Life at court is never easy, and given the look of Reign Season 2, things aren’t going to be getting better anytime soon. One thing that’s different: Mary and Francis are married and the official King and Queen of France. Too bad there’s an impending plague threatening to wipe out all of their citizens — possibly even them as well. (NBD though, right?) And, of course, there’s a certain little bundle of joy this royal duo will need to contend with in the form of Francis and Lola’s newly born baby. So I guess the next big question is… how is this child going to affect Mary and Francis' relationship? I mean, that’s not to say having another woman’s baby isn’t a totally good omen for a marriage because… oh, who am I kidding? That is definitely a bad omen.
But I wouldn’t start drawing up those divorce papers just yet (partially because such a thing didn’t even exist back then). Seriously though, bringing a baby into the equation is going to be a difficult thing to deal with, there’s no doubt about that. But in regards to any kind of potential break up, I think it’s going to take a lot more than that to squash this love story. (Sorry, Bash.) That being said, I do believe it’s going to impact Mary in a very big way and not necessarily for the better.
Like in any marriage, when a kid comes into the picture, there’s an automatic shift in every couple’s dynamic. Suddenly your whole world isn’t centered around each other, it’s centered around that baby. The problem here is that this isn’t Mary’s child, so she’s not going to share in her husband’s devotion, which could potentially create a power struggle not only between Mary and Lola, but Mary and the baby as well. Francis already proved last season that he’d choose his son over Mary when he ignored her wishes and left the safety of the castle to track down his child. And I’m sure that’s not going to be the only instance where he's forced to pick a side. Will it be enough to break them up? Not necessarily. But it could slightly alter their relationship dynamic and transform Mary into a harder version of herself — one that may resemble a certain other pivotal character…
Let's not forget that Catherine, too, had to cope with a similar situation during her marriage to King Henry. (RIP) In fact, it may help to explain how she became quite so tough in the first place. Perhaps this is a foretelling of Mary's future. Thus far, she's grown into a strong female ruler with an even stronger conscience. So it will be interesting to see if this baby drives her down a more corruptible path, especially since she herself is having so much trouble conceiving.
Reign EP Laurie McCarthy said in an interview with Buzzfeed that the child will be “a thorn in their marriage” and that Francis’ eagerness to start a family will put quite a bit of pressure on Mary. “The harder his job gets, the more pleasure he’ll take in simpler things, and [his son] is a simpler relationship.”
Even one of the tag lines showcased in Reign ’s Season 2 trailer states that “A Marriage Falters,” which is a clear reference to Mary and Francis. And though I'm sure that alone is enough to get any Frary ‘shipper nervous, just remember that "falters" is much better than "fails." "Falter" implies that the obstacles can be overcome. That is, unless Mary does indeed transition away from the young lady we’ve come to love and become more like the woman who used to sit atop that throne.
Because, marriage struggles aside, the trailer also hints that the Queen of Scots will start to develop a taste for the power that comes with ruling two countries. It’s just a matter of whether or not she’ll use it for good or for evil. History could very well end up repeating itself.
Bow down to the new queen… or else.
Images: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW; reignnews/Blogspot; queenrhaenyra/Tumblr; overrunbyscots/Tumblr; reigncw/Tumblr (2)
