Here’s what creator Laurie McCarthy said about that epic series finale of “Reign”

If you’ve watched even a single episode of the CW’s Reign, you know that these royal shenanigans can go from zero to absolutely bananas in a hot second. The series finale proved to be no different, with lots of murder, death, arson, and even a threesome with…a witch? Creator Laurie McCarthy sat down with Entertainment Weekly to dissect the ending, and her take on it is pretty awesome.

Reign followed the life of Mary, Queen of Scots, and if you know anything about her history, you knew it was always going to end a little gruesomely. The showrunners took a lot of liberties with the history, and that included a ton of absolutely crazy twists. There was a sex horse death in season 3 (yes, a sex horse, don’t ask us to explain.) And of course, there was the audience-torturing way in which Mary’s true love, Francis, finally met his doom.

Seems like the show staff had a blast with all those turns, too. That makes sense to us! Keeping your audience guessing with crazy twists and turns seems like a lot of fun!

McCarthy told EW that they loved coming up with the next big thing, saying,

"We loved doing crazy things, and we were writing characters who were both relatable but also lived in a world of privilege that is difficult to comprehend. Also, you’d be shocked how much of it actually came from, or was very inspired by, history."

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The series ended with inevitable tragedy:  Mary couldn’t live forever, as we know from history. But her beheading was brief and merciful, thankfully. Even better, the show concludes by reuniting Mary and Francis in the afterlife. If she had to make it through such a tough run of it in this world, at least Mary gets a better ending in the next.

It sounds like the writers still had plenty of story in them. Still, McCarthy said she was grateful for the time the show was on air.

"...there are indisputable economic considerations, and the CW supported the show as long as it could in every way that it could. They and the studio were incredible partners, always opening the gates wide creatively, and I’m deeply grateful for the time that we had."

We’re going to miss Reign so much, but we loved that ending!