Becoming Elizabeth (2022) s01e07 Episode Script

I hate that you give it to him.
I hate that he's done this.
I f-fucking hate to see it.
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.
I, too, have done deeds and said things
in order to keep myself safe.
They will sit heavy on your heart
for the rest of your life.
My king wishes to know
that his favorite cousin is
in no danger here in England.
I want to introduce myself.
I'm the Lord Protector
and the king's uncle
- Listen
- No!
You must obey!
You stoked every fire
and ended up with no one happy
and a country that's ablaze.
Whether or not you believe it,
I have come to save you from yourself.
Are you a good subject, sister?
Maybe the archbishop could talk to him.
He could. I'm not sure for what purpose.
To explain to this preacher
that his blasphemy angers God
I do believe that has been put
to this preacher before.
By the archbishop, though?
Haven't you yourself asked
your sister Mary
to convert many a time?
In matters of religion, it's
rarely the asker's authority
but the answerer's flexibility.
Morality, depravity, Christianity.
Yes, indeed. All that, all
all that, but, uh
I don't believe
this heathen will convert,
no matter who asks.
But, uh, both justice
and mercy are at your disposal,
Sire, so if you feel it
no longer judicious to
If he condemns his
soul and the souls of others
to hell's fire,
spreading his false religion,
then the fire will be
visited upon him early.
- God's will be done.
- And mine also.
Well, as God's representative
here on Earth,
I foolishly thought
that went without saying,
but, yes, yours also.
Your release, sir.
God, it's the smell.
Oh, Jesus!
Burning dissenters, are we,
no matter the creed?
I didn't think your father
had such a reformist Protestant spirit.
I'm sorry we have to watch this.
I'm sorry it has to happen.
But how else do they learn?
I thought things
would be better with your father.
I always liked your father.
The one thing I could have said
for the Lord Somerset
was that at least
he didn't encourage my brother.
My father won't have encouraged it.
- He permitted it.
- You don't permit the king.
That's not how it works.
That the world is only
remembering that now
shows how skewed the world has been.
What happened to you all in Norfolk?
Everyone and everything came
back quite changed.
Not just released from the Tower
but rewarded with his seat
on the council?
Well, we all know how
the good duke admires mercy.
I would have thought retaining
his head mercy enough.
I believed I was here not
by the grace and mercy
of the Lord Dudley, but by yours
Your Majesty.
May I ask what we are to expect
from this new Lord Protector, Sire?
For him to follow the orders
of the king.
Quite the change indeed, then.
Well, I have heard
we have begun burning
dissenters in the yard,
so I question how we can provide
a balanced counsel to Your Grace.
Balance is no longer the aim
of this council,
but support for its king.
We are to cease the war
in Scotland, reform the church,
end dissent.
In short,
we are to make England great
again.
We are surrounded by Catholic alliances.
We need to form some of our own.
With what?
With the things we have at our disposal.
Sire?
God did not intend for women
to live without guidance
and govern themselves
as my sister Mary has.
She's been left to live
and presented choices
by this council
as if she were a grown man.
And given her connections to Spain,
it is time they were broken
and new ones were forged.
Having, seemingly with great surprise,
discovered yourself unpopular,
must you flap and hiss like a goose
at any hand of friendship
extended to you?
If the hand is yours, sir, you
best keep it out of my reach,
or else I'll break it.
Of all men, for you to lament
your hurt feelings
You dismiss betrayal very lightly.
"Betrayal"? How can you still
be this fucking blind, man?
The king and the council loathed you
loathe you,
and your brother was a traitor.
I stand here as Lord Protector
not in your stead,
but instead of Mary Tudor
or Henry Grey
Sorry, is this the story
you tell yourself?
For as the peasants took up
arms and my brother lost
his senses and a girl not yet
16 made fools out of all of us,
you just looted in the chaos.
What a pretty thing you found
for yourself there.
Tell me you would not
have done the same.
- Mm.
- I do not ask for forgiveness,
but I have always stood by you,
and now I only ask you for
what you've always had of me.
I let you out because you're
my oldest friend.
Don't make me regret it.
Bishop.
Ambassador, I heard
you had returned from Spain.
But if you'll excuse me
I cannot,
for you are not the only one
who has heard things
sir.
The new regime, yes?
There is a new England now, it seems.
Yes. Spain has sent me to find out
what this new England means,
what it stands for,
and what it wants for the Princess Mary.
A Protestant marriage.
I take it that is not what Spain wants?
Spain does not want to go
to war for this fucking woman.
But it does want this woman safe.
She will have to leave, hmm?
Come to Spain.
I will tell her so.
Abandon her country?
Abandon every Catholic in it,
to whatever it is that may come next?
You think the Princess Mary
would want
Do not pretend to me
that you care any more
than I do about what she wants.
You want her to stay.
I want her to leave.
Surely Spain wants her to leave.
I am Spain, sir.
Are these the new guards?
Yes. Playing cards with the king.
I assume you're here at invitation?
Your Grace, your sister's here.
Already?
I'm sure she can wait.
I was told you wished to see me.
I do. I just
The king, having finally been granted
his allowance, has lost it all
within three hands.
The game isn't over.
Can you wait for me?
As you lose money to a dolt
like Guildford Dudley?
Wait, that's not fucking allowed.
- Robert.
- Well, he is the fucking king.
You must stop that.
No husband will stand
for that kind of boldness.
Any husband of hers will have to.
You know, I receive
the Danish court next week.
Prince Frederick
is about your age, and the
the Lord Dudley said
what a suitable match
he would be for you.
I think he's right.
So we have written ahead
to suggest introductions
that could be made.
These things are easier
to arrange in person.
Are you finished?
I-I don't understand "introduction."
As in a betrothal?
We are arranging one for Mary too.
I-it's unnatural, all these
single women at court.
And look at what
that traitor Thomas did.
Evil men could seek to use you
or Mary for their own ends.
And so you thought it best
you do so first?
Not for my ends.
- For England's.
- They're the same.
Yes, well
Yes.
Denmark is a powerful Protestant nation.
An alliance with them would
strengthen the whole country.
The world sees us ally-less.
And we are vulnerable.
So we wrote to the Danish party
'cause they were coming to court.
A marriage of convenience, indeed.
So they come here to view
their goods before buying?
Do you reckon me 15 or 16 hands, Sire?
Look, you're
You're quite pretty.
I'd have thought
you'd be happy to meet a man
before you married him.
No one was going to let me meet
the Scottish girl
when all were set on me to wed her.
She was a five-year-old.
She would have been a stranger
to this court.
You could have locked her
in a cupboard if you so wanted.
But I will be the stranger
He's not going to lock you
in a cupboard.
Don't make me, Edward, please.
I am king, Elizabeth.
A king can't change his mind
just because you want him to.
Start over.
Did you know?
Prince Frederick of Denmark,
he's 16 and illiterate.
- I'll talk to Edward.
- I talked to Edward you saw.
I am his sister, I am a princess,
and I am to live the life he decides.
But, of course, Robert, you may try too.
Your words may hold some value
- I know I have no power.
- Compared to mine.
- That's
- I am not mocking you, Robert.
They may well, your words are
always spoken by a man.
Would you speak to your father?
He rides early, apparently.
Well, yes, we must not disturb him.
Well, I can't just burst in there
- and question his foreign policy.
- I
I will. I will, and with your brother.
- You're smarter than
- Catherine was
the smartest woman I ever knew.
She was 30 years old.
She was in love and all
but engaged to the Lord Thomas,
a powerful man, a connected man.
All of that didn't matter,
because it was decided
she should marry my father,
and so she did.
That he could barely walk,
that his leg festered,
that the wound smelt,
- that his age
- Yes, but he was the king.
And what is my brother?
If she could not prevent that,
what grounds do I use
I would be unhappy?
I would be scared?
It's just politics,
a new move they think they see.
It's just a game.
You and me are good at games.
The Danes can't have you.
England's not done with you yet.
Hmm?
For this proposed marriage,
they suggested
the elector of Saxony's son,
a Protestant zealot by all accounts.
So this is my punishment?
I practice my faith as I was
promised I would be allowed to.
- I am no threat, no
- No, no, the Ca
the Catholic resistors
would come to your support,
if you asked them.
And the court fears Spain would also.
So what do you advise, sir?
Caution.
Perhaps I've been wrong.
No, I-I have been wrong.
There is a new regime, and I
I don't know what to make of it.
Swear to practice only in private,
send the ambassador away,
show that you're not a threat.
How do these men not blush?
They put a knife to her throat
and ask her to remove her armor,
for they feel threatened by it?
And demand she whispers her prayers
as they shout theirs louder and louder.
They burnt a man
in Whitehall.
The world is
It's-it's not what it was.
Princess!
Lord Dudley!
I'm sure my brother
could increase your income
if need be.
There is no need for you
to resort to robbery.
Now, Mary, it is entirely
within your power
for this to be the last
we ever speak of it.
The louder you protest,
the more you fracture
an already fractured country.
- Carry on.
- I suggest, then,
you give me nothing to protest.
You think I can concede to this plan?
Marry a foreign heretic,
be shipped away to a Protestant court?
A woman's family arranges her marriage,
and a subject obeys her king.
If you protest, you protest
the natural order of things
as set out by God.
You're protesting God.
I will marry any man
my brother sees fit,
as long as I will be permitted
to practice my faith.
Perhaps you will.
May I suggest you ask him nicely.
Are you enjoying yourself, my lord?
Are you?
You all seem to go about
this land entirely unchecked.
Thought you'd seen enough
of the Tower by now, Stephen.
Can I not visit my princess?
I see no laws broken.
- Ah!
- No, no, no, no!
- No, no!
- Princess, don't-don't.
Oh.
By all means, man
The bishop counseled discretion. He
The cat that caught a mouse
and now congratulates itself
on how clever it was.
But I am not a mouse, sir,
and I will not fright easy.
Oh, please, Mary, for goodness' sake,
take fright.
It'll save time and tears
and all our sanity.
Do you need to be carried, sir?
You are neither the rightful Protector
nor the king nor my father.
You remember my father?
Vaguely.
I saw a grown man hide from him once,
behind a curtain.
I even saw you on occasion
duck and cower.
- Oh, I cowered?
- Yes, you cowered, sir.
Not that I blame you.
But I never had
a Lord Somerset beside me.
And I never flinched!
You think I will for you?
Now, return my possessions
to their rightful place,
and release that no!
- No, no.
- You will burn for this!
God sees you, Lord Dudley!
Princess, don't. Don't.
No, no.
Leave it, please.
I think you must speak
with your cousin, my king.
Is that not your job, sir?
I believe the time has come
for you to do it yourself.
You must come to Spain.
You must keep yourself safe.
You cannot allow yourself to be
sold off to another court
The Bishop Gardiner
Is on his way
to the Tower with a headache.
I would not listen
to the advice of a man
who is incapable
of keeping himself safe.
I would listen to the man
who is still standing in front of you.
The Lord Dudley may
believe me goods to barter
We are in this life
what people believe us to be.
But this is my country, sir, not his.
You think the court would
you think the people would-will
I have no idea what they will allow
or not allow anymore,
and I'm unwilling to take
the risk of finding it out.
It is not about what
you are willing to risk, sir,
but what I am.
You wish me to betray my
country for the sake of yours.
I am no traitor, sir,
nor am I a possession of Spain
in need of its protection.
I am a princess of England
and my brother's heir.
You would do well to remember that
before you next open your mouth
to counsel me.
So when the Danes arrive,
will you be using this elaborate double,
or will you be using the actual king?
Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised
that Henry Tudor's son is, in fact,
quite like Henry Tudor.
Well, we won't have much to worry about
for the tournament, will we?
Denmark will be much impressed,
as they should be.
It's only a shame
it hasn't happened sooner.
He would have never allowed this.
Oh
speak no evil.
But then again
Now try one better.
Rob!
You're very good, Edward,
but you should try yourself
against a real rider.
The Danish prince won't much like it
if I've skewered his wife
before his arrival.
Perhaps I'd rather be skewered.
No, don't start this.
No, I'm joking.
I'm joking.
The king wishes for me
and my sister to be married.
As you may remember, Princess,
I was not averse to that idea either.
No, but you are averse to
the persecution of my sister.
You should go and see her, reassure her.
My sister died bringing
the king into this world.
My brother died
by bringing you into his house.
Am I now to bring myself
to the last Tudor
who's yet to claim a life
from my family?
Is this some kind of ritual sacrifice
that has yet to be explained to me?
Uh, Princess.
Huh.
When was it you last saw one another?
Eh?
Since we seek some alliances
via marriage,
I thought she should come back to court,
remind the world that it's not
just the king's sisters
that carry the royal line.
And she's a good girl, really.
If you think more
of what others may like to hear
rather than what you want to say,
a husband would be lucky to have you.
You were always so keen to prove
that our positions
in this world were alike.
And here we are
both put out for sale at the same time.
I think my father is most anxious
that this time I am actually bought.
I don't think he could take
another disappointment.
- What is it like?
- What?
The wedding night.
Why would you ask me that?
I'm sorry,
but I have no older sisters
Why would you ask me, Jane?
Please.
They came to me,
to our house, after
the Lord Thomas was arrested.
They questioned me.
They hoped I would say that you and
You want me to stand here and tell you
what it's like to be held by a man?
To see him naked?
To undress in front of one
and let him touch you?
I'm afraid you'll have to use
your imagination,
for I do not know.
If you thought you were lying
on my behalf,
you'll be relieved to know
that you were not.
I owe you nothing.
- I have kept your secrets.
- You're a little late
to send me to the block for
this, Jane, but you may try.
I don't desire it.
I don't threaten nor blackmail.
- I just wanted to
- Benefit from my knowledge
seeing as I'm the only whore
you thought you knew.
It will hurt.
You will bleed.
Perhaps you are lucky,
and you fall pregnant quickly.
Then you have months free of him.
But then, dead or alive,
a baby will come out,
and it will hurt,
and you will bleed.
And if you survive
you'll be rewarded by doing
the whole thing all over again.
I don't believe you.
You don't believe me?
If it was so, why would anyone
you, ever have done as you did?
You asked me about a wedding night.
You didn't ask me about love.
Whore.
I was sent to come find you.
You're meant to come with me.
Princess, will you follow me?
They demand I marry.
A Protestant.
To take me in hand.
To
You must talk to Edward.
- Ask
- He won't listen.
He decided a marriage for me also.
I begged him, but he
would not change his mind.
Your answer is no?
My answer is that it will do no good.
I told him I wish not
to be married, and he refused
Perhaps because
so recently you wished to be.
You accepted the Lord Thomas,
so eagerly accepted him,
he was spurred into treason
to acquiesce to your desires.
A woman's desires come little
into the planning of a man's actions.
Oh, I'm schooled on men by my sister.
It's true, I know little of them.
I wonder how she became so wise.
If she were
to not agree to this marriage
Agree? Why do you all behave and act
as if there is a choice?
You must stop. I think we both must.
Stop fighting to stay free
as if our hands are not already tied,
as if they haven't always been.
I walk the path God decided for
me, Elizabeth, and no other.
If this was the path God decided,
you wouldn't have to struggle
to stay on it.
I am tested. We, Elizabeth, are tested.
My duty is to my God.
And I cannot be sent
to where I may not follow Him.
I wish I had listened to you long ago.
The pillars that formed
what I thought I knew
have fallen or changed
except you.
I thought I knew this world
and what it would be for me,
but I don't think I do.
I don't know what happens next
for any of us.
The ambassador
suggested I flee to Spain.
I think you would be safe there.
Safe?
Having betrayed my country
to align myself with another?
You would I go to war
with the king and England?
For if I flee to Spain,
how else would it be seen
other than as treason?
I know our brother well enough
to know at least
that he does not wish you harm.
Oh, I'm glad you know our
brother well enough at least for that!
- You only ask to live.
- I asked you to speak to him!
But you think it better to decline that
and instead bid me flee the country,
abandon all I have, all that I am
and leave it behind for you!
The Lord Dudley
may have revealed himself,
but there is a far
stealthier predator at work.
Each time you show yourself to me,
I learn that lesson anew.
I do hope it sticks this time.
You believe I wish it this way?
No. I believe you made it!
The Danish court arrives
tomorrow, Elizabeth.
- I do not wish to argue.
- Nor do I.
Nor do I, Sire.
Then why have you come?
To ask more of him.
Or to ask if any knew more.
I wish to please him
if he is to be my husband.
Well, I-I can ask us to find
out what we know of him.
He's a rider.
He is 16.
Illiterate, they say.
Who says?
Well, no matter whether he writes it
I will first need to learn to speak it.
I have very little Danish.
Um, well, I'm sure
sure someone there will be able
to teach you.
What are you doing?
They will marry me to someone
one time or another.
So are we to audition
every European of noble birth
until I find what?
- One I
- Like, love?
Love marriages are for peasants
wishing to fuck without sin.
I'm not a lustful little peasant.
Between rape and submission,
Robert, I choose submission.
A boat will come in.
Hopefully it would look
like trade to anyone who saw.
The Spanish ship is near, but once seen,
it cannot linger
under a pretense for long
and cannot return again,
for if we are discovered
And this your plan for safety?
I risk death by staying,
but I risk death and others by leaving.
It is worth the risk
if it sees you safe.
This is not the woman
I have come to know.
Unlike everyone else,
choosing their path based
on what has the least risk
and what has the most gain,
you simply do what you believe is right.
I have never known anything like it
anyone like that.
My
my heart and my mind
and my God and my country
all disagree with one another.
The story for me here is already writ.
I knew it long ago.
I always have.
And I know the end.
However
perhaps I do not need to stay for it.
The story out there
may be worse.
But at least I do not know it.
If you wish to hide from me, do not hide
in places that I've shown you
are good for hiding in.
Poor hiding.
Your mother and I used to come here
to hide ourselves
from the eyes of the court.
Are you now the court
in its entirety, sir?
Or is it that all eyes now work for you?
I assure you, you don't need eyes on me.
I promise not to usurp you
in the king's favor,
if that's your worry.
I am very patient with you, Rob,
but it will not continue long.
Now, this may surprise you,
but I did not seek you out
to hear your grievances.
Then why did you, sir?
Of all my children, I did not think
I would have to repeat myself to you,
especially not over something important
and especially when it should
be blindingly obvious
to even the simplest of children.
What?
The prince's ship has docked.
Much is expected from his visit,
and yet I watch you and the princess
Not this. Not this
I took a gamble doing what I've done.
Now, we will have
more than we have ever had,
but every eye
and every dagger is on me
on us.
I've seen it played out at this
court many a time before,
and if you unseat a man
for his failings,
you best not have any yourself,
'cause there's blood in the water
and every man wants his turn now.
The prince arrives soon, and this,
Elizabeth and him, is happening,
with or without my son's approval.
I have said, I have done noth
I can see you, boy.
I know you, boy.
And if she waivers,
doubts this, hates him, cries, anything,
if she needs it, you will make her.
You understand? We need this.
I don't have time
for your feelings, Rob.
- You say you have none for her.
- I do not.
But I'll miss my friend.
Do you allow that, sir?
I assure you, you will make others.
My friendships aren't
as expendable as yours, then.
You're the Lord Protector.
The king loves you. He loves me.
I could marry her,
the Princess Elizabeth, I
Hmm?
Princess.
I'd much prefer all this to go unsaid.
Neither one of us wants this
any more than either of us
I refuse to believe that we're trapped.
Your brother is the king.
My father is the Protector.
Family is no protection.
Or have you not been paying attention?
It could be simple. It's this simple.
Let's just leave.
Together?
We'd be risking everything.
- We'd be risking our lives.
- Then let's do it all the same.
Oh, no, wait, not we, me.
It'd be my risk, actually, not yours.
For what do you risk, Robert?
Robert Dudley's prepared to lose
his father's favor?
And stands to gain what?
Me, princess and second in line
for the throne.
And you say you don't play
politics, Robert.
You think I want to use you?
I think you want me to risk everything,
risk my life, for you.
It didn't end that way before.
It wasn't yours,
but somebody else's head
that rolled for you.
- Maybe this is my risk.
- For me?
Whose head do you refer to, Robert?
The Lord Thomas'?
Sir Thomas died for me, did he?
I know you hold him in great disdain,
but do you know how like him you are?
In this moment most of all,
as you stand insisting
that the world is simple
and to "trust me, trust me."
I love you.
You know I'm in love with you.
I love you.
You understand that, don't you?
Well, you hadn't actually said
that 'til just now.
I don't know when,
I don't know how it started,
but maybe I've always been.
I've probably always been.
It seems the most likely option.
We can do what you want.
We can do whatever you like,
please, please, just don't go in there.
Don't do that to me.
Is there any head in there?
Is there a fucking heart in there?
- My heart's
- Yes.
Do you love me?
For it is that simple.
How dare you act as if my life
was as simple as this
and that only you know that?
I can apologize to you later,
but first just answer
the question do you love me?
Hello, Thomas.
How did you come to stand
before me once more
Oh, you don't compare me to him.
You've done it twice, not again, please.
I just want an answer to the question.
What? Do I love you?
Do I love you? Do I love you?
No.
I don't believe you.
You love me.
Robert, a woman who loved you
would never do this.
Where have you been?
I thought we'd received word
that the Danish ship had docked safely.
Read it.
Read it!
"King Edward's offer
"of his sister the Princess Elizabeth's
"hand in marriage was received.
"But on receiving it,
His Majesty King Christian
"has decided to insult England
"as he and his son have been insulted.
We have long heard tales of
Anne Boleyn's daughter and "
I'm a whore, is that it?
Is that what you wanted
to be read to me?
The gossip spread by men
like him has reached abroad.
- Well done, sir.
- It is a stretch, indeed,
to lay that charge at my door.
And it belongs at mine?
I was proved innocent, was I not?
Catherine is dead. He is dead.
But their ghosts are to be
just as unmanageable
as their lives, yes?
I must answer for what went on
in their house,
for what treason he planned,
as if I had any control
over what he did or said.
No one here did.
A man you all saw fit
to sit on your council,
fight your wars, run your country.
But I, who do none of these
things and am half his age,
you question if I directed his actions,
if I am to share in the blame for them?
Do you all live in fear
that one day a girl of 14
may woo you away from your
wives and into her bed too?
That a girl of 15 may manipulate you
into betraying all
to give her the crown?
If Thomas was such a man
if you are such men,
why are you allowed to serve your king?
You're crying.
You're not the whore.
It's your mother.
Mary wrote, said you were her bastard,
not our father's child.
That you're the spit of your
father matters not, I suppose.
My mother never ran.
No, she did not.
Why do you laugh?
For I have just remembered
something my mother would say.
"That silly man, Henry,
'the young lion, '
"he must know nothing of them.
"Lions laze around in the sun.
"It is not the lion who hunts,
"it is the lioness.
"That Henry has married a lioness
"in Catherine of Aragon,
and it serves him right."
You must forgive her.
She never met an English person.
She never dreamed
it could be repeated to one,
never less to you.
God bless you, Princess.
When I leave in the morn,
his England is dead.
You don't owe England anything
Princess.
Are they ready?
No. No, I'll-I'll keep it on.
It's cold.
Father!
Where's Rob?
- I don't know
- Where's Robert?
- I don't know.
- Find him!
I hope Spain can forgive me.
I hope you can.
I cannot stay, Princess.
I cannot.
If you do this, you are on your own.
Then that is what I am.
What are you doing?
Why do you assume
she will return your loyalty
just because you have decided
to give it?
You overestimate your value, my friend.
What need does she have of you,
a foreign, penniless, mercenary Negro?
Are you not a foreign Moor?
A mercenary, too, in a way.
Only you sell your voice
rather than skill.
Yet the world does not see me so.
I believe there is some skill
in having achieved that.
I will fight the evil that
has taken over this place
for this place is mine.
But what if it is too late?
There is a sickness
in this country, a poison.
Then I must stop its spread.
They burn the ships
that carry the plague.
They burn houses to the ground.
If England has to burn
to stop this evil
then I will see it done.
You scared me.
I you?
What are you doing?
I didn't know where to go,
and so I found myself riding here.
And now here, I was trying to decide
whether I would actually
come to your door,
ask for you.
I wonder what I would have decided.
Did you ride all through the night?
It's nice to see your face.
Not so long ago,
I thought it would be
the last face I ever saw,
aside from the face of whoever
it was that would kill me.
And many others, I would have assumed,
unless you fought alone
and the number of rebels
have been greatly misrepresented to me.
You haven't thought of me
at all since I left, have you?
I've
thought of little else.
I've thought of you
at the strangest times,
not just memory.
I thought, "What is Amy doing now?"
So you're quite deeply in love with me?
You seem sad.
I think I've been very sad.
I think I've been fucking
miserable for a long time now.
I'm just realizing.
That's it. That's what it is.
I've been miserable.
I think I'm not now, though.