| “ | Sooner or later, blood will be spilled. It's just a matter of whose. | ” |
Royal Blood is the twelfth episode of Season One. It attracted 1.32 million viewers on its original airing.
Synopsis[]
When Clarissa kidnaps the younger children of King Henry and Queen Catherine, Mary and Bash work with the Queen to find them, with tragic results. Meanwhile, when Lola attempts to help her brother with a debt he owes, Francis rescues her, causing the two of them to grow closer. Kenna and Greer also appear.
Plot[]
In the beginning of the episode we see Clarissa entering Queen Catherine's chambers. She sits on the bed, plays with the pillows, and then goes over to Catherine's dressing table and finds a small chest where she keeps mementos of all her children. Clarissa opens a tray and discovers samples of hair from all the children except her, knowing that Catherine is indeed her mother. Then a young servant couple enters the room causing Clarissa to hide behind the dressing screen as they begin to make love on the Queen's bed. Meanwhile, Mary and Sebastian are in the stables discussing Bash's impending legitimization from the Vatican in Rome, and Charles and Henri; the younger sons of Henry and Catherine. To take their minds off of what is going on with their mother, Mary has decided to take them to the Frost Fair where they will have the chance to play with other children in the snow. While on their way, however, the carriage is attacked by men who hold a serious grudge against the House of Medici, and the carriage barely escapes unscathed. Back in the Queen's chambers, the servant lovers have finished their tryst, and the servant girl notices the open chest on the table, as she goes to investigate she hears Clarissa's voice; when she goes over to her hiding place Clarissa comes out from behind the screen, grabs the girl, strangles her and then snaps her neck. Meanwhile in the castle tower, Mary tells Catherine of what happened to her and the young princes, and Catherine reminds Mary of her warning of what would happen by changing the line of succession. Despite Catherine's obvious concern that with Bash legitimized and Henry married to Diane, she will be dead and her sons orphans since they will get no care or attention from their father. Mary tries to soothe Catherine by telling her that she and Bash will raise Charles and little Henry as if they were their own. They discuss Clarissa and Mary's intention to bring her out of the darkness and into society, and how Catherine would never harm her own children. Meanwhile, Lola enters a casino in Paris, and is reunited with her brother. It is revealed that her brother owes a debt to the owner and Lola has come with money to get him out of it, though she soon discovers that her brother not only owes a debt, but that he has lied to and cheated the owner, who proposes sleeping with Lola to settle things. Back at the castle! Nostradamus is then seen bringing a bible to Catherine's cell; she is furious that Nostradamus brought her a bible instead of the poison she asked for saying that she would rather commit suicide by tearing out her throat with her own hands than allow her husband to make a spectacle of her death. As he leaves however, Catherine notices a rope and hook on the wall. That afternoon, Mary and Bash along with Kenna and Greer bring the princes to the Frost Fair where there is lots of fun. Later they find that the princes have gone missing. Bash confesses to Mary that he arranged for them to be kidnapped and taken to Spain for their safety (probably to be with their sister who is the Queen). Clarissa later intercepts the guards taking Charles and Henry to safety and kills them so she can kidnap the boys to get her revenge on the Queen their mother. Lola and Francis are in the casino and enter into a night of drunken passion. Later that day Nostradamus discovers that no answer can be gotten from Catherine's cell, and that the door has been barred. Nostradamus urges the guards to hurry and open the door; upon entering they see a horrifying sight: Queen Catherine is hanging from the ceiling with a meat hook in her back. Nostradamus takes her down, slings her over his shoulders, and takes her to his chambers where she wakes up...had the meat hook not held her weight she'd have hung herself for real. While the Queen is talking of her escape to Italy she can tell that Nostradamus is quite concerned about something; she asks him, and he tells Catherine that her sons have gone missing. Immediately looks of concern, horror, fear and worry come across her face, and despite his insistence that she leave court and never come back Catherine declares that she will never abandon her children because she is their mother, and nothing short of death is going to stop her from finding them. Mary is seen in her room looking at Catherine's memory chest, and finds a piece of Clarissa's skin wrapped around the hair samples of Henry and Charles; when she enters the room, before Mary can scream Catherine tells her that she means her no harm, but needs Mary's help to find her missing sons whom Mary promised to protect. Catherine, Mary and Bash along with a few guards set out to find Henry and Charles; along the way they find clues leading them to the princes. They finally find them at the river where Clarissa is with them telling them to fill their pockets with heavy rocks so they can go swimming. Charles protests saying that it's cold and they don't know how to swim; however Clarissa tells them to just do it and the heavier the rocks are the better. Her real intention is to drown them to exact her revenge on Catherine for abandoning her. The three: Catherine, Mary and Bash finally make it to the river; little Henry sees them first and runs to Bash, but before Charles can make it to his mother Clarissa grabs him and puts a large knife to his throat; Catherine tries to talk to Clarissa telling her that she is indeed her mother as like her Clarissa is willing to pay any price for her convictions and what is truly hers, and that she can finally be loved by her true family. Clarissa seems about to give in when Charles cries out for his mother, and she puts the knife tighter against his throat threatening to kill him telling Catherine that they can be together when they are all dead. Mary then sneaks up behind Clarissa and hits her in the head with a rock killing her; as Charles runs into his mother's waiting arms; followed by Henry Jr. Catherine kisses her sons, comforts them and tells them how proud she is of them. Then a guard tells her that she has to let go of her sweet boys as she has to get back to the tower. The young princes look at their mother with worry & fear, but the Queen tells them not to worry as Mary will take good care of them. She then tells Bash to make sure he gives the princes a hot bath. Mary realizes that Catherine was out of the tower before she knew about her sons being missing and she & Catherine have a moment of understanding where Catherine believes that Mary never truly intended to harm her children, and that she owes the lives of all her sons to Mary. Mary also seems rather surprised that Catherine stayed to protect her children, a heartbroken Queen tells Mary that she may never see her children again, because once Bash is legitimized he will be wed to Mary and she will be dead. Later in the casino Francis and Lola learn from the owner that the King intends to execute the Queen within the week; Francis then receives a coin from the owner (who doesn't realize that he's talking to the Dauphin) telling him that if he brings it back covered in the Catherine's blood that it will earn him a fortune in house credit. Francis vows to return to court and plead with his father for his mother's life. As the episode ends there are guards in the forest burying Clarissa's body, and Bash is seen officially proposing to Mary and she says yes as they kiss. |
Cast[]
Main Cast[] |
Recurring Cast[]Guest Cast[] |
Soundtrack[]
Gallery[]
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_FULL_1x12.jpg "Lola (1) FULL 1x12.jpg (34 KB)")
_FULL.jpg "Francis 1x12 (6) FULL.jpg (38 KB)")
Trivia[]
- The Frost Fair takes place.
- Francis returns after a two episode absence.
- There was a 2 week hiatus before this episode.
- Mary had her second kill in this episode.
- Bash makes a formal proposal, and Mary accepts it.
- Francis and Lola have a scene together.
- Clarissa is thought dead.
- The same servant girl who helped solve the stag's mystery in Chosen is killed.
See Also[]
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