'Reign' Recap Episode 12 'Royal Blood': Mary Kills Clarissa, Says Yes to Bash
Clarissa enters Queen Catherine's private chamber. She opens a box that contains the locks of Queen's children. Two of Queen Catherine's servants enter the private chamber, as well, making Clarissa hide. The servants use Queen's bed to make out. Later, Clarissa twists the head of one of the servants, killing her.
Mary meets Bash and voices her concern about Queen's youngest children, Henry and Charles, saying that the two little boys must be having a hard time. She informs Bash that she has made a plan to go to a frost fair in the town with Charles and Henry. The three, however, could not make it to the fair because the carriage in which they are travelling is attacked. Bash and Mary fear for the safety of the two princes, but they differ when it comes to, how to protect them. Bash wants to send Charles and Henry out of France, while Mary wants to keep an eye on them in the Castle.
Seeing who holds the power, Lord Hugo has switched sides. He tells Bash to do something about the Princes to be safe and secure his position. Lord Hugo warns Bash that sooner or later blood will be spilled because of disturbing the line of succession.
Meanwhile, Lola gets herself in trouble when she goes to the Burgundy House to pay off her brother's debt. However, the man, to whom her brother's owes a debt, wants more than the money. He wants to spend a night with Lola. Francis saves her from the man by winning a wager. Lola and Francis get talking. Francis tells her that he can understand that Mary wanted to protect him, but Bash has his own reason of agreeing to marry Mary.
At the Castle, Bash arranges a frost fair for the two little Princes inside the castle. Mary finds the gesture worth giving Bash a kiss. Nostradamus goes to meet Queen Catherine and gives her a Bible. Later, he and a guard enter the cell to find the Queen hanging from the ceiling. Nostradamus takes the Queen outside with him. The Queen did not commit suicide but was just pretending. She had used a harness hook, which Nostradamus had hidden in the spine of the Bible, to fake the suicide drama. She plans to escape to Italy.
At the frost fair, Charles and Henry disappear. Mary comes to know that it is Bash's doing, as he wants to send them away to protect them. Mary is not happy about it. The Queen comes to know about her sons' disappearance, and decides not to leave the castle until she finds her children. The Queen blames Bash for the disappearance of her sons. She confronts Mary and wants to know how her sons are missing when she promised to protect them. An inspection of the Queen's box reveals that Clarissa must have kidnapped the boys.
The Queen joins Bash, Mary and the guards to find the two Princes. At the location, where the Prince's carriage had halted, they find the dead body of the man who was taking them away to safety. Clarissa asks Henry and Charles to fill their pockets with rocks, and then they will go swimming. Charles tells hers that the water must be cold and he does not know swimming, and also asks why she is angry. Clarissa is wearing a mask that Mary had custom ordered for her. She tells the two princes to do as asked.
Bash, Mary and Queen find Clarissa and the two princes. Henry manages to get away, but Clarissa holds Charles at knife-point. Queen tries to convince her to let Charles go, and not be like her mother who is now a condemned woman. Clarissa tightens her grip on Charles, but before she could slit his throat, Mary hits her with a rock, killing her. The Queen is convinced that Mary will protect her sons, while Mary points out that the Queen stayed back and did not flee because of her sons.
Francis and Lola share that they feel emptiness and the two kiss each other, passionately, and get physically intimate. Later, Francis hears about her mother's impending execution and decides to return to the castle. He wants to stop his father from murdering his mother. The royal guards do not bury the body of Clarissa but throw her down a hill.
Bash finally agrees that the Princes are safer inside the Castle, as they can protect them. Mary wants to marry Bash that day, and asks Bash will he marry her. She does not want to wait for the Vatican's approval, legitimising Bash. Bash gets down on his knee, and proposes to her. Mary says yes.