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What is power without love?
Narcisse in Our Undoing


Stéphane Narcisse is a major recurring character in the second season and a main character in the third and fourth season of Reign. He is portrayed by Craig Parker.

He is the husband of Lady Lola, as well as one of the most powerful lords in France, with other lords and kings alike attempting to curry favour with him. Narcisse is a member of the House of Narcisse by birth.

Biography[]

Early Life[]

When he was only 15 years of age, his father arranged his first marriage to a very wealthy young woman. He was pestered constantly by his father to produce an heir, however, his wife had many miscarriages. He slept with his wife too soon after a miscarriage and she bled to death. A year later he has wed again, to a haemophiliac who died soon after due to her condition. He was married a third time. His third wive was best friends with Duke Boinel's wife and they died together due to Plague in a summer. From his second and third wife, he has a handful of adult children, including Edward, Luc, and at least two others.

In the Series[]


Personality[]

Described as brilliant, sexual and fierce, Narcisse is a devout Catholic with a "death grip" on French Court. Living in an age where life is actually cheap, he will trade lives to achieve his goals. It is always difficult to tell how genuine he is being, for he is also a consummate liar.

Narcisse believes that the correct way of keeping France a great nation is by doing things his way, which is why he has no guilt over his actions even if they are monstrous, and he has no qualms over intimidating even Francis into doing the things he wants for the sake of France. Hence, though the terrible things he does might be for good intentions, he is viewed as a great thorn in the side of the King and Queen.

When he came to the French Court, he started looking for a woman with whom he could share mutual love, and while he ends up having sexual relations with Catherine and Claude, the woman of his dreams turned out to be Lola, for the relations he had with the former two stemmed purely from sexual needs and desire to gain power. In contrast, when he is with Lola, Narcisse demonstrates a compassionate and romantic side that seems to be wholly unexpected of such an ambitious and scheming man, for he genuinely cares for her and would do anything for her.

However, it was still evident that, while Narcisse's love for Lola was true, it was still a selfish and manipulative love that was no match for what he deemed to be his own best interests: even after being married to Lola, Narcisse cheated on her with Catherine for political matters, and Lola later found out that not only had he been unfaithful to her, but also he had actually tricked her into marrying him. This discovery caused her to leave him after a fateful confrontation over his deceit and betrayals, and Narcisse appeared to be genuinely heartbroken by her departure, indicating that he possibly felt true remorse for his actions.

Physical Appearance[]

Stéphane is a handsome older man with short-cut dark brown hair, a well-trimmed beard of the same color, with a medium complexion, and blue eyes. He is also tall and well-built, and, due to high status, dresses in very extravagant and presumably expensive clothing. 

Name[]

Stéphane is a masculine name, and is the French form of the name Stephen. In Greek it means "Crown" or "Garland".

Relationships[]

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Lola Narcisse[]

Lola was Narcisse's fifth wife and the only one he has ever loved. Lola didn't like Narcisse at first, but sparks flew as a mutual interest grew. Their relationship was initally quite unpopular among Lola's loved ones, but Narcisse eventually earned their blessing and the pair married. However, it wasn't long before trouble crept into their paradise. (See Lola and Narcisse)

Estelle Narcisse[]

Estelle was Narcisse's fourth wife. Narcisse married her as a way to save her from her father's debt after The Black Plague had killed her whole family. However, owing to the rumours about his previous marriages, Estelle saw him as a threat and wanted out. With Lola and Mary's help, she successfully fled French Court undetected. However, in an unforseen move, Estelle jumped off a cliff and fell to her death after apparently hearing her parents call out to her.

Claude de Valois[]

Narcisse proposed to Claude in order to prevent her from marrying Condé, but was swiftly denied. He continued to pursue her romantically for a short while.

Catherine de' Medici[]

Narcisse and Catherine had a very complex relationship. They mostly worked as allies with occasionally getting physical. (See Catherine and Narcisse)

Éduard Narcisse[]

Éduard was Narcisse's son, whom he described as good and obedient. After his death, Narcisse was determined to avenge him.

Luc Narcisse[]

Luc, who was introduced in the fourth season, was also Narcisse's son. However, when it came to him, the apple couldn't have fallen further away from the tree. By sharp contrast to Narcisse, who was miserly and mean, Luc was kind, caring, and loyal. Luc has even admitted that he felt little love from his father as a child due to the fact that they had so little in common. However, Narcisse clearly cares for Luc, as evidenced by his reaction to when Luc nearly died.

Francis II[]

From the moment Francis became king, Narcisse loathed his approach to ruling. However, Narcisse also likely hated Francis due to the fact that his wife killed his son. Owing to Francis' son's nanny, who was paid by Narcisse to pretend to be possessed by Henry II, he wrung a confession out of Francis that he committed regicide.

Using that knowledge, Narcisse blackmailed Francis into persecuting Protestants and calling upon the Inquisitors from Italy. Francis defied him for as long as he could, but by the time he wiped out Narcisse's evidence against him, it was too late: the nation had turned against him and his wife had been raped by Protestant radicals who had broken into the castle.

Narcisse paid a steep price for his treachery - Francis stripped him of his lands, titles, and income, and made him his "puppet". Narcisse eventually became loyal to Francis and remained so until the king's untimely death.

Mary Stuart[]

Narcisse hated Mary as she had his son killed. But he helped her in Scotland.

Louis of Condé[]

Narcisse and Condé had a long feud prior to the beginning of the show, and though it was unclear as to why, Condé alluded to Narcisse's unscrupulous way of gaining power as the reason for his loathing of him.

In addition to that, Condé was a bourbon, and when he tried to grasp for the throne of France, he threatened Francis' rule and Narcisse's position at court along with it.

John Knox[]

Narcisse hated Knox because he indirectly, but intentionally, caused Lola's death. When he found out about the fact, Narcisse was out to get him - but Knox, who was unaware that Narcisse knew, didn't make it easy for him and always evaded justice one way or another.

One day, Narcisse took matters into his own hands: he kidnapped Knox, strapped him to a bed, and cut off his testicles, deeming this action, "taking from a man that what he holds most dear", like Knox did to Narcisse with Lola.

Appearances[]


Trivia[]

  • He has admitted to Lola to never having been in love.
    • He eventually fell in love with Lola and married her in Extreme Measures, making her his fifth wife.
  • He has been married five times.
    • All of his wives died soon after their marriage to him, which caused Estelle to think he was an wife killer and died thinking so. While Lola learned the truth from him about his first three wives death which caused her to see him in a different light.
  • He has a butterfly mark on his forearm.
  • He was the first to know of Francis II killing King Henry.
    • He used this as a method to blackmail Francis in order to control of how he ruled France.
  • He is shown to have a fascination with baths, as revealed in Three Queens.
  • He used to be a lover of Claude and Catherine on different occasions.
  • He has a pet horse, making him the second person in the show to have a pet after Mary.
  • He is shown to know a lot about wine in Dead of Night.

Gallery[]

Stéphane Narcisse has a photo gallery.

See Also[]

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