Reign | In the fallout of Francis’ illness, Mary seized power to congeal Scotland in fear that if Francis were to die, Catherine would stop the flow of French troops to Scotland or that if Francis lived he would put a stop to it out of revenge for her betrayal.

Mary’s guilt was present though diverted by her desire to secure her country. While Conde quickly absolved them of any wrong doing, Catherine dressed Mary down in royal fashion, admonishing her for her culpability in Francis’ illness. There was little in the way of redemptive damage control for the young queen.

Although she showed signs of remorse and by episode’s end seemed determined to not further her betrayal, she refused to take sole accountability for the destruction of her marriage. She even went so far as to say that she wished they could both undo the harm they’d caused each other.

What it is she believes Francis is guilty of in any of this, is quite frankly bewildering. Whatever role he played in the events that led to her assault, were completely unintentional. All of the hurt she has caused him has been deliberate. The injured party is apparent and it’s a party of one.  

Side Notes/Burning Questions: Francis lives but for how much longer? It was disturbing that Bash so easily extinguished the life of poor Clarissa, whose fate was horrifyingly tragic. Even creepier was the nurse’s calm demeanor as it happened. “Reign” dug into its supernatural treasure chest and conjured up two saves, can you say episode MVP? Will Claude ever grow up? How does Mary live with herself? Francis keeping his word to protect Scotland further solidified that he is the better person.

[Image by HISTORY]

Vikings | As has been evidenced over three seasons, the Vikings have a lot of traits that make them ferocious warriors and one of those attributes is persistence. After failing in their first attempt to conquer Paris, they were at again and met with more success than last time. However, they still didn’t manage to defeat the Parisian forces.

The battle sequences were incredibly well done; intense, brutal and gripping. Back at base camp, Ragnar was still attempting to overcome his battle injuries and during that struggle, became “born again”. The symbology heavily alluded to Ragnar’s closing request, though it was still quite surprising.

Whether Ragnar’s conversion to Christianity is his ultimate revenge on Floki or a genuine way to stay with his friend in the afterlife remains to be seen. Why Rags would rather spend eternity with his best friend, instead of his already departed daughter and the family members destined to join them is strange. The aftermath of his decision will have repercussions for seasons to come (if he sticks to it). How it is handled in the season finale will be incredibly compelling to watch play out.  

Side Notes/Burning Questions: Where has the wanderer guy who’s been collecting all of this intelligence on different cultures been this whole time? Certainly Ragnar would have been utilizing him similarly. Hopefully he sticks around. He’d be a very interesting character to explore further.

[Featured Image by The CW]