There’s a new prince in France, and he looks like le trouble.
Make waaaaaay, for Prince Henri!
And from the looks of it, Charles younger brother is going to spell trouble.
Credit: Ben Mark Holzberg/The CW
Theres a throne to be protected!
The news pushes Catherine and Narcisses Plan to Make Charles a Suitable King into hyperdrive.
Only problem is Charles hates taking swift and strong military action.
Remember that time when being responsible for peoples deaths turned him into a cave-dwelling squirrel eater?
#MistyWaterColoredMemories
Their only hope in convincing Charles is to, well, convince Nicole to convince Charles.
Which, of course, means Narcisse needs to step up his seduction game.
His first pass with Nicole fails.
Theres one problem: Nicole doesnt want to be hidden away from court.
She wants to live that sweet court life, and she wants to do it with Narcisse.
Shes in love with him, apparently.
This all feels very forced and the sooner we ditch Nicole, the better.
Narcisses second attempt with Nicole yields much more success.
He and Catherine now want Nicole to get Charles to make a move on the Protestants.
Instead of promising Nicole money and lands, Narcisse shows his vulnerable side.
He and Nicole go to Royal Pound Town.
Before they know it, Charles is ordering troops to free the Catholic hostages.
Unfortunately, theyre too late.
Henri arrives, gives mommy a hug and a disconcerting look to the camera.
Catherine might inform him that Charles is fine and dandy, but Henri doesnt care.
He has his eyes set on that throne.
Per usual, Marys throne over in Scotland is being threatened, as well.
I mean, it is a Friday, after all.
Mary has invited Lord Hamilton to the castle.
This is news for several reasons.
First, Hamilton (raise a glass!)
is a powerful Protestant in Scotland, who also has some claim to the throne.
Hamiltons grandfather murdered Darnleys…its this whole thing.
The two dudesdo notget along.
And also, Hamilton is BFFs with Knox.
So, yes, getting this dude to support Mary might be a hard sell.
He needs to welcome Hamilton with open arms.
Since no one knows of Emilys fate just yet, Mary sends her brother off for another informational meeting.
Before James heads off though, he has a run-in with Greer.
A RUN-IN WITH GREER, PEOPLE.
Greer wants to know what James damage is.
Is he uninterested or playing hard to get?
You know those ex-regentsloveplaying hard to get.
But his feelings are just as strong as hers.
Then he tells Greer to be patient with him.
You guys, we are one rowboat ride away from a Nicholas Sparks novel here.
James goes to Emily and she tells him Knox knows all about them.
She wants James to help her get far away from everything.
A battle ensues in which James basically becomes a ninja and kills all of Hamiltons men, including Hamilton.
Mary and James quickly surmise that Emily fed James bad intel.
Now it looks like Mary lured Hamilton to the castle to have him murdered.
So thats not great.
Any way you slice this, its terrible PR for Mary, Queen of Scots.
Shell have the Protestants at her door seeking revenge in no time.
But, since James is an honorable, sweet brother, he offers himself as a scapegoat.
No one wants to do this, but they must.
Darnley has watched this whole thing go down and realized Mary doesnt want one bit of help from him.
I dont think hes going to stand for being shut out much longer.
Meanwhile, in England:Its Elizabeths birthday!
All she wants, though, is to have her boy toy Gideon feed her cake in bed.
Queens theyre just like us!
Gideon is the first to break.
Hes not some prized stud to test out her fertility and never know his own child.
So yeah, this is real for him.
It doesnt take long for Elizabeth to follow suit.
Something tells me it wont be like that for long.
A boss lady collar for a true boss lady.
