We see why it was titled “The Darkness” when we examine what’s happened to Olivia and what is happening to King Henry. His usual rendezvous with Kenna has begun to get quite twisted. Kenna, just trying to be complacent with his request, awakes the next day with a girl’s body that has been choked to death next to her in bed. She runs to Queen Katherine’s help, and it’s quite frightening to see even she is getting scared regarding the King’s behavior. Nothing scares Queen Katherine; she’s seen and done it all. The fact that she is feeling frightened by Henry could indicate there is something severely wrong. She finds him drinking and speaking to himself about his conquests. He’s been suffering from severe headaches and releasing black water (which is really black urine).Towards the end of the episode, we see him telling Katherine that he has an encounter with Jesus himself and that he has been chosen by God to be King and exercise his power how he wishes. This seems like more than a usual King Henry power trip. So it begs us to ask the question: could The Darkness be entering him?
Olivia is still recuperating in Nostradamus’ chambers. She describes what happened to her in the woods when The Darkness entered her body completely. Using flashbacks and blurry shots, we can see that The Darkness is a creature but also takes the shape of a man. Olivia says The Darkness is in her blood, and she won’t ever be the same. Nostradamus takes her to the forest and explains to her that evil is not who we are but really a choice we make. It seems like Olivia may have been freed from The Darkness that possessed her body as Nostradamus purified her by baptizing her with water, but I won’t truly believe until I see it.
While The Darkness seems to be gaining territory, the castle is quite the opposite as everyone is running abuzz with the First Light, where all the women in the castle search out any potential suitors. A suitor hands a lady a candle; if she is pleased with him, she lights the candle at her window. Perfect timing as Lola needs one, stat. It’s the only solution to her growing baby bump. Unfortunately, the suitor that seemed like the best fit prefers the company of men in bed as Francis points out to Mary and Lola.
Mary has truly had enough at this point, and it was refreshing to see her have some guts! Lola had decided she can’t marry this courtier because she would never have a chance at true happiness. Maybe she should have thought about that when she was betraying her friend and Queen, as well as throwing away her virtue. Mary had enough at that point and commanded her to marry this suitor; she had to pay the consequence for her mistake. This mistake is tearing her marriage apart as she had to pretend she didn’t know about Lola and Francis’s one night stand when he confessed it to Mary.
With that command, the line we had forgotten about was clearly drawn again. Mary is Lola’s queen; it wasn’t a plea but an order. There’s nothing that Lola can do about it. She’s just a subject to the royal queen. She’s just awfully lucky that Mary has such a kind soul and went back on her command saying they will find someone more suitable for Lola. Mary insists on preserving this friendship, and for that she deserves a medal! Lola insists that no one will ever know about this child. I doubt that. Lola has had a thing against Mary ever since her lover, Collin, was executed because of “Mary’s fault.” She was quick to point this out to Mary, and it’s no accident that she was quick to dismiss Mary from her mind when she got caught up in the moment with Francis. Lola isn’t a trustworthy person at this point; she’s got too much resentment or inferiority issues. It’s not fair for Mary to have to hide things from her husband just for her disloyal friend’s sake.
Thankfully in this episode we also got to see Greer and Leith together again! They’re actually one of my favorite couples, even if their being together is so impossible because of their social classes. Greer did such a selfless thing that it kind of just made me love her a bit. While Leith serves Greer and her boring potential suitor on their date, Lord Pepperpot accidentally sets himself on fire, and Leith comes to the rescue. Greer asked Pepperpot for a favor, to repay Leith’s brave move by offering him an apprenticeship with him in Spain. This means Leith’s officially the first from his whole family to climb out of the servant class. It could potentially mean that he and Greer could eventually be together one day, but that’s not soon enough. It’s too bad that her parents have arranged a suitor that arrives to the castle at the end of the episode. In our hearts, we’ll be saying “Leith and Greer forever.”
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In other news, The Darkness isn’t playing games. He’s out to mark someone, and the chosen one just happens to be Bash’s new girlfriend, Rowan. Rowan’s people try to convince Bash not to fight against The Darkness as it can’t be defeated. In turn, they give him medicine and tie him down since they know he isn’t easily convinced. As The Darkness enters the house, it destroys the cute baby goat that was placed for his sacrifice. No one is supposed to look at it in the eyes. Bash cries out, and at that moment Rowan looks up straight at The Darkness. That’s it; she’s dragged from the cabin and into the woods screaming for her life. This ignited Bash’s fighting rage, and he won’t stop until The Darkness is defeated. This means turning to the castle for help and appealing to his half-brother even if the relationship isn’t so strong right now. This should make for an interesting episode next week.
Will Francis be willing to help Bash?
What is The Darkness going to do with Rowan and how can you even defeat it?
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Watch Reign every Thursday at 9PM ET on The CW.
7/10.
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