BWW Recap: REIGN Returns with a Season of Plague and Death

In its Season 2 premiere, REIGN takes a definite turn for the gory, with the horrifying evidence of the plague seen ten seconds into the episode. In the first sixteen minutes, the plague has already claimed fourteen victims in the castle, and it claims two of our named characters by the end of the episode. The writers of the show have promised that there will be major deaths nearly every episode this season and after this, I believe it.

The episode revolves around a power struggle between Mary and Catherine, who isn't dealing well with her decline in status from Queen to Queen Mother. As they attempt to present a united front to the castle in battling the plague, they quarrel behind closed doors about how to run the country. But this season, it appears that Mary is a worthy opponent for Catherine. Has our conniving former queen finally met her match?

When Catherine urges Mary to sanction a murder for the sake of keeping a nobleman happy, Mary yells, "I have sacrificed lives before and every one takes me a step farther from the person I want to be." Catherine is revealed sick in bed, but she doesn't have the plague after all. She's been given a mild poison by Mary and a clean-shaven Nostradamus to get her out of the way. Has Nostradamus changed his loyalties so quickly from one queen to another?

A nobleman named Edmund threatens to withhold the grain he supplies to the castle unless Mary allows him to kill his enemy by exposing him to the plague. As a history major myself, I delighted in Catherine's explanation to Mary that their power as royals stems from the support of the nobility. When Mary refuses to let an innocent person die, Edmund is incensed and poisons the man's entire family through their drinking water. Mary then asserts herself as the fierce Queen of France that she is and throws him into a cell with people dying of the plague. Ah, punishing someone by the same treatment he wanted to use on someone else. "If you put me down here, I'll die," Edmund protests. Mary chillingly replies, "I'm aware."

Mary's obviously doing a wonderful job dealing with her new status. But she was already the Queen of Scotland, wasn't she? How will Francis make the transition to being the King of France? Toby Rego shares his thoughts:

I know all good things must come to an end, but did the love rhombus between Greer, Leith, Castleroy and his daughter, Yvette Castleroy, need to end within two episodes? Yvette urges Leith to meet her in her family friend's quarters where they can be together without her father or his fiancée's judgment. But a jealous Greer (don't forget you're the one who turned him down, honey!) intercepts Leith and warns him not to join Yvette, as she couldn't handle him being her son-in-law, and unknowingly saves his life. Yvette's family friend is apparently a member of the family the nobleman that Edmund has a vendetta against, and she ends up dead with the rest of them. #RIPLoveRhombus

As for others stolen from us by the plague? After coming in contact with a plague-infested man, the little boy that Bash and Kenna had pseudo-adopted after taking him away from the Darkness is found with disgustingly realistic boils. When a servant discovers the infection, she has Kenna and Pascal locked up to keep the sickness away from others. There's a heartbreaking scene in which Kenna comforts Pascal through the door as he dies, crying while assuring him that both she, and his real mother, love him very much. This Kenna is far from the one who was sleeping around with Henry only a half-season ago.

Sebastian has a vision of a little girl who died whom he recognizes from earlier in the episode. She assures him that he will live through the plague, but that a Reckoning is coming. A Reckoning? Bash just can't stay away from the strange supernatural occurrences. Let's just hope we've seen the last of Creepy Dead Girl.

Meanwhile, out in the woods, Francis deals with the birth of his and Lola's son. After struggling to decide what to do with the baby for most of the episode, he decides to send Lola and the baby away. But after holding him for the first time, Francis tells Lola that he will not give up his son. I just hope Francis is better at making decisions as a king than he is as a father.

We meet two new recurring characters this episode, both of them dashing young men. While Prince Louis Conde (Sean Teale) and Stefan Narcisse (Craig Parker) warn Francis about each other, it's clear that a bromance is blooming between Conde and Francis. But what are his real intentions? This is REIGN so I can only assume that they're devious.

Make sure you follow the cast on Twitter because their live tweets are hilarious. And congrats guys; #ReignSeason2 trended by the end of the episode!

Confused about who some of the characters are and where last season left off? Good news: REIGN's first season is now available on Netflix. So you can totally binge-watch it this weekend in time for next week's episode.

What do you think of the new plague storyline? Do you hope Greer and Leith might still end up together? Do you think Francis and his baby mama can work out their problems? Which of our new characters, Conde or Narcisse, do you prefer? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter (@nicoleackman16)!

Check out a promo for next week's episode titled 'Drawn and Quartered' below:

Photo Credit: REIGN's Official Facebook Page

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