Last Sunday marked the end of one of the most talked about shows in the past few years. The Tudors on Showtime follows the life of King Henry VIII, the first of the two most notorious and well-known English monarchs in history.
The first 3 seasons show the life of King Henry in his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, his desire for a divorce so that he would be able to marry Anne Boleyn which led to England’s break with the Roman Catholic church, as well as his marriages to Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves.
Season 4 begins with his marriage to Catherine Howard, the 17 year old who was well-known for her love of pretty clothes and “pleasure.” After his the disastrous “marriage” to Anne of Cleves and still mourning the loss of Jane Seymour, everyone at court agreed that his marriage to Catherine reinvigorated the king and that he was very happy. As time went on and Catherine became interested in King Henry’s groom, Thomas Culpepper, her love for pleasure soon came back to bite her and she lost her head because of it.
In the 2nd half of the season, Henry meets his 6th and final wife, Catherine Parr. Catherine was a older, but still very beautiful woman who caught the King’s eye when he needed it most. Catherine was everything that Henry was looking for in a wife. Throughout the season, Henry’s health was declining at a very steady rate, but more rapidly towards the last few episodes. Leading up to the finale, accusations were made against the queen that she was a protestant and believed that anyone should be able to read and interpret the bible for themselves.
In history and in the show, Henry clearly showed that when there were accusations made against his queens, he never asked any questions and immediately assumed the worst and would put them to death or send them away. In the finale, Henry discusses with his closest friend, Charles Brandon what in a man’s life is the most irrecoverable. He states that time is the greatest thing a man can lose because it is something you can never get back. Henry looks back at the decisions that he made in his life and is determined to finally get it right when it comes to decisions made about his queen. Although he has a draft of an arrest warrant made, he uses it to show that he had changed as a man and will not make the mistake that he made 5 times before with his previous wives.
It was quite interesting to see this portrayal of Henry. Henry’s legacy is one of a man who visibly exemplified the phrase “my way or the high way.” In this emotional finale, I feel like the writers of the show wanted to show the world that it is possible for a man to acknowledge his mistakes and try to make a right out of the many wrongs he had throughout his life. It was a very powerful and moving finale that I have yet to delete off of my DVR because it was that good.
