Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light is certainly the sequel series worth waiting for. It picks up after the events of the Wolf Hall season finale, and if you missed the execution, we got a reminder of that. The opening moments show Claire Foy’s Anne Boleyn walking to her death, hoping that King Henry VIII would change his mind at the last minute.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
We know history, though, and we know that Henry married Jane Seymour less than a fortnight after Anne’s execution. The show quickly covers that, as most of the drama is about expectations of the other people.
The Poles and Mary Tudor expected Mary to be put back in the line of succession
The main piece of drama in the episode is the way that many Catholics expected Mary Tudor to be placed back in the line of succession. Geoffrey Pole comes to see Cromwell to request that they meet. Pole wants to get Mary back in the line of success, especially since there is no heir to the throne just yet.
The Poles cause a lot of issues for Mary, and nearly have her executed, though. When Reginald Pole writes a book that humiliates Henry, she decides that the Poles need to be made a spectacle of, and they need to be cut down to size. The best way to do that is to remove their figurehead, who happens to be his daughter, Mary.
When Margaret Pole and Geoffrey Pole refuse to denounce their son/brother and make it clear that they’re not apologetic for what Reginald wrote, Cromwell goes back to Henry to explain the situation. Cromwell continues to promise that Mary will sign the Oath, but Mary keeps refusing to do that. Chapuys explains that Mary made a promise to her mother not to renounce her faith, and now that Katherine of Aragon is dead, Mary can’t ask for Katherine’s permission to go back on that word.
Cromwell goes to see Mary in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
During a council meeting, Henry makes it clear that Mary has to sign the Oath or she will be executed. Many of the men at the Privy Council are shocked by this, but only one has the guts to speak out. That leads to Cromwell forcing the man out, taking his chain and placing it on the table.
However, Henry knows that others feel the same way. He makes it clear that Mary has to be “taken care of,” and that means they need to set up Mary’s execution. It all lies on Cromwell, and everyone looks to him to see how he can possibly get out of this one.
Cromwell has a way, though. He initially goes to see Chapuys again, making it clear what Mary needs to do. After that, he goes to see Mary, and he gets her to sign a piece of paper. He has already written out the wording of the letter, and he tells Mary not to read it before she signs. This is his way of making sure she can keep her conscience clear.
Mary has realized that everyone she thought she could rely on after Anne Boleyn’s execution has pretty much abandoned her. Only Cromwell is there to offer her support and friendship, and so, she decides that she will sign the letter, knowing that Cromwell does have her life on his mind, too. She has no choice at this point, and it’s heartbreaking for her.
Of course, nobody wants Mary to show any sort of emotion. When she removes her headdress to show off her curly red locks, she’s told to put it back on and chastised like a child for her actions. This is a woman who needs to release the built up fear and pain that she’s facing.
The letter works. It’s clearly the Oath that she has signed, and Henry is now welcoming her back to Court. There’s a moment where the two embrace, with Henry showing how much he wanted his daughter back in his life. Of course, he’s the one that created the issue for Mary and Katherine in the first place!
Mary is respectful toward Jane, though, sharing that she will look at Jane as her Lady Mother. Jane whispers to the king, who shares that Jane has shared how she can’t take that position as she is only seven years older than Mary. It’s a stark reminder of how young Henry kept going with his wives, but also of how unsure of her place Jane was for a long time.
When it comes to walking through a door, Mary points out that the Queen must walk through first. Jane decides that they will walk through as sisters, highlighting a positive start to their relationship. We know from history that Jane did fight for Mary to return to Court and there was a positive relationship between the two of them, and this is a hint of that happening.
Cromwell admits to his friends and son a secret in Wolf Hall’s sequel
The very end of the episode shows us why Cromwell did what he did. After all, wouldn’t it have been easy enough to cause Mary’s downfall the way that he caused Anne’s? It turns out that Cromwell went to visit Katherine before her death, and he made a promise to her that he would look out for Mary and see that no harm came to her.
How could he make such a promise? Well, when you make those sorts of promises, you don’t know what’s on the line to keep them. Cromwell put his own life on the line to keep this promise to Katherine, and now it’s clear why he looked for a way to get Mary to sign the Oath. He understood well why Mary wouldn’t sign, because she made a promise as well. Neither of them could ask for Katherine for permission to break the promises, so Cromwell had to work around that.
Luck is on Cromwell’s side for now, but it won’t stay that way.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light airs on Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.
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