THE TUDORS SEASON 4 , EPISODE 10
■ FUNDAMENTALS
| Tudors episode: 4.10
| First aired: June 20, 2010 | | Tudors season: 4 | Prod. code: | Writer(s):
Michael Hirst | Name of Episode:
Death of a Monarchy | | Director(s): Ciarán Donnelly | Guest star(s): Maria Doyle Kennedy , Natalie Dormer , Annabelle Wallis
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Mini-synopsis: --Henry’s thoughts turn to his own mortality with the news that his long-time friend and sometimes foe King Francis, and his unshakable soldier Charles Brandon, are each dying. As he faces death, Henry encounters the ghosts of his former wives who each get a chance to confront him. Hans Holbein paints a last, iconic portrait of the Tudor King.
Henry (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) is forced to surrender Boulogne, his great prize, as part of a peace treaty with France. But where, in the past he might have felt anger, his feelings now turn melancholic with the news that King Francis, his long-time friend and sometimes foe, is dying.
There is a slow, quiet and nonetheless inevitable shifting of allegiances as Henry’s own health begins to fade. Factions are forming at court as thoughts turn towards a successor. Some see Prince Edward (Eoin Murtagh), Henry’s son by Jane Seymour as his natural heir while others, notably Bishop Gardner, are determined to restore a Catholic to the throne in the person of Princess Mary (Sarah Bolger).
Under orders of Gardiner, an arrest warrant for Queen Catherine (Joely Richardson) is issued on grounds of heresy. However, when Risley (Frank McCusker) and his men come to arrest the Queen – believing that they are carrying out the King’s orders - they are brutally rebuffed by Henry in a complex psychological game that leaves everyone uncertain of his allegiances and beliefs. For his overreaching ambition, Bishop Gardiner (Simon Ward) is expelled from court.
Hearing that Charles Brandon is very ill, the King summons his old friend to court. It is to be their last encounter: Brandon dies soon after and Henry is greatly shaken; his longest and most loyal ally now gone.
Realizing that his own death is now immanent, Henry retreats more and more into himself. He sees the ghosts of his past wives, then sends Queen Catherine and his beloved daughters Elizabeth and Mary away from Whitehall Palace. Alone, Henry VIII prepares for the end of his magnificent, momentous monarchy. | | |
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ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END!! |
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■ BEST QUOTES
- Henry VIII -'In these last days Your Grace,I have been thinking a great deal about loss.What loss Your Grace,is to man most irrecoverable?'
- Charles Brandon -'His virtue.'
- Henry VIII -'No,for by his actions,he may redeem his virtue.
- Charles Brandon -'Then his honor.'
- Henry VIII -'No,for again he may find the means to recover it.Even if some man recovers his fortune he is lost.'
- Charles Brandon -'Than I cannot say,Your Majesty.'
- Henry VIII -'Time,Your Grace.Of all losses,time is the most irrecuperable,for it could never be redeemed.'
(while Henry is sitting down and having his portrait done by Hans Holbein,he spots the ghost of his first wife,Katherine of Aragon)
- Henry VIII -'What are you doing here?'
- Katherine of Aragon -'I have come to see my daughter.Why should that surprise you,Henry?You have not always been kind to her.I have wept so often to see her alone,abandoned by her father.'
- Henry VIII -'Is that why you have come back,Katherine? To chide me for all that I am not?'
- Katherine of Aragon -'She ought to be a long time married by now,she ought to have her own children.'
- Henry VIII -'Go away.Shade.Go away,Katherine.'
- Katherine of Aragon -'You have sent me away before,though I loved you but I was still your wife in God's eyes and still am. (she disappears)
(as Henry is about to take a drink,he spots the ghost of his second wife,Anne Boleyn)
- Henry VIII -'Why are you here?'
- Anne Boleyn -'To see my daughter,she was only pure thing in my life and in my life I neglected her.Since she was only a girl and I wanted so much to give you a son but now I am so proud of her.She is so clever and though she is like me in so many ways,she is not intemperate as I was.You must be proud of her too,Henry?'
- Henry VIII -'I am,I am very proud of of her and I know how clever she is.And I wish I could love her more,but from time to time she reminds me of you and what you did to me.
- Anne Boleyn -'I did nothing to you.I was innocent.All the accusations against me were false.I thought you knew.Poor Katherine Howard,she lies in the cold ground next to me.Poor child.It was not her fault neither.But we were moths drawn to the flame and burned.
- Henry VIII -'Anne,please don't!' (Anne disappears)
(as Henry walks away from the throne room,he hears the voice of his third wife,Jane Seymour)
- Jane Seymour -'How is my son?'
- Henry VIII -'Jane.He is well.I have taken all care of him,sweet Jane.An soon he will be King.'
- Jane Seymour -'My poor boy.My poor child!'
- Henry VIII -'No!He is the most beloved! He is my special boy!
- Jane Seymour -'He will die young.'
- Henry VIII -'No! No!'
- Jane Seymour -'Poor child,you expected too much of him! He was only a boy,kings too are made of clay and God forbid you locked him away from the world like your father did with you!'
- Henry VIII -'No!'
- Jane Seymour -'Don't you understand? You have killed him!'
- Henry VIII -'No!' (Jane walks away)
- Henry VIII- 'Mr Holbein,it is well done.'
| | ● SEE MORE: THE TUDORS MEMORABLE QUOTES | | | ■ UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
| ■ THE TUDORS EPISODE BEST MOMENTS AND BIGGEST SHOCKERS
| ■ THE TUDORS EPISODE TRIVIA
- Jonathan Rhys Meyers,who plays Henry VIII,is actually quoting advice given to King Edwin of Northumbria by one of his councilors at a council meeting in 627 AD to decide on religion.It is recorded in The Ecclesiastical History of the English by Venerable Bede c700AD : When we compare the present life of man on earth with that time of which we have no knowledge,it seems to me like a swift flight of a single sparrow through the banqueting-hall where you are sitting at dinner on a winter's day with your thanes and councilors.In the midst there is a comforting fire to warm the hall;outside,the storms of winter rain and snow are raging.The sparrow flies swiftly in through one door of the hall,and out through another.While he is inside,he is safe from the winter's storms;but after a few moments of comfort,he vanishes from sight into the wintry world from which he came.Even so,man appears on earth for a little while;but of what went before this life or what follows,we know nothing.
- Hertford's words to Gardiner,'a puffed up porkling'',-Bishop John Bale,a 16th century clergyman and Bishop of Ossory,regerred to Bishop Gardiner and Bonner as puffed up porklings of the Pope (see Select works of John Bale,D.D : Bishop of Ossory,containing the examinations of Lord Cobham,William Thorpe,and Anne Askew,and the Images of both churches) when writing of the torture of Anne Askew: Swift ear gave Wrisley and Rich,with their wicked affinity,to the puffed up porklings of the Pope,Gardiner,Bonner,and such other.They followed their cruel counsel,they imprisoned her,judged her,condemned her,and racked her,at the last,with their own polluted,bloody tormentor's hands,till the veins and sinews burst.
- The White Horse-There have been various discussions online about the white horse in this episode.Some point out that a white horse in a dream is an omen of death,some point out that the white horse,in Christianity,is a symbol of courage,others say that it is a sacred horse and that virgins,saints and Christ were often depicted on white horses,and others see it as one of the four horses of the Apocalypse.What is clear is that when it gains a skull-faced rider it symbolizes death. The image of course could also be biblical, as stated in Revelation 6;8: "And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him...."
- Falling leaves-The leaves falling in Henry's last dream could be to show the passage of time,that time is running out.This ties in with what Henry said to Brandon about time being unrecoverable.
- Bishop Gardiner-Stephen Gardiner was omitted from the King's will and was not chosen as an executor or adviser,so it may well be that there was an estrangement between him and the King in the late 1546.
- Francis I of France outlived Henry VIII by two months,dying on the 31st March 1547.
- Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk,actually died on the 22nd August 1545,not in late 1546.There is no evidence that he and his wife were estranged or that he had a French mistress.
- Holbein did not come to England until 1526 so he did not paint a portrait of King Henry VII,although he did paint him and Elizabeth of York in the Whitehall Mural for Henry VIII.
- Hans Holbein died in 1543 so he was not around in 1546/1547!
- The plot against Catherine Parr-It was not a porter who alerted Catherine Parr to the plot against her,it was actually the King's physician,Dr Wendy.The King had told his physician of the plot and sworn him to secrecy,but when the Queen became hysterical after a member of her household saw a copy of the articles against her,which had been accidentally dropped or left lying around,the King sent Dr Wendy to her.Dr Wendy told her everything and so the Queen submitted herself to the King and saved herself.Both Linda Porter and Elizabeth Norton believe that Henry purposely let Catherine know what was going on so that she could save herself.He did,however,forget to tell Wriothelsey that the arrest had been cancelled and did attack the man quite violently when he dared to try and arrest the Queen.
- As far as it is known,Henry VIII did not say goodbye to his family,but Catherine and Mary did spend Christmas and New Year at Greenwich without him and Henry spent his time with his trusted advisers.
- Henry VIII's will-He did not appoint Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, as Protector,instead,he appointed a group of executors,including Hertford, Wriothelsey and Cranmer. All of the executors were to be members of Edward's Privy Council and Henry VIII instructed that none of them shall do anything appointed by this will alone,but only with the written consent of the majority. To Catherine Parr he left 3,000l. in plate,jewels and stuff,besides what she shall please to take of what she has already,and further receive in money l,000l. besides the enjoyment of her jointure.
(source <a class="external" href="http://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.theanneboleynfiles.com</a>) | | | |
