My face hurts from all the smiling I did while watching the video. I am so damn proud of Francis especially in the last 2 scenes. SO PROUD.
We almost got a moment, then Conde had to come onto the screen and ruin it
I laughed so hard when Mary said "trust the man you know" to Francis. The man he knows is currently his WIFE'S lover, pretty sure that's not the best route to take Mary. When Francis met Conde in 2s01, Conde enjoyed the company of married women, and now (whatever months later) he STILL in the same boat. So yeah...

First and foremost, I am so happy to finally see more emotion from Mary when she is with Francis again. It's like that cold and hard wall she built around herself is finally crumbling. Not only that, but I am relieved to see that she seems to be owning up to things, as I said before. It's no apology, but I never thought I'd see that, and I think it's a tiny step in the right direction. Hopefully! I worry that the show will pull the rug out from under us again, but I did see hope in it nonetheless. Also, I think her dialogue was chosen carefully once again, which may be the writers trying to send a signal that she's defrosting.
Now to my real ounce of hope that secured it all for me:
The last scene where Francis went to Mary's chambers and told her that Conde had married Elizabeth. Francis is of course angry (GO, FRANCIS! ) that she knew he was courting England and believed him when he swore to reject her proposal, and I'm not pleased by Mary's continuing to defend him. However, I suppose the writers want us to see that this is what will lead her to trying to protect him in future episodes because she feels guilt over abandoning him. Anyway, the dialogue that stuck out in my eyes...
She says Conde has only done this because of her ending things with him and choosing to stay in France. She feels she has done the right thing, but Francis tells her she did the right thing politically. She tells him, "I chose to stand by my husband, as your Queen, if not, your wife."
Francis is not impressed by this statement, but I still felt like it was a positive because it's the first time in a long time Mary has acknowledged her role as his wife without scorn. It's actually the first time in so long she has said that she is his wife to his face; almost like she may be opening up to the idea of being with him again? I at first thought that she is only staying out of guilt for what she has put him through, but then when he told her the only reason she was staying with him was to secure the alliance and her throne in Scotland, she said, "That is not the only reason." It just made me think: what other possible reason besides maintaining the alliance and safety of her country does she have to stay in France? It's reasonable to assume that other reason would be Francis, correct? Does she mean she has stayed because she has started to find her love for him again? I'm terrified to get my hopes up for this show because I fear I'll get them crushed, but am I the only one that sees hope here?

I agree with Kandace that Mary seems to slowly be coming back into the Mary we knew. It's a lot of baby steps and she has quite a ways to go yet but I can at least see some progress and that's better than nothing.

I'm over the moon over the fact that she owned up to her mistakes/her role in the affair. I never thought I'd see that from her so I'm pleasantly surprised. Also, there was finally some insight as to why she turned to Conde. I may not have liked her explanation all that much because she was still defending Conde through most of it even though he too had his own role to play in this mess (and I fail to understand why Francis loving Mary is a reason for her to turn away from him, no matter how hard I try to see her POV on that I can't) but I'll take it since, again, I didn't expect to see this either. She also told Francis he had every right to be mad at her and not trust her and also agreed to stand by him/France when they were arguing at the end of the episode. Those are all good things. It's not much but it's encouraging, much like last week was.

I also agree with what Kandace said about Mary showing more emotion in her scenes with Francis than she has in a while. It's almost like she's beginning to feel comfortable around him again and that her love for him might just be fighting to get to the surface. We'll just have to see. This, coupled with the finale description has brought back a tiny bit of hope that maybe things aren't as irreparable as they seem right now. I worry about hoping even the slightest bit but the end has got to be here soon and I want my show back, the one I love .

they'd use her rape to justify adultery and its why I was so against the storyline in the first place. I'll prob be able to forgive the characters but never this writer. I used to hold her up to high esteem before this. She has not only damaged the trust of the audience but their faith in her ability to write a decent storyline so that no one who has seen reign will ever want to follow her to another project. I'm too sucked in to let go at this point, but I know that I'll never view these set as writers as having an ounce of talent or integrity to tell a proper story.