BWW Recap: REIGN Issues a New Edict

REIGN's seventh episode brought a new princess, a surprising shift of loyalty, an edict that threatens to claim countless lives, and the most difficult decision Francis has ever made. Francis's younger sister Claude (played by Rose Williams) has returned from abroad and few are happy to see her. But a drunken princess is frankly the least of their troubles.

Narcisse Demands Answers

Narcisse presents an edict to Francis on behalf of all of the nobles that would require every French person to swear an oath to the Catholic Church. Mary and Francis are outraged at the thought of the amount of lives that it would destroy, but Narcisse is insistent. In private, he assures Francis that he will tell everyone that their young king committed regicide if Francis will not sign the edict. While Francis concocts a plan of his own that ultimately fails, Mary sets to work with a new partner.

When Mary shows up at Conde's door to ask for his help, he is in bed with a married woman. He opens the door shirtless (thank you, REIGN writers!) and Mary says, "My husband isn't giving me what I want. So I'm asking you instead." It was, without a doubt, the best part of the episode.

Mary and Conde decide that the only way to defeat the edict is to find Protestant nobles who are willing to publicly stand up against it. Mary is somewhat shocked to find out from Catherine that Conde is a "Prince of the Blood" and holds a claim to the French throne. But Conde is clearly head over heels for Mary; the ways he looks at her reminds me of the way Bash did back in Season 1...#awww

When the nobles demand that Francis sign the edict, Conde claims that he is a Protestant and publicly opposes the edict. Several other nobles follow his lead and Francis is saved from having to make a decision. Conde tells Mary, "I did it for you" and my fangirl heart exploded.

Ready to lose his own life to do what's right, Francis stands up to Narcisse and says that he won't sign the edict. But Narcisse isn't willing to play fair...he reveals that he knows that Catherine and Mary attempted to poison Henry. He threatens Francis, "Your child will not reach his first birthday. It will be the end of the Valois line." Blackmailer, seducer, innocent baby killer...Narcisse is one of the scariest villians I've ever seen.

When Mary finds out that Francis signed the edict, she is furious and tells him, "You are not the man I fell in love with." (Well, that hurts.) In an attempt to protect her from Narcisse's reach, Francis tells her to leave him and go back to Scotland. But Mary is stubborn and I've no doubt that she's going to fight, especially now that Conde's life is on the line. Although, at this point I would be perfectly happy if she and Conde ran away to Scotland together. Because I definitely do not want to see Conde be killed because he risked his life for Mary's sake.

Lola Makes a Choice

Mary isn't the only woman at court who's upset with Francis. When Catherine shows him a cipher that was found in an English spy's chambers, he comes up with a plan to bring down Narcisse by framing him as an accomplice of Queen Elizabeth's. Knowing that Lola has a relationship with him, Francis asks her to go to his house and plant the cipher there. When Lola is conflicted, Francis begs her, "I'm asking you to choose who you think is the better man."

After she's secretly planted the cipher, Narcisse finally convinces Lola to take a bath (what is his obsession with baths???) and he pounces on the opportunity. He gives her an ultimatum: to leave or to stay and share their secrets with each other.

Lola decides to stay and Narcisse comes clean (a bathing pun that he would surely appreciate, right?) about his conflict with Francis. Lola is impressed by his honesty and betrayed that Francis didn't share his motives with her. Later, when Francis asks if she planted the cipher, Lola refuses to help him. Sorry, Francis, but Narcisse is way hotter and knows that honesty is an important quality in any relationship. When is Francis going to learn that REIGN is full of strong women who don't appreciate being manipulated?

When Lola and Narcisse run into each other in the castle hallway, she attempts to find out why he's pursuing her. Narcisse tries the age old trick of avoidance and kisses her but she soon pulls away and slaps him. I honestly have no clue where this is headed and switch between liking Narcisse one minute and being terrified of him the next. One thing's clear: Lola is playing with fire and, sooner or later, she's going to get burned.

Claude Causes Trouble

It looks like Claude inherited her trouble-making ways straight from her dear departed dad. She's drunk by the time she reaches the castle and sleeps with the priest who escorted her back. Catherine is eager to send her away as quickly as possible, but her daughter guilt trips her into letting her stay. Claude is clearly a princess who knows no limits and I've no doubts that she's as devious as her mother.

Check out this clip of Claude arriving back at court:

But Claude isn't the only daughter who's bothering her mommy. Catherine's seeing the ghosts of two little girls who reveal themselves to be her dead daughters. They're upset that she seems to be favoring Claude by letting her live at the castle and Catherine immediately says that she's sending Claude away again. What happened to Catherine's dead daughters? Why is she seeing their ghosts? I'm not exactly excited that the ghosts are back, but it seems like everyone at French court is haunted by someone.

Claude's most shocking behavior? Getting a little too close for comfort with her half-brother. When she finally corners Bash, she asks, "Didn't you miss your old playmate?" Um, excuse me, Claude, but this isn't Game of Thrones! Apparently Claude and Bash were incestuous lovers and she seems pretty determined to win him back.

Meanwhile, Greer's returned to the castle after being attacked by Catholics on their wedding trip. She's not hurt badly...but the edict that Francis signed is surely bad news for her and Lord Castleroy. It looks like Greer may have chosen the wrong suitor after all.

What will happen to Greer and Castleroy? Is Claude going to try and make a move on Bash? And when is Conde going to stop pining for Mary and actually tell her how he feels? Check out the preview for next week's episode:

What did you think of this week's episode? Comment below or tweet @nicoleackman16 to discuss.

Photo Credit: REIGN's Official Facebook Page