Becoming Elizabeth (2022) s01e06 Episode Script

What use am I to you?
And perhaps you see
a useful playing piece here?
This risks everything my life
my neck.
I am not to blame
for your thoughts of me.
You spoke love in word and flesh.
The Lord Protector cannot sell Boulogne
without the say-so of the king.
And yet he has.
This country is in tatters
because of that man.
Now the faith of this isle is denied
by the same men that half starve us.
Kill all gentlemen!
We think this
an attempt to kidnap the king.
Or kill him.
Why does he want to kill me?
Princess Elizabeth,
I have a warrant for your arrest.
You can't treat me like this.
I'm a-I'm a
A what?
They say you are refusing to speak.
Do you wish me to have you tortured?
I'd prefer you not to.
No.
Tell me the truth.
My truth is no use to you, brother.
Believe me.
But I look forward to you hearing it.
At my trial.
Do you know what he wanted
to do to me, Uncle?
He's still refusing to speak.
I thought he liked me.
And my sister Elizabeth.
I thought they both did.
I thought they loved me, even.
We're only questioning your sister.
As we are a great many, trying
to find out what it was
To what extent I was conspired against?
Yes, I well understand it,
Lord Protector.
I just realize I was wrong.
I thought the people loved me too.
When they're still in the grip
of the old religion,
universal popularity
is quite the steep ambition.
Especially if you insist
on reforming them.
They're not reforming.
They're rebelling.
They are slitting the throats
of the nobles.
They hate us. We're hated.
They hate me.
Skin it.
Sire?
Pluck its feathers out one by one
whilst it's still alive.
Like everyone does to me.
Am I to wait another week or so,
or are you to finally take
my examination, sir?
In what subject?
Whatever it is you please
to give me fright enough to answer in.
Fright?
I am to intimidate you into answers?
Is that not how these examinations work?
I don't know.
Never done one like this before.
You've never had to force answers
from an unwilling person's lips?
No, I have. Just never
like this.
I fear this is a battle
of wills, Your Grace.
I hope I'm fit for it.
I doubt I am.
I do apologize for the delay.
It was so that I could bring you this,
from the lips of someone unwilling.
This is not Kat's hand.
No, taken down in another's,
as dictated by her.
I'm afraid her hands were busy.
That is her confession.
Confession is for a crime, sir.
What crime was
Bearing witness to a man who,
every morning, half-dressed,
burst in upon the second
in line to the throne.
A man prepared to cut her dress
to shreds
in front of his own wife.
To coo, to flirt, to boast,
to be a man ten times
more bold and reckless
than the bold and reckless man
I myself took him for.
And this all with witnesses.
What was not witnessed, Your Grace?
If that is the question
being asked of me,
then the answer will be disappointing.
Why? Will I be disappointed
in you if I hear it?
There have been rumors,
of course, gossip,
but, uh, believe me when I say
that they and you
have actually crossed
my mind very little
before I was sent here.
And why were you sent here, sir?
Ah, now,
why has it taken you
so very long to ask me that?
Was not my brother happened
upon by Sir Thomas Seymour?
And his dog shot?
Yes. And for what purpose?
How can I answer for a madman
or a villain or whatever he is?
How can I answer
for a man I barely knew?
Barely knew?
I clearly barely knew him.
For these are not the actions
of a man I recognize.
I'll never call you a liar, my lady
- Good.
- until
I have to.
Tell me, sir, what I'm accused of.
The responsibility lies with you
to prove what I have done.
But you have yet to even tentatively
accuse me of ought.
Is it that you're a coward?
Or is it that you came
unarmed to this fight?
Fight?
Fight, sir.
Fight. I did not misspeak.
Have you come unarmed?
Or have you some arsenal of evidence?
I'm looking for it.
Present it to me now, please.
As you quite rightly said, my lady,
this is not
my first time taking a, um
what did you call it an examination.
And what my experience has taught me
is that I must first ascertain
all the facts
and then try to read the story
that they write for me.
So here are the facts
that I have at present.
Sir Thomas wished to kidnap the king.
Sir Thomas wished to marry you.
Who told you such a thing?
So do you see the story?
It seems to be one
of an ambitious, reckless man
who conspired with his young mistress,
the second in line to the throne,
to depose the king.
That is an incorrect reading.
So is it that Kat Ashley lies
and slanders you?
Again incorrect.
Perhaps you're illiterate, sir.
Or is it that you're a fool?
I am not, sir.
Well, then
to find this other story,
I will need more facts.
Ones that prove him guilty?
Or ones that prove you innocent.
Unfortunately, though,
it does seem that
that cannot be true of both of you.
So tell me what you need me to know.
Sir Thomas
acted inappropriately
with me at times
whilst I lived here.
The Lady Catherine
was sometimes unaware,
sometimes partook.
My mistress, Kat,
had nothing to do with it.
And I
I did as I saw fit at the time.
At the time?
At the time, yes.
At the time, I did as I saw fit.
There is no denying that.
And then
And then?
After Lady Catherine's death,
Sir Thomas came to me,
proposing marriage.
Let all know that I sought approval.
And I had no knowledge
of what would come next.
Mm-hmm.
- My feelings
- Are irrelevant.
And if he has done
as I've been told he has
Sir Thomas is a man of much wit
but little judgment
and is befitting
of naught but death
if he has done
as I've been told he has.
Have I proved my innocence, sir?
You told me what I needed to know.
My lord, my lady, help me.
I beg you.
What is wrong, woman?
It's my child. He's sick.
Protestant bastards!
Bloodsucking cunts.
No! Please! No!
Please, no!
Take her stuff. Take her stuff.
- Got to get out of here.
- Hurry up.
Run, run, run, run.
A man on the fucking council
rises up against the king,
so is it any wonder
that the man in the field
thinks he can also?
For Thomas relaxes
in the Tower as we speak.
One does not relax in the Tower.
Believe me.
I would like to see some justice,
both up in Norfolk against
the treasonous rebels
If there are no men in the field,
then where on Earth
will you get your supper?
and in the Tower with the traitor
currently residing there.
What did Lady Elizabeth say?
That he's guilty.
Henry,
let us grant a wish of yours.
Lord Dudley, go to Norfolk and mete out
Henry's lusted-after justice.
I'm still considering
your other request.
I will let you know what I decide.
It was not a request.
Yes, it was.
Sirs.
You send me to deal with the rebels?
Are you mad, man?
Send Henry Grey. Send
Lord knows I wouldn't mind Grey losing
a couple of limbs or indeed his head.
But I fear it will send
the wrong message.
I need it stopped, and you will stop it.
- This is a sign of trust
- Thomas is in the Tower.
- Yes.
- No, no, no, no, no.
- This no little thing.
- I know that.
This is not your little brother
who you'll be allowed
to scold and then send on his way.
They want him charged.
They want him for treason.
- He's been a fool.
- He's been a villain!
He is a villain. Can you not see that?
Are you blinded by arrogance
as he's family
or by your inability
to have ever been wrong?
Or is this-this love?
Is this what love looks like
coming from you?
He'd see you dead.
You know that, right?
He tried to kidnap the king.
Who knows what went on
with the princess?
Oh, Elizabeth?
She's a child and a flirt
Yeah, and quick, quicker than you know,
quicker than she knows.
And believe me, all was not well there.
Oh, if you've got
anything less than the truth
from her, that is your failure, sir.
You are far more use to me
crushing rebellions
than negotiating with children.
I would I could ride north
and swing a sword
rather than stay here.
Then you go. It'd be best you did.
You're the one they all blame
for them anyway.
Me, not the king's religious reforms?
No, you.
I know your intention was to appease,
but you instead stoked every fire
and ended up with no one happy
and a country that's ablaze.
So go do what you do well.
You do not do this well.
You do not see
what a situation you are in.
You're a fool to send me.
I'm the only one who backs you.
I don't need your backing.
I'm the Lord Protector
and the king's uncle.
- You must listen
- No!
You must obey!
So be it, my lord.
Show mercy to the rebels.
That's an order.
Another one? Jesus, what a day.
What?
You wish to say goodbye to her?
Do you mind?
Very much.
Send the guards away.
She's free to go now.
I'll meet you at
I better barely notice your absence. Go.
- Where's he going?
- Do I answer to you, son?
No.
What happened to you?
I'm actually rather hurt
my father didn't tell you
of my glorious takedown of the rogue.
What rogue?
The rogue.
Sir Thomas? He did this?
He tried to kidnap the king.
Who knows what he was trying to do
I do. I was there.
I stopped him.
By providing myself
as a wonderful distraction.
This may look like a beating,
but don't be deceived.
This was a mighty sacrifice
from Sir Two Eyes here.
Well, one and a half, but
I wouldn't cry for him.
What tears do you see?
I see sadness.
And what is that to do with you?
I believe I'm allowed
the privacy of my own feelings
if kept within my own head, Robert.
- Grant me that.
- I'd grant you anything.
I don't have to like it, though.
My own home was turned into a jail.
- No one has told me
- The guards are to leave.
Have you heard about
the rebellion in Norfolk?
This man, Kett, and his peasant army
rising up against the new religion?
I have been a prisoner, not asleep.
You hadn't heard of me, of this.
You're short with me.
Well, forgive me.
You don't deserve it.
Imagine being the receiver of
treatment that was undeserved.
My father's been sent
to crush the rebellion.
I and my brother follow.
I came to tell you this.
- What?
- Farewell, Princess.
No, Robert, wait, you can't
leave like this, please.
Look at this.
He doesn't deserve it.
He hasn't earned it.
I hate that you give it to him.
I hate that he's done this.
I fucking hate to see it.
It is an extreme move.
Christ, you say that.
But then again, it is an extreme thing
that has been done.
We call for the execution
of Sir Thomas Seymour, Sire.
We have talked to many about his deeds
and uncovered a fair number
Thirty-three.
Yes, 33 charges, in fact.
Not least, his trying
to carry off Your Grace
- the night he
- I was present.
And his behavior
with your sister Elizabeth.
I will not hear
your slander against my sister.
What, uh what do you wish
to do, Your Majesty?
I wish to take my cunting bath.
A bath that cools with each second
I am forced to listen
to your black, stinking,
bottomless misery.
What does the Lord Protector say?
Oh, we came to you first,
for you are the king.
The Protector cosigns my orders.
Grey.
For it to be done,
it would need both our signatures?
Yes. It would.
You expect me to sign this?
It is your duty as the Lord Protector
to sign the orders of the king.
But if you no longer wish
to be the Lord Protector
- It's treason.
- We don't know what it was.
Whatever it was,
it was not the method of reason.
You expect me to execute my brother now
for being unreasonable?
Sirs, I have every sympathy, but
This is a strange time to develop
a sense of humor, sir.
And a strange time for you a spine.
The king quakes in his bed at night
because of your brother's act.
We have rebellions across the country.
We have a war in Scotland,
and you're concerning
yourselves with this?
Exactly why we cannot afford weakness.
Weakness?
Not now. Not at this time.
Well, look at that, sir.
Seems as though we're all capable of it.
I want a horse.
My lady.
The king is busy, Your Grace.
I must speak with him.
Stop, Your Grace. Stop.
Leave us.
Forgive me.
I so craved to see you,
I didn't mean to intrude.
Edward, I've upset you.
I wanted to show you as I am.
I hoped you would continue
to have goodwill towards me.
You may stand.
I promise I did not
conspire against you.
I knew nothing of Thomas' plans.
I saw the Lord Dudley's report
of his talk with you.
Though whether we believe it
to be true is another matter.
I would never marry
without your permission
or blessing, Edward.
You've been a fool, Elizabeth.
You might have stayed with me
at Framlingham
and avoided all of this.
I tried to warn you,
but you refused to heed my counsel.
Must you rub in the salt?
You are too headstrong.
There's always a price.
Well, for his crimes
against brave little Arrow,
my Uncle Thomas should least
spend his life in the Tower.
He will not die?
I told the Lord Dudley
that if the man had done
as I was told he had,
threatened Your Grace
- He shot my dog.
- And if he did so
- He did.
- then he should die.
Traitors deserve death always,
no matter who they are.
The Lord Dudley will be unamused
when he returns.
Not for long.
The Lord Dudley always finds something
to be mildly amused by.
We need to find
a strong new voice to lead us.
We need to present the better
alternative to the king.
Are we not grown men,
each with a strong enough
voice of our own?
Is that not
what the bloody will asked for
in the first place?
Moderation, if-if you can believe it,
was actually the original fucking plan.
Yes, yes, but perhaps
men are immoderate
and rule by committee.
Oh, who-who do you suggest?
You know full well who I'd suggest.
What have we achieved under
this Lord Protector's regime?
The war in Scotland.
The peasant rebellion.
The desecration of a faith.
Who is to blame for all of that?
And who would help stop all of that?
- You offer
- As long as you listen.
As long as you don't interrupt, I will.
Broken churches and unhappy people.
You would guide the king
and unite the kingdom.
You offer me the Protectorship?
You were his daughter,
after all.
You Robsart?
We were pleased to hear
we were to receive you, sir.
- Sirs.
- Pleased or not,
not a lot of choice you had about it,
but, uh, we will endeavor
to behave ourselves.
"Kill all gentlemen,"
that's what's been said.
Robert Kett will hang.
And his followers?
Gaggle of peasants, mainly.
We are to show mercy.
Quite the gaggle,
near 10,000, I've heard.
Or is it more now, Father?
I'm afraid I'll be following the orders
of the Lord Protector and the king,
not your daughter, Robsart,
as insightful
as her military strategy is.
They are peasants, Amy,
half-starved and incited
by religious change.
Are the king's reforms incitation?
Clearly, they have been.
You question my orders?
You were told to show mercy.
I do not question that.
The men plowing the fields
seek to murder us.
The Lord Protector says we are
simply to tell them not to
and allow them
to go back to their plowing?
Since when have you had an opinion
on the Lord Protector?
You're allowed to have one, but I'm not?
Amy. Amy.
Both of you.
We have guests.
Um
what do you make of
the Lord Protector's policies?
I believe he's doing
rather well.
Sorry, um,
I want to introduce myself,
but I realize you know my name.
No, but I haven't heard your voice.
I'm relieved to learn you're not a mute.
No, I, uh I'm quite the opposite.
You move on quickly.
Oh, no, it's happening again.
You tell all that I keep you back.
And yet here I am again
forced to come to you.
"Forgetting God to love a king
hath been my rod or else nothing"
It's not finished.
The choice is not between God or king.
It's both, but you loved neither.
What conclusions you draw
without ever hearing my testimony.
What did you expect it to be,
a confession?
I wasn't expecting it to be poetry.
Are you mocking me, sir?
I haven't come all this way to mock you.
But you just can't help yourself
until my trial.
There's not going to be a trial.
- I don't understand.
- There won't be a trial.
As I said, I don't understand,
not that I cannot hear.
I don't understand why.
- Why?
- They've questioned your men.
- What?
- They've questioned your accomplices.
What-what men? What men of mine?
Men you corrupted to let into the Palace
of fucking Whitehall, Thomas.
They've spoken with them.
And the answers they found led
to more and more with others.
So my question is,
what were you planning
on doing, sir, with the king?
Well, it doesn't seem
to matter now, does it?
Seeing as there's not gonna be a trial.
They've questioned
the Princess Elizabeth.
So what am I being charged with?
You're not being charged.
You've been found guilty.
What am I being found guilty of?
Treason.
And now they're calling for your
Who did?
All of them.
What?
The council? Even Henry Grey?
All of them.
Well, the king,
the king will never allow
No, the king has signed it.
Well, you must be very pleased,
having poisoned every man against me.
You need to see you are not the one
that's being plotted against here.
You have to talk to me, Thomas.
You are not gonna
convince me of my own guilt.
Is that this game
that you're playing here?
Want to try and-try and turn me
against myself?
What a cruel trick to play
against a condemned man.
And you're gonna be the noble one, then?
Poor put-upon Lord Protector,
whose brother conspires against him.
- No
- What am I?
Am I Cain in this parable
that you've got going on in your head,
and you're-you're, poor, poor,
poor, innocent Abel?
But actually, let me remind you
Let me remind you that Cain killed Abel,
so actually, you're Cain.
You're Cain!
Not that it matters.
Not that it matters.
Because either way, you win.
You win because you always do.
What are you gonna do?
- Hmm?
- What?
Well, sorry, brother, do you
mean to let them execute me?
Yes.
What?
Thomas, it will hurt me every day
that you could not live
your life with measure
- or humility.
- What are you talking about?
But please, Thomas,
do yourself the honor
of accepting your sins
No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no, no, no.
and try to console yourself
What are you saying? What is this?
and prepare your soul
for a better afterlife
What are you talking about?
What is this?
What are you saying?
I will see your child is taken care of.
And I will see as many of your servants
into my service as I am able.
You-you called us?
I want witnesses.
Oh, Jesus.
Already?
I've written a message
for the Princess Elizabeth.
You'll deliver it to her.
It's in my shoe.
You're to deliver it. Promise me.
- As a friend.
- Sir.
Promise me. Promise me.
Show some fucking respect.
While this is still attached to this,
I'm still the lord high fucking admiral.
Lady Mary.
Forgive me, I
You are on the way
to your brother's execution.
I know. I will not keep you long.
H-have I wronged you also?
Some would call lies a wrong.
Clearly you do not.
I have done
What you deem necessary.
I understand, sir.
You are not the first
nor, I fear, the last man
who acts as you do.
You have held all the cards
to your chest,
sure that you are the only one
capable of holding them.
And look where they have now fallen.
Look at the damage that you've done.
I thought you a wise man.
When you came to Framlingham,
I was quite overwhelmed with relief
to see you would guide my brother
and that you would permit me
to live as I saw fit.
I thought you respected me.
I thought you clever.
In fact, I thought you a friend, sir.
I did you too, actually.
And do friends set spies
upon one another?
As you mentioned, my lady,
I'm expected elsewhere.
In what role
will you attend the execution?
As a brother or as Lord Protector?
As Lord Protector.
The world would not allow me to be both.
No, it would not.
But it will me,
be both,
sibling and Protector.
In fact, it has been asked of me.
Your council have asked me
to take over from
the present man, from you.
For they believe you a man
that is compromised.
And I suffered enough ill treatment
at the hands of my father
that I will not stand by
and watch Edward suffer the same.
I believe your brother
is waiting for you, sir.
Sir, you must come with me.
- What-what is this?
- Come on.
I'm not to be disturbed.
What is going on?
Your sister Mary plots against us.
You're no longer safe in the palace.
We must get you somewhere safe,
out of her reach.
Father, you sent for me?
Who's this?
My son, Sire.
You must go to Norfolk
and take this to John Dudley.
You'll have to ride as fast as you can.
You ride all the way.
You take this to John.
- To John.
- I need him.
Tell him that.
I'm sure he'll be pleased
to hear me admit it.
All will be well,
as long as you go very quickly.
I will.
He's my cousin.
Yes.
His name's Edward also.
Named after me?
No, named after me.
As were you, actually.
I thought you'd like company.
I'd rather be alone, Mary.
No one would rather be alone.
Come!
He didn't even come to watch.
Get down on your knees!
You can make your last confession.
Just get on with it.
You'll keep your promise?
Richard, you'll keep your promise?
He wants me to deliver a message.
He's got a letter.
In his shoe.
Do it! Just do it.
Still the fucking lord admiral, are you?
Well
I suppose it is done by now.
What cannot be cured
must be endured, Elizabeth.
I shall endeavor to remember that, Mary.
It was a proverb worn as an old stone
when I was your age.
Younger, even.
When I was out in the cold,
sent to serve you.
But even then, I cared for you.
You used to love to hold my hand.
You still can.
I'm not a child.
Please don't treat me as one.
Yes, I do well know that now.
I'd like to be alone.
Our father forced me
to disown my mother.
He sent a man
who threatened to bash
my head against the wall
until it was like a boiled apple.
So I confessed
to being an unlawful child of incest.
I, too, have done deeds and said things
in order to keep myself safe.
They will sit heavy on your heart
the rest of your life.
I do not bring comfort, Elizabeth.
I cannot.
But I bring the truth.
Because one of us should.
All the luck, that boy.
You gotta hand it to the peasants.
They put up
My lord.
Edward?
My father,
he said he needed you.
You see the man below me?
He rebelled against your king.
The same fate awaited you all
for rejecting the true faith.
But you have been granted your mercy.
You owe your lives
not to men like Robert Kett
but to the Lord Protector.
Thank God almighty
for the Protector's mercy.
- Hang them.
- What?
Hang them!
Hang them all!
No!
Robert.
What?
He, um
he did it.
- What?
- He hanged them.
The rebels?
He hanged them.
We were told to show mercy,
and he just
And this makes you sad?
How? How?
You saved us.
You saved us all. You
I'm so-I'm so sorry.
I'm so sorry, my lord.
Pl-please don't tell my father
or, worse, my mother.
Please don't tell anyone.
Is this my prison?
Don't be ridiculous.
Because of what happened?
Your sister Mary has decided
They don't you trust
you because of my Uncle Thomas.
It seems I am to blame for both his life
and his death.
Why did you sign it?
Why did you?
Thank God.
John Dudley.
My friend,
I hate to admit it, but you were right.
You're the only one who backs me.
I'm sorry for Thomas.
And I'm sorry for this.
For what?
Whether or not you believe it,
I am come to save you from yourself.
And in turn the country, the council,
and the king from you.
Do not make me force you into custody.
We'll walk together.
Hmm?
The former Lord Protector
and the new one
as old friends.
A friend would not do this.
A friend would have listened.
My duty is to my king and my realm.
You, of all men, should admire it.
Are you my savior?
I am anything you want me to be, Sire.
Ah.
Your brother did tell me
that you had attempted this.
I, uh, admit I struggled
to believe it, but
Well, you've all been
very busy, haven't you?
He put his own brother to death.
How can the council
be expected to trust that?
They can't.
But they can trust me.
You've declared yourself
head of the council?
Well, with the king's backing.
I actually thought it best to
ask first.
Why? Does any man here object?
Off you go.
I can't stay.
They say after what happened,
I should not stay in your service.
My Lord Dudley said
as if I could have stopped ought.
I did not betray you, Kat.
For they tried to blame it
all upon others, upon you.
But I did not.
They put me in a cell.
Whenever the tide came in,
so did the rats.
You could hear them coming.
I swear I felt the ground shook,
there were so many.
I said nothing that was incriminating.
Whereas I said nothing
before I was handed
a dictation of your confession.
I had said not a word.
I didn't know what would become of me.
Nor did I.
Rob?
Princess Elizabeth.
Lord Protector.
Brother.
This is Kett.
Kett's a good subject.
Are you a good subject, sister?
We will all leave you.
The Lord Protector
says you are to be trusted
and that all of before was
from bad guidance and that
None of before was
because of fault from you.
Of that, I'm sure.
Thomas wrote this.
The night before.
It is addressed to you.
I have not read it.
Last words of a traitor?
They are none of my concern.