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Season Four Episode
Blood in the Water
Season 4, Episode 15
Blood in the Water
Air date June 9, 2017
Written by Drew Lindo
Wendy Riss Gatsiounis
Directed by Charles Binamé
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A Bride. A Box. A Body.

* GALLERY

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All It Cost Her
"Speak! While there is still mercy in my heart!"
Queen Elizabeth

Synopsis[]

Mary's Life Hangs in the Balance
Childbirth threatens to take Mary's life, which leaves her and her unborn child's safety in jeopardy. Elizabeth discovers that someone in her inner circle was the cause of the death of someone close to her.

Plot[]

Queen Leeza has arrived at French court, supposedly to stay for Charles and Nicole's wedding. As a "token of goodwill", she has rounded up heretics on her way there, including a witch with a particularly nasty gleam in her eye.

Catherine pulls Leeza aside and asks her what she's really up to, but Leeza maintains her innocence. Meanwhile, Henri confronts Nicole about avoiding him. They agree that they love each other even though they shouldn't.

Greer has returned to Scottish court to be by Mary's side as her due date impends. Mary informs her that she has called her brother James back to court, so that should anything happen to her in childbirth, someone trustworthy may step in to lead.

Mary goes to Darnley's room next, upset at having heard from Greer that he was stumbling the halls, drunk and incoherent, the previous night. He claims he wasn't drinking and soon breaks into a scratching fit, awakening Mary to a realisation that Darnley suffers from syphilis. She pleads with him to go to a facility where she knows they have the best treatment.

When hearing of it, Bothwell cannot believe Mary is feeling sympathy for "the snake that's tried to ruin you", but Mary pins his treacheries on his illness. In the same breath, she condems Bothwell for trying to use Darnley's illness to rid himself of him and reminds him that Darnley is still her husband. She can only allow Bothwell to be her bodyguard.

Claude and Luc are cross with Charles for continuing to delay their request to annul their marriage. When he simply tells them to "have faith", Luc takes matters into his own hands and decides to leave Claude and court forever.

While Lady Lennox confronts Mary about sending her son to a healing facility, Mary goes into labour.

Jane's family is relishing all the French goods they have been sent and Jane claims they are from Queen Elizabeth, whom she has recently grown closer to. She heads to Elizabeth's room, where the queen has been grieving for the last month. Elizabeth suspects the Archduke of poisoning Gideon and in retribution, she plans on stealing a ship that carries all of his family's gold.

Mary is going through a gruelling childbirth, to the point where survival seems almost impossible. If it comes down to a choice between her and the baby, she commands everyone to choose the baby. She also has Greer bring Bothwell to her.

Leeza meets with Henri and informs him that Spain has chosen him. While she has left everyone thinking that she came here for Charles, she is really here to prop up Henri. Half the Spanish Armada will sail to France's shores and, hopefully, force Charles off the throne. If not, Henri may use force.

Henri tells Nicole of his plan to take the throne and asks her to run away with him. Once Henri promises that Charles won't be hurt, Nicole leaves to pack her things.

When Jane returns home in the evening, she finds her house plundered, her family gone and Narcisse in the corner. Jane, understandably frightened, asks Narcisse what's going on. Narcisse releaves he moved to France to up the stakes and give her an incentive to work harder. Elizabeth planning a naval attack to cripple the Archduke's finances is no longer enough for him.

Narcisse wants Jane to convince Elizabeth to order an assassination, as killing the archduke would risk retribution from Austria and Spain. Elizabeth ensures her own downfall, Narcisse and Jane walk away blameless, and Jane retires comfortably to France.

Lady Lennox is visiting Darnley in the hospital. She tells him that Mary is giving birth and may not survive it, so they ought to return to court and seize power while they can. Darnley is unsure at first, but Lady Lennox manages to turn him against Mary.

Charles has summoned Catherine and Leeza to the throne room in the middle of the night. He soon comes in with an entourage of guards and accuses Leeza of plotting against him with Henri. Based on the fact that castle guards saw Henri ride off with Nicole in the night, headed for a Spanish ship on the harbor, Charles deduced that Henri kidnapped Nicole with the backing of Spain. He has Leeza taken to the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Mary's condition is rapidly deteriorating as her labour continues. Bothwell is at her side by now. Just as Mary begins slipping into unconsciousness, Bothwell's words guide Mary back to life. She gathers all of her strength and gives birth to a boy.

Soon enough, Mary is holding her son in her arms. She tells Bothwell that she's been seeing it all wrong - the danger is not in them being close; it's in their being apart. Bothwell and Mary share a cute moment as they both look at the baby in awe, but it is soon interrupted by another hitch: while Mary was giving birth, Lady Lennox filled all of the remaining seats on the privy council with the help of Darnley's royal signature.

Elizabeth summons Jane to her office. A number of occurrences have mounted to arouse suspicion around Jane and her family, but Jane is let off the hook when the Naval Commander Francis Drake is there to see Elizabeth.

Elizabeth tells Drake about a Portuguese ship filled with precious cargo she wants him to seize for England. However, the operation cannot be traced back to her in any way. In return, he will be compensated 10% of the haul.

Mary and Greer walk in on a privy council meeting lead by Lady Lennox and King Darnley. When the men leave, Darnley accuses Mary of trying to take his son away from him. Mary denies it and claims that she is just trying to help him, but Darnley refuses to listen. There is a motion being passed tomorrow in front of the privy council to appoint Darnley the child's steward, and once he is named steward of the heir, Darnley vows to keep Mary out of their child's life.

Catherine finds Claude crying over the fact that Leith is getting married. Although the ship with Leith has sailed, Catherine reminds Claude that she still has a husband who values her, so she still has a chance at happiness.

Francis Drake returns with the haul, but there is bad news - while cutting through Spanish waters on their way back, they ran afoul of Spanish warships. They started firing at each other and Drake ended up sinking two warships - while the English sails were raised. Elizabeth freaks out: King Philip has always desired England, and now he has grounds for war.

Meanwhile, Catherine pays a visit to Leeza, who has been put in the dungeon along with the heretics she gathered. Since Philip has shifted his attention to England, their coup on France is done for and Charles is more than eager to take Leeza's head. After much desparate pleading, Catherine agrees to sneak Leeza out of France - but it will cost her and Spain a very long list of favours.

Mary feels that her power in Scotland waning, along with her allies. Upon Greer reminding her that she now has a family to think of, Mary writes a letter to Elizabeth, in which she asks her cousin to protect her child as her own should anything happen to her. In turn, Mary relinquishes her claim to the English throne.

Darnley visits his newborn son and sends a maid out of the nursery to have a moment alone with him. He proceeds to have a hallucination about Keira in which they agree to take good care of the little boy.

Back in France, Charles is upset at Catherine for releasing Leeza, but she believes he should thank her for preventing a war with Spain. Charles is even angrier at Henri, partly for attempting to usurp him, but mostly for "tarnishing" Nicole's honour - he would murder him for that alone.

When Catherine realises that her sons are each other's throats because of the "foolish peasant girl", she seeks out the witch, Emanuelle, and hands her the book of black magic, hoping she could use it to kill Nicole.

Across the ocean, Elizabeth is slowly catching up to Jane's lie - she reveals she had Jane followed home last night, and found out that Jane's family has yet to return and that her livestock remains untended to. Jane, shaking out of fear, attempts to contrive another lie, but Elizabeth doesn't believe her and has her taken to Tower.

Greer wakes Mary up with the news that Darnley has left the castle. Mary quickly pieces together why and when she runs into the nursery, she finds the crib empty. The colour drains from her face as she realises that Darnley has taken her son.

Quotes[]

Queen Catherine: Leeza, my child, oh, it's been so long.
Queen Leeza: Spare me the pleasantries, Mother. I'm not here to see you.

Queen Leeza: Well, then I suppose there's nothing to be done... except stay for the King's wedding.
Prince Henri: You can't be serious, Leeza!
Princess Claude: I was almost sent to a nunnery for following my heart!

Prince Henri: Admit it, you don't love Charles - you love me.
Nicole Touchet: It doesn't matter. He can make me Queen of France. Which means I cannot love you, Henri.
Prince Henri: Well, it seems we're agreed then. We shouldn't love each other, and yet we do.

Luc Narcisse: You should go to Leith.
Princess Claude: What? I-I can't. You and I are married. Until death do us part.
Luc Narcisse: If you stay, it's your heart that will die. So will mine. As much as I've wanted this marriage to work, it can't. You love another.

Queen Elizabeth: His family's business depends on the gold it carries.
Jane: You're going to sink it?
Queen Elizabeth: No, I'm going to steal it.

Queen Leeza: I am married to the most powerful man in the world, and I will not be threatened by my damaged brother who is unfit to rule.

Queen Mary: Greer, I love you!
Greer Castleroy: I love you too!

Queen Catherine: Keeping your promise because you want to be good and honorable isn't the same as keeping your promise because you truly love someone.

Queen Leeza: Stop starting at me, witch!

Queen Elizabeth: Speak! While there is still mercy in my heart!

Notes[]

Death Toll [1][2]
0

Trivia[]

Historical Notes[]

Gallery[]

Characters[]

Actor Character
Adelaide Kane Queen Mary
Megan Follows Queen Catherine
Rachel Skarsten Queen Elizabeth
Celina Sinden Greer Castleroy
Craig Parker Lord Narcisse
Rose Williams Princess Claude
Spencer MacPherson King Charles
Will Kemp King Darnley
Guest Staring
Adam Croasdell Lord Bothwell
Richard Fleeshman Francis Drake
Anastasia Phillips Queen Leeza
Nola Augustson Lady Lennox
Steve Lund Luc Narcisse
Megan Hutchings Jane
Nick Slater Prince Henri
Ann Pirvu Nicole Touchet
Cameo
Catherine Bérubé Emanuelle
Character debut
Speaking debut
Episode debut


References[]

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