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Ah, Lady Jane. So sweet, so pure, so …. doe-like.
We hear Jane Seymour speak a little more this episode, though Queen Anne still gets the best lines — or moans of anguish, as the case may be.
As the ep opens, Jane arrives at court, escorted by her brother Edward. Anne gives her new lady-in-waiting a very cold, wary reception. She knows this new rival is no Madge, there to fill the king’s bed as a loyal convenience. No, Jane may become a force to reckon with:
Jane, with her ice-queen good looks (Anita Briem actually is from Iceland), country breeding and little-girl voice, stands in obvious contrast to Anne, whose dark beauty, overweening ambition and intelligence may be her undoing. By the end of the episode, King Henry declares that Anne “bewitched” him into marriage. Two episodes later, we’ll see her head roll for it.
But back to the here and now: Henry, feeling his oats, suggests to Sir Henry Norris (Madge’s soon-to-be husband) that they have a friendly jousting match. The king isn’t as young as he once was, but Norris can’t say no and the tournament is arranged. It’s a great chance for us to see the court cuties in armor (Henry Cavill looks delish) and for the court wives to gossip about Anne, who chooses not to attend because she doesn’t want to overexert herself while carrying the king’s son.
Her absence leaves the king free to woo Lady Jane, who’s taken her scheming brother’s advice to remain chaste in the face of Henry’s affection — following the Boleyn handbook on how to become queen. Henry asks Jane if he can wear her favors at the match. She obliges, giving him a pale ribbon from her exquisite blue gown. (When she’s not in lady-in-waiting uniform, Jane’s costumes are amazing. Anne’s, on the other hand, tend toward the severe and matronly. Like Katherine last season, she’s wearing a lot of black. Subtle symbolism? Nah. Hit us over the head a little, why dontcha?)
After a few riders joust successfully, Henry takes to his horse. Something goes wrong, and he’s thrown from the animal mid-course, then crushed by its weight. For almost an hour, he’s unconscious. Charles Brandon seems to be the only one grieving for his dear friend, while everyone else makes plans for succession should the king die. Papa Boleyn and Cromwell have all their ducks in a row to ensure Elizabeth’s coronation, with Boleyn as her proxy. Anne, while she seems anguished at Henry’s injury, also looks relieved at the prospect that her child could be made heir to the throne, without having to worry about Princess Mary.
All their schemes are for naught, though, as Henry comes out of the accident with serious, but not deadly, injuries (He’ll later develop gout and become the fat guy we know from his royal portraits). When Henry awakens, he finds Lady Jane’s ribbon inside his breastplate and concludes that Jane served as his guardian angel, keeping him from harm. (Cynical side note: I wondered why he didn’t see it as the opposite — after jousting without incident for years, he got hurt on the day he asked for her favors, making Jane a bad luck charm, not a good one.)
Henry can’t wait to show Jane his gratitude and sweeps her into an embrace. As they kiss, Anne sweeps into the room. Seeing them, she screeches in despair at Henry’s betrayal.
Later, she howls again — in heartbreak and in pain — and we see her nightgown soaked in blood. She’s lost the baby, and with it any chance of reclaiming Henry’s affection and securing her place on the throne. When the king tells her not to speak of the loss, she screams back that it’s her utter devotion and love for him that made her lose the child, since she was so devastated at his infidelity.
A few side notes:
• Princess Mary apparently is ill, and Katherine’s autopsy showed a growth on her heart that indicates poisoning. Anne greets the news of Mary’s illness with glee, saying maybe she’ll do the Boleyns a favor and die of natural causes.
• The pope invites the King Francis to Rome and asks him to carry the bull of excommunication to Henry in England. The French king looks stricken at the prospect, knowing it could lead to all-out war.
• Henry asks after Cromwell’s family. Seems he has a wife and children, who the king invites to court. This foreshadows a later plot line (perhaps for Season 3), since Cromwell’s son eventually marries Jane Seymour’s sister.
• George Boleyn’s wife nags at him till he finally admits his affair with Mark. She shrieks something about gay sex being an abomination that will doom his soul to purgatory. He replies that being married to her is already like being in hell, so what’s he got to lose.
Coming next week: The Seymours are granted rooms at court and the tide turns against Anne, who’s accused of adultery.
