The Tudors: Season 4 Episode 10 "Death of a Monarchy"

Henry 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, Henry’s son by Jane Seymour, as his natural heir while others, notably Bishop Gardiner, are determined to restore a Catholic to the throne in the person of Princess Mary. Under the orders of Gardiner, an arrest warrant for Queen Catherine is issued on the grounds of heresy. However, when Wriothesley 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 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 is now gone. Henry also commissions artist Hans Holbein to do a portrait of him, but soon rejects the realistically sickly depiction and demands that Holbein repaint it. He sees the ghosts of his past wives with his children: Katherine of Aragon, who tells him that Mary should have been married and have children of her own by now; Anne Boleyn, who proclaims her innocence of the crimes she was beheaded for and the ill-fated death she and her cousin Katherine Howard had suffered; and Jane Seymour, who tells him that she is upset at young Edward's treatment and that Edward will die young. Realizing that his own death is now imminent, Henry retreats more and more into himself and sends Queen Catherine and his beloved daughters Elizabeth and Mary away from Whitehall Palace, telling them that he will not see them again. Instead of remaining outside the King's chambers as Queen Catherine and Princess Mary do, Elizabeth is the first to leave; Mary expected no different. As Henry sits alone in his room reflecting on his monumentous reign, he is summoned back to see his new portrait, of which he approves, and turns and leaves the room as the titles roll.

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