Reign
Francis watched Mary run off with his brother Bash in the midseason finale of "Reign." CW

The first half of “Reign’s” freshman season came to an explosive end with the death of Aylee, and Mary’s decision to flee the castle with Bash. As viewers of the CW series know, not everything is what it seems, and the midseason premiere will explore that when it returns on Thursday, Jan. 23.

With a wedding to Francis (finally) set in order for Mary to make an attempt at the English throne, the queen of Scotland learned of Nostradamus’ prediction in episode 8 – the prediction that Mary’s marriage to Francis would end in the death of the future king of France. Despite being deeply in love with Francis and wanting to marry him, Mary decided that she would run away rather than cause his death. Her decision to take off to somewhere far away just so happened to coincide with Bash’s plan to run away … thanks to Diane’s attempt to get him legitimized.

Francis caught Mary and his half-brother Bash taking off on horseback together, and despite his pleas to stop, they kept on going. As “Reign” viewers know, Bash and Mary have history that could make Francis jealous. Even though Mary is in love with Francis (and had sex with him in episode 8), she previously locked lips with Bash after a nasty fight with Francis. Unbeknownst to Mary, Bash is quite smitten with her … even though he’s not willing to take his brother’s crown in order to get her.

In the past the future king warned Bash to stay away from his bride, and the two of them running away together will lead Francis to think that Mary left him to be with his brother. “They know in the eyes of everybody else, it will appear that they have,” executive producer Brad Silberling dished to TV Line. “It will appear that he’s betrayed Francis and essentially, she’s done the same.”

The midseason premiere will pick up with a small time jump and the two “on the lam,” but according to TV Line, Mary and Bash will eventually end up back at court. Their return to the castle won’t have changed Nostradamus’ prediction, and Mary will be forced to continue stalling the wedding while the king of France pushes the marriage.

Mary’s dilemma over wedding Francis and seizing the throne of England will become even more difficult when her mother, Marie de Guise (Amy Brenneman), shows up at the castle.

“Her character’s kind of delicious and sort of Catherine-esque in her manipulations,” Mary’s Adelaide Kane explained to E! Online of Marie de Guise. “Where Catherine [queen of France] uses her children, she still ultimately loves them and wants their happiness. With Marie de Guise, she does use Mary, and it’s questionable whether or not she’s emotionally invested in Mary’s emotional well-being.”

“Reign” returns to the CW for the second half of season 1 on Thursday, Jan. 23 at 9 p.m. Are you on Team Bash or Team Francis? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section or send a tweet to @AmandaTVScoop.

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