Spiders in a Jar

 

Spiders In a Jar
Season Three, Episode 18
Air date	June 20, 2016
Written by	Laurie McCarthy
Directed by	Deborah Chow
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"Protect my son! tell John I love him. Tell him everyday!"

—Lady Lola

Synopsis

Season Final
Mary makes a bold move to defend her reign in Scotland, which results in a battle royale with her cousin, Elizabeth. Lola is accused of a heinous crime and suffers the drastic consequences. Meanwhile, back in France, Catherine finds that Charles has returned a changed man after paying a price for his mother’s relentless quest for power.

Plot

Mary's return to Scotland and learns that Elizabeth plans to take Scotland. John Knox has demanded Mary to convert to Prostestantism in order to gain his support. Otherwise he will back Elizabeth. Bash sees a sight that gives him quite a scare.

Catherine invites a group of commoners to the castle under the guise of thanking them for their gardening skills. Her actual motive is to use them as leverage against the Red Knight she and Leith captured in hopes he'll reveal Charles' location.

When John Knox finds that Mary is planning to take Mass, he shows up to stop her, reminding her that the Lords of Congregation have forbidden Catholics from taking participating in their faith. She asks him to help her join all of Scotland's people together to live in peace and threatens him if he chooses another path.

Lola gets a visit from her son's Nanny, the same woman who passed along a letter asking Lola to kill Elizabeth. Lola plans to help Mary's assassin and asks the Nanny to arrange a meeting with Narcisse. Mary stands in her throne room and receives a visit from James and Bash. James brings news of a village of slaughtered Protestants and Bash informs her Elizabeth's noble delegates are meeting with Scottish lords.

When Bash leaves Mary's throne room to assemble a group of guards, he sees the woman who died in front of him in the MacFie village raid. She tells him he cannot protect Mary and should be using his talents elsewhere. She vanishes and he realizes she may not have been there at all.

Lola meets with Narcisse and brings John and the Nanny to him. When she tells him that she cannot go with him, he wants to know why, but she cannot tell him. Instead she sends he and John to an inn where she plans to meet them in two days' time.

Catherine gets word from Martel de Guise that the nobles protecting her other children when she and Claude are asked to return to her chambers at once. Leith rounds the corner and kills both of the men revealing them to be the last of the Red Knights who had infiltrated the Kingsguard. Catherine gives Leith and Claude her blessing to marry.

Mary and Bash ride into a village to interrogate the Englishmen who are traveling the country on Elizabeth's behalf. When she asks to speak to the leader of their group, Gideon rises before her. They enter a cabin to speak privately and Gideon kisses Mary. She asks him for intelligence and learns Elizabeth is planning a bloodless coup. She asks for time and he promises to give it.

Catherine and her men find Charles walking toward the castle frostbitten and begging to be king no longer. Lola meets with a Catholic assassin to learn more about the plan to kill Elizabeth. Leith tells Claude that he plans to bring down the rest of the Red Knights and she vows not to love him if he leaves on this mission. He proposes in response.

Mary meets with the Catholic priest who is blamed for inciting the murder of Scottish Protestants. He says he wasn't there and claims to have been on a retreat, alone, when the attack occurred. Mary feels torn, unable to appease either side. As Elizabeth goes to a meeting with her advisors, Lola holds her up. Robert Dudley senses something foul is afoot and pushes Elizabeth out of the way, causing the assassin's bullet to miss. Lola is arrested.

Elizabeth meets with Lola in her dungeon and confronts her friend about the assassination plot. Elizabeth feels betrayed because she considered Lola a friend. Lola tells Elizabeth she pities her. Elizabeth finds Charles in his chambers and he's a broken King.

Mary learns that the Catholic priest in her dungeon hanged himself in the night. She decides to use his death to her own advantage and stages his body in front of a contingent of Protestants and Catholics so she can rally them to her cause. Bash leaves in the middle of her speech, but she manages to win the rest of them over.

Catherine enters the Privy Council chambers to find that Charles called a meeting and asked them to declare him of age. They agreed. Catherine is no longer Regent. Charles dismisses her and a messenger brings a letter which urges him to summon his military advisors.

Elizabeth meets with Robert Dudley and he tells her that Narcisse has arrived at court as the Chancellor of France and demands his wife is innocent. Elizabeth decides to execute Lola that day. She asked Dudley to marry her so that she will no longer be alone and then learns that he has already married someone else.

Charles convenes his military and Martel de Guise offers up his own troops for a strike against the Red Knights when he learns that Leith will be there too.

Mary spends the night with Gideon. Narcisse and English villagers wait in the courtyard where Lola is to be executed. She walks calmly and Narcisse fights to save her. When she's asked for her final words, she can only tells Stephan that she loves him. He is given a front row seat to her death.

At La Crusaz, Leith gives the plan to the men who have come to kill the Red Knights. When they depart, one man stays behind and stabs Leith. He dies with Claude's name on his lips.

Bash brings Mary the news of Lola's death and James deduces that it was John Knox who set the assassination attempt into motion. Knox knows he is safe because of Mary's promise of tolerance. Bash gets another visit from the old woman and she invites him to learn the Druids' ways. Mary doesn't want him to go, but he does anyway.

Catherine threatens Charles by bringing Henry home to the castle. Mary asks Gideon to get close to Elizabeth so that she can take England from her cousin. - TVFanatic.com

Quotes

Sebastian: Where are you going?
Mary Stuart: To show John Knox that Queens do not bow to their subjects. It is in-fact, quite the other way around.

Mary Stuart: And may God, and your Queen. Have mercy of your soul.

Lady Lola: Please go. While I still have the courage to say goodbye.

Queen Catherine: Leith protect my daughter. May you cling to each other. May you have a long and happy life. I give you my blessing to wed.

Princess Claude: If you go on this mision. I’ll stop loving you!
Leith Bayard: You can do that. Just like that?
Princess Claude: Yes. Ask anyone. I’m as fickle as they come.
Leith Bayard: I suppose that does change things. Before, I had reason to return home quickly and all in one piece.

Sebastian: You murdered the man who took Francis from you.

Mary Stuart: This is Father Simon Xavier Ashby. You may see a Catholic priest, but I see a man guilty of committing atrocities against his countrymen, sentenced to hang by his queen. I have invited you here so that you may know that under my rule, all men will be judged not by their faith but by their actions. Because, regardless of my faith, I am not a Catholic queen, I am not a Protestant queen, I am not a French queen, I am your queen. I was born on this soil. Crowned after the English murdered my father when I was six days old. I was raised to fight for this nation. I am Scottish.

Lady Lola: Stephan, go! I don't want you to see this...Protect my son! Tell John I love him. Tell him everyday!

Lady Lola: Stéphane. Let me go.

John Knox: If you care about your sister, don’t give her reason to misstep.
James Stuart: And if I care about my sister, what do I do about you!

Queen Catherine: My dearest son, you can’t hug your big brother whenever you like. He’s king. At the moment.

John Knox: Scotland could be the first true democracy since the Greeks!

Notes

• King Francis, King James V, Amy Dudley, Munro, Nostradamus, and Prince Henri were all mentioned, but do not appear.
• Queen Elizabeth survived an assassination attempt on her life.
• Robert Dudley is married to Lettice Knollys.
• Leith Bayard was stabbed by one of The Red Knights.
• Mary Stuart and Gideon Blackburn once again consummated their relationship.
• Prince Henri makes his first apperance since Season One.
• This marks the end of Mary's Ladies-in-Waiting. As Lola and Aylee have both died, and Kenna and Greer have left to raise their children.
• Sebastian mentioned seeing a little girl during The Black Plague, from 2 years ago.

Death Toll
- 3 The Red Knight
- Thierry Huguenot
- 1 English Guard
- Lady Lola

Trivia

• The episode Synopsis was released on June 3rd, 2016.
• This marks Torrance Coombs, and Anna Popplewell last appearances as series regulars.
• Spencer MacPherson was upgraded to Guest Starring.
• Celina Sinden was credited, but did not appear.
• Real and fake images of Edinburgh Castle were used for the exterior shots.
• Adelaide Kane, Megan Follows and Torrance Coombs are the only 3 actors to appear in every episode of Season One, Two and Three of Reign.

Historical Notes

• Robert Dudley did marry Lettice Knollys but not for another 17 years, on 21 September 1578.
• Executioners sometimes ask for forgiveness from whoever they were about to behead. As was the case for Anne Boleyn, right before her beheading.

Gallery

Characters

• Credit Order

Actor	Character
Adelaide Kane	Mary Stuart
Megan Follows	Queen Catherine
Rachel Skarsten	Queen Elizabeth
Torrance Coombs	Sebastian
Anna Popplewell	Lady Lola
Jonathan Keltz	Leith Bayard
Craig Parker	Lord Narcisse
Rose Williams	Princess Claude
Charlie Carrick	Robert Dudley
Ben Geurens	Gideon Blackburn
Guest Staring
Spencer MacPherson	King Charles
Jonathan Goad	John Knox
Jefferson Brown	Scottish Assassin
Dan Jeannotte	James Stuart
Lewis Kirk	Martel de Guise
Cameo
Seamus Patterson	Thierry Huguenot
Tomaso Sanelli	Prince Henri
Brandon McGibbon	Father Ashby
Lucy Parker Byrne	Melaniee

	Character debut
	Speaking debut
	Episode debut

Video

Reign Spiders in a Jar Trailer The CW