Line #33 Series/ThePillarsOfTheEarth


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pillars_of_the_earth_2010_1400x2100_0.jpg]]
2
3	The television miniseries adapted from the [[Literature/ThePillarsOfTheEarth book of the same name.]]
4
5	!!The miniseries contains examples of:
6	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Lady Regan in the novel has hideous boils all over her face. In the miniseries, she's an otherwise attractive woman with a facial birthmark.
7	* AdaptationDistillation:
8	** Despite being eight hours long, the miniseries had to significantly abridge the 850+ page novel. Most notably, it cuts most of the last part of the book, including all of the Henry II/Thomas Becket showdown, and substituted a different ending.
9	** Jack's exile through France and Spain during which he continues learning and improving on his architecture is reduced to a stay in northern France.
10	* AdaptationInducedPlothole: The AgeLift of Richard in the miniseries means it makes much less sense whenever he doesn't step in to help his sister when she has trouble with a misogynistic culture. Not so much a plot hole as a drastic character alteration, as it makes him seem more [[TheLoad useless and cowardly.]]
11	* AdaptedOut:
12	** In the book Jack and Aliena have a second child, a daughter, who is not featured here.
13	** Also the fate of several historical figures who feature in the novel, notably Thomas Becket and Henry of Blois, neither of whom is present in the series.
14	* AgeCut: The last shot cuts forward [[spoiler: 840 years, to show Jack's cathedral still standing in the modern day]].
15	* TheAtoner: A minor character is a former thief who rescues Jonathon when Tom is forced to abandon him and becomes one of the monks of Kingsbridge. Later, [[spoiler: Brother Remigius]].
16	* BeardOfSorrow: Phillip at Tom's funeral.
17	%%* BloodFromTheMouth: Repeatedly.
18	* BornInTheWrongCentury: Ellen is essentially a twentieth century feminist stuck in 12th century England. Aliana is also somewhat ahead of her time, although she fits in to society slightly better.
19	%%* CainAndAbel: Jack and Alfred. Lampshaded by Jonathan.
20	%%* ClimbingClimax
21	* CompositeCharacter: Johnny Sixpence is now also the thief who steals Tom's pig.
22	* CourtroomAntics: Ellen disrupts Waleran's KangarooCourt by [[spoiler:revealing his direct role in Prince William's death.]]
23	* CreatorCameo: Ken Follett as a British merchant living in France, who was friends with Jack's father.
24	* CueTheSun: Masterfully invoked by Philip to put the fear of God into some quarriers. Later invoked in reverse by Jack with the unveiling of the statue that weeps at night (and for "at night", read "the second the sun crosses the horizon").
25	* CurbStompBattle: Henry vs. Eustace, who's scared and confused by the chaos of battle.
26	-->'''Henry:''' ''[[[BloodKnight cheerfully]]]'' Eustace! Eustace! Good to meet you, cousin! ''[kills him]''
27	* CurtainCamouflage: [[spoiler:Cuthbert]], complete with [[Theatre/{{Hamlet}} Polonian death]] and [[DramaticCurtainToss dramatic reveal]].
28	* DarkerAndEdgier: The miniseries, in many respects. While it leaves out some of the gorier details of the novel, it also adds some incest to make the Hamleighs more [[VillainousIncest villainous]], and changes just about every death in the story into some sort of murder.
29	%%* DeadGuyJunior: [[spoiler:Tom.]]
30	* DeadlyHug: [[spoiler:William kills Regan by suffocation.]]
31	* DeadPersonConversation: Stephen has a few unpleasant visions of the late Henry I.
32	* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler:Waleran, Walter, Percy, Regan.]]
33	* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Waleran]], who not only refuses Jack's offer to TakeMyHand, but then [[BloodFromTheMouth spits blood]] in Philip's face as he delivers the last rites.
34	%%* DiesWideOpen: [[spoiler: Tom Builder]].
35	* DisappearedDad: Jack's father was killed when he was a little boy.
36	* DisneyVillainDeath: [[spoiler: Waleran]].
37	* TheDogBitesBack: William's wife Elizabeth helps Aliena and Richard retake Shiring Castle to get back at him for his years of [[DomesticAbuse beating her]] and [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil worse]] during their [[AwfulWeddedLife marriage]]. Waleran even explicitly names the trope during a following conversation with William.
38	-->'''William''': She betrayed me! My own wife!
39	-->'''Waleran''': If you [[KickTheDog kick a dog]], it may one day rise up to bite you. [[spoiler: Your [[MyBelovedSmother mother]] never learned that and now she [[FireAndBrimstoneHell burns in the eternal fire]].]]
40	-->'''William''': [[IRejectYourReality Nonsense, she's in Heaven]], kneeling before the throne of God.
41	-->'''Waleran''': She's in Hell, William, and rumour has it ''you'' put her there.
42	* TheDragon: Walter, to William.
43	* DueToTheDead: A few, but most prominently for [[spoiler: Tom Builder]].
44	* EvenEvilHasStandards: While [[spoiler:killing the pig boy that Waleran substituted for Eustace]], Walter looks distinctly unhappy about it. He still does it, because he's got orders, but he actually hesitates. Waleran too; presumably he thought that the queen would let the boy go when she realized [[spoiler: he wasn't Eustace and so killing him would serve no purpose]], and he looks genuinely shocked when she orders him executed purely out of spite. The next time we see him he is putting tacks in his shoes while he prays for forgiveness.
45	* GetOut: Tom to Jack, after he [[spoiler:confesses to burning the old cathedral.]]
46	* HeroicBastard: Jack, who has to rise above the grief he gets both from the church, and from his legitimate brother Alfred (who for his part resents being TheUnfavourite when by law he's his father's only "true" son).
47	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Stephen of England goes from "weak pawn of the nobles" to personally arranging the deaths of his predecessor, Henry I, and his son and heir so he can inherit the throne.
48	* ItWillNeverCatchOn:
49	** Philip accidentally invents the futures market some 500 years ahead of time, and Aliena has to convince him that it makes sense.
50	** Also, Tom Builder’s idea of using glass to build cathedrals, which his sons laugh at. Jack later invents stained glass windows... which Philip thinks are a fad.
51	* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Martha's apparently been nursing a bit of a crush on Jack ever since she was small, but never pursued it because he was clearly in love with Aliena (and also perhaps because she's essentially his stepsister). [[spoiler: This does however cause her to steal Jack's ring so as to have a small piece of him to herself.]]
52	* KneelBeforeZod: Waleran demands this of Philip after he refuses to declare fealty to him.
53	* {{Matricide}}: William smothers his mother after too many creepily "[[IncestSubtext affectionate]]" gestures.
54	* MsFanservice: Aliena, what with the love scenes and the skinny dipping. And of course the fact that she's played by the lovely Hayley Atwell.
55	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: William and Waleran have moments when their conscience makes them feel guilty after the fact. Waleren usually scourges himself when that happens, while William fears he's going to Hell.
56	* MyRuleFuIsStrongerThanYours: Waleran tries to have Jack arrested on the cathedral site, and Philip invokes sanctuary. Waleran counters that the cathedral is unfinished and thus undedicated, so doesn't count as holy ground. [[spoiler:He's HoistByHisOwnPetard later when he tries to claim sanctuary himself.]]
57	%%* OnlyMostlyDead: [[spoiler: Jack Jackson]].
58	* ParentalIncest: William and his mother. This is quite unwanted on William's part, and quite creepily obsessive on his mother's. Which ends up leading to [[spoiler:her murdering his father, and much later him murdering her after she prodded him too far.]]
59	* ProphecyTwist:
60	** "Peace will reign and war depart/when arrows pierce my daughter's heart" - doesn't technically say that she'll ''lose'', mind you...
61	** Ellen's curse on Waleren, whom she predicts will climb high and then fall. Naturally you'd assume this to be a metaphor, but it happens literally when he falls from the roof of the cathedral.
62	%%* PsychicDreamsForEveryone
63	* RedHeadedStepchild: Jack is a redheaded [[HeroicBastard bastard]] child. Ironically, his stepfather (and stepsister, for that matter) treat him as a member of the family. This treatment is later applied to [[spoiler: Tommy]], who is also redheaded
64	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: William's troop of soldiers all promptly desert him and Waleran during Jack's trial.
65	* SexualKarma: We cut from Tom and Ellen having passionate, loving sex to Regan and Percy Hamleigh having [[LousyLoversAreLosers perfunctory, unpleasant sex]]. The two even [[UnfocusedDuringIntimacy talk about strategy during their intercourse]].
66	* ShipperOnDeck: Ellen wants her son to be happy. To the point of cursing marriages that make him unhappy. "Cursing" here involving a freshly killed chicken and a spray of blood.
67	* SkywardScream: Richard, after killing [[spoiler:Walter]].
68	%%* SparedByTheAdaptation: [[spoiler:Richard.]]
69	* SpitefulSpit: "I fear I must now perform an unfortunate familiarity." Waleran to [[spoiler: Stephen after he's gotten captured and humiliated by his enemies, and needs Waleran to save him]].
70	* SufferTheSlings: William is hit in the head by a slung stone during the attack on Kingsbridge. It knocks him to the ground with a nasty bruise, which is enough [[KeystoneArmy to drive his men off]], but does no lasting damage.
71	%%* TakeMyHand: [[spoiler:Jack to Waleran.]]
72	* TimePassageBeard: Prior Phillip is seen older and with a beard in the end, after a TimeSkip.
73	* TookALevelInBadass: Richard goes from a coward to a badass knight. All it took was three years of English civil war (the additional ten years in UsefulNotes/TheCrusades didn't hurt either).
74	* TrainingThePeacefulVillagers: When Kingsbridge is attacked by William. Richard does the training, and Jack gets them building a wall.
75	* TrappedInVillainy: Remigius, who does Waleran's bidding largely because Waleran holds the leverage Remigius [[spoiler: is a closeted homosexual]] over his head.
76	* TwoScenesOneDialogue:
77	** Ellen/Aliena convincing [[TheDogBitesBack Remegius/Elizabeth to betray Waleran/William.]]
78	** Alfred and Aliena's wedding and William and Elizabeth's.
79	* VillainousBreakdown: King Stephen has a ''huge'' one when he visits Kingsbridge and sees some red paint on a newly finished statue drop on the [[spoiler: fake]] relic of St. Adolphus, causing it to look like the “saintly skull” is weeping blood, then notices that Jack, its sculptor, is the fiery-haired artist boy he was warned about in a [[PsychicDreamsForEveryone vision]] of Henry I. He has another episode after finding out [[spoiler:his son Eustace has been killed in battle]].
80	* VillainousIncest: William and Regan. This provides a bit of an explanation for why William acts the way he does; one look at his face when he mother's coming onto him tells you that (1) he's really disgusted, and (2) this has likely been going on since he was very young. [[spoiler:One such overture directly leads to him killing Regan.]]
81	* WallBangHer: Tom is shown having sex with Ellen up against a wall at one point.
82	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:
83	** Elizabeth, William's wife. She disappears after Richard retakes Shiring except for when she's briefly seen working for Aliena.

Context Series / ThePillarsOfTheEarth