“Reign” has done a beautiful job telling a story based on history. It’s also done an excellent job of creating a compelling and intriguing storyline. What is hasn’t done well with is sticking to the real facts of Mary, Queen of Scots and those she met. There have certainly been many changes to Mary's history in "Reign," including keeping Francis alive for much longer than he really was.
To help determine the fact from the fiction as the final three episodes of the series air here's a look at the truths about Mary, Queen of Scots. How much of Mary do you really know?
Mary was not raised in a convent
The opening scenes of the "Reign" pilot show Mary in a convent. She had been raised there, while waiting for her time to move to the French court to marry Francis. While she does have memories of the French court, she has spent a lot of time living around young girls and focused on a Catholic upbringing.
This never happened in real life. While it is a good way to introduce characters one-by-one, Mary was raised in the French court from around 1548.
It was commonplace for royal daughters to move to their future husband's country and palace.
Mary didn't consider a relationship with Francis' half-brother
In fact, Bash never even existed for Mary to consider a relationship with him. Bash was a character entirely created for the sake of the TV show, and there is actually no evidence that Henri II of France and his mistress Diane de Poitiers had children. Mary was loyal to her future husband. She knew this marriage and alliance was important for herself and her country.
As Mary does in "Reign," she agreed to leave Scotland to Francis should she die before him and without any heirs. It wasn't a move that Scotland would have wanted, but it was a necessity at the time.
Mary attempted to meet Elizabeth
So far, "Reign" has stuck to the fact that Mary and Elizabeth never met. It's a sad part about Mary's execution, as she never meets her own cousin who signed the death warrant. Yet, the show has never shown the attempts that the two made to meet each other. In fact, there were times that Elizabeth viewed Mary as her heir to the throne.
In 1562, Mary and Elizabeth were supposed to meet in York. Elizabeth sent a man to cancel for her, due to the civil war in France. This was the time of the St. Bartholomew riots between Protestants and Catholics.
"Reign" season 4 continues tonight at 9 p.m. on The CW. There are just two more weeks until the series finale.