Becoming Elizabeth (2022) s01e05 Episode Script

I imagined you'd taken
a silly fancy to him.
What pain you have caused,
shame you have brought.
How can I know what
others say when I'm not there?
No, I'm angry because you have allowed
what I told you would happen to happen.
Confide in God and God alone.
He's the only one you can trust.
I received this,
an invitation to the wedding
of Mary Queen of Scots
and the Dauphin of France.
She was meant to be my wife,
and the war still rages.
Catherine Parr is dead.
Catherine? Catherine?
A mass for Catherine Parr?
You know how much
this will stoke the fires at court.
I come before you with a confession.
The crown forgives your absence
and welcomes your return.
Marry me.
My lady, the time.
My lady, what's waited this long
can wait till morning.
You can't keep a cool head
on next to no sleep.
- Go and check the garden.
- Yes, my lady.
Do you write these proverbs
yourself, Kat?
Still there.
Get him inside.
You're frozen.
We should get you to bed, sir.
Katherine Ashley.
You know what I meant.
I only have eyes for one.
And there she is.
I didn't mean to wake
your whole household.
Really?
For it has been three nights
you've spent in my garden,
staring up at my window.
And tongues wag,
even in the dead of night.
It's my soul that brings me here.
I think the rest of me
would quite like to be somewhere else.
An inn, probably.
But you see,
my soul has this compass.
It spins north, south, east, west,
but it always comes back to you.
To the house you shared
with Catherine, to her memory.
- Perhaps that's what it spins you to.
- No.
And you're only here
because she is dead.
Did she ever ask for me?
My love
Do you know how awful I felt?
For the things we have done?
For the person I became?
Then you sent me away, and
I worked so hard,
so hard to tame that vicious chatter.
It would no longer be chatter
if we were wed.
What a tempting offer, sir.
Tempting enough, it would seem.
In this house, it started.
I would lie in that bed
that you just came from.
And my sleep was invaded by you.
I'd wake and I'd try to put it
from my mind,
but you would never retreat.
I am not to blame
for your thoughts of me.
No?
Every glance, every brush past,
every whisper, you spoke love
in word and deed
and flesh, Elizabeth.
I behaved as I saw fit,
as nature instructed me.
- As one deeply in love.
- No, sir.
As one very young and very foolish.
And as one I do not recognize.
You brought me in here to tell me that?
Yes, sir, so you may hear it clearly.
You think that there's
just another one of me
around the corner, don't you?
A suitable one?
Oh, no. No, no, no, no.
No, something like this,
it only happens once.
And when you realize that,
I will be waiting.
For if there's one thing
I've come to learn
is an inevitability with you, Elizabeth,
it's that you change your mind
as often as the sea.
No, I do not, sir.
Thank you, Kat.
I am received to the man's house
at three o'clock in the morning
via the servant entrance?
The French Ambassador, sir.
You have a flair for
the theatrical, Lord Protector.
I shall report it back.
It goes quite against
the reputation you have earned.
If you believe expedience
theatrical, Ambassador.
Ah, to call secrecy "expedient."
Now there's the man I have been told of.
So from the plethora of crises
currently knocking on your door,
your man here tells me
you've had some kind of revelation
about your Scottish problem,
about how to extricate yourself
from your unwinnable war.
Tell it to me.
- Did he not?
- Oh, no, he did.
But I should like to hear it from you.
- Why?
- For I would enjoy hearing it.
The English conquered Boulogne,
and we were wondering
if the French would like it back.
At a fair price.
You know, he does a good job
of trying to sell this
as a humiliation for me
rather than for him.
But I'm not buying it.
I'm not the one for sale, sir.
And the French are
to withdraw from Scotland
as part of this.
You already have
the little Scottish queen.
Our king received
the wedding invitation.
Oh! He did not reply.
What is it you hope to regain,
Lord Protector?
Your pride.
For I believe you've already lost that,
just now.
And they say the French are arrogant.
Show the ambassador out.
What?
I'd hoped you had
the nerve to speak plainly.
Or have you grown
accustomed to court life?
You're going to smile and mince as well,
or speak your mind like a man?
I thought the world was run by giants,
men who knew what they were doing.
With larger plans
than I could ever understand,
wheels within wheels.
But every time I come to court,
it seems smaller.
And I wonder if there are
any wheels at all.
And I don't know if the change
is the surroundings
or you
or me.
Princess.
The Lord Protector cannot sell Boulogne
without the say-so of the king, surely?
And yet he has.
Did he ask about the mass?
- He is unhappy.
- As am I.
This country's in tatters
because of that man.
Rebellion, churches looted,
Scotland, now this.
I'm losing.
Against myself, would you believe?
Do you think that some kind of metaphor?
It does not have to be.
How long now have we gone on the promise
of a reward in our next life?
But now the faith of this Isle is denied
by the same men that half-starve us
and kill us
working in the hope of that reward.
On the King's orders,
they smash our Churches,
they steal our lands,
and they threaten our souls.
Yeah.
Are we to live and die unrevenged?
- No!
- We deserve revenge.
Ring out the bells
and awake the true and common men.
Aye!
For no Lord of the Manor
will rest if we cannot rest.
Gentlemen have denied us
the common faith.
And the common man has a new motto.
Kill all gentlemen!
Kill them! Kill them!
Kill all gentlemen!
- Kill them!
- Yes!
Don't get trapped.
If you get trapped, don't panic.
Come on, Guildford, again.
Rob, come.
I'm improving, Father, no?
Not getting any worse.
For that, I'm grateful.
This one, though.
It's not improvement I look for
so much as some form of discipline.
- Discipline
- Augh!
Think I'm always gonna
be here to protect you?
Hmm? Either of you?
The fuck is that?
You, be better. You, Twirly, be smarter.
Get yourself under control.
What is it that you see, Father?
Everything, son. Everything.
That business with Henry Grey.
What, you think Henry Grey is
a respected man?
What do you think I think?
Sometimes I don't even know.
There we go.
So men never speak what they think?
Smart men, no. They do not.
Thank you very much, Your Grace.
Elizabeth.
Here, follow me.
You've got some color back now,
at least.
You said you love me.
When we last spoke, you said
you were in love with me.
Not for the first time.
I believe I've said that
quite often to you.
Have you gone all this time
believing I did not?
My love
I didn't lie to you.
I would never lie to you.
You said you loved her too.
You must have lied to one of us, then.
I will not speak ill of her for you.
That's not what I ask for.
That's not what I want
Leave the dead
in their graves, Elizabeth.
You have won a thorough enough
victory over her
surely as you sit here
breathing with me beside you.
- I flatter
- I know you loved her.
Then why say I did not?
If you love someone,
you wouldn't hurt them.
Then you didn't love her either.
You know, I-I've I've come to you
offering you my heart.
And if you don't want it,
as you so often claimed that you did,
then you are the liar, not me.
I'm sorry.
I just I just wanted answers.
You think I have them?
I'm not a man with answers.
Just a question.
I've spent my life
trying to be, um
many different people.
But you liked me just as I was.
And I was blissfully happy
whenever you were near.
Even now, as you torture me.
I would like to spend
the rest of my life
in your torturous company.
Please, say that I can.
You say yes?
Yes.
Can we make this, um, real and true?
Soon? Tomorrow? Tomorrow, Elizabeth.
I-I will drag the priest
from his bed at sunrise
But are the council all here?
Wh-who from the council
would you want at our wedding?
To get their consent.
You think the council
will consent to raising
another man up above them?
I think you think men
nobler than they are.
And even if they did,
my-my brother wouldn't let them.
Because it would make me happy,
and that can never be allowed, my love.
Then what do we do?
My brother does not fear war,
but politics.
If we go to them already married,
he would not risk the waves
it would take to part us.
Trust me.
For it worked before
when Catherine and you
I wish never to hear
her name from you again,
do you understand?
I've come to you for a new life,
not for us to beat ourselves with
with misery and the past.
- I've suffered.
- I have too, sir.
I've been all but banished
from this place,
but I fought my way back.
I will not give up my victories
to marry in the shadows.
Your brother is the Lord Protector.
Surely this can only be good for him.
You were married to a queen.
Yeah, and yet, I'm still not fit.
I love you. That makes you fit.
I choose you. That should be enough.
No, he won't.
- The King will.
- But he won't.
He is not the King.
Can you not make
this leap of faith with me?
Love should make us unafraid.
Should make you move mountains.
Then you move them, Thomas.
You move them for me.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
Five.
I haven't seen you at dinner.
I take meals in my room.
I've told you before.
You eat with your family.
Five again.
You've really done so much.
Thank you.
It's only the duty of a brother.
Five again.
Could you find it
in your heart to do more?
I want your blessing
to marry the Princess Elizabeth.
Our King Henry was barely cold
when you married his wife.
Now that wife is dead,
you want to marry his daughter?
What the fuck is wrong with you?
So what's your answer, then?
The answer is no.
Why can't you back me? Just once?
Because the odds are poor.
Hey!
Excuse me.
What are you doing?
Laying some protocol upon you.
Well, then stop. My brother summoned me.
Probably for another prayer meeting.
Yes, we've had a great many
scheduled since the mass.
For Catherine. I'm sorry.
I know.
You scarce had time
to speak to me last I saw you,
on your return to court.
I was only doing
what I thought I should.
You know that, don't you?
Of course.
That's all.
Oh, you're here. Come in.
Where is my brother?
The message referred
to "business of the king,"
so it's just me.
No, Lord Protector.
We have company.
Yes, the king feels it is time
for you to get married.
And what has brought this on?
Passing of time.
And that alone?
What else?
You have tried to marry
my family off once before.
I believe the war
with Scotland still rages.
Your father's war.
So now you wish to start your own?
With whom?
I only serve one man, my brother.
He treasures that.
But to remain unmarried
is simply too much of a risk,
both to the country
and to the New Church.
Don't worry.
You'll choose.
Eric XIV of Sweden,
and behind you is Otto Henry of
This is you,
isn't it?
These are the wishes of the King.
On whose instruction?
This is a strategy, is it not?
A considered match
could have its benefits,
of course.
I'm surprised by this reluctance.
I thought being safely married off
would be a relief after the rumors
and whispers of the past few months.
Have you spoken with your brother?
No. Have you?
What's wrong?
What do you mean?
You only do that when you're fraught.
Do I?
What troubles you?
Nothing.
You know, sometimes,
it's good to share your worries
with an inferior,
inconsequential person.
I can't see one of those.
And I have no worries, but thank you.
Why are you here again?
Not another prayer meeting?
I've yet to move your mountain.
Do it soon.
Impatient, are we?
I've just met with your brother.
My brother?
He thinks I should be married.
He says a foreign alliance.
He proposed a marriage? To another?
What business do you think
you have with me, Bishop,
that cannot wait till the Council meets?
I wish to make peace, Your Majesty.
Well, that's not done by making war.
- It is not I that makes war.
- Neither do I.
No, it is the man
who rules in your stead.
For Your Majesty to rule,
you must be in possession
of all the facts.
Do you wish to hear the facts?
- From you?
- No.
From your sister.
I'm listening.
I find it most unsettling,
him being nice to you.
What with taking you
into his house and all that.
That there is any humanity
in your brother
has now become the most
disturbing thing about him to me.
Don't worry. He's still a cunt.
I would like to speak.
I have a letter I would like to share
from my sister, Mary.
"My dear benign brother
and sovereign Lord,
"I've received word
from my French associates
"that the Lord Protector
hatches a wicked plan
"which makes a mockery of our father
"and everything he fought for.
"The plan: to sell Boulogne
back to the French.
"It is foolish that Lord Somerset
"should consider it at all,
"but to do it in secret?
Unforgivable."
Nonsense, no?
It's Catholic rabble-rousing
Are victories only won
if you yourself lead them, sir?
How many did we lose in France?
Ten times the amount
we lost in Scotland?
But that barely seems matter.
There is more than
Lord Grey's newfound pride
- at stake right now
- Enough now, sir.
You can sit and smirk
as if you answer to none of us,
but you do our king.
Your Majesty, the sale has
already been signed,
so two paths lie ahead of you right now.
We either break it,
disgrace and bankrupt our country
and no doubt lose
your first and only war,
or we fill our coffers,
keep our word, and win back Scotland.
Unless there is another man
here who would like to pay.
It isn't my word, but your word.
Your word is my word, sir.
A-am I the only man here
who understands his damn place?
I act on your behalf,
and I act in your interest.
I am your man, Sire.
And I am not yours.
I hope you make the Lord Protector pay
for the way he has used
his position, Sire,
the day you come of age.
Henry.
The Lord Protector best pray he's dead
before I come of age.
Henry, the time is now.
There's rebellions
already starting in Norfolk,
springing up all over
the fucking country.
He can't afford a war in Scotland.
Do you think he can afford a civil war?
- Who, Thomas
- I am Lord High Admiral.
We outman him.
The King hates him, as you heard.
There is fury in the court
and on the street.
A new order. A new order.
Let's tear him down.
The night the old king died,
he stole Edward from his bed.
No one consented to his fucking rule.
He had the king in his possession,
and no one said no.
Now I am saying fucking no.
Now, Henry, we can take
the king into our possession.
Join me in saying no to him.
"Him" being?
My brother.
Go home, Thomas.
- What?
- Go home and go to bed.
No, no, what?
You are standing
in the middle of Whitehall
trying to plan treason and rebellion.
I don't know if you're drunk
or stupid or mad,
but enough.
I hate the man too.
But not enough that I wish
to lose my life to that hatred.
You're scared of him?
No, sir.
A little of you right now. For you.
Do you think Catherine would
approve of this scheme?
Forget Catherine. Catherine is dead.
Yes, sir. And so will you be.
That's not all of it.
I have Elizabeth
- I want to hear no more of it.
- I have the princess.
Do you hear me, Thomas?
Leave this, I beg you.
Lord,
have times stooped so low
that I take the advice
of Henry fucking Grey?
Come to hide at home?
Hide?
I know you will not believe
that you owe me an explanation,
but try to take my word for it here
when I tell you that you fucking do.
How did the king take
How did the Princess Mary's
spies know before me?
They were not her spies.
I believe she found out from mine.
Oh, Jesus.
You couldn't even trust me with that?
Of course I trust you, John,
but you're not the Lord Protector.
I am.
We have to end this war.
There are rebellions
I am well aware there are
and where we all are
and also who is responsible for that.
But selling off Boulogne
was surely not the only answer.
Oh, well, then, what is the answer?
Well, little good it does
asking me that now.
Elizabeth.
I'll leave you.
No, wait. I want a witness.
Can you give me two things, Princess?
Depends what they are.
Ever the diplomat.
Can you give me patience?
- Elizabeth?
- Yes.
Can you give me faith?
In what?
In me.
"In what?" she asks. In me, of course.
My lady, I have a plan.
To do as you've asked.
To give you what you wanted.
So do you have faith?
Do you want to have faith in me?
Yes.
More than anything.
Well, that is a belief, isn't it?
And belief is a kind of faith.
Come up.
You'd invite a visitor upstairs?
I'd bring you, sir.
To my chamber.
Downstairs, quickly. Downstairs.
This was your room.
Hers and yours.
No, it'll be ours
as man and wife.
Remember your promise to me?
We won't speak of her.
Only the future, forever, my love.
Our future.
I love you.
I'll be back in the morning.
Do you think this is how my mother felt
when she was waiting to hear her fate?
How morbid.
I've made a mistake, haven't I?
This choice, it was the wrong one.
Again.
Just when I rid myself of the shame,
and then I've brought it all back,
and it's all happening all over again.
Now, you listen to me.
This is a chance to make something good
and whole from the ruins of before.
I want to be good.
It's too late for that.
It's too late for what is good,
what is easy.
But you can still do what is right.
Music.
What's that?
I want music, Kat.
- Now?
- Tonight.
If this is right, then
then we should be happy.
We should be celebrating.
Yes, I suppose we should.
I-I want musicians and wine and dancing.
Definitely dancing.
A celebration of being alive, Kat.
Of staying alive.
As soon as we depart Whitehall,
we head for Chelsea.
Let's liberate the king.
- Open the way.
- Aye.
That's very true.
Elizabeth, it's time for bed.
Shh. Shut up. Shh.
Shut the fuck shh!
Shut up. Shut up. Shh.
Shut up, fucking dog. Shut up.
Shh. Shut up. Shut up. Shh, shh.
Wait, sire.
Shh.
Right.
I came here to test
the security of the king,
my nephew, and no one stopped me.
The king. My nephew.
This is a fucking disgrace!
Necks will snap for this.
Open the door.
- Open the door!
- Yes, sir.
Sir? Sir!
Get me a horse.
Sir.
You keep that hand on me, boy,
and I'll fucking end you.
Here and in court.
No one would listen, sir.
You're finished.
My lord!
My girl.
My girl's getting married.
That makes it all better, doesn't it?
That makes it all all right.
- Take it away.
- No! Don't touch him.
This is the behavior
of a deeply disturbed man.
We've all seen here how quickly
he succumbs to anger.
We should not be surprised
by this behavior.
To come prepared with a weapon,
it seems planned,
but no one's heard a word about it.
This is not the work of a madman.
If it weren't for my son,
he'd be long clear of here by now
with the king.
We think this an attempt
to kidnap the king?
Or kill him.
Why does he want to kill me?
We-we don't know what he wanted.
No, but we do know what he's done.
Unless you know anything more.
How would I?
He's your brother.
Thomas.
Elizabeth.
We don't have much time.
Before what?
And you are to answer me truthfully.
- Of course.
- On what?
What's this urgency?
Thomas Seymour.
What about him?
When did you last see him?
Some time ago.
- And was there intimacy?
- Anthony!
Don't waste my time, Kat.
Was there intimacy?
I suggest you revise
your line of questioning, sir.
Out!
Out!
Out!
He broke into the palace at Whitehall.
It is suspected with the intent
of kidnapping the king.
For what purpose?
That is what they want to ask you.
Out. Out.
Have your answer.
- Princess Elizabeth.
- Sir.
I have a warrant for your arrest.
- For the princess?
- Both of you.
On what charge, sir?
Anthony no, no!
Step back. Step away from me.
You can't treat me like this.
I'm a I'm
A what?