Reign 2x09: Acts of War [Episode Review]

*Spoilers for Episode 2x09: Acts of War*
Trigger Warning: This video discusses spoilers and the topic of rape.

Synopsis: Mary proposes a marriage idea for Claude, but Claude has plans of her own. Meanwhile, Bash and Francis concoct a scheme to free Francis from following Narcisse's demands; and Greer discovers she may be deeper in the Protestant movement than she realized.

My Opinion:
Watching the episode all I could think was that they could have gotten the exact same results if they had just critically wounded Mary. Rape is used only because, as you said, it is seen as the absolute worse thing that can befall a female character. The whole scene was gross, they could have cut away much earlier and taken out the slow-mo. The only positive to come out of it was the Catherine/Mary interaction. That female positive interaction was moving and I love that Catherine knew not to touch Mary and how two survivors could talk.

But I’m also equally disturbed by the speech that Catherine gave Mary because of it’s historical context. As I mentioned before, Mary QOS was raped. After the death/assassination of her second husband, Lord Darnley, she was raped by James Hepburn aka Earl of Bothwell and married him a month later to save face and as a result people revolted against her and she was forced to abdicate her throne. This is what led her ending up in England and her eventual death by the order of Queen Elizabeth I. What’s upsetting is that Mary’s situation has often been romanticized and even something modern day historians criticize her for (marrying Bothwell). So the way that Catherine’s speech is worded makes me wonder if they are talking about the actual historical figure because she is (largely) seen as a victim and a lesser Queen than Bess, which is bullshit, but a result of the sexism of having a ruler who wanted to be both a Queen and a more feminine woman.

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