Reign Recap S01E16: Monsters

Olivia lies chained in the Darkness’s cave. She cannot escape it. She wakes from her nightmare. Nostradamus tells her that it cannot reach her anymore, to not let her mind sabotage her recovery. He touches her, and she says that her back hurts. Nostradamus checks it, and finds that it is infected. When he slices it open to relieve the pressure he sees that there is something inside. He pulls a tooth from her back.

King Henry sits distracted in a meeting. The Marquis did not take his advice upon his last visit in regards to the Baron. He thinks to teach him a lesson. He pours wax in the Marquis’s ear. Catherine thinks that he is still sick, but Henry thinks his mind is sharper than ever, and he does not want to miss the Queen Bean celebration. Good ole Henry likely has a case of syphilis that is eating at his brain.

Francis and Mary talk about the upcoming ceremony. Mary does not remember the celebration, but she was a child last time at court. Anyone can become Queen for a day by finding the bean in her cake. She gets lavish gifts and even a place in the King’s bed for the day, and in the morning she is herself once more. Francis always avoided the display by hunting with Bash. Mary tells him its okay to miss his brother. She notes that no one is pestering her with heirs. Kenna comes to take Mary to meet Greer’s suitor, Lord Julian.

Leith hands out pieces of cake. It’s a lovely cake, but none are eating it. Lord Julian is very handsome, and Kenna wistfully longs for a suitor of her own. Greer presents Lord Julian from Hungary. They ask for Mary’s permission to wed, and she gives it to them. Lola and Kenna embrace Greer warmly. Lord Julian is a step up from Casselroy (Lord Peppercorn) the girls believe, and he plans to leave soon with Leith in tow. Mary has bad news for Lola. He suitor has been delayed for five weeks, which she’ll begin to show by then. Mary asks for more time to find her suitor. Henry makes an entrance. Nostradamus asks Catherine who else knows of Henry’s madness. Only Kenna and a Nobleman know, both of which will not talk. Catherine asks if he has found cause for the madness, but having imbibed Henry’s food and drink for the past few days Nostradamus has found nothing. Catherine sees only that he is truly mad then, and Nostradamus suggests putting him in a potion induced coma, which won’t be easy with so many tasters. They’ll need a good Trojan horse. A pretty kitchen girl, Penelope finds the bean, and Catherine crowns her Queen of the bean. Their Trojan has been delivered.

Bash returns from exile, and he gets detained. He comes with a story of something killing people in the woods. Mary worries about his return, and Francis washes his hands of his brother, thinking that his only motivation for return is Mary.

Mary comes to visit Bash in chains in the dungeon. She’s bribed the jailor and found a way to get his to Spain, but he will not go. She doesn’t understand why he would return when many want him dead. Mary maintains that Francis did not try to kill him, but that he stirs up in him a bitter jealously, that makes him so crazed that he becomes someone that she doesn’t know. Bash asks if its because he sees that Mary would have been happy without him, happier if she had married Bash. Mary maintains that she feels nothing for him anymore but concern. He tells her that he feels the same. He’s returned on behalf of another. Jealousy flares within Mary to hear of his moving on, but he tells her that she needs to hear him out to understand.

Catherine gets “Queen” Penelope prepared for her day of royalty. Catherine tells her to consider being the first Queen of the Bean to think long term. If she proves to be trustworthy, they can remain friends. She asks her if she has maintained her virtue, and she has. She tells her that bean Queens sometimes lose themselves with the King. She warns that the King has quite a rough appetite and a lengthy one. She tells her that if they are to be friends, she can give her the aphrodisiac, the potion Nostradamus gave her, that will satisfy the King, and free her to be onto more fun and games.

Francis heads down to the dungeon, and finds Bash and Mary walking the halls. He immediately jumps to the conclusion that Bash has come for Mary, but he’s come for men and horses, and not in a kinky way. He wishes to seek out and destroy a threat in the forest, the same that threatened Mary. Francis thinks that Bash sounds ignorant like the Pagans. Bash refuses to leave until the woods are safe, because the darkness claimed a girl he cared for very much, Rowan. Francis doesn’t believe his words, but there is one that he will believe his old flame Olivia, the only known survivor of the Darkness.

Leith comes to Greer once more. She doesn’t want to hear his words, because she’s engaged to a man who should be everything she ever wanted, but he isn’t Leith. He rushes to her, kisses her, and a servant opens the door with Lord Julian and his men in tow. The lovers jump apart, but they’ve been caught. Leith blathers that he stole the kiss from the lady, that he’s always fancied her. Greer tries to get him to stop, but he doesn’t. Julian’s men take Leith away, but tell them not to harm him. Julian had brought her a gift, but he cannot give it to her. Greer tries to make it right with Julian, but he tells her that he cannot marry her. He wishes that he were a better man, but he cannot, even if it ruins her. He leaves his gift as a parting, as Greer breaks down in tears.

Francis, Mary and Bash go to see Olivia. Mary and Francis are so sorry to hear her story. Bash asks if Francis now believes his story. Francis does not think that it is a monster, but a man that is causing the issue. Olivia does not think that she could retrace her steps, but she remembers a field surrounded by firs, Bash knows of a place that sounds like that, and Francis wishes to gather his guards to check it out. Bash is reasonably wary of the idea, since the last time he was with Francis’s guards it didn’t go so well. Francis maintains that he did not order the guards to kill Bash. Francis will go with him to find the monster and kill it, and then put Bash on the next ship. Olivia tells them that they cannot just hunt down the darkness and kill it. Nostradamus has found otherwise. The tooth he found was a human one, though it was filed to a point to look like  a beast’s tooth.

Greer cries to Lola and Kenna worried over Leith. He will be lashed for getting caught. He will spend years down in a cell, and she loves him. Kenna says that it is no better than what she did, but it is. Mistresses of the king are revered, whereas Greer will be ruined, her family will be ruined. Lola tells her that its not that dire. Mary overhears her laments about no future. Greer is so ashamed. Her ladies have brought her shame.

Mary goes to Henry about Leith, and he wonders why Scotland would be concerned over a kitchen boy. Leith has many friends in high places he notes. Lord Casselroy also petitioned on his behalf, asking for military service. Leith is to leave for training tomorrow. Queen Penelope arrives, and Henry is ready to undress. Mary wishes to leave, but Henry wants her to stay. Now that she’s given her virtue to Francis, he tells her to pretend that Penelope is Francis and show her how to please a ruler. Mary thinks he is kidding for a moment, and when she realizes that he is not, she asks if he is unwell. He gives her the whole anointed by God rant, and she asks for Penelope to assist her for a moment, but Penelope tells her that she is fine, and sends Mary away. She goes to the King, and wishes to engage in a little bondage with him. She binds her hands, offers to take control, to give him the pleasure he desires. She kisses him deeply, and orders him onto the bed, threatening to belt him.

Bash, Francis and his men take up the search. Bash does not have a weapon, and Francis isn’t planning on giving him one. Bash has nothing left, his bid for the throne went unwell, and he lost Mary as well, Francis won it all, but he’s still not happy. Francis tells him that many people want him dead for his action against the crown, but he still looks at Francis as the villain. Bash use to be the one person that he looked up to, but now he sees him as a traitor and usurper. Francis spots fresh tracks in the snow, they aren’t alone, he hands Bash his sword.

Penelope goes to the throne room. Henry is not in tow, and Catherine asks if she used the aphrodisiac. Penelope tells her that Henry did not need it, that she knows how to handle him. She asks if he goes mad from time to time, and if what she gave her was the medicine. Catherine tells her that it is. Guests arrive, and Penelope asks her to move from her throne. Catherine does, but the girl has not made any friends.

Mary comes to see Lola, who is in tears. She cannot fit into her dress. They are out of time. Mary tells her to marry Lord Julian, she is everything that he came to France to find in a wife. Lola asks about Greer, but this is what Greer suggested. Mary doesn’t want to sound blunt but she needs it to work. Her marriage is threatened from all sides. Bash’s return has poisoned Francis’s heart, made him jealous, and if Francis were to find out that Lola carried his child it would be ruined. Lola would never want to be a threat to her happiness. Lola tells her that if she could sway Lord Julian to her direction, she will do her best to marry him and quickly.

The horses spook, and Bash heads back to check them. The Darkness’s odd whistle pierces the air. Bash calls back the guards who are searching. Francis notices that the tracks suddenly stops but he sees something. He moves closer to see what it is. It’s a severed hand. A loud cracking resonates, and Francis yells to stay back. The ice cracks, and Francis falls beneath the ice. Bash runs onto the ice alone, afraid too much weight will crack the ice more. He runs to the hole, but Francis is not there, there is a current. He moves further down the ice, moving aside the snow, but he cannot break ice, and Francis is swept further.  Bash goes down further, and uses his sword to break through the ice. He sticks his head beneath the ice, and spots Francis, he grabs him and pulls him avoce.

The Bean Queen celebration continues. Henry relishes in the sight of his Queen. He goes to Greer and Kenna, and congratulates Greer for being interesting for once. It made the people talk finally stop wagging their tongues about Kenna. Ouch, harsh words. Mary asks if the girls are alright. Kenna tells her that Henry is a monster. Mary thanks Greer for what she did for Lola. She says that she had her chance and threw it away, but Mary isn’t so sure as Casselroy approaches. Greer thanks Casselroy for what he did for Leith. He didn’t do it for Leith, but for Greer. Casselroy is too rich to care what people say, but he cares for Greer who has a good heart. Greer finally sees Casselroy, and all of his kindness, and she accepts his proposal.

Nostradamus watches the celebration. Olivia spies him, and comes over. He tells her that she looks lovely, and she thinks that perhaps she is ready to rejoin society. She asks him to dance with her, but he tells her that she cannot.

Francis sits besides the fire, trying to get warm after his time under the ice. Francis realizes that he could have died under the ice, but Bash still saved him. He asks if that was wise since he thought that he tried to save him, but Bash tells him that he is his brother. Mary has been told that they’ve returned, and the guards did find the cave, but it was empty, except the blood. Bash thinks that it left Rowan’s hand to try to lure them onto the ice. Francis vows to find him, to see the Darkness dead for Rowan and all his victims so that Bash can leave with a clear conscious. Bash hopes that he can find something of his own, far away from there. Francis knows that he will, that Bash will still be his brother. Henry asks why Bash was released from the dungeon. Francis tells him that he needed Bash’s help. Henry wants to finish things now. He tells Bash that when he forced him to watch the consummation he realized then that he would always covet what his brother had. Francis asks if Henry spoke with his guards. Henry tells him that sacrifices must be made. Bash is a threat to everything that he wants, that he built, France, Scotland, England. Francis tries to reason with the mad King, telling him that Bash no longer covets Mary, that he had the chance to let him die, but chose to save him instead. Henry thinks that he’s being sentimental. Henry wants the garden weeded. Francis tells him that Bash is a friend of the realm, that if he harms Bash he harms himself. That his heir will turn against him. Henry withdraws his sword for now.

Nostradamus watches the sun set, Olivia seeks him out. He tells her that the last person he danced with was his wife. He was married once with small children. Sometimes he lies in bed and dreams of them. When the plague came it took his family. She understands that this is what motivates him. She tells him that he saved her, and she kisses him.

Greer and Lola chat. It’s not how either of them imagined things. It’s not how they thought their lives would turn out, but it has. They watch the men march out, and Greer hopes that Leith looks back at her, he does, for a moment before he’s pushed forward.

Catherine comes to find Henry, to see if he has taken the potion. Penelope holds up an empty bottle. Catherine is impressed, but she shouldn’t be. Henry comes and kisses his lovely Queen, Penelope. He confronts Catherine about the potion. Penelope told him that she threatened her life if she did not drug him. Catherine denies the accusation, and Henry asks if she’s calling his Queen a liar. Catherine tells him that he is not well, and that the servant girl is taking advantage. He claims that he’s never felt better. Henry thinks that he’s in love with Queen Penelope. She didn’t even win the contest; she slept with the pastry chef to ensure she’d get the bean. Catherine is done playing games and she wants her crown back. Henry warns her that if hurls even one more insult at his Queen he’ll have her drawn and quartered and her loved ones punished. Catherine’s vision goes fuzzy. Henry had the vials content poured into her wine. Penelope thanks Catherine for teaching her long term. Catherine stumbles out of Henry’s chambers and into Mary’s arms, telling her to call Nostradamus.

Mary tell Francis that Nostradamus was able to help Catherine, that she was in some sort of drugged sleep. Francis wishes to speak to his father about the matter, but Mary stops him, his father is not well. Francis already knows, he tells her that he thought he was going to murder Bash earlier. Bash comes back from speaking with their father, he hasn’t forgiven Bash, but he has a solution, Henry is having a horror show, and they must attend on pain of death. Catherine is in attendance, being held up by Nostradamus. They’re all gathered to see the union of Kenna and Bash. Kenna refuses to say the words, balking at her groom. Lucky girl, she won the jackpot with that one, but she doesn’t see it that way. She was promised a man with a title. Henry gives Bash one, the master of Horse and Hunt. That title will not work for Kenna. She begs him. The marriage cannot be undone once said. Bash says the words to save Kenna.

Bash orders the guards to scour the woods and kill any Pagan with knowledge of the Darkness. The guard refuses to listen to a bastard, but Bash clues him in on his new title. Mary comes to Bash, to see if he is all right. He’s married to someone who he doesn’t like much, and he has to watch Mary love someone who isn’t her. Mary thought Bash was over her, he lied and he should not have come back.