so Francis refuses to support Mary, he locks her in a tower, keeping her from going home and help her country, causing even more problems that could have easily been solved if Mary goes to Scotland when originally planned, and they decide that the best solution to that is... a one-month time jump. again. fleeting mentions of all these problems and then suddenly it's all good.
she should have chosen Bash...
on the other hand, I'm happy for Kenna and Bash. at least they got some kind of happiness. well, until the Darkness plot becomes relevant again...
I never meant for you to go to war for me.
When are you going to realize that I love you, and I’ll do anything for you?
Darling, let me be grateful for what you’ve done without making promises you can’t keep. What you did was extraordinary.
I think maybe when I return, you won’t be the only one waiting for me.
You’re suddenly very sure of yourself.
I am. But just to be safe...
Another day, another misconception (aka, let's talk about Reign 1x19)
I had so much fun with my last tumblr ramble, that I've decided to go ahead and do it again. This is really rather cathartic. I see why people make it a habit.
The topic du jour? Much like last time, I feel like there's one particular line of dialogue from Reign 1x19 that is being grossly misinterpreted by some viewers. I think you can guess where I'm going with this, right?
The Curious Case of Mary and Her "Awful Mistake."
Suuuuure,.. if you ignore the context of the scene in question and focus strictly on the literal meaning of a few select words coming out of Mary's mouth, then I suppose the previous paragraph would be a reasonable conclusion.
However, if you actually listen to all the words Mary said and consider them, not only within the context of the scene, but within the context of the entire show, then there's really no denying that this moment is not a gaping hole in a doomed ship, but rather, a big, beautiful, gust of wind filling its indestructible sails.
I know the following observations are all fairly obvious to those of us who watched the scene in full (in many cases, repeatedly), but for those individuals who were, perhaps, too busy throwing themselves off a bridge in despair or shrieking in joy after hearing Mary utter the, now infamous words, "I've made an awful mistake. Our marriage was an awful mistake." Well, maybe this will give you a new perspective.
Mary was not implying that her marriage in and of itself was an "awful mistake." She was not implying that her choice in husband was incorrect. She was not saying that she doesn't want to be married to Francis.
She qualifies her "mistake" with the following phrase:
"There were a thousand moments where I could've done something.
Made secret treaties, sold favors, even snuck away to Scotland to be with those people who need me."
Aha! She could have made choices in the name of DUTY, and duty alone, like any good Queen should do. She could have kept her head clear by not falling for Francis, because maybe, just maybe, the French alliance wasn't the best choice for her country, after all? Maybe there was something else she could have done previously to prevent her powerlessness now.
Hindsight is 20/20, of course.
What does it boil down to? Don't ask me, just listen to Mary.
"And do you know why I didn't? Because I love you. Because I am your wife."
There is it folks. Her mistake was choosing LOVE over duty.
She didn't wheel and deal in the name of Scotland. Instead, she chose to love and be loved. Despite all Francis' initial warnings that this exact situation would arise. That, as rulers, no matter how much they love each other and how much they desire to put their own happiness first, that is simply not an option sometimes. Not unless they want to fail at being King and Queen, and we can see plainly that neither of them do. Despite all his attempts to keep her at a distance or push her away, she gave him her heart and won his in return.
They both chose LOVE together. And it wasn't a problem for a little while, because the political seas were fairly calm.
That couldn't last forever, though. A storm always comes.
"What other promise can you make? You are the future king."
"It's not that simple."
"Maybe it should be. For both of us."
Now this exchange is very interesting to me, because it says a lot about how far each of them have come from the pilot. I posit that this is the true reversal of Francis' "Love is irrelevant to people like us." When Mary repeated this line to him in 1x08, she was lying. She didn't mean it then. She was acting 100% out of her very relevant love for him, and was trying to push him away with his own words. NOW, however, she gets it. This is her agreeing with pilot!Francis.
Meanwhile, Francis doesn't want his decision to hurt her, he doesn't want to have to make it at all, It kills him to have been backed into this corner. He is desperate for her forgiveness, because he loves her enough to want to put her first, even when thousands of lives are on the line. But, guess what? Mary, despite being hurt by the turn of events, understands it all too well.
Mary knows that Francis does not "only think of France" just as she has never thought only of Scotland. She does, however, know that he must prioritize the safety, freedom and wellbeing of his people, above all else. She does not feel neglected or betrayed because of this, she is not even surprised. She empathizes with his choice to save France. She wants him to do what he must do, she knows why he must do it and she forgives him (verbatim) for it. She only wishes to do the same and hopes he, in turn, can forgive her when she does.
To misunderstand this moment is to misunderstand the entire premise of the show, which was presented in the pilot, by Francis. Now Mary and Francis have reversed roles somewhat. She finally, truly understands what he was warning her about, but it's too late. They have both fallen in love in a way that cannot and will not be erased. It will always be there, making their marriage and their roles as King and Queen that much more of a challenge.
As has been the case with MF since day 1, their relationship is complicated by their LOVE for each other, not for lack of it.
Epilogue: The Even More Curious Case of The Dead Triangle
In other shocking news, this week it was widely reported that-- gasp!-- Reign's beloved show runner, Laurie McCarthy, has confessed to murdering the love-triangle in cold blood.
I'm gonna go ahead and disagree. The triangle that Laurie promised and cultivated from the beginning is still alive and well. I'd even say it's thriving:
Mary/Francis/duty
Yep, still going in full force.
As for that other supposed love-triangle, between Mary/Francis/Bash, I also disagree that it's been killed... because it never really had a pulse.
I'm not saying it didn't happen. I'm not saying it was pointless. It happened and it did have a purpose. What was that purpose, you ask?
To serve that first triangle. To allow Mary to choose Francis for LOVE, not duty.
That's right, folks, there was no better way to illustrate that Mary and Francis' union is born of true romantic love, not merely circumstance, than to take it away and replace it with a substitute.
Francis was deleted from the equation; believed never to return. Mary had no choice but to try and open her heart and let in the man she believed would be her husband, and you know what? She didn't do such a bad job. She definitely could have made that work, because Bash is a decent guy and even if he wouldn't make a great king, he'd have still done right by her.
But, then Francis came back, and Francis was an option, and there never really was a choice to make after that. Francis was the one in her heart all along. She was able to freely choose him of her own accord. She was able to choose him for LOVE.
The triangle's purpose was to turn the MF marriage into one that was not arranged or forced, but one that was chosen of free will.
From here on out, every obstacle thrown at them, every challenge they face together or apart, is only reinforcing that they are the story.
And even on the eventual day, when their story ends in tragedy, we will rest assured that they were the loves of each other's lives. And history will always remember that.
