BWW Recap: It's REIGNing Blood

While REIGN has been building up to a religious war for several episodes, in "Terror of the Faithful" the Catholic-Protestant tension actually led to bloodshed. And based on the trailer for the next episode, there will only be more copious amounts of bloodshed to come. It's begun. France is a dangerous place for everyone, particularly a controversial king trying to appease two factions who are at each other's throats.

A Fake Bomb Makes a Martyr

As a result of Francis's edict, the cruel Cardinal Vasari has been sent to France by the Vatican to ensure the people's Catholic faith. The people are opposed to his guards' harsh (and frankly disgusting) treatment of the suspected Protestants and a Protestant leader kidnaps Conde to ask him to intervene. Conde is impressed by the number of Protestants gathering in the woods to worship and agrees to take the minister back to Francis and Mary to ask permission to rebuild the church that was burnt down. While Francis grants his permission and has even sent a letter to Rome asking that Cardinal Vasari be removed, the minister has other plans.

He tells Francis that in three days, the Protestants will set off a bomb if Cardinal Vasari isn't removed from France. You can't threaten a royal even if you are a priest, so he is promptly thrown in the castle jail for further questioning. Francis sends the Dream Team (aka Bash and Conde) to find out who's behind the bombing plot. Two things become very clear very quickly: the Protestant people are unaware of the bomb threat and Cardinal Vasari's men have no respect for the king of France or his men.

Francis gets the minister to tell him where the bomb is hidden, but when Conde arrives, all he finds is a barrel of sawdust and a chilling message written on the wall in Latin: "Blood will flow." Despite Mary's attempts to stop him, Francis stretches the minister on the rack when he learns of his deceit and accidently dislocates his arm. When he doesn't recover from his injuries, Francis decides to send him to a village. However, they're attacked on the way there and the radical Protestants kill the minister -- who is much more useful to them dead.

Bash reveals that he overhead the radicals saying that there wasn't a bomb at all and their plan becomes clear when Mary, Francis, and Conde step onto the streets of the village. The radicals have hung the minister up like a heretic and tell the people that the king did it, thereby making the beloved minister a martyr for their cause. Fighting breaks out in the streets between the Catholics and the Protestants and bloodshed is imminent.

It's becoming very clear that Francis's attempts to appease the Catholic lords and unwillingness to end the violence against the Protestants earlier in the season are going to lead to a great loss of life. The Catholics and the Protestants can no longer be contained and it seems only a matter of time before they attack their king. For all of Henry's faults, it seems like the country has fallen apart without his rule.

Mommy Issues

When Catherine tells a very hung-over Princess Claude that she's found her a husband, she immediately protests. Catherine insists that marrying the son of a Bavarian count will help the Valois line, but Claude has no interest in marriage at all. It appears that Claude's reputation has preceded her and her future father-in-law is skeptical of her virtue. Catherine arranges for a representative of the Vatican to conduct a virginity test on her daughter and of course, pays them heavily to lie about the results. It appears Claude takes after her father...

Bash talks Claude into agreeing to the marriage, after telling her that it might be a chance for a fresh start in another country where she doesn't have to worry about being Catherine's least favorite child. Bash confronts Catherine about the marriage and, for once, I felt genuinely sorry for Catherine as she reflects about the numerous children she's lost. She keeps seeing visions of her dead twin girls: Henriette and Emone.

After Claude submits to the Vatican Virginity Test (one of the most truly uncomfortable scenes I've ever watched), Catherine and her daughter reconcile...or so it seems. They share a tearful conversation and Claude begs Catherine to let her stay, but Catherine seems to think that banishing Claude will to appease the ghostie girls. Though the Bavarian count agrees to accept Claude as his son's bride, she spoils it by sitting on Narcisse's lap in front of him. However, that's hardly the worst of Claude's actions.

A flashback reveals that Claude was jealous of her baby sisters and said that they ruined everything, including tearing the roses off of her dress. One day, Catherine found the babies dead in their cradles and the physician revealed that they'd been killed by Claude, who had stuffed the roses they'd ripped from her dress down their throats. Just when I thought REIGN couldn't shock me anymore, it proved me wrong. It looks like Claude's faults go far beyond drunken debauchery.

Henry poisoned his older brother, Francis stabbed his father, and Claude suffocated her baby sisters: the biggest threat to a Valois is their own family. #bringingfamilyissuestoawholenewlevel

Are We Out of the Woods Yet?

Lola is out in the woods by herself when Narcisse finds her. (Seriously, Lola, were you not around when the Darkness was lurking in the woods last season? Bad things happen in the woods.) You can watch their awkward encounter for yourself:

As Lola and Narcisse ride back to the castle on his horse, he just can't help himself from making innuendo after innuendo. He suggests to Lola that they should meet in secret, since she may no longer want their relationship to be public. Cue Taylor Swift's "Out of the Woods." #areweoutofthewoodsyet

Lola tells Francis that she knows that he killedHenry, but he reveals to her that Narcisse threatened their child. Lola is hurt by Narcisse's betrayal and tells Francis that she did plant the cipher in his home. But when Bash and his guards search Narcisse's house, the cipher is gone. Narcisse tells Lola that he would never have hurt her baby and only told Francis that as an empty threat. He warns, "The world is a dangerous place and one day, you will wish you had someone like me to protest you from it." Uh oh, Lola, looks like you've made yourself an enemy.

Relationships at court are shifting. After witnessing the people rioting and turning on one another, Mary accuses Francis: "You did this to us, to France. For all that you claim you're trying to protect us, I have lost all faith in you and the man I thought you were." Is #Frary officially over? Mary appears to be 100% done with Francis. Lola, on the other hand, offers him comfort while he visits their baby. It certainly would help to have friends in high places now that Lola has Narcisse to worry about. He doesn't strike me as the type that would take a break-up well.

What did you think of this week's episode? Did anyone else freak out when Bash got shot? Comment below or tweet @nicoleackman16 to discuss.

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