You know the rhyme: Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived. Well, Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light episode 4 gets us up to the “died” part and starts off the “divorced” part of the story. What does it mean for Thomas Cromwell?
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS for Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light episode 4
Thomas Cromwell is feeling the weight of his climb to power in this episode. While Jenneke isn’t a real person in history, she does serve a purpose in the book and in this episode. We get to hear Cromwell explain how he feels about Dorothea, Wolsey, and everything that has happened so far.
There’s a moment when you just wish that this story could be alternate fiction. If only Cromwell could have gone to Europe with Jenneke and lived out the rest of his days. What’s coming for him is death and despair, and it’s this episode that sees those final nails in his coffin being strategically placed.
The loss of Jane Seymour will hit hard in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light
It’s good news for Henry VIII at the start of this episode. Jane has given birth to a son, and Henry finally has his heir. Lady Mary is clearly not happy about that, and the Duke of Norfolk can tell that. She knows that her chances of sitting on the throne are now further away. At least if she was the only potential to be an heir, she could have made her way back into the line of succession.
However, while Norfolk is worried about Mary, Cromwell is worried about the empty seat next to Henry. Jane isn’t well, and we know from real history that Jane isn’t going to make it. The doctor knows it, and there is nothing that they can do about this.
There are some beautiful and bittersweet moments in this episode. The first is seeing Jane ask Cromwell to go to Edward’s christening and tell her all about it, as even if she was well enough, convention would dictate that she cannot attend. The second is Henry grieving as he knows that Jane is going to die. Something The Tudors brought up that Wolf Hall hasn’t is that Henry’s own mother died of the same thing: childbed fever.
This death allows Jane to live on in Henry’s heart. I’ve always said that Henry only loved Jane because she died after giving him a son. She didn’t live to disappoint him, and he got the heir that he felt he desperately needed. The scene with Henry at her deathbed talking to Cromwell solidifies that thought for me.
It’s after this that Cromwell places his own nails in his coffin. He gets angry about how he could have saved Jane had he been the one to marry her. While this is in a moment of grief, he knows that the noblemen around him want to see him fall. They’re waiting for that opportunity, and they’ve got it. Of course the king was going to find out!
Henry VIII calls for Gardiner to return in Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light episode 4
Something that shocks Cromwell is when Lady Mary tells him that Stephen Gardiner has been called back from France. Gardiner and Cromwell are enemies, and when Cromwell was on the up, Henry got rid of him. Now that Cromwell isn’t the king’s favorite anymore, the king is bringing Gardiner back.
Of course, part of this is the threat of Spain and France aligning together. Henry needs to remarry, and he needs to find a strategic alliance. Some think he should focus on France to prevent the alliance with Spain, while Cromwell thinks she should make his own alliances with other countries.
To be honest, the threat of France and Spain aligning is a risk to England. Neither country is happy with Henry breaking away from Rome, and the Emperor wants to see Mary Tudor back in the line of succession. As a Roman Catholic, he wants to see Mary as the Queen of England, and this opens the opportunity for that. The Poles and the Courtaneys are clearly willing to work with people to put Mary on the throne, and Henry knows that he is losing support.
So, he orders Cromwell to get Reginald Pole back in England. If he can’t do that, then he needs to dispose of Reginald in some sort of way. Cromwell can’t do that, but he does find a man he can send to be the ambassador to Spain, the one and only Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt was the lover of Anne Boleyn, and he was the only one protected by Cromwell back in the day. Now it’s time for Wyatt to repay that.
I can see why Wyatt would question why Cromwell wouldn’t push for Henry to marry a German princess. To be honest, that does eventually happen, but right now, Cromwell is more concerned with Mary getting the crown. He likes her and he will protect her, but her becoming Queen will undo the last seven years of work for the reformation.
Henry agrees to a fourth marriage in Wolf Hall
Cromwell does have a marriage suggestion for Henry VIII, Anna of Cleves. She is the sister of Duke Wilhelm of Cleves, and she is not a Lutheran, which was something Henry worried about considering the other German princes’ beliefs at the time.
It’s still not going Cromwell’s way, though, as Cromwell is ending up on the wrong side of Henry. During a debate with a priest called Lambert, who denies that the sacrament is actually Christ’s blood and body — while the Protestants would agree with Lambert, Gardiner has clearly made it clear that the reformation is hurting Henry’s image, so he is turning back to some Catholic views — Gardiner attacks Cromwell via words in public.
Cromwell is sure to have dreams of Lambert after all of this. He doesn’t speak up, because he doesn’t take the bait from Gardiner. However, he knows that Henry will burn Lambert as a heretic. And now it’s clear none of them are safe.
I’m so surprised that Cromwell never even considered that people would turn against him; that the king could turn against him. He’s seen how easy it is to manipulate the king when you’re on the right side of him but also how quickly it is to lose favor. How could he not see his downfall?
A couple of things are certain by the end of the episode. Henry will marry Anna of Cleves, and Cromwell is losing all of his friends. Maybe he should try to see if that fallen convent could be turned into a home where he can have bees.
Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light airs on Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.
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