Becoming Elizabeth (2022) s01e08 Episode Script

But you think it better
to make me flee the country!
Abandon all I have, all that I am!
And leave it behind for you!
Mary wrote. Said you were her bastard.
Not our father's child.
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.
Please, Mary,
for goodness sake, take fright.
I will fight the evil
that has taken over this place,
for this place is mine.
The king and the council loathed you.
I let you out because
you're my oldest friend.
Don't make me regret it.
- Do you love me?
- No.
Father!
Where's Rob?
- I don't know.
- Find him!
Still no change.
But the king will be well.
Soon.
My lord?
The king will be well soon, he said.
Father?
He said that the king would be well.
Yes. They said that about the old king.
He was already dead.
Get this sent.
To the Princess Mary? Why?
This has been going on for too long.
I have bridges to build,
before it's too late.
O Lord, look down from Heaven.
Behold, visit, and relieve Thy servant,
Edward VI of England
our king and governor.
Look upon him
with the eyes of Thy mercy.
Give him comfort
and sure confidence in thee.
Defend him from the danger of the enemy,
and keep him
in perpetual peace and safety.
Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
Amen.
Hear us, Almighty
and most merciful God and Savior.
Princess Mary,
we are pleased to receive you,
even if under such circumstances.
Lord Dudley.
I see you are determined to make amends.
But perhaps start with actions
rather than words.
What actions do you wish me to take?
Oh, well, now that you ask,
I can think of three whilst on my spot.
I would like you to release the
Bishop Gardiner from the Tower.
I would like to take a Catholic service
with my priest to pray
for my brother's recovery.
And I would like you
to get out of my fucking way.
You came.
I came.
No, don't. Please don't.
Why are you crying?
Why are we both crying?
There's no need.
It will all be undone.
What will?
My work.
No, please, please don't cry
because of me.
I will I will
Will you convert?
Don't ask me to do that.
Why do you ask me to do that
when you know that I can't?
But you're my heir.
I know.
I know.
Sister.
Sister?
I thought I was no sister of yours.
Did you believe your letters
had not taken effect?
They did, most successfully.
I congratulate you.
All I did was remind the world
your mother was a woman
executed for adultery,
so perhaps before the world
shifted to support you,
they at least remember who you are.
I am sorry for it, though.
I did not know this would happen.
How could I?
I do now suppose there was
no need for it after all.
Won't be you sitting there, you know.
It will be your sister.
A Catholic on the throne again.
I wonder if we'd have thought it worth
all the death and blood we spent
in changing the world the first time
if we'd known it'd be changing back.
I feel like I'm meant
to apologize for being in here.
But I will not.
Nor should you.
Hadn't realized you were
I'll leave you.
Do you think I want it that way?
You think I wish her to sit here?
You think I relish
the thought of our country
that was dragged into a new age
by my birth
to be then dragged back again?
My brother weeps at this thought
as he lies dying.
I shouldn't have said anything.
I regret coming in here and saying that.
I'll extend that
to walking down the corridor
and waking up at all
this morning, really.
If that's as far as your regret extends,
you're lucky indeed.
At least we've both misspoken now, sir.
I've been doing that
rather a lot of late.
You know the last person I misspoke to?
My son.
You haven't heard from him, have you?
He's very, very cross with me,
which in turn has made me very, very
very cross with him.
He's very cross with me, too.
Ah, sorry.
Is he in the wrong?
Are you?
Not in thought.
Perhaps in action.
- Same with me.
- God.
Well, he is a very
difficult boy not to react to,
so I don't know how accountable
either of us should be held.
You paint quite a picture
standing there.
If only the world would allow it.
It is an impossible thing
I am looking at now,
but then again,
I have lived through
impossible times before.
What do you mean, sir?
Your father once asked
for an impossible thing.
We changed the world for him.
And it worked, for there you stand.
I did as your father asked.
And I'd do it again.
I'd change the world again.
For you.
What are you saying, sir?
Nothing I ought to.
What?
Are you Sir Pedro?
Father's friend from Spain?
Has he spoken of me?
It's him.
Um, would you tell us
some battle stories
of you and Father?
They will be bloody.
Great.
How fares the king?
Oh.
You play the loving uncle, sir.
A fast turnaround.
He is the same as he was before.
That's not why I'm here.
I'm here for the man who came to me
and promised me freedom.
Promised me many things, as I remember.
And was a man I liked.
I meant those promises, Princess.
The England you wanted to rule,
I wanted to live in it.
So even though you failed
I didn't fail. I was betrayed.
You lost the faith of others, sir.
And whether you like it or not,
that is a failure.
You did fail.
I need you to know that.
Do you? Know it, sir?
That you failed?
Can you accept it?
Well, then come.
Let's restart the game.
This time, please
let's play from the same side.
So having been pulled off my horse,
I parried the first one,
cut him in the back of the legs.
Next, up under his armor.
And then I cut his head clean off.
Ah. It is my friend.
I know you like to maintain
that I am stupid,
but even you must admit I was right.
You should never have
let that man back in the room.
I don't think you're stupid.
I think you're opportunistic.
Now, I never feared him before.
And I was not afraid to knock him down.
But I am very afraid
of the man who gets back up.
Hope you didn't like that boy
you dared send to me.
Announcing you were
taking leave of court
when you'd already been absent
five days.
Five days when we didn't know
if you were alive or dead.
You knew I wasn't dead.
Yes.
I did believe that you had
taken flight from both court
and your senses
as some sort of protest
at the injustice in your life.
But your mother has
a higher opinion of you,
and she was asking
to dredge the fucking Thames
for your body, boy.
I'm sorry I didn't send
a messenger sooner.
Well, he's immensely sorry
you sent him at all.
I did not take his news well.
So now, after two months, you come back.
For what? Money?
Forgiveness? A new position?
All.
Well, both.
The, um
the last two.
Well, your position,
your brother now holds.
Guilford does it well.
Better than I ever
Thought he could?
Well, perhaps when you consider
the chance of forgiveness,
you could perhaps mind that, in a way,
I've served my family,
by bringing you and my brother together
when I abandoned my position as
- favored son.
- Mm.
I expect you'll be wanting
that position back and all now.
If it's within your gift,
Lord Protector.
Mm.
It's all in my gift now.
Father.
You can marry her.
Have her, please. If she'll have you.
- Who?
- Oh, come on, boy.
The Princess Elizabeth?
Why why?
He's dying. The king.
And it was all for him.
You know, I thought I could stop her,
I thought I could scare her,
but it was all for the boy.
Not for me. It was for him.
And now he's dying, and I went to war
with the fucking woman.
What is it you fear?
The Princess Mary
will become queen and, what,
hold you responsible
for her brother's faith?
For you acting on your king's orders?
What is it you think?
You think she'll have you executed?
I know she fucking will.
And I pray it's only me.
Marry her, mm? She can save us.
Come, the only solution, the only hope,
is on me marrying a princess of England?
I don't know where else to turn. Right?
The man I used to turn to
has turned on me,
and I-I-I did it first.
I do deserve it. All of it.
But you don't. None of you do.
Maybe go back to wherever you were.
You know, you might be safe there.
Father. Father!
I'm so sorry, my lord.
Rob? When did you get back?
Where have you been?
We need to get him to bed.
His fever rages.
Not you two!
They're Dudley's boys.
I will not have their hands be
the last hands that touch him.
If you believe that to be the case,
I'd have no hands touch him
other than ours.
Your father worries.
About what may come next.
Yes, I know he does.
Do you no longer give me counsel?
Did I lose it along with you
when we last spoke?
I thought it was I
that lost you that day.
I suppose neither of us
had possession of one another.
No, you did. Of me.
You know what my father said
on my return?
He said that if you were to want me,
then you could have leave to
to have me.
After all that.
But it's too late now, I'm afraid.
What?
What do you mean?
I'm married.
Her name is Amy. Robsart.
The house you stayed at
during the rebellion,
before returning here
and declaring yourself in love with me.
I'm sorry to have not remained
in mourning for you
for the rest of my life.
- I am not dead.
- Nor am I.
And so I intend
on living a life, Princess.
I did not know I had not the permission.
Do you love her?
Yes.
As the lustful little peasant I am,
I will admit I love my wife.
And I will admit
that I believed myself in love with you.
So you were not in love with me.
Well, if you think it not possible
for me to love Amy
if I have once loved you,
then I cannot have loved you,
for I do love her.
How is the king?
You're not asleep?
That's a stupid question.
How is the king?
You're not supposed to say talk
of the king's death.
I'm only asking what you think.
Yes, well, I'm not allowed
to say what I think.
- So you do think he'll die.
- Amy.
I do.
I shouldn't have brought you here.
Why do you say that?
I didn't know what I was
bringing you back to.
It'd be happening
whether I was here or not.
The king is the king the country over.
You're sorry for bringing me?
I'm not sorry to have been brought.
We're in your father's house.
We're married.
Or do you sometimes forget?
- I do sometimes.
- Mm.
You think it might be soon.
I think perhaps within hours.
We need a plan.
The council will be looking
for alternatives.
She is the rightful heir.
They do not like her, sir.
And they do not like you.
They have very little
other option right now.
Yes, but who are those other options?
However small, shall we not
perhaps remove them,
so as to not end up where
we all have been once before?
The Lord Dudley and my sister.
Those are the threats, are they not?
Well, my lady
let us take one apiece, then.
As you have observed before,
I do know you well.
I know what you'll be thinking,
and probably what you will be doing,
so do listen when I tell you,
you cannot stop this.
Mary is the daughter of Henry Tudor
and Edward's rightful heir.
You want to upset the whole world,
to give you, what, power?
Did we not do that
once before, my friend?
For you?
Princess Mary will not forgive,
but I can make her forget.
You think you have control
over people that you do not.
You thought it of Mary before,
of your brother,
of the king, of me.
When will you learn your lesson, sir?
- You've repaid my mercy
- Your mercy?
Yes, mercy, man!
I will not show it again!
Believe me.
All you have to do is not fight me.
I will not see my country suffer
because you will not accept
the inevitable.
You can fight the tide,
but it is coming in all the same.
I didn't recognize you
for a moment, John.
But then the job is stressful.
Could you not tell?
I couldn't sleep.
I thought perhaps you wouldn't
be able to, either.
- Is there news?
- No.
Although I fear there may be soon.
Would you join me in distracting myself?
I thought we could go hunting.
For what?
Well, I was going to suggest deer.
But it could be for each other,
if you insist.
Do you insist on that?
I am to ready myself
for a hunt, she says.
Sorry for the suddenness.
My sister has a changeable temperament,
it seems.
Over there.
Come on!
What are you doing?
If you wish to murder me, Mary,
do it better!
- Have they come for you?
- Who?
One of them. Any of them.
They always do.
Whenever there's a chance of power,
a man will always come to a
woman who can give it to him.
How do I know this?
For they come to me.
And you must know, and always know,
they came for what you are
and they came for themselves.
No one has come to anyone, Mary.
I don't need to hear your lies.
I don't need to hear
your truths, either.
I'm just warning you.
And believe me,
it will not be a warning again.
We do not decide who sits on thrones.
God does.
Do you want to pick a fight
with Him, too?
As well as with me?
As long as you remember
your place, sister,
then all will be well.
I swear it.
Fetch Lord Dudley. Now!
I would like to be queen.
My sister could determine
my and her destiny,
or I could be master of my own.
And she's shown little care
for my future before.
I would like to preserve
my brother's legacy.
I would like all the pain
that's been caused
ever since my father
laid eyes upon my mother
to not have been for nothing.
And I would like not to live
in fear of the next man
who sees me as a valuable piece to play,
as you do.
I wish not to use you.
I wish to back you.
You wish to use me, sir,
but I do not judge you for it.
We all must use one another
in this world.
Cynical view.
A hard-learned one.
I like you, sir.
I have the will to keep you safe.
But not the power.
You s
you said you wish to be queen.
I do.
But I will not seek it.
I will not make it so.
Enough damage,
enough lives have been lost
in pursuit of want rather than duty.
And you summoned me here for that?
You've been kind to me in the past.
- And that has earned nothing.
- Not my life, sir.
Your sister is a fanatic,
vindictive, paranoid
She is many things,
but she's not paranoid,
for the world does plot
and scheme against her.
Is that not what is happening
right now, in fact?
Can you blame me? Us?
Not us.
You.
I know you, Elizabeth.
Sometimes, you give in to what you want.
Shall we do this, then?
I assume you are coming?
My sister sent for me.
So, gentlemen,
I believe we are met
to discuss the succession.
That such a thing is
to be discussed is
Illegal.
But you have discussed it much, sir.
In fact, you've grown quite overheated
on the subject, have you not?
I've always hated the way
you laugh at the world,
Lord Dudley.
As though it were not
worth your attention.
But I believe I am worth your attention
right now,
for what other option do you have?
Our father wrote a will.
He made his wishes
for this country plain.
And they should be followed
as if writ by God himself.
A wise choice.
And an unwise one from you.
One of many, I might add.
So, Lord Dudley,
you have made yourself an enemy
of the Princess Mary.
I am her enemy?
Address him if you want, sir,
but your answer comes from me,
and yes, you are.
Quite amazed that that comes
as news to you, John.
Does any man in here,
other than, of course, the Lord Dudley,
who I assume will be objecting
for a while yet,
disagree about the usurper
sitting there?
Henry.
Usurp?
Your words betray you. You usurp a king.
And you are not and never were one.
I unseated you from power.
Yes, and now it is happening to you.
Wear it well, John. As I did.
I warned you, John.
Let me through.
Father, he's asking for you.
The fever's gone.
You're not allowed to be in here.
I'm a man.
Shall we see what the physician says?
He's alive.
You only have so much time, John.
Forgive me for using it.
The Tower.
Gambling on your brother's death?
It's a cursed hand indeed.
You'd perhaps have done better
to keep me as a friend.
Please.
He'd been conspiring
during your sickness, sire.
But he will be dealt with.
On the morrow, do you think?
Do you trust me, sire?
Yes.
On the morrow, then?
On the morrow. Yes.
He had been conspiring
with your sisters.
Both of them?
Yes. Both of them.
Your Grace.
They said you asked for me.
Yes.
Yes.
I've
had a thought that's been growing on me.
What was the thought, sir?
I'm sorry.
I was a coward
not to say anything before,
but I'm not going to go
to my death as one.
For what?
Him.
You were my daughter's age.
I was grown enough.
Don't hate him.
Please don't hate him.
I know you should. I know I should.
But please don't.
God, he had a strange power, didn't he?
He could make other people
behave quite unlike themselves.
What are we going to do, Elizabeth?
I saw it often.
Making other people lose control
became the greatest game
that man could imagine.
He brought out the worst in people.
I have done nothing. He neither.
No wrong to me.
No.
Maybe the worst in a person
is the truth of them.
Perhaps he was the only one who knew
knew any of us.
I rode out to get your brother
on the night your father died,
and I said, "Gone are the days
of Henry Tudor.
"The country's best interests
"will be what dictate governance.
Not friendship, not favors,
not greed"
It wasn't my father
who brought about those days.
It ever was so and ever will be.
You can't change the game
we find ourselves in.
You can only play it.
How did you learn that before me?
I suppose that's why
you'll survive us all.
To the king's health!
The king!
And now
a surprise!
- Ha!
- Ha!
- God bless you.
- Bless you.
God bless you.
- God bless you!
- No, my lord!
- They can't do this to you
- Shh.
Enough.
My lord! God bless you, my lord.
- God bless you.
- God bless you!
I would ask you all to believe me,
all of you that are gathered here today,
when I say that neither in thought
or word or deed
did I offend my king
or this realm.
I would ask you to embrace
the true faith of this country
and, above all, the young king.
For it is right.
I did my best.
Hold!
- Hold!
- A pardon?
- God save the king!
- Is it a pardon?
God save the king!
God save him!
The good Duke Somerset
you have no enemies
in this crowd today, sir.
No! No!
Do you need the physician, sir?
No.
I need my sisters.
The king wishes to see you.
Princess.
Lady Robsart.
Sorry, I mean, Lady Dudley, even.
- Are you enjoying
- Your brother wants you.
Excuse me.
Is your father in there?
You shouldn't fear my father.
Look what he's done. Look who he is.
He's my family.
Don't worry.
I fear my own family
just as much as I fear yours.
Brother.
Do not trust this man.
And I should trust you?
Or Elizabeth? Why?
Because you are family?
As was the Lord Somerset.
As was my Uncle Thomas.
But none of you listened.
None of you obeyed.
None of you have even loved!
How can you question my love for you?
How can you think that of me?
Of either of us?
Does love seek or allow
that all that I am
to be undone before I'm even dead?
I have been told all.
Get out.
- Brother
- Get out! Get out! Get out!
Your Grace, we
Do you think you do not
somehow answer to me, Mary?
For you do.
Get out.
I cannot stand the sight
of either one of you.
What can I do to stop them?
To stop this?
It will happen all over again.
Your sisters are not the only ones
we have at court with royal blood.
What's your mother been doing with you?
You're late.
What's wrong?
What do we do?
What do we do?
Let's not pretend this is our first time
being thrown from this court.
It's the same story.
But our brother being the one doing it
is, I will admit, a new chapter.
And to be together.
It's always one or the other.
Quite the unfortunate hand
you played, Elizabeth.
I took no sides. I always
Yes, you're so smart.
Such an impressive path you trod.
And yet here we stand, alongside me.
How awful for you
to find yourself
beside your much-hated sister.
I don't hate you.
- Do you not?
- No.
We love one another, Mary.
Do we?
Do we really?
Or are we so ashamed
of what's in our hearts
that we try to force love into them?
For the truth that hits me
again and again
is that I have no love for you.
Do you for me? Don't lie.
Not after everything.
You make it very hard.
And you make it easy.
I know you like
to think yourself a victim.
I know you like to think
that I am raised up
while you are trodden down.
But you could choose the quiet life,
and you do not.
You choose this. You are no victim.
No.
I am a Tudor.
We both are.
And yet somehow
the opposite of one another.
The Catholic and the Protestant.
The virgin and the whore.
What does it matter?
To that boy up there,
or to the court,
or to the world, in fact?
What do you mean?
Does it matter
what's in our hearts and minds?
For we both played
very different games in there,
and yet here we stand.
And we are but women, after all.
Perhaps it's for the best.
Perhaps it will keep us safe.
Yes.
Womanhood has kept
many a woman safe before.
While he rules, we do not matter.
Thank God.
Thank God.