MovieChat Forums > Mary Queen of Scots (2018) Discussion > Confused about certain scenes (Spoilers)

Confused about certain scenes (Spoilers)

posted 5 years ago by swishin48 (25)
2 replies | jump to latest

I may need to watch the movie again but there were some scenes that confused me or seemed to not make sense when looking at the entirety of the movie. Please let me know if I misunderstood or misremember any of these scenes.

1. The Scottish nobleman claim the musician character (David Rizzio) raped Mary and that is how she got pregnant. My understanding is the goal of this was to discredit Mary's child as being the heir to the throne. By the end of the movie (and historically) though her son is still recognized as the rightful heir. Did I misunderstand the point of this plot?

2. The Scottish lords basically imprison Mary after killing the musician but tell her she will not be killed. Then she asks for her husband. She convinces him to tell the lords, he as King can leave with his wife. Why would the lords who basically used him as a pawn agree to let him leave with Mary?

3. Mary and the King go to another location where Mary seems to magically have an army available to her when it seemed like Scotland was turning against her. How was this army put together so quickly after she was just released from the lords with her husband?

[–] Otter (24464) 5 years ago

Okay, I got dragged out shortly after these scenes, but I'll do my best:

1: Nobody wanted to discredit the royal baby, they all wanted to get rid of Mary and Darnley and rule as regents. In fact, they were SO desperate to pull that off, that nobody in the film questioned that blonde Darnley and redhead Mary had produced a baby with hair as black as Rizzio's!

2: They let Darnley stay with Mary because they didn't take him seriously, and didn't want him interfering with their government. They took him even less seriously than they took Mary, everyone despised Darnley, and while they knew Mary would try to fight back they didn't think she'd find any use for that prat.

3: Stuffedf I know where that army came from.

[–] keithmovies (627) 5 years ago

- The impression I got was that information had reached the public that about the "liberal behaviour" of Rizzio in the royal court, and that this was stirring criticism often in the form of John Knox speaking out against Mary in his public meetings. They decided that had to get rid of Rizzio because otherwise it would risk building public resentment against the royal court leading to maybe uprising and overthrow of the government.

- He was a pawn but they needed him as he was clearly an important person to have on their side, ie. potential king of Scotland due to his royal entitlements or qualifications

- She seemed to have had the support of Earl Bothwell who we learnt has apparently been personally securing her safety for years as a loyal supporter. Maybe he organised the army?