“So, good Privy Seal, as you love me and love my service, you will bring this matter to a conclusion.”
– Henry VIII
I have said it before and will say it again. Wolf Hall is the best thing that has happened to TV. It is a slow-cooking, dark, witty political drama with a contemporary feel. Peter Straughan’s script is wonderfully condensed, with most of the conversation coming directly from Mantel’s pen. Hearing some of the best lines I have ever read spoken by the characters is delightful. Peter Kosminsky’s directing is flawless. Every shot feels like a painting. And while some characters needed to be recast, the continuity is beyond impressive that you don’t feel the nine-year interval between the two productions. Mark Rylance is as nuanced as ever as Thomas Cromwell, and Damian Lewis is quietly terrifying as Henry VIII. And while the two leads are electric together, the entire cast gives a masterclass in acting. So yes, the long wait is entirely worth it. Now, let’s get to it.
The opening sequence of Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light is chilling and sets the tone: dark, brutal, and bloody.
We pick up exactly where we left Wolf Hall back in 2015. And going back and forth between Anne Boleyn’s execution and Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour a week or so later makes breathtaking drama.
He may recently have had his wife beheaded, but Henry has obviously turned the page on Anne, the woman for whom he turned the page on a religion! He’s having a spa day – being groomed and dressed up – before his marriage ceremony. We see how physically imposing the king is as the servants dress him up (Damian wears a “foam suit” to make Henry look big!) and we see the pain on his face as he walks using a stick and with a vague limp.
I can’t help but ask myself what thoughts may pass through Jane’s mind as Henry puts the wedding ring on her finger. Is she happy? Is she nervous? Is she scared? Does she ever think about the possible scenarios in case she fails to give Henry a male heir? After all, Henry divorced Catherine of Aragon and had Anne Boleyn beheaded only because they were not able to give Henry what is now expected of Jane to give. Being a queen is a health hazard in the court of Henry VIII. And not even Thomas Cromwell, Henry’s ultimate fixer can fix that.
Cromwell, a blacksmith’s son from Putney, and a newly created Baron as well as the Lord Privy Seal, continues his meteoric rise in the court of Henry VIII. That said, he needs to succeed at all costs to keep his power, wealth, and privileges.
Imperial Ambassador Chapuys tells him:
“Your whole life depends on the next beat of Henry’s heart and your future on his smile or frown.”
Well, Chapuys is right. There was a time when Henry loved Catherine There was a time when he loved Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas More, and Anne Boleyn, too. And where are they now?
The king’s two earlier marriages have been declared illegitimate, and so have his two children, Mary and Eliza. Now, the question in minds of many is whether Jane will be able to give Henry a son. And the question for the rest seems to be whether the king is able to perform in the bedroom! The King boasting to Cromwell about his new bride’s “maidenly pudeur” signals he did well but again who knows?
There is a matter that troubles Henry on his honeymoon. He has got a letter from his daughter Mary who, Henry thinks, is entertaining the idea of getting restored as his heir. The king interprets this as Mary believing that Jane will fail to give him a son. Besides, Mary refuses to recognize her father as the head of the Church of England. Henry can’t tolerate disloyalty especially from his own blood.
Mary is a devout Catholic. For her, supporting the new regime where Henry is the head of the Church is going against everything she believes in. So it is not a trivial task to convince Mary to sign the oath of allegiance to Henry. Cromwell has to tread very carefully.
His first move is to have supper with the Ambassador Chapuys whom he knows Mary is close to, and remind him of what happened to Thomas More and Old Bishop Fisher neither of whom took the oath of allegiance to Henry.
Then he sends his right-hand man Rafe Sadler, now a gentleman of the Privy Chamber, and Thomas Wriothesley, one of his close attendants who used to be mentored by Cromwell’s nemesis Stephen Gardiner, to Mary. They report back that Mary’s house is full of Poles and Courtenays – the living descendants of the Plantagenets. These old families resent losing the throne to Tudors and they support Mary as the heir to the throne. It turns out that Mary was angry with Rafe and Wriothesley when they addressed her as “Lady Mary” and demanded to be addressed as “Princess Mary” as well as vowed never to take the oath. However, Rafe believes that Cromwell can convince her. But this is Cromwell we’re talking about. He will see Mary only when she is ready to sign.
As Cromwell is orchestrating his plan to have Mary take the oath, a new sensitive issue surfaces. Reginald Pole, a scholar and Henry’s cousin, sends the King a long manifesto from his safe haven in France. In his manifesto, Pole explains why Mary is the only legitimate heir to the throne and that England must go back to Catholicism immediately. Pole even encourages the Emperor to invade England claiming that his people will rise against Henry and kill him. With this threat, Henry’s paranoia reaches to new heights and he now believes Mary is complicit in the Pole scheme. The Poles want Reginald to marry Mary and sit on the throne. Henry wants to have Reginald Pole in England to look him in the eye. Well, not even a child would believe that the king wants his cousin back in England just to look him in the eye. So getting Reginald Pole back to England is a challenge even for the ultimate fixer.
Suspecting that the Poles are trying to take advantage of Mary, Cromwell tasks Wriothsley to search Mary’s house for any correspondence between her and Reginald Pole, or any Pole for that matter. Then he pays a visit to Lordington, the Pole family home: Lady Margaret Pole and her son Geoffrey believe that Cromwell owes to them since they cooperated with him in pulling down the Boleyns. But Cromwell cleverly turns the table on them. He knows that they spoke to Chapuys and assured him that England was ready to rise against the king. Do the Poles know that Common Law has certain ways to punish traitors? They can lose all they have with no need for a trial when treason is concerned. So maybe it’s best for the Poles to write Mary a letter and encourage her to obey the king.
We don’t know if Cromwell knew it already when he told Chapuys but he turns out to be absolutely right about Henry being able to do anything to his own flesh and blood. Chairing a Privy Council meeting, Henry reveals that he is at the end of his rope with Mary, and he is consulting with judges about the best way to take her to trial.
Henry gives his old friend Treasury Fitzwilliam the coldest face ever when the latter challenges him about taking his own daughter to trial. And Cromwell uses physical force to get Fitzwilliam out of the room only to have an earful from Henry:
“Oh, no. That won’t do. Getting up a fight for my benefit, when I know that you agree with him. Mary knows what declaration I require of her. She has known it since the oath was first framed. If she has entertained some notion that I will creep back to Rome, then she is a greater fool than I thought her. So, good Privy Seal, as you love me and love my service, you will bring this matter to a conclusion. We will not come here to debate it again.”
The Privy Council members are terrified as though the king has asked Cromwell to kill Mary. And maybe he has.
Cromwell takes a risk. He gives Chapuys the letter he received from Mary early in the episode in which Mary writes that Cromwell is her friend. This leaves no option for Chapuys other than visiting Mary to tell her that Cromwell is on her side. Cromwell then takes an even bigger risk that he thinks would seal the deal: He tells Chapuys while it was impossible for Mary to be restored as Henry’s heir while Anne Boleyn was alive but things may change for the better if she obeys her father now. And he makes his take-it-or-leave-it-offer for Mary: She will either sign the letter that Cromwell will compose for her or she will be dead to Cromwell.
As Mary agrees to sign the letter, Norfolk and Suffolk ride with Cromwell particularly because Norfolk doesn’t trust Cromwell being left alone with Mary. As Norfolk and Suffolk go to see John Shelton as they arrive at Hundson, Cromwell has some time with Lady Shelton who shows him the draperies Norfolk damaged on his last visit as he threatened to beat Lady Mary! Lady Shelton does think though this is all a show on Norfolk’s part. Norfolk used to boast about a Howard sitting on the throne when Anne Boleyn was married to Henry. And he needs to give it up if Mary becomes Henry’s heir. Lady Shelton does not say it loudly but I will: Henry’s bastard son Duke of Richmond aka Fitzroy is married to Norfolk’s daughter of all people. Go, figure!
When they get in the room to have Mary sign the letter, the young woman is expecting an apology from Norfolk for what he did on his last visit. And she simply tells him to get out when he does not comply with her request. In my opinion, what Mary really wants is to be alone in the room with Cromwell. She knows from Chapuys that Cromwell spoke for her like no other lord has. Not even the old families who support her to be Henry’s heir were brave enough to do so. Well, this shows Mary is naive since speaking your mind freely is a health hazard in the court of Henry VIII! Mary is trying to justify why she will sign the letter – she is the only one who lived while all her siblings died in the womb or in cradle so God must have a design for her. Cromwell’s priceless response makes her sign:
Well, the will of our… Heavenly Father is often obscure. But the will of your earthly father is plain.
And how about Mary sobbing once she signs? Is it relief that she will be able to return to the court and have her father’s love again? Or is it guilt that she is betraying her dead mother? Maybe both. Her father’s love should be very important for this young woman who feels abandoned for a long time. Still, she may also feel guilty that she renames the horse Cromwell gifts her as “Pomegranate” – her mother’s emblem. She’d better not tell Henry!
As Mary returns to the court on Cromwell’s arm, she whispers to him that she will pray for him all her life. Henry gives his daughter a big hug. And then he shows how cheap he is when Jane gives Mary a ring which is far too big for her finger. Saying it can be reset, Henry gets the ring and puts on his own finger! I doubt that ring will ever find its way to Mary’s finger 🙂 And we hear Queen Jane’s voice for the first time when she offers Mary to walk arm in arm as sisters. Both women being deeply devout, this looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship. And the king can’t stop talking his jewel of a wife. Oh My God. His smile makes him look even more terrifying. Yikes!
Cromwell is at the peak of his powers in the court of Henry VIII, but he is more vulnerable than ever to the point that he is walking around in the court with a dagger hidden in his clothes. And as his tasks pile up, he can’t spend as much time with the king as he would like. Cromwell’s right-hand man Rafe Sadler serves as Cromwell’s eyes in the court, letting him know of the comings and goings, but he is not able to stop people close to Henry badmouth Cromwell behind his back. The only way for Cromwell to keep his power, wealth and privileges is to meet the king’s needs and desires, and Cromwell makes them his own. So even when the king is not in a scene, we feel his presence.
The only place Cromwell speaks his mind freely is when he is alone in his study. His inner thoughts come out as conversations with the ghost of his beloved Wolsey. Wolsey, as wise as ever, because it is Cromwell talking to himself, tells Thomas to keep his “A Book of Henry” hidden even in his own house. He reminds Cromwell, who’s about to wear his Orange Tawny coat to the wedding celebrations, that the color was considered to be his color and the king may not be happy to be reminded of that. He also reminds Cromwell that he knows he took revenge from most people who were Wolsey’s enemies and that others, who also see it, may wonder: how will Cromwell take revenge from Wolsey’s biggest enemy – Henry? So Thomas needs to be super cautious.
But, no, we see him talking casually of things that can make him fallible. Is it overconfidence? Imprudence? Maybe just being human? Why on earth does he tell Wriothesley – that he knew about Reginald Pole’s book for a year? I am flagging Wriothesley in particular since we see Cromwell telling Wolsey that he does not trust him completely. Or why does he share with all his attendants that he promised Catherine of Aragon that he would look after Mary? These are exactly the kinds of things that would drive Henry more paranoid than ever. Given that word travels faster than light in the court of Henry VIII, this is food for thought, Thomas!
I am so glad you are able to watch and give these recaps. With so much going on in this episode (and so many characters) you did a great job making everything clear and concise. Because I’m a Tudor nerd, I know all the pieces on the board, but for some who don’t your recaps are going to be such a help.
Thank you for reading and for your kind words – means the world especially because it’s coming from you – our own Tudor nerd There is so much going on in the first episode and there are so many characters so I tried my best to make it clear for everyone who’s watching. I went to bed at 3 am with a big smile on my face. So looking forward to recapping together when Wolf Hall arrives at PBS in March! We’ll have so much fun
Tudor media nervana: Damien Lewis as Henry VIII, Mark Rylance as Cromwell, Claire Foy as Anne Boleyn, Jonathan Pryce as Wolsey. Each episode can be rewatched with pleasure! I am always seeing/hearing something new. Your write up helps in a huge way. Thank you. I need a cheat sheet to keep all the courtiers straight and your writing does a perfect job.
Thank you so much for reading and your kind words! We’ve waited for this one for so long but it’s really worth the wait! I’d be very happy if my writing helped a bit ❤️