Reign on the CW continues tonight with an all new Monday May 2, season 3 episode 12 called “No Way Out,” and we have your weekly recap below. On tonight’s episode, Mary (Adelaide Kane) must prioritize her life over her cousin’s.
On the last episode Charles’ coronation neared, forcing Mary to find a suitor who would be her ally. Did you watch the last episode? If you missed it we have you covered with a full and detailed recap right here for you.
On tonight’s episode as per the CW synopsis, “Mary must prioritize her life over her cousin’s. Meanwhile, Lola and Elizabeth unexpectedly join forces; Catherine can’t escape her past; and Mary and Gideon begin to see each other in a new light.”
Don’t forget to come back here tonight at 8 PM EST for your live recap of Reign season 3 episode 12. In the meantime, be sure to hit up the comments section below and let us know what you’re most excited about for tonight’s episode.
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#Reign starts with Mary returning from the Vatican and Gideon greeting her at the castle. She says his valet Jeffrey is back and he says Elizabeth isn’t happy about the Vatican and knows she plans to come back to Scotland with an army.
She says the Vatican told her no thanks on funding her mission. Mary says she’s lost everything. Gideon says he’s sorry. Mary says she’s trapped in France then hands him a doll she brought back for Agatha. He thanks her for the treat.
Catherine welcomes Mary back and says she saw her talking to Gideon. She says she lied to him and told him the Vatican told her no. Catherine is pleased and Mary says she needs to keep it secret so they can’t try and stop her.
Mary says Gideon must be kept in the dark and Catherine asks if it’s hard to lie to Gideon since she’s been around him a lot. Catherine tells her she has her permission to take comfort with the man and says just don’t trust him.
Elizabeth reads a letter as her advisors urge her to name a successor since she has no heir of her own. They tell her Henry Hastings would be a fit successor. Elizabeth says she made a choice and says the throne will go to her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots.
The assembled are stunned but Elizabeth says she has a claim to the throne and if Elizabeth accepts the succession recommendation, it will legitimize her own claim to the throne. Elizabeth says she’ll claim the right to choose Mary’s husband.
Catherine talks to Narcisse who brings news. Catherine prods him about Lola but he hands her a letter. He says he has proof he didn’t frame her. It’s a letter from the royal embalmer who blamed Cardinal Morell for the poisoning frame up.
Catherine tells Narcisse to find the cardinal and bring him to her if he wants to regain her favor. Kristoff lurks in her chambers and startles Catherine who pledges to seal up the secret passage. Kristoff tells her that Bash has assigned him away for months.
Kristoff is upset that she’s having sent him away. She says she doesn’t want to see him kill. Kristoff is upset and Catherine asks can’t he stop. He says no and will enjoy hunting in Chambord. She sighs as he leaves. Greer is in her establishment and Mary comes to see her at her tavern.
Greer says she’s not been feeling well and Mary says she missed her. Mary tells her she’s going back to Scotland soon but no one can know. She wants Greer to come along. Greer asks if she can wait until summer. Mary asks why.
Greer is secretly pregnant and then says she has a new life there and just can’t go. She says if she commands it, she’ll go but she’d prefer to stay. Mary is surprised but agrees she can stay. Mary heads back to the castle.
Mary meets with her representative and he says Elizabeth will send her an offer to succeed her if she can choose her husband. Mary says that won’t benefit her but her man says she must accept it. The man says once she’s her successor, Rome will remove Elizabeth.
He says first Scotland then the English throne. Catherine talks to Bash about Kristoff and he asks her to stop using him to clean up her personal affairs. Catherine introduces Arturo, the leader of a theater troupe, to King Charles.
Arturo says the Medici family are his generous patrons and says they are performing an Italian comedy tonight. Catherine is asked to come to Mary and she tells her about the assassination scheme. Catherine says Elizabeth’s death would allow her to unite Scotland and England.
Mary says the world would blame her for the death and she would be struck down. Mary says the Vatican must know that and they would just replace her with the next Catholic in line. Catherine says she thinks Mary is right but what will she do.
Catherine says you can’t tell the Vatican no thank you and says they’ll take back their gold and the army. She says will you save your country or Elizabeth. Elizabeth and Lola ride in a carriage and she asks Elizabeth if they’re taking a detour so she can see her lover Dudley.
Elizabeth says he’s not her lover. Lola says she knows she has his favorite wine. Elizabeth offers her a visit to her son in Scotland if she keeps her secrets. Lola warns her that being with Dudley will tarnish her reputation but Elizabeth tells her to just stay in the carriage.
Dudley tells Elizabeth it’s not safe for her to be there. He says England despises him and she can’t come but she says she has no one to talk to. He says exile is too good for William. Elizabeth says she’s so alone. Then she says he’s the only man who can beat her at chess.
They sit down to a game by the fire. Elizabeth creeps out of the house and she and Lola see men come to beat on Dudley’s door and hurl insults at him. He tells Vendel he’s drunk and to go home. Vendel calls him a wife murderer who brought shame on England.
Lola tells her she can’t intercede or she will be in scandal again. The crowd riles up and Vendel challenges him to a duel. Dudley is forced to accept and says they duel at dawn. Elizabeth goes to see Dudley before the duel disguised in a cloak.
She tells him don’t do this and he says this is not the first time. It’s not swords but pistols. Lola runs over to warn them it’s pistols. Elizabeth asks if he’s fired one before and says guns are unreliable. Dudley says it’s too late, there’s no turning back.
He tells Elizabeth to stay back so she’s not recognized. Vendel tells him he may have the pick of weapons but fastest light gets to fire first.
They face off and Vendel misfires but Dudley shoots the other man in the neck and he drops down dead. Dudley drops the gun in the snow and walks away. The women agree he had to do it since he was challenged.
The Italian play is about the love life of royals. Catherine, Charles, and Claude all sit in the crowd. The play has a king and queen dancing and they talk about who their daughter will marry. Gideon brings Mary the successor offer from Elizabeth.
Mary acts like she had no idea it was coming. Mary tells him she lost Scotland and has no country but becoming her successor protects her. Mary says she has no other choice. Gideon says there’s always another choice. He says don’t sign this.
He says by signing she becomes the woman standing in line behind Elizabeth and she will own her like she owns him. Gideon says he gets tired of the lies and tactics and doesn’t want her to marry another Englishman. He leaves her to think.
Back at the play, there’s a character who says they built the kingdom on blood. He talks about demon worship. Bash stares. The character says the 13 knights shall rise again. Catherine whispers stop him. The curtain drops and she goes backstage.
Arturo says it was not part of the play and the man has disappeared. She picks up the mask and he says he’s never seen it before and that wasn’t one of his actors. Catherine goes to Narcisse and asks if he’s trying to terrorize her dredging that up.
He says he has no idea what she’s talking about and says Cardinal Morell was found dead and has been dead for many weeks. He says the man must have been killed to tie up loose ends. Catherine accuses him again and he says someone else is behind all of this.
Narcisse says he’s her ally but Catherine accuses him. Agatha tells Gideon that Queen Mary is nicer than Queen Elizabeth. Gideon sends her off to play and Jeffrey comes to see him. He says a spy saw Rudolfi, a Vatican enforcer in the village.
Jeffrey wonders if Mary lied to them. Gideon rants that Elizabeth sent him to spy on him and Jeffrey says Mary marching back to Scotland would be so dangerous to Elizabeth and says that’s not a successor, that’s a replacement.
Gideon promises to destroy Mary if she’s lying to them and Jeffrey threatens Agatha. Dudley talks to Elizabeth who says he needs to go North but he wants to come back to court. He says he can’t just roam around with no way to redeem himself.
Dudley begs her to come back to work and says he’ll do good work. Elizabeth says no and says if he comes back to court, he’ll be killed and he says he can’t outrun the scandal. He tells her to go. He says he’ll await her permission to return to court.
Back in France, Gideon finds Mary in the chapel. She says she was thinking about Elizabeth’s offer. She says what if they were actually honest with each other. Mary says she lied about Rome and says they are backing her.
She says she knows he wants to keep Elizabeth safe and cares for her. Mary says the Vatican wants her to accept Elizabeth’s offer so the Vatican can have her assassinated. Mary says she’s trapped and can’t tell Elizabeth what she’s planning and says she’s stuck.
Gideon asks what to do. Mary says tell Elizabeth I said yes then says she needs his help playing both sides and says maybe they can save Elizabeth’s life together without sacrificing Scotland. She says she knows this is a risk and asks him to trust her.
Mary says there is more between them than lies and they kiss. She undresses him. They make love to seal the deal of their confidences. Gideon comes to Jeffrey who is writing to Elizabeth to tell her his suspicions about the Vatican.
Jeffrey says when Mary lands in Scotland the local Protestants will take care of her. Gideon is furious with the former servant’s impertinence and chokes him. He beats the man and locks him into the trunk dead then cleans up the mess.
Bash comes to see Catherine about the play. He says he saw her reaction and says she was the Queen he described. He says Henri showed him something when he was a child. He says there were pikes all around the grounds with heads on pikes and says there were 13 heads painted red.
Catherine denies it. Bash asks why those 13 soldiers were killed. She says she’s surprised he remembered and says they owed them money they couldn’t pay. She says it was Henri’s idea and she went along with it.
She says the heads on pikes was his father’s idea but she had them removed before sunrise. Catherine says they must find who spoke at the play and he says he understands. Catherine says they’ve been dead so long and Bash asks if she’s sure about that.
Gideon comes to see Mary and says Jeffrey knew about the Vatican representative meeting with her. He says he killed Jeffrey to stop him from warning Elizabeth. Gideon said he finished the letter in Jeffrey’s hand that says she accepts the succession offer.
He says Jeffrey will seem to disappear on the road back to England. Gideon says they have to find a way to save both her and Elizabeth. Dudley comes to court and Elizabeth says she’s raising him to Earl of Leicester including lands and titles.
She says he will serve a greater good. She says he will be Mary’s next husband whom she has named as her successor. She says he must set sail for France immediately. Dudley says he wishes to serve her there in England and she denies him a private audience.
She tells him to complete his mission and walks out of the room. Dudley follows her outraged and asks how she can do this to him. She says she did this to save him and says live with her in France or Scotland and you can live.
She says he’s always in her heart. Elizabeth goes to her chambers to cry. Lola comes to see her and offers to play chess with her some time. Lola says she doesn’t open letters from her husband because he lied to her and she deplores him.
Lola then tells her she shows no mercy in chess and Elizabeth says she expects no less. Mary tells Catherine she found an ally and can get through this trial. Catherine asks if she slept with Gideon and Mary says she didn’t think she was capable and Catherine says that got Gideon on her side.
She asks why Mary did it and if she cares for him. Mary says she doesn’t know. Catherine finds Kristoff lurking in the castle and says Chambord didn’t suit him. He says he’s worse away from her.
There’s a call of a horn and Catherine sees 13 men lined up and calls them the red knights. An ax is flung at her and Kristoff pulls her out of the way. They ride away. He helps Catherine up and she looks at the red cloth tied to the ax and it says “your debt will be paid.”
THE END!