
Tell him, every day,
How much his father loved him.
These may be my last hours on earth.
I'd like to use them in service
To my sovereign king.
It's condé's army. He doesn't only have his
Elizabeth's gold and support, he has the armies of hundreds
Of french protestant lords at his command.
Surrender now and mary will live.
There can't be two kings.
Condé's still in love with you, mary.
And he probably justifies this whole thing
By clinging to the idea
That he can somehow save your life.
And come tomorrow, barring a miracle,
We will both be dead.
Mary. Louis, I am pregnant.
I am carrying your child.
Please, save me.
Ugly business,
But I can't begrudge my men their whores.
Many of them might be dead by tomorrow.
They're not the only ones.
You're safe now, mary.
You know, you made the right decision,
Coming to me.
I will protect you
And our child.
We will...
Survive this...
This coup? War, you mean.
I know there's little joy even in that,
As it means francis must die.
Don't count francis out so quickly, louis.
His men at the castle are outnumbered
And we have him surrounded.
What is it, mary?
Francis has cannons now.
Cannons? They arrived two days ago,
Under the cover of night.
I feel as though I am betraying
Everyone I know and love in the castle.
Can we please just leave here?
I've gone too far to turn back.
No, no, it's francis who must accept defeat
And the people you love will be spared.
Captain.
Bring forward our siege guns.
But my lord, they're at the rear of the column.
It would delay our attack by hours, perhaps more.
Bring them.
Yes, my lord.
This changes nothing.
When my guns are ready,
If francis does not offer up his life, I will attack.
And by tomorrow night, either he or I will be dead.
♪ they all need something
♪ to hold on to, they all mean well ♪
♪ you could never feel my story ♪
♪ it's all you know... Oh!
♪
Mary has gone to condé.
No, it's not possible.
Of course it's possible!
Your own men saw her riding towards condé's camp.
Alone, of her own volition.
Are you really so surprised?
You told her of condé's offer
To protect her if you gave up the crown,
Trusting her loyalty,
And once again, she has betrayed you.
She might even assume
That you will take this offer,
Thinking it will avoid the bloodshed of your people
And save her,
Because she knows in your heart you are merciful.
Too merciful, you think.
Too merciful to her!
Her selfishness,
Her betrayals— you have looked past them all.
Even when the stress of it has nearly killed you.
But this act of hers
Will not just cost you your life.
We won't be spared,
Your brothers and I,
If condé is king,
Whether you forfeit the crown
Willingly or not.
If we die, it is at her hands.
And if we live, I will never forgive her for this!
Madame delphine?
Are you here?
I brought blankets.
Madame delphine?
What are you doing down here?
Haven't you heard?
That creature I saw in the passages—
It nearly attacked a maid in delphine's chambers.
You shouldn't be here.
It's just the sort of horrid,
Dank hole a monster would hide in.
Well, if a monster should come down here,
I have plenty of arrows to shoot it with.
They're saying the creature
Might even be delphine herself.
Maybe she can transform,
Shift into other beings. You're telling me
To worry about some make-believe monster
When thousands of actual soldiers
Outside the castle— where I should be—
Are waiting to kill us? I'm telling you
I know what I saw.
The danger is not only outside the walls.
It's inside as well.
When did this happen to you?
In the middle of the night, your grace.
I had a bit of wine and some fun with them whores.
(groaning) and then I woke up in my own blood and vomit.
Well, get some rest.
Captain.
My lord.
Tell me my cannons are near.
We need to attack before this spreads.
Field guns and mortars are minutes away, majesty.
Let's begin to form lines for... Plague!
It's a plague! Soldiers gave me the plague!
It's a plague! Fall in!
Report to your units! Plague! Plague!
Fall in! The plague is here!
It's a pl...! Stop screaming, you're causing a panic.
Ashes. There is no plague. It's a hoax.
Fall in!
Mary...
Your whores.
The imaginary plague. (grunts)
You planned it all to scatter my men, didn't you?
Francis doesn't have cannons, does he?
And our baby...
Was that a lie, as well?
Yes.
No, mary...
Hats off to you, then.
You crushed the rebellion all by yourself.
Louis, I never wanted to hurt you.
But I had to stop you. I had to...
What's going on? I don't know, but I thought you should see for yourself.
Condé's men are running everywhere.
It's chaos.
Are they forming up for attack?
There's no formation.
They're scattering.
Do you hear the screaming?
Francis, I never told you this—
I didn't think it was relevant— but right before she left,
Mary gave me a package for greer.
Said it was very important.
There may be more to mary's departure than we know.
Now is the time to attack.
Attack? Even if half his army runs, condé still
Outnumbers us. Our men will balk.
Which is why I'm going to lead the charge.
And don't let them form up again.
Keep them on the run.
Where is condé? Find him!
Did you...?
A physician is coming to bind his wound.
When you left last night, you had all this in mind.
Didn't you? The plague and then the whores...
One of you was going to die.
I couldn't let it be you. Why not?
His armies were stronger.
You could have had everything: Condé, your freedom...
Your crown.
You are my husband and my king.
Mary, we're alone. There's no need...
He is a traitor.
And I love you, francis.
I always have.
Always.
The king.
Stephan. What is it?
The coup is over. We're safe. (women gasping)
Oh, most merciful god.
I'm sure you all want to return to your chambers.
Thank you for sharing your strength with the queen.
You're shaking.
(door thuds shut) the thought of dying and leaving my children alone
In this world, unprotected,
Likely to suffer my fate.
Each of them hunted down, slaughtered—
I couldn't bear it. Right, you-you... You're all right.
And so are your children.
Everyone's all right.
Please. I want to feel your arms.
Of course.
Stephan...
I don't want to lose you.
I know there's resentment between us.
But it's clear to me now.
I want us to be together.
To go forward. Together.
His majesty king francis!
Long live king francis!
Long live the king!
It's been a long time since I've seen you smile.
Well, I've never gotten so close to losing everything.
And then gotten almost all of it back.
"almost all"?
I can't help wondering.
When you rode off to condé's camp,
How did you get him to trust you?
I took advantage of his love for me.
Well, that must have been difficult for you.
Uh... There's greer.
Excuse me.
I don't know how to thank you, greer.
If not for you and your ladies, we would've
Lost countless lives, and my husband his crown.
It was all your idea. I simply obeyed.
I just wish my ladies could be here,
If only to hear their queen
Use such a word to name them.
I will name them my friends
When I come to thank them in person.
What happened to condé? Where is he?
In the dungeon
Recovering from his wounds, thankfully.
And now he can live long enough to feel
The axe split his liar's head
From his traitor's body.
Would you both excuse us?
Of course.
Condé may indeed one day lose his head, but...
Not for this.
I've made my decision.
Francis, no...
I-I want vengeance
But condé is worth more to this country
In one piece.
We can offer him to his brother
In exchange for a formal agreement that he will surrender
His family's claim to this throne forever.
You spare a usurper, you embolden others!
You make yourself look weak in appearances and in fact!
Am I stronger by taking condé's head and making him a martyr?
His memory would rally protestants
All over this country against us, rather than
A few hundred mercenaries paid for by elizabeth.
His death would enrage
His already vengeful brother, the king of navarre;
The man with the most potent claim to my throne.
Francis, how many times will you pay the price
For ignoring my counsel?
I have already sent for lola and my son to come home.
I am ending this struggle with diplomacy, not war.
Now, have you more to say?
You say that I ignore your counsel.
Well, let's hear it.
I believe I've made myself clear.
Kenna, I'm so sorry.
If there was anything I could do to remove
Suspicion from you... It wouldn't matter.
I'll carry our relationship with me, no matter what.
You don't have to.
Say whatever you want about my memory.
I'll be dead.
You need to protect your future.
You and all of your friends.
What do you mean?
Mary bested elizabeth today.
But the english queen's ruthlessness,
It'll cost many more lives
Than mine and my son's before she's done.
I heard bold threats in condé's camp.
Warnings from elizabeth's mercenaries.
Warnings? What warnings?
Elizabeth's campaign against mary.
It's more than politics.
It's personal.
She'll never give up till mary's finished.
Never.
Oh!
So, delphine is a shape-shifting demon?
Claude, this is fear and superstition run amok.
Marcel, tell the deputy what she did to you.
(groans) it's disturbing.
Delphine seduced me,
During the siege.
Uh, she made me lie on a bloody shirt, and as we...
She worked a spell on me.
You claim to have had carnal relations with delphine
On someone else's blood.
I didn't feel like myself,
And-and she said I wasn't anymore.
Gibberish started coming out of my mouth, and...
Delphine said it was pagan.
She bewitched him.
All right, I'll look into it.
In the meantime, hold your tongues.
The last thing we need is panic after the siege.
Bash, I need to talk to you.
Can it wait? I have to find delphine.
Please, just hear me out.
When I saw you with delphine, I panicked.
I grabbed at renaude because I was lonely and felt desperate.
I miss you, bash.
If there is any part of you that still feels for me,
I'm asking for you to give us another chance.
Is it because you don't want to be alone again,
After watching your lover hang?
I knew before.
During the siege, when the swords were flying,
I called out to you.
I saved your life, not renaude's.
I know you're with delphine, and tell me if I'm wrong, but...
You don't seem happy.
We are still husband and wife.
We haven't undone anything yet.
♪ once I hear them clearly say, who ♪
♪ who are you, really?
♪ and where
♪ where are you going?
♪ I've got nothing left to prove ♪
♪ 'cause I've got nothing left to lose ♪
♪ see me bare my teeth for you, who ♪
♪ who are you?
You will sign away your claim then?
Yes.
(grunts) I didn't want
To be king.
Not at first. (exhales)
I tried... (moans)
To leave France... Louis, please rest.
But when francis had me captured,
It was elizabeth who saved me.
And she would only continue to protect me
If I made my claim on the crown.
I came to want it,
To believe a new...
France under my rule would be better.
And I wanted you.
You put a knife in me,
And I still want you. Is that madness?
Louis, I did love you. I did.
But when it came to francis
And me, you saved him.
Not because he's your king but because your love for him is...
Deeper.
Stronger.
I wish you hadn't made me choose.
You'll never know how sorry I am.
Your majesty, there's news of your son and lady lola.
No. What happened to them?
You killed my son.
He had them kidnapped, lola and john,
To trade for his life no.
If the coup failed. What?
No. But the kidnapping was botched,
And john...
My son, my infant son, was killed
During the attempt.
You murdered my son!
That can't be right. There must be a mistake.
There's no mistake!
I held john's blood in my hands.
We captured one of his men and he confessed to everything.
Louis, what have you done? Nothing! I've done nothing!
I should have killed you a long time ago.
Francis!
I would never harm lola or your son!
Speak again and I will cut out your heart!
Even if you didn't order it,
My son is dead because of you.
Oh, god, no...
We will find lola, and you will lose your head,
Alone in this dungeon, before the day is done.
I didn't harm your son!
The kidnappers took lola and john
On their way back to the castle.
We found one of the men,
Abandoned, wounded during the fight,
And he gave up the plan
To trade lola and john for condé.
But the plan had already fallen apart.
John...
He fell...
During the escape.
His-his... His head...
Francis.
We can't find lola anywhere.
The place where the kidnappers were supposed to meet,
There's no sign of them.
I sent them away to protect them.
All I can see is his face,
Everywhere.
His smile.
How-how could they... (sniffles)
Forgive me, your majesties...
Your majesty, I told lord narcisse... Francis, lola is still out there.
I know you don't trust me,
But trust that I care for her.
Let me find her.
Leave us.
What do you need?
Men? Yes.
But more than that,
I think someone inside the castle was involved.
The kidnappers knew the route that lola's carriage had taken.
Do you know who it is?
I have my suspicions.
But to say anything further might endanger lola.
Give me a day,
But no one outside this room must know that I've left.
Take whomever you need.
And bring back lola.
The servants are saying the demon is you
Or your familiar.
They're painting me as a witch.
I should never have left my home.
Delphine, I brought you here and I will protect you.
But do you know why people would be spreading such stories?
A servant boy claims you seduced him,
Performed some kind of ritual on him, with a shirt stained
With blood. My god.
I told you, people are superstitious and ignorant,
And they fear me because I'm a healer and a seer
A woman without a husband.
What else could I be but a witch?
I know what it's like to be an outcast and misunderstood.
I will quash these rumors.
In the meantime, there's something
I need to talk to you about.
My situation has changed,
And I have decided to reconcile with my wife.
I can't say I'm surprised.
With a child on the way.
What are you talking about? There's no child.
I'm sorry. I thought you knew.
I touched kenna earlier and got a glimpse.
She's been pregnant for weeks. I'm sure she knows.
Are you pregnant with renaude's child?
How could you possibly have guessed?
I haven't told a soul.
Delphine has the gift of sight.
She thought I already knew,
Being the proud father.
How long have you known?
A few days.
A few weeks.
So that's why you got me into bed,
So suddenly, so remorseful.
You wanted me to believe the child was mine.
Surely I would take you back.
No, I wanted it to be yours.
To save you from ruin.
To save you from having a traitor's child,
A man who was hanged for trying to kill our king.
Please, bash, don't abandon me.
I cannot have this child without you.
If you had come to me in honesty,
I might have considered it.
But you lied to me and tried to trick me.
Because I saw no other way!
Please claim this child.
You know what it's like to be born a bastard.
Th-the shame and the scorn.
Stop using this child only to save yourself.
We are finished.
Who are you working for?
And we know it is not the prince of condé.
Do you need some persuasion?
Stephan!
How did you find us?
Your son, he's alive.
They didn't harm him, thank god.
It's all right, my love.
It soon will be.
Help!
Someone's killed the executioner!
It's a bloodbath, your majesty.
Whoever did this, killed the guards, too.
An imposter.
Lock down the castle.
We must find condé.
The king's guards are in pursuit of condé.
He fled through the woods to the north, but we'll find him.
The assassin who killed,
Then took the place of the executioner, has died.
But we did get this much from him— he's english.
Did the assassin infiltrate the castle, or was he here already?
I don't think elizabeth has yet managed
To place a spy at court.
It was a daring rescue.
Elizabeth protects condé still.
I wonder if he's on his way to her.
Or to navarre for his brother's protection. Hm.
I've sent men to the border.
With your permission, I'd like to dispatch
Additional soldiers to the nearest ports.
Of course.
Lord narcisse.
I need to speak with the king.
The king is indisposed.
It is a matter
Of the utmost secrecy.
Regarding his son.
Please leave us.
What is it, narcisse?
I know you want to speak to francis,
But he is in isolation, grieving for his poor child.
If you know anything of john's death, or lola's whereabouts,
Please... Lady lola is alive, unharmed,
As is her son, the king's son.
Alive? Are you sure?
How?
I believe the child's death was a ruse
Meant to motivate condé's execution.
Catherine.
Yes. Did it not occur to you
That she folded far too easily
In the argument over condé's death?
I simply thought she had grown weary
Of making the same argument.
She was.
More than you realized.
I know catherine— her gestures, her mind.
Amongst other pursuits, the two of us spent a great deal of time
Constructing ways to destroy condé,
So, when she backed down easily, I... I had her followed.
She dispatched men. I had my men track
Their journey, which led directly to the house
Where lola and the infant were held.
Francis is in an abbey,
Praying to the saints for the strength to go on,
To face his people, his court.
How could she do this to him?
In catherine's mind, his grief would be short,
His child miraculously returned...
And the usurper, condé, finally dead.
Yes.
Why turn on your co-conspirator now?
Catherine is your lover, your key to power at court.
Because, as it turns out,
There is one thing worse than being hated
By catherine de medici.
That is being loved by her.
Do with the information as you will.
You are a heartless woman.
Abducting your son's child,
Putting him through hell, believing that he was dead.
I... Don't bother lying, catherine.
We have proof.
Narcisse had your men followed.
They were caught. We have a confession.
Why would you do this?
Defy your son, your king,
When you knew that condé's fate was decided?
Francis's plan was faulty.
Diplomacy takes weeks, months.
What if condé and antoine stalled?
Never signing away their claim to the throne
While another coup is mounted?
You feel no remorse, do you?
The moment condé became your lover, he needed to die.
Even he understood that.
He understood it when you plotted against him.
Knowing he was a target is what drove him to elizabeth!
It was a choice, and he should have been executed for it.
You do realize that we could all be dead,
My children slaughtered.
And all because you couldn't stand being lonely in your role
As queen, as wife.
That's the job, mary.
Get used to it.
I have made mistakes,
But it doesn't change the wrongs you have done, the grief
You have caused your son, your son, catherine.
I did it for my son!
And for you!
And for France!
Sweep away the usurper,
Show elizabeth that her agents will be found and murdered.
I did this for the good of your realm, here, and in scotland.
I have stood by you, mary.
I have kept your secrets,
I have helped you navigate through the terrors
Of your position. When you were raped...
Stop, I warn you.
Francis does not need to know about this.
It will destroy him.
More secrets?
Is that what we really need?
I don't understand how you can justify it,
In your heart, in your soul, these terrible shortcuts.
Ruling requires that your hands be drenched in blood.
You... Who have led so many
To their destruction, know it.
And francis, who killed
His own father, knows it.
You are no better than me, either one of you.
And I am sick to death of you pretending otherwise!
The difference between us is this.
For us,
Bloodshed is a gruesome last resort, but for you...
For you, it is as easy as drawing your next breath.
I have sent someone to inform francis that his child lives.
And he will know of your treachery.
And god save you from his wrath.
Bash.
You have to help me. I didn't do it.
I tried to save him.
She was pressing the life out of him,
Keening and wailing in pleasure. Leave us!
She's evil! Now!
How did this boy end up murdered in your chambers?
I don't know. I could only feel his pain,
A knife going in again and again.
You have no idea how bad this looks, do you?
(panting) bash... You have to believe me.
I didn't murder anyone, or draw that pentagram.
You are suspected of ungodly acts, pagan rites,
And the boy who says you involved him
Ends up murdered in your chambers.
What are people supposed to think?
My god, I'll die for this.
You are the king's brother. Talk to him, save me.
Devil worship is an act against god.
It is the church's purview.
Don't let them drown me.
Please, just don't let them drown me. Promise.
Don't let them drown me.
Promise, bash?
Leave us.
She won't run. Where would she go?
Francis, please, listen to... Don't speak.
I've always thought, the one redeeming quality
About you was your love for your family.
Your son was never harmed. Lola was never harmed.
You sent armed men with swords drawn to take them by force.
They could have been killed easily.
But that means nothing to you.
Family means nothing to you,
Except a means to an end.
If you had birthed peasants instead of kings,
And someone offered you a monarchy,
If only you were free of us,
You'd slit our throats in an instant.
That is not true.
You are my son, my life...
And now you mean nothing to me.
Not a mother, certainly not a queen mother,
As I strip you of your title, your income and your home.
Oh, this is your doing.
No. All mary did was tell me the truth.
And betray you!
And turn England's anger against us.
And bleed our country dry for her own cause.
She will destroy this family.
I don't need a prophecy
From nostradamus to know,
She will be the death of you.
Guards.
Return to the decaying bosom of your true family,
The medicis or flee to the new lands.
Exile? I don't care, but you will never be welcome
At this court ever again.
Judas.
I really do love this story
Of me traveling abroad
To set up a royal retreat.
I only wish I really was decorating a small palace.
I hear it's beautiful and they throw
The most marvelous summer's end parties in norway.
Dear kenna, you'll be
Out to here by then.
Perhaps if I stay on with your friends,
After the baby's adopted by that couple in sweden.
I'm doing the right thing—
The only thing I can do—
Is giving up the child.
Thank you for finding me
A loving home and family to hide out with.
And as long as bash doesn't say anything...
He won't.
Then my reputation is salvaged.
Lady kenna, your carriage awaits.
Let us walk you down. No, no.
I want to remember you all like this—
As the girls we once were.
I hope you'll remember me that way, too.
Oh, such dreams we had.
I believe they can still come true.
Greer.
Mary.
Lola.
I hope you don't mind.
I thought we should talk.
No, I don't mind at all.
You asked me if I could ever forgive you.
For condé.
For everything that's happened.
And at the time, I couldn't
Even conceive of it. I thought, if anything,
It would take years.
I'll wait.
Even if it takes that long.
Not because we're wed
Or because I have nowhere else to go.
But because I love you.
Well, you've proven that.
And more. (chuckles)
Your mother would say we are stained by such choices.
Such brutal and difficult choices we've made,
But we can only do our best.
Can we not make another choice,
One equally hard,
But so important?
To commit our hearts to each other, no matter what?
If only it were that easy.
It isn't.
It's terrifying and nearly impossible.
Especially if we think we can save each other.
We can't.
We can only love each other.
Francis...
♪
The last ship I took was made from over 600 oak trees.
And the one we're waiting on will be staffed by 311 men.
You certainly love boats, don't you? Love them.
Completely. Ours has 75 cabins,
With mine being the most ornate, of course, as king.
Seven gun ports,
82 guns, including—
W... I'm-I'm sorry.
Did you say you're a king?
From the kingdom of imereti,
Uh, near russia and the black sea.
I've been studying abroad, but I'm making my way
Back home, because my father just died.
You should attend the coronation.
Well, I can't, at the moment.
But, uh, perhaps
You and I could write to one another,
Be pen pals? And...
Sometime in the next few months, say...
This winter, maybe I could
Come and visit you. I could use a pal.
They say it's lonely being king. Well, it doesn't have to be.
Not in my experience.
Or at least not for long, anyway.
So you'll be a man soon enough, won't you?
I hope so.
Listen, when I come to visit you,
Would it be all right if brought my sister's baby with me?
Sure. Wonderful.
And in the meantime, we have a whole journey across the sea
To become very good friends.
Delphine...
But they took you away.
How are you here?
That murdered boy—
I never harmed him,
But I did have sex with him.
Cold passion mixed with your
Warm blood.
It was to bind you to me.
A spell, you mean?
Black magic?
It was to nurture what was growing
Between us.
The bond we have
And the future I saw for us.
And it worked.
Without harming another, it worked.
We are linked. My spirit is inside you now,
As yours is in mine.
What do you mean?
(echoing): They're burning me.
For the charges of murder,
Ritual sacrifice,
Transformation and devil worship,
I condemn you, witch,
To death by fire.
Aah!
My lord, are you unwell?
I feel like I'm on fire.
(hissing) get back, witch!
She's getting away!
Get her!
I will love you for the rest of my life.
And I will never let you go again.
I hope she's pregnant soon.
A child is vital, and it will help
Protect her in France as well.
The pain of your illness never relented?
Your herbs have helped a great deal, nostradamus, but...
I'm dying.
Yes.
You are.
♪
Her majesty queen elizabeth.
Catherine de medici.
What a pleasure to meet one so legendary.
Ah, thank you, your majes... Common lore is that your
Teeth are filed into points
And your eyes are black with rage.
And yet here you are, as lovely as a sunny day.
You radiate warmth and beauty yourself.
Though I know that you are personally responsible
For the death of nearly a thousand men in France,
Just this month alone.
My son was nearly one of them.
Oh, you mustn't listen to gossip.
I was told you'd come to ask something of us.
Ask? No.
I've come to offer you something.
The destruction of our mutual Mary, queen of scots.
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Oh, no.