‘Reign’ Season 4 Updates: Queen Mary’s Third Husband Joining The Show?


Reign Season 4 may have only just had Queen Mary’s second husband cast, but now it looks like her third husband will appear, too. Is the show trying to wrap up within the year in fear of cancellation, or is the storyline with her second husband just much shorter than that with her first?

Will Kemp was previously confirmed as Lord Darnley, Henry Stuart. In history, he is the second husband of Mary, Queen of Scots and father to King James VI of Scotland. It is through this marriage that James had two claims to the English throne.

Darnley is a blood cousin to Mary, both in the show and in history, and has his own claim to the English throne. In Reign, Kemp will come onto the show as Darnley for three episodes and there will be an option to become a series regular.

A similar offer has been made to Adam Croasdell, who will join as James Hepburn, the Earl of Bothwell. The difference will be that he has four confirmed episodes, so far. This is a character who is extremely loyal to the Scottish queen and wants her affection. The show seems to be taking a different route, considering the man he comes across as from history. In the history books, he is the one who may have murdered Mary’s second husband and feigned love for power.

All this doesn’t mean he will be completely innocent in Reign Season 4. Bothwell’s character has been described as a “warm-hearted bad boy.” Will he be involved in the death of Darnley, which will have to come if the show sticks loosely to this part of history?

Fans of Once Upon a Time will recognize Croasdell as Hook’s dastardly father, Brennan Jones, according to TV Series Finale.

It is unclear at the moment how the new characters will all be involved in Reign Season 4. It appears that Mary’s connection to Darnley will mainly be a way to overthrow Queen Elizabeth, or at least keep them safe. Would Elizabeth really go up against two people with a strong connection to the English throne?

Mary may also marry him to get closer to Elizabeth. She wants revenge for the execution of Lola, which she learned about towards the end of Reign Season 3. She may even use his to save Narcisse.

Darnley may not be the one who has the ambition of power. It seems that he has a powerful and manipulative mother, which just sounds like Francis’ storyline all over again. Will Bothwell come in early to give Mary another love triangle involving the two men? Could this be the reason Mary pulls away from Darnley during her pregnancy with James?

Reign has not been the most faithful to history. From the beginning there have been substantial changes to suit the show. Among those was Francis’ character, who was much stronger in the show than he was in history. It could be possible that Mary’s storyline with both Darnley and Bothwell are changed to suit dramatics and keep fans interested.

It is also possible that the show will move this part of Mary’s story along quicker than storylines in the past. There were worries of cancellation during Reign Season 3 from fans. After being given the death slot on a Friday night, Reign was removed from CW scheduling after the mid-season break. It was only brought back to the network in March, when other shows started to close and Season 3 was much shorter, with just 18 episodes.

The show has now been given a January start date (with the exact date to be confirmed). Is this a sign that the network doesn’t believe in it anymore?

What do you think of the casting of Mary’s new husbands? What’s your thoughts on how the storylines will play out in Reign Season 4?

[Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images]

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