History Series / Reign

* AgeLift: Mary was 15 and Francis 14 when she arrived back at court, but in the show they're in their late teens to early twenties. Nostradamus, meanwhile, was in his mid fifties during the period where the show is set, but is played by an actor of 36.

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: Of the Old Setting, New Music type. The show occasionally likes to use instrumental covers of popular 2010s songs, usually for dancing scenes, despite being set in the 1500s. The ballroom music playing in the background of 2x13 is an instrumental version of "Chandelier" by Music/{{Sia}}, Lola's Wedding Dance is to an instrumental of Music/{{Lorde}}'s "Royals", and at one point Greer and Leith dance to an instrumental of The Lumineers' "Stubborn Love".

** [[spoiler: Diane gets strangled to death by Catherine when Catherine deduces that she killed her twin daughters.]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Mary's dog Stirling appears in the pilot but is never seen or spoken of afterwards, except for one brief appearance in season 2, episode 12.

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Many critics have complained that the show does this with Mary, but, because RealityIsUnrealistic, she actually averts this trope. The historical Mary was known for her beauty. However, she was also six feet tall and auburn-haired, unlike Adelaide Kane, the medium-height brunette who plays her on the show. The show probably ''does'' indulge in this trope with regard to Francis, though, who was much shorter than his wife and suffered from health problems; here he's played by Creator/TobyRegbo, who is tall, blond, and athletic.
** Lampshaded in episode 4, where Francis complains that a bad portrait of him as a child made him look like a dwarf and that half of Europe thinks he's sickly because of it.
** Mary also gets a turn in season 2, when Princess Claude says of their childhood, "You seemed so tall in those days."

* HistoricalHeroUpgrade: In the show Mary advocates toleration of Protestants, and is upset by persecution. The real Mary encouraged rounding them up to be tortured and burned as heretics.
** Largely under the advice of her Guise relations. However, it is actually mostly TruthInTelevision, as Mary was tolerant to Protestants in her own country when she returned as an adult.
* HollywoodCostuming: The show doesn't even attempt to have accurate costuming, which sometimes helps sell the anachronistic tone the show is going for. However, some of the costumes--the dresses of Mary and the Ladies in particular--often look more like the result of a prom dress clearance sale than actual Tudor fashions. There are notable exceptions to this though, such as Mary's red dress in "Kissed" or her dress in the picture above. Sometimes mixed with GorgeousPeriodDress. Also, not a single man is seen wearing trunk hose, one of the most fashionable male garments of the time. That's like showing the 1940s without any men wearing hats or smoking in public; it's as if they thought that real 16th-century fashion would look too silly for modern viewers.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Francis and Mary try for a baby multiple times with no luck. Olivia desperately tried to conceive with Francis in the hopes of him marrying her or keeping her around as his mistress. [[spoiler: Lola and Francis have sex once and end up pregnant with a baby neither wants.]]
** Catherine tried desperately for years to have a baby with Henry, up to using several crazy medicinal treatments. They ended up having several children, but at the cost of their once loving marriage. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Catherine has an affair and ends up pregnant with the other man's child (long before she has one of Henry's) and has to secretly give the baby up.]] There is some historical accuracy to this; it really did take several years for Henry and Catherine to have a baby - not because of fertility issues, but because he preferred the company of his mistress Diane, who finally had to ''tell'' him to start sleeping with his wife in order to sire heirs.

** [[spoiler: Bash doesn't even want to be heir to the throne, but does so to save Francis's life, at the cost of Francis's friendship and his own personal freedom.]]
* LongingLook: Bash has looked several times at Mary this way, with both longing, and something else, undefined.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Many of the Scottish characters are played by English actors who don't even attempt the accent. In Mary and her ladies' case, this may be {{justified}} as they spent most of their lives in France, presumably speaking French most of the time.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: When you try to have your son's fiancée drugged and raped, you've probably gone a little past this trope's limits. Catherine's animosity toward Mary has a [[GeniusBonus historical basis]]: she resented Mary for being an anointed queen and therefore taking precedence over Catherine's own daughters from day one of her arrival at court. After Francis died, Catherine forced Mary to return the crown jewels and leave France almost immediately (once the traditional period of deep mourning was over).

* SerialHomewrecker: Louis de Bourbon, Prince of Conde, has a habit of sleeping with other men's wives and is never seen with the same woman twice. That includes sleeping with [[spoiler: Mary Stuart -- ''the queen''. King Francis, her husband, reluctantly allows it]]. Their affair drives a lot of the conflict in season 2.

* TookALevelInBadass: [[spoiler: Queen Mary, who stabs Count Vincent (who attempted to rape her) with a fork when he's distracted in his blind rage. In the same episode, [[ViolentlyProtectiveGirlfriend Greer attacks an Italian guardsman who was trying to kill Leith, and quite possibly kills him]].]]

* WhamLine: From episode 1.11.

* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Many of the Scottish characters are played by English actors who don't even attempt the accent. In Mary and her ladies' case, is may be {{justified}} as they spent most of their lives in France, presumably speaking French most times.

** Also when [[spoiler: Mary and Catherine realize they've accidentally killed the Prince of Spain and his father will wipe France off the map in retaliation. And then they turn around to find he's not quite dead but wandering into the hallway to be found by others so they have to worry about him recovering to reveal the truth.]]
* OneDrinkWillKillTheBaby: [[spoiler: Mary [[DeliberateValuesDissonance drinks wine]] in the early stages of her pregnancy and ends up suffering a miscarriage. It's not said explicitly that her drinking caused the miscarriage, but the scene of her and Lola sharing wine the evening before may have been put there to give a modern viewer the idea that this was what caused it.]].

* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: The main plot began because Nostradamus told Catherine that "Mary would cost [Catherine her] firstborn". Mary later hears of the prophecy and goes out of her way to avoid marrying Francis, even going as far as to petition Bash's legitimization so Henry will break her engagement and let her marry him (Bash) instead. That way, Francis will be safe and Mary can wed the next king of France. Then it's revealed that ''Clarissa'', not Francis, is Catherine's firstborn and Mary is forced to kill her to save Catherine's youngest sons. As a result, it's deemed safe for Mary and Francis to marry... only for Nostradamus to have ''another'' vision which reveals Francis will die regardless. Clarissa is also still alive.]]

* StrongFamilyResemblance: Surprisingly, this applies. Francis and Bash both have light eyes and are passable as half-siblings. Especially given that Francis has the same blond curls as Queen Catherine, and Bash and Diane both share dark straight hair.

-->[[spoiler: '''One of Queen Catherine's former servants''': I saw how scared Catherine was, because it was the lover's child, you see, not Henry's.]]

* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
** While Henry had two acknowledged bastards, and one vaguely acknowledged one, none of them were by Diane and none of them were named Sebastian. However, it was rumoured that his bastard daughter, Diane de France, by Filippa Duci, was in fact the daughter of Diane de Poitiers.
** Speaking of bastards, the real Francis did not father any children with one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting - or anyone else, including Mary herself (the miscarriage she has in the show is another bit of artistic license). He was also completely faithful to Mary, as was she to him, from the time of their betrothal when they were little children. Many historians believe Francis may have actually been rendered impotent by his assorted health problems, which would account for Mary not getting pregnant until her second marriage.
** By the 16th century, paganism was a long spent force in Europe. Not so here, where they have apparently replaced the Huguenots as the main group of heretics in France (though paganism does not actually qualify as [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics "heresy"]]). And in no way would a woman like Diane de Poitiers be connected with them.
** One early storyline has Mary seeking aid against England from, of all countries, ''Portugal''... England's oldest ally, an alliance that was 250 years strong at the time the series was set and 700 years strong at the time it was made. There ''is'' a suggestion that Tomas is using his personal troops to further his own agenda, but for Mary to even ''ask'' shows a staggering ignorance of international alliances.
** The writers evidently got their ideas about Bohemia from Shakespeare. It never had a seacoast, much less merchant vessels and at the time was not even an independent nation, but merely one part of the vast [[{{UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire}} Holy Roman Empire]]-which ''was'' an old enemy of France. Why they didn't just use them is [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot a mystery]].
** Diane de Poitiers did not cause the deaths of any of Catherine de Medici's children. In fact, although Catherine ''was'' jealous of Diane's relationship with Henry, the two women were actually distant cousins; Diane approved of Henry's marriage, encouraged him to be with his wife frequently, and even nursed Catherine through an illness. Their relationship was, for the most part, relatively cordial. Catherine did outlive Diane, but she certainly [[spoiler: did not strangle her]].
** Francis and Mary were both firmly anti-Protestant, which the show alters to Francis being blackmailed into his edicts against the religion as the only way to keep them sympathetic in this day and age.
** Monarchs could only be officially crowned at a coronation once in their life. Mary was crowned as an infant in Scotland and thus, when she became Queen of France, could not be officially crowned with Francis. Furthermore, Kings of France were crowned in Reims, not in their throne rooms.
** [[spoiler: Antoine couldn't make Kenna a queen by marrying her unless he actually took the right to the throne away from his son, the future Henri IV of France, since Antoine is King by marriage to Jeanne III of Navarre. With her death, he would lose his right to the throne, even if he could be regent. However, kings of Navarre by marriage in the past did indeed take the title from their children.]]
** Elizabeth saying that as a relative of Mary she has a claim to the Scottish throne is nonsense. Elizabeth was not descended from the House of Stuart; her aunt (Mary's grandmother) merely married into it, so Elizabeth couldn't claim Scotland by birthright. The Earl of Arran, Mary's distant cousin and former regent, was next in line genealogically.
** The Pilot episode features the wedding of Francis's sister Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain, a wedding that did occur. However, it could not take place until the death of his previous wife Mary Tudor (Mary I of England), which does not occur until halfway through the first season.

** [[spoiler: The Duke of Guise returns in ''The End of Mourning'' only to end up assassinated by the end of the episode.]]

* GenreShift: After ''Left Behind'', the love story, which still strong, takes a backseat to politics.

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Many critics have complained that the show does this with Mary, but, because RealityIsUnrealistic, she actually averts this trope. The historical Mary was known for her beauty. However, she was also six feet tall and auburn-haired, unlike Adelaide Kane, the medium-height brunette who plays her on the show. The show probably ''does'' indulge in this trope with regard to Francis, though, who was much shorter than his wife and suffered from health problems.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Mary does this twice in ''A Chill in the Air''. First, after discovering Kenna's affair with the king, and again after her argument with Francis.

--> '''Bash''': Everything alright?

** Catherine tried desperately for years to have a baby with Henry, up to using several crazy medicinal treatments. They ended up having several children, but at the cost of their once loving marriage. Meanwhile, [[spoiler: Catherine has an affair and ends up pregnant with the other man's child (long before she has one of Henry's) and has to secretly give the baby up.]]

** [[spoiler: Bash doesn't even want to be heir to the throne, but does so to save Francis' life, at the cost of Francis' friendship and his own personal freedom.]]

* ObnoxiousInLaws: When you try to have your son's fiancée drugged and raped, you've probably gone a little past this trope's limits. Catherine's animosity toward Mary has a [[GeniusBonus historical basis]]: after Francis died she forced her to return the crown jewels and leave France almost immediately (once the traditional period of deep mourning was over).

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: Of the Old Setting, New Music type. The show occasionally likes to use instrumental covers of popular 2010s songs, usually for dancing scenes, despite being set in the 1500s. The ballroom music playing in the background of 2x13 is an instrumental version of "Chandelier" by Music/{{Sia}}, Lola's Wedding Dance is to an instrumental of Music/{{Lorde}}'s "Royals", and at one point Greer and Leith dance to an instrumental of The Lumineers's "Stubborn Love".

* AndThisIsFor: [[spoiler: What Catherine says to Diane as she chokes her to death.]]
-->'''Catherine''': This is for [[spoiler:killing my babies]]. This is for [[spoiler:taking my husband]]. This is for [[spoiler:tearing my family apart]]. And this is for [[spoiler:turning my daughter against me]].

** Speaking of bastards, the real Francis did not father any children with one of his wife's ladies-in-waiting - or anyone else, including Mary herself (the miscarriage she has in the show is another bit of artistic license). Many historians believe he may have actually been impotent, which would account for Mary not getting pregnant until her second marriage.

** By the 16th century, paganism was a long spent force in Europe. Not so here, where they have apparently replaced the Huguenots as the main group of heretics in France (though paganism does not actually qualify as [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics "heresy"]]). And in no way would a woman like Diane de Poitier be connected with them.

** [[spoiler: Antoine couldn't make Kenna a queen by marrying her unless he actually took the right to the throne away from his son, the future Henri IV of France, since Antoine is King by marriage to Jeanne III of Navarre. With her death, he would lose his right to the throne, even if he could be regent. However, kings of Navarre by marriage in the past did indeed take the title from their children.]

** [[spoiler: Clarissa toward the young princes until she decides to kill them in revenge against Catherine.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: [[spoiler: Tomas of Portugal.]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Mary's dog Sterling appears in the pilot but is never seen or spoken of afterwards, except for one brief appearance in season 2, episode 12.

* DirtyOldMan: Henry. In addition to treating his mistress better than his queen, he finds one of his daughter-in-law's teenaged ladies-in-waiting pleasuring herself in a supposedly-private stairwell... and takes the opportunity to hit on her.

* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: [[spoiler: Aylee]] was blackmailed into being a spy for Queen Catherine [[spoiler: except this was a plot by Mary to give the Queen false information]].

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: When in season 3, [[spoiler: Robert's wife Amy dies under suspicious circumstances]], Robert and Elizabeth briefly accuse the other of being responsible. Elizabeth says she would never have done it, as she knew that if [[spoiler: Amy]] died in any suspicious way, Elizabeth and Robert could never be together. They then both realize that [[spoiler: Amy killed herself and made it look like murder, knowing the scandal would prevent the two from ever being married.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Mary wonders if she can rely on anyone except her dog, Sterling. In real life, Mary later used her [[PimpedOutDress full skirts]] to smuggle her little dog with her to her execution.

* GrayingMorality: Oh yes. Mary, Francis, Bash and several other characters start doing some downright horrible things the longer the series goes on, but often with the best intentions.
* HatesBeingTouched: [[spoiler: Mary]] develops a fear of being touched by men after her rape. Her holding [[spoiler: Conde's hand as his mark is being burned off]].

* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: Many critics have complained that the show does this with Mary, but, because RealityIsUnrealistic, she actually averts this trope. The historical Mary was known for her beauty. However, she was also tall and auburn-haired, unlike Adelaide Kane, the medium-height brunette who plays her on the show. The show probably ''does'' indulge in this trope with regard to Francis, though.

** Mary also gets a turn in season 2, when Princess Claude says of their childhood "You seemed so tall in those days."
** Many characters get a dose of this, including Catherine de' Medici, who nobody called beautiful despite the praise lavished on royalty at the time, and Princess Claude, who had a club foot.

* HollywoodCostuming: The show doesn't even attempt to have accurate costuming, which sometimes helps sell the anachronistic tone the show is going for. However, some of the costumes--the dresses of Mary and the Ladies in particular--often look more like the result of a prom dress clearance sale than actual Tudor fashions. There are notable exceptions to this though, such as Mary's red dress in 'Kissed' or her dress in the picture above. Sometimes mixed with GorgeousPeriodDress. Also, not a single man is seen wearing trunk hose, one of the most fashionable male garments of the time. That's like showing the 1940s without any men wearing hats or smoking in public; it's as if they thought that real 16th-century fashion would look too silly for modern viewers.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: [[spoiler: Averted, Francis's judgement of Tomas isn't just jealousy. Tomas really is an asshole.]]

* LonelyAtTheTop: Mary realizes she is this when a lady-in-waiting tells her, "You're not our friend. You're our queen." The other ladies don't disagree.

* LongingLook: Bash has looked several times at Mary this way. With both longing, and something else, undefined.
* LoveTriangle: Mary with Francis and Sebastian. Although Mary has technically been engaged to Francis since the age of 6, it doesn't stop her feelings for Sebastian (Bash). She later falls for Francis also. Given that Francis and Mary did get married in real life history, you'd expect it to be endgame, but that's not so certain given the show's historical fantasy elements.

* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: Whatever's going on in the woods. Someone or ''something'' seems to be very interested in human blood. [[spoiler: As it turns out it's a bit of both. The "Beast" turns out to be a man but one who has visions like Nostradamus.]]
** Played with in the matter of ghosts. [[spoiler: Henry's visions of his brother seem to be a combination of guilt and encroaching madness, brought on by poisoning. The "possession" of a servant woman by Henry turns out to be a scam. Whether or not the ghosts of Henry and Catherine's twin daughters are real or poison-induced insanity is yet to be seen. Could be a bit of both in each case, that the poison opened their minds to seeing spirits.]]

* TheMistress: Diane de Poitiers to Henry. He later replaces her with Kenna. Olivia makes a similar offer to Francis.

** In "For King and Country", Mary and Sebastian are hiding from the French in an Inn. They are both drenched from their HighDiveEscape, so Sebastian suggest they let their clothes dry in the fireplace for the night, and Mary asks him to turn around while she disrobes, but he points out he'll have to look away the whole night since she'll [[SleepsInTheNude have nothing else to wear for the night]], but she gives him a look and he gives up and turns. She only gets to disrobe her cloak before French soldiers end up finding and capturing them.
* NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent: Many of the Scottish characters are played by English actors who don't even attempt the accent. In Mary and her ladies' case is may be {{justified}} as they spent most of their lives in France, presumably speaking French most times.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: When you try to have your son's fiancée drugged and raped, you've probably gone a little past this trope's limits. Catherine's animosity toward Mary has a [[GeniusBonus historical basis]]: after Francis died she forced her to return the crown jewels and leave France immediately.

** Played with with Olivia. She is the only French character with even a trace of French accent (due to her actress having been born in France), which just makes her stand out.

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: Mary is raped by one of the Protestants coming to assassinate Francis in ''Acts of War.'']]
* ReallyGetsAround: King Henry. Francis. Catherine.

* RevealingCoverUp: When she's exiled in season three, Catherine uses a body double to take her place as she secretly travels to England to offer support to Elizabeth. However, the double ends up in an... awkward... position that ends up cutting a priest's manhood up and, overwhelmed with guilt, kills herself. Hearing of "Catherine's" death, Mary and Francis instantly realize this was an imposter as the real Catherine would never be guilt-stricken enough to take her own life.

* StickyFingers: [[spoiler: Aylee]] is a kleptomaniac. [[spoiler: Queen Catherine]] uses this as leverage [[spoiler: to get her to spy on Mary. Except this is actually a ploy by Mary to feed Catherine false information.]]

-->[[spoiler: '''One of Queen Catherine's former servants''': "I saw how scared Catherine was, because it was the lover's child, you see, not Henry's."]]

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Lola and [[spoiler: Francis']] son John. He returns to France with Narcisse and is never seen or mentioned again.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: [[spoiler:Tomas tries to kill his servant because he knows about Tomas's plan to frame England for ambush of French soldiers.]]

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: In "Three Queens," Mary and Catherine are left on their own, coming to a village where an imposter of Mary is bilking the inhabitants. Catherine decides to tell the imposter they know she's a fake... as Mary and Catherine are "mother and daughter" ''pretending'' to be Mary and Catherine, accepting some jibes on their "bad" impressions.

Now has a character sheet. Please contribute.

** By the 16th century, paganism was a long spent force in Europe. Not so here where they have apparently replaced the Huguenots as the main group of heretics in France (though paganism does not actually qualify as [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics "heresy"]]). And in no way would a woman like Diane de Poitier be connected with them.

** [[spoiler: Antoine couldn't make Kenna a queen by marrying her unless he actually took the right to the throne away from his son, the future Henri IV of France, since Antoine is King by marriage to Jeanne III of Navarre. With her death, he would lose his right to the throne, even if he could be regent. However, kings of Navarre by marriage in the past did indeed take the title from their children.]]

* AndThisIsFor: [[spoiler: What Catherine says to Diane as she chokes her to death.]]
-->'''Catherine''': This is for [[spoiler:killing my babies]]. This is for [[spoiler:taking my husband]]. This is for [[spoiler:tearing my family apart]]. And this is for [[spoiler:turning my daughter against me]].

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: While Henry had two acknowledged bastards, and one vaguely acknowledged one, none of them was by Diane and none of them were named Sebastian. However, it was rumoured that his bastard daughter, Diane de France, by Filippa Duci, was in fact the daughter of Diane de Poitiers.
** By the 16th century paganism was a long spent force in Europe. Not so here where they have apparently replaced the Huguenots as the main group of heretics in France (though paganism does not actually qualify as [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics "heresy"]]). And in no way would a woman like Diane de Poitier be connected with them.
** One early storyline has Mary seeking aid against England from, of all countries, ''Portugal''...England's oldest ally, an alliance that was 250 years strong at the time the series was set and 700 years strong at the time it was made. There ''is'' a suggestion that Tomas is using his personal troops to further his own agenda, but for Mary to even ''ask'' shows a staggering ignorance of international alliances.

** Monarchs could only be officially crowned at a coronation once in their life. Mary was crowned as an infant in Scotland and thus when she became Queen of France, could not be officially crowned with Francis. Furthermore, Kings of France were crowned in Reims, not in their throne rooms.

** Elizabeth saying that as a relative of Mary she has a claim to the Scottish throne is nonsense. Elizabeth was not descended from the House of Stuart, her aunt (Mary's grandmother) merely married into it, so couldn't claim Scotland by birthright. The Earl of Arran, Mary's distant cousin and former regent, was next in line genealogically.
** The Pilot episode features the wedding of Francis's sister Elisabeth to Philip II of Spain, a wedding that did occur, not until the death of his previous wife Mary Tudor, which does not occur until halfway through the first season.

* BackForTheDead: [[spoiler: Diane's reappearance in season 2 ends with Catherine strangling her at the end of the episode]].

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler: In the SeriesFinale, Mary is arrested by John Knox and is imprisoned in England for 21 years, and eventually gets executed and awakes in the afterlife with Francis. Her son King James VI accepts to be Elizabeth heir. ]]

* CartwrightCurse: Lord Narcisse's wives keep dying. [[spoiler: In contrast to the rumors that he's TheBlueBeard, that's not the case. [[HiddenDepths And he does seem to genuinely miss them]].]]

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Mary's dog Sterling appears in the pilot but is never seen or spoken of afterwards.
** It makes a brief appearance in season 2, episode 12.

* DeadpanSnarker: Mary, Bash, Catherine, and Francis most notably. Everyone at some point

* DefiledForever: If the rape attempt on Mary had succeeded, she would have become unfit to marry the French prince--and possibly any prince.

* DoubleReverseQuadrupleAgent: [[spoiler: Aylee]] was blackmailed into being a spy for Queen Catherine [[spoiler: except this was a plot by Mary to give the Queen false information]]
* DoubleStandard: Queen Catherine notes that if a queen is unfaithful, her children will face challenges to their place in the succession. By contrast, the royal men sleep around with merry abandon -- especially Catherine's lecherous husband.

* ExplainExplainOhCrap: When in season 3, [[spoiler: Robert's wife Amy dies under suspicious circumstances]], Robert and Elizabeth briefly accuse the other of being responsible. Elizabeth says she wasn't as she knew that if [[spoiler: Amy]] died in any suspicious way, Elizabeth and Robert could never be together. They then both realize [[spoiler: Amy killed herself and made it look like murder, knowing the scandal would prevent the two from ever being married.]]
** In the Season 1 finale, Mary and Catherine work out that Henry is planning to marry Mary but can't work out how he plans to convince Francis to annul their marriage. Then they realise [[MurderTheHypotenuse that's not what he's planning]]...

** When Francis warns Mary that claiming the English throne could cost her head-as it did in RealLife.
* FourGirlEnsemble: The ladies in waiting are four friends. Lola is the strongest one, not afraid of death or speaking out, even to a queen. Greer is ambitious for her family's sake even though she does believe in the power of love. Kenna is a real firecracker which makes her unpredictable and totally captivating. Aylee is the most reserved, acting as the voice of caution out of concern for her friends.

* GoneHorriblyRight: When they find that Charles has run off from the throne and settled with a peasant family, Catherine and Narcisse decide the family he's with is a good influence on him and agree to let the elder daughter accompany Charles back to court. They're happy to see him taking back his crown and encourage him to step up and be his own man...until he announces that, just like the family, he's going to become a Protestant which means France can kiss goodbye the support of the Catholic Church and Spain.

* RevealingCoverUp: When she's exiled in season three, Catherine uses a body double to take her place as she secretly travels to England to offer support to Elizabeth. However, the double ends up in an...awkward...position that ends up cutting a priest's manhood up and, overwhelmed with guilt, kills herself. Hearing of "Catherine's" death, Mary and Francis instantly realize this was an imposter as the real Catherine would never be guilt-stricken enough to take her own life.
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler: After Mary's rape both she and Francis indulge in this. Francis uses draconian methods of imprisonment and interrogation. Mary is, with Louis, Prince of Conde's help, more successful tracking down her actual rapists and killing them.]]

* ShaggyDogStory: [[spoiler: The main plot began because Nostradamus told Catherine that "Mary would cost [Catherine her] firstborn". Mary later hears of the prophecy and goes out of her way to avoid marrying Francis, even going as far as to petition Bash's legitimization so Henry will break her engagement and let her marry him (Bash) instead. That way, Francis will be safe and Mary can wed the next king of France. Then its revealed that ''Clarissa'', not Francis, is Catherine's firstborn and Mary is forced to kill her to save Catherine's youngest sons. As a result, it's deemed safe for Mary and Francis to marry...only for Nostradamus to have ''another'' vision which reveals Francis will die regardless. Clarissa is also still alive.]]

* YourCostumeNeedsWork: In "Three Queens," Mary and Catherine are left on their own, coming to a village where an imposter of Mary is bilking the inhabitants. Catherine decides to tell the imposter they know she's a fake...as Mary and Catherine are "mother and daughter" ''pretending'' to be Mary and Catherine, accepting some jibes on their "bad" impressions.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Kenna is engaged in this when caught by an aroused Henry in the first episode. They move on from there to making out.

** Also the whole thing with the teenage friend, part of the hooking up has to do with him catching her [[ADateWithRosiePalms masturbating]], which back then was a serious sin in Catholic nations. Today, it's at least tolerated even among more conservative Catholic nations.
* DirtyOldMan: Henry. In addition to treating his mistress better than his queen, he finds one of his daughter-in-law's teenaged ladies-in-waiting [[ADateWithRosiePalms pleasuring herself]] in a supposedly-private stairwell... and takes the opportunity to hit on her.

* IllBeInMyBunk: The infamous sequence in the pilot episode in which Kenna has ADateWithRosiePalms is a version of this trope.

* CoitusEnsues: [[spoiler: Francis and Lola have sex in episode 12, though they did have some interaction just before.]]

** All of the ladies are married in very modern-looking [[FairytaleWeddingDress Fairytale Wedding Dresses]], being all white with modern veils and tiaras, a style that was not popularized until the marriage of Queen Victoria to Prince Albert, only a full ''three hundred years'' after the show is set. [[note]]The real Mary did, in fact, wear a white wedding dress when she married Francis, [[AluminumChristmasTrees so this is not wholly inaccurate]].[[/note]]

* ObnoxiousInLaws: When you try to have your son's fiancée drugged and raped, you've probably [[UpToEleven gone a little past]] this trope's limits. Catherine's animosity toward Mary has a [[GeniusBonus historical basis]]: after Francis died she forced her to return the crown jewels and leave France immediately.

But it's not clear sailing at court. Queen Catherine has been warned of a prophecy foretelling her son's imminent death if he marries Mary, and she'll do anything to prevent it. Francis and King Henry are not keen to bind themselves to Scotland unless it benefits France. Henry's illegitimate son Bash is hiding something. And there's a mysterious woman called Clarissa haunting the castle, who seems to have Mary's best interests at heart...