Line #233 Series/TheTudors


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5	[-[[caption-width-right:350:"You think you know a story, but you only know how it ends."]]-]
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7	Showtime's Emmy-nominated retelling of the life of [[UsefulNotes/HenryVIII King Henry VIII]].
8
9	The first two seasons devote most of their time to the dissolution of his marriage to the older UsefulNotes/CatherineOfAragon and his deepening relationship with the saucy UsefulNotes/AnneBoleyn, who was to become his second wife. Gone from this series is the traditional vision of Henry as the bearded, bloated, jewel-encrusted, aging monarch who gleefully sent his wives to the chopping block. Instead, Creator/JonathanRhysMeyers' portrayal is that of a young, dynamic king determined to use his position to squeeze as much pleasure as he can out of life whilst balancing atop the ruthless world of Renaissance politics.
10
11	(He ''does'' get a beard as of the second season, however.)
12
13	In the third season, the story continues with Henry's third and fourth wife, and introduces the fifth. Season 4 covers wives five and six.
14
15	Despite this series' claim to tell the ''real'' story, this production is mostly a cut down version of history, [[VeryLooselyBasedOnATrueStory playing fast and loose with the facts]] to tell a dramatic tale of intrigue, sex, disease, sex, tragedy, sex, death and ''[[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment sex]]''. Despite the constant sex, the show is very good at showing a lot of the intrigue and events that went on between Henry and his aides, and the reformation is handled reasonably accurately, with a great emphasis on the rebellions and difficulties it made.
16
17	The series formally debuted on {{Showtime}} on April 1, 2007, and the fourth and final season ended June 20, 2010.
18
19	A SpiritualSuccessor to ''The Tudors'' called ''Series/TheBorgias'' based on the life of other figures of UsefulNotes/TheRenaissance, Rodrigo Borgia (aka UsefulNotes/PopeAlexanderVI) and his family, began airing April 2011.
20
21	----
22	!!This show provides examples of:
23
24	* ZeroPercentApprovalRating:
25	** In the first season, Wolsey was never loved by many, but even those who owed him a lot drop him as he falls.
26	** Anne Boleyn and infant Elizabeth: "Because the pope, and he, and the emperor all AGREE. She is a bastard and you are not my wife." Sadly for Anne, this also went for most of the English people at that time. She does end up regaining some of her reputation after her death, because regardless of her previous actions, she was innocent of the crimes she was accused of and her execution was considered unjust.
27	** North of London, Cromwell, Cranmer and their policies were hated to the point that thousands rebelled.
28	* AbortedArc:
29	** The departure from the series of Creator/HenryCzerny, who played the Duke of Norfolk, caused endless problems for the show given how very important the real Norfolk was to the story. Some of his actions were reassigned to Suffolk and Edward Seymour (in reality Norfolk was possibly the one who orchestrated the affair between Catherine Howard and Henry).
30	** For Season 4, Norfolk's son, the Earl of Surrey, became Katherine Howard's uncle. Historically, Norfolk was her uncle and Surrey was a man in his twenties or thirties at this point. Since Katherine was seventeen, that would have worked, but they made Surrey at least in his forties if not older.
31	** One also has to mention Thomas Cranmer, who disappears from the show after Season 2 but in real life played an important role in the downfall of Katherine Howard. A letter detailing Katherine's indiscretions, which historically Cranmer presented to Henry personally, is instead given anonymously.
32	** The Pope, his Cardinals and Reginald Pole's attempts to undermine Henry and the Reformation from Rome, and Henry's attempts to eliminate Pole, are given significant screen time in Seasons 2 and 3. But in Season 4 Pole disappears with barely a mention, and Rome is not seen or heard from again.
33	* AbusiveParents:
34	** Thomas Boleyn is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. He will do anything to his children if it means power for him. He forcibly persuades Mary to become Henry's mistress, then places Anne in her place when the king tires of her. He later disowns Mary after she marries a commoner and tells her she and her husband can burn in hell. He forces George to marry a woman he can't stand and abuses Anne to keep Henry's interest. After Anne has her first miscarriage, he blames her for it and is only concerned that the unborn child is his ticket to power. He later protests against Anne and George to save himself. When he is released he is only relieved that he gets to keep his earldom and totally ignores that both his children will die. The last time Anne sees him is him giving her a nasty look.
35	** Henry is this as well. He makes his daughters illegitimate and takes away their titles. Even to his long-awaited son Edward, he becomes overprotective and expects far too much. Jane Seymour later calls him out on this, saying Edward will die young.
36	* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: As a trim young ruler, Henry was considered world-beating handsome; famously, though, over the course of his reign he became morbidly obese. To reflect this, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers could have worn a fat suit, gained weight deliberately, or subjected himself to CGI tricks, but virtually any such measures risked becoming the focus of the audience's attention, at the expense of his performance. In the end, Rhys-Meyers wore minimal aging makeup, communicated Henry's increasing ungainliness and ill health mainly through body language and bulky clothes, and let WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief do the rest. Yet by avoiding his obesity and the health issues that accompanied it, many character motivations are altered by perception -- his mood swings began as his health declined, rather than being a part of his base character as the show implies, and Kathryn Howard's dalliance with Culpepper is more understandable as a teenager married to a old man who could not rise without help of mechanical instruments, had to be carried around, and stank from the suppurating ulcers in his leg.
37	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Many, many examples throughout the series, but perhaps the most striking change is Queen Claude of France, played by the stunning Gabriella Wright. The real Queen Claude was pale, obese (not helped by spending almost the entirety of her adult life more or less continuously pregnant), and sickly, with a hunched back due to scoliosis.
38	* AdaptationDyeJob:
39	** Henry VIII was a redhead in real life, but he's a brunette in the show.
40	** Similarly, Catherine of Aragon had reddish-blonde hair in real life, but she has black hair in the show.
41	** Very nearly happened with Anne Boleyn, but Creator/NatalieDormer, a blonde in real life, stood firm about playing her as a brunette.
42	** Mary had her father's red hair, not dark brown -- not surprising as her mother also had reddish hair.
43	** Kathryn Howard's hair was described as auburn, whereas in the show she's a [[DumbBlonde blonde]].
44	* AgeLift: Will Sommers, Henry's favourite court jester, is portrayed as an older man. The real Sommers was younger, to the point of thinking of Henry as an [[HonoraryUncle uncle]], and was still in service by Elizabeth's reign.
45	* AlasPoorVillain:
46	** Wolsey's prayer in the last episode of Season 1.
47	** Thomas Cromwell's monologue and prayer prior to being executed in the Season 3 finale.
48	** Any bad guy who is executed, in general. Especially those who are hanged, drawn and quartered.
49	** Anne Boleyn may not have been popular, within in England or abroad, but few thought she was guilty of her charges or that she deserved to be executed. This causes many potential brides to turn Henry down after the death of Jane Seymour in fear of him. When Princess Christina of Denmark is proposed to by Henry's ambassadors, she replies that she would only marry Henry if she had two heads.
50	* AllForNothing: Henry goes through deplorable lengths in order to beget the son he always wanted for the sake of securing the Tudor Dynasty. As history would show, and as constantly foreshadowed by the series itself, all his efforts come to naught because his long awaited heir dies as a teenager before he could have any children himself, and would end up having a comparatively unremarkable reign to the ones his older sisters would have. To pour even more salt in the wound, Henry himself is to blame for the dynasty dying out, as his refusal to let Mary get married during his reign led to her marrying at too old an age to have children, while Elizabeth absolutely ''refused'' to get married herself due to her view of marriage being warped by his actions.
51	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Sir Francis Bryan. Later Thomas Seymour with Catherine Parr.
52	%%* AlphaBitch: Anne Boleyn, Lady Rochford and the Countess of Hertford.
53	* AntiVillain: Suffolk, to the northern rebels. He elects to execute only the leaders of the rebellion (74 out of 40,000) after they had disbanded. Henry, through Cromwell, [[KickTheDog demands that he slaughter hundreds more to teach the rebels a lesson.]] Charles [[DirtyBusiness isn't happy about what he must do to retain the favor of the king.]]
54	* AnyoneCanDie: Anyone who upsets king Henry VIII regardless of whether they are Catholic or Protestant, can get executed.
55	** Bishop Gardiner, Thomas Howard and Mary Tudor keep their Catholic views in secret, hidden from king Henry VIII. That is why they survive. Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell are outspoken Protestants who get executed. Thomas Cranmer is the only outspoken Protestant of the main three (Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer) who survives.
56	* ArmorPiercingQuestion: "But tell me first, how is your beautiful wife?" The Queen of France to Charles Brandon, when he suggests that she jumps into bed with him to get back at her own cheating husband.
57	** "Can you not be more like her?" Anne is floored when her brother breaks it to her that Catherine was a good queen and that Anne would do well to take a few lessons from her as to personal conduct and social policy.
58	* ArrangedMarriage: Tons of them. Hardly any actually work out. If it ''does'' work out, it doesn't last long. Interestingly, however, five out of six of Henry's wives were chosen by him personally. They ''still'' don't end happily.
59	* ArtisticLicenseHistory:
60	** The series follows the general trajectory of history, but the inaccuracies could fill up a page on their own. Not to mention that everything is sexed up a metric ton. To be fair, they do avoid some of the most common myths about Henry VIII's reign, such as portraying Henry as TheCaligula.
61	** The show has UsefulNotes/ThomasMore being drawn on a hurdle to his execution. In real life this only happened if you were being hung, drawn and quartered; More's sentence had been reduced to simple beheading. Wolseley died of a fever, not suicide (although this one is portrayed as being covered up). It wasn't Thomas and Anne who disowned Mary for marrying Stafford but Henry was furious and disowned her while Anne simply sided with him. These are just two of many changes from history.
62	** The worst example is probably the treatment UsefulNotes/MargueriteDeNavarre received. In reality, she was a very intellectual and brave woman, who was a gifted writer and also traveled tirelessly to get her brother Francis freed when he had been taken captive at Pavia. Anne Boleyn was greatly influenced by her, and would as queen write that seeing her again was her greatest wish next to having a son. In the series, Marguerite is portrayed as TheDitz, who sleeps with Henry right after meeting him.
63	** Thomas Boleyn is portrayed as a cruel, abusive father who was only interested in using his children to further his own political gain and put his daughters in front of the king to increase his station. In fact, the real Thomas Boleyn was a brilliant politician in his own right and an ambassador to the Netherlands. His promotion had as much to do with his own merit as it did Henry taking a liking to Anne. There's no evidence that he was ever abusive to his children and evidence shows that he actually discouraged Anne from pursuing marriage to Henry.
64	* ArtisticLicenseTraditionalChristianity: Jane Boleyn saying how George's sexual relationship with Mark Smeaton will cause him to spend eternity in purgatory. No one spends eternity in purgatory. It is where souls intended for heaven go when they die to cleanse themselves to be holy enough for heaven, but they will not stay forever.
65	* AssholeVictim: The King of Portugal is portrayed as a misogynistic DirtyOldMan when Margaret is forced to marry him, so we don't feel bad for him at all when she strangles him to death nor can we blame her.
66	* AssInAmbassador: Henry wants to meet a couple of French ladies so he can inspect them before he decides to marry them. The French ambassador then jokes to Henry that he tries them all out before making a choice. Clearly he was unaware what kind of man Henry was because [[BerserkButton hilarity does not ensue]].
67	* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning:
68	** For Anne Boleyn. At her coronation, Henry crowns her himself using [[CoolCrown St Edward's Crown]], usually reserved for the reigning monarch.
69	** For Henry's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, when he is given his ducal coronet [[CutenessOverload as a toddler]].
70	* BaitAndSwitch: In Episode 1 of Season 4, Henry, about to leave London for a time, asks his advisors who is being kept prisoner at the Tower of London. His advisors inform him that there are four awaiting his judgement, amongst them his new queen, Katherine Howard's cousin, Lord Dacre, who is guilty of killing an old man in a drunken brawl during a night out, and that the young man's father has written to the King, begging him to show mercy on account of Dacre's youth and this being his first offence. Henry decides the first three prisoners are to be beheaded, but insists that Lord Dacre is different...because if he's going to behave like a common criminal, that's how he'll be punished; Henry gives the order for the man to be dragged by his feet to Tyburn, and hanged there like a common thief.
71	** Back in Season 2, Cromwell is discussing how [[BigBrotherIsWatching his spies have informed him]] a priest in Tewksbury has been offering prayers to his congregation for Queen Catherine, not Queen Anne...
72	-->'''Thomas Wyatt''': What will you do to him?
73	-->'''Thomas Cromwell''': Nothing. He's near eighty years old; an absent minded slip of the tongue in such an old man is perfectly forgivable.
74	* BalanceOfPower: The Emperor's lands is A, France is B and England is sometimes C and sometimes D. It becomes scary for England when A and B temporarily ally, so it then tries to ally with E (the Protestant League). England became known for doing this in the centuries to come. Ironically, Henry is not good at maintaining this at his own court, allowing new favourites to cause the downfall of former (and sometimes very useful) favourites.
75	* TheBeard:
76	** Thomas Tallis seems to be played more as a subversion as he's played as genuinely attracted to both his lovers. George Boleyn and Mark Smeaton are TheBeard [[IncrediblyLamePun played straight.]]
77	** Mark Smeaton definitely is. George is an open question because in Season 1 he definitely seemed to enjoy sex with women in at least one instance -- funnily enough, with the sisters who later were caught up with Thomas Tallis. It's quite possible he just didn't like his wife.
78	* BetaCouple: Charles and Catherine Brandon, until they are separated in Season 4.
79	* BlatantLies: The Protestant propaganda plays. They take place after the sack of Rome in the 16th century. So calling the Pope "a rich fellow" at this point is objectively wrong. It's also unfair to Cardinal Campeggio who was trying to help king Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. To add insult to injury, Cardinal Campeggio lost everything during the sack of Rome in RealLife and is one of the only Catholic characters who is kind towards Anne Boleyn.
80	** Henry himself indulges in this. Many of his victims would be promised pardons and his favour before he backstabs them by having them banished or executed.
81	** And to be quite fair a lot of people at court spew blatant lies as easy as they breathe; from Henry to his courtiers and even other European monarchs. It would be easier to list down people who are actually being truthful and follow through with it.
82	* BilingualBonus: All of the prayers and religious ceremonies are conducted in historically-accurate Latin. Although with such horrible pronunciation that it's barely understandable.
83	* BindingAncientTreaty:
84	** Averted; In Season 1, a treaty of universal and perpetual peace is concluded. It does not last long.
85	** Lampshaded by Mary's slight eye-roll when the French ambassador raises the possibility of yet another betrothal to a French prince.
86	* BirthDeathJuxtaposition: In episode two, while Buckingham is sentenced and executed, Lady Blount gives birth and Henry finds to his joy she has given him a son.
87	* BlameGame: Expect it to be played quickly by everyone involved as soon as things go wrong. Whoever wins usually gets to keep their head, at least for the moment.
88	* BrainlessBeauty: Katherine Howard is a giggly teenage airhead totally out of her depth in court. Mary Boleyn also fits this category.
89	%%* BringIt: "And what if he does not?"
90	* BritishSeries: At least partly. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors Wikipedia]] has a full list of companies involved with it. It would be better to call it an Irish-Canadian series with British actors and American buyers.
91	* BringMyBrownPants: Poor Katherine wets herself before her execution.
92	* BrotherSisterIncest: Never shown or even hinted at in the programme; no suggestion that it was anything more than slander in history.
93	%%* BrotherSisterTeam: Anne and George Boleyn.
94	* CallForward: The show ended before getting into Mary's reign, possibly because there wasn't as much sexy time involved, but her loathing of Protestants, her comments about wanting to burn Cromwell, and her promises when on tours with her father that "all will be well" are Calls Forward to her attempt at a Counter-Reformation after she becomes queen. Similarly, several characters prophetically murmur about how Elizabeth will become a great woman; Mary even curtseys to her and calls her 'Queen Elizabeth'.
95	* TheCasanova: Charles Brandon in the first season.
96	* ChewingTheScenery: UsefulNotes/ThePope excommunicating Henry. And oh boy, did they give him a ''LOT'' of scenery to munch on!
97	%%* ChivalrousPervert: Francis Bryan.
98	* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Henry, the King of France, and the Holy Roman Emperor are constantly signing treaties with one another, then breaking them the very ''second'' they stop being in their short-term interest.
99	* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
100	** The Duke of Norfolk, Anthony Knivert and Thomas Tallis after Season 1, though Norfolk is mentioned once in Season 2.
101	** Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, is similarly given a single mention in Season 3, although as noted above, historically he should have played a ''huge'' role in Season 4. Although, his letter to Henry about Katherine Howard's adultery is given anonymously, so it can easily be assumed to be from him.
102	** Pope Paul III actually outlived Henry, but he is not seen after Season 2, since Creator/PeterOToole did not return to the cast.
103	** Reginald Pole is given significant screen time in Season 3, but disappears for Season 4.
104	* ColdBloodedTorture: The favorite way of extracting a confession in the Renaissance era. Many real life torture methods of the era are shown rather graphically on screen.
105	* ComicBookTime: Season 1. The events in this season at a minimum cover the period from 1520-1530, including some events thay occurred before and after these years, but dates are never used and all adult characters avoid aging. This approach to time passing is likely to avoid the confusion of different storylines playing out of sync, and to avoid jarring time skips after almost every episode. Later seasons are much more centered around specific years.
106	* ComplimentBackfire: Henry thinks he's paying Anne Boleyn a great compliment by offering her to become his one and only mistress. She does not.
107	* CompositeCharacter:
108	** Henry VIII actually had two sisters, Mary and Margaret. The character portrayed in the show is given the biography of Mary, but the name of Margaret, because they feared that the audience could have her mistaken with the daughter of Henry and Catherine (or, if [[WordOfGod Michael Hurst]] is to be believed, so that the actors wouldn't get confused on set). In Season 3, he refers to the King of Scotland as his nephew, even though as far as anyone knows, he did not have another sister to be the Scots King's mother. Margaret Tudor, Henry's sister, married James IV of Scotland and was mother to James the V of the Scotland. But if the viewer doesn't ''know'' that, the show doesn't make sense.
109	** Anne Stanhope's character storyline, especially in Season 4, sounds like a rewrite of what happened with Edward Seymour's first wife, only with his second wife's name attached.
110	* TheConscience: Catherine Brandon to her husband. When Jane Seymour lies dying, Henry begs God not to take her, and calls her his "light in this dark world".
111	* CostumePorn: And how. Most of the show's characters wear elaborate, lavish costumes especially those in the court of Henry VI.
112	* CorruptChurch: This appears to be the case with the Catholic Church in England (which was very much TruthInTelevision), which is precisely what spurs the English Reformation, alongside Henry's marital problems. It becomes a problem of OffstageVillainy: while we hear all about the excesses of the Church, we don't see many of them, with the exception of Cardinal Wolsey's corrupt activities.
113	* CultureClash: Cleves and England. Anne thinks she's offended the king because she's not used to English manners, but he's really just upset that she's ([[HollywoodHomely apparently]]) not pretty enough.
114	* DarkerAndEdgier: One of the darkest and edgiest interpetations of the Tudor era, alongside Wolf Hall.
115	%%* DancesAndBalls: A ''lot'' of them.
116	* DeathByAdaptation: The real Henry [=FitzRoy=] died when he was seventeen, not when he was a small child.
117	* DeathByChildbirth: Jane Seymour passed away from Childbed Fever shortly after the birth of Prince Edward. A tragic case of TruthInTelevision.
118	* DeadPersonConversation: Charles Brandon with Thomas Darcy in Pontefract Castle. Also Henry with Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour in the last episode.
119	* DescriptionCut: Wolsey in his final prayer insists that while he is not a good man he is not evil, "pray louder, seek Penance, and are more certain that they are closer to Heaven than I am." Immediately smash cuts to Thomas More praying just after he's burned a Protestant.
120	* DiseaseByAnyOtherName: UsefulNotes/HenryVIII's armies are laying siege to Boulogne, but the men are suffering badly from the "bloody flux", i.e., dysentery[[note]] For those of you wondering, dysentery is really bad. Imagine the worst diarrhea in the world... now fill it with blood... now die from it. That is what it is. It is '''''extreme shitting''''' followed by death.[[/note]]
121	* DisproportionateRetribution: The plotting courtiers against Cromwell. Brandon blamed him for his harsh policies against the rebels, which basically forced Brandon into an impossible position. Gardner is his religious enemy. But what did he ever do to the others that they want him to suffer extra and be humiliated on the scaffold?
122	* TheDitz: Katherine Howard, in addition to being TooDumbToLive.
123	* DomesticAbuser: Henry emotionally and verbally abuses Catherine of Aragon. Later, the emotional abuse crops up again with Anne Boleyn and in one rather unsettling scene with Jane Seymour -- where an implied threat of meeting Anne's fate is paired with a physically affectionate gesture after.
124	* DoomedMoralVictor:
125	** Thomas Moore. John Fisher. Catherine of Aragon. Jane Seymour. The peasant revolutionaries, just to name a few based on their portrayals in the show.
126	** Wolsey is a bit of a Doomed Amoral Victor. He is right about how to manage Henry, right about what refusing the divorce will do to Papal authority in England, and right that war with France isn't likely to be profitable (as shown in later seasons). His lack of morals is the only way to win in Henry's court, but he's still doomed.
127	* DoubleMeaningTitle:
128	** The premiere episode, "In Cold Blood":
129	*** Henry's uncle is assassinated by the French.
130	*** The Duke of Buckingham plots Henry's assassination.
131	** Four kings are at the centre of the Season 1 episode "His Majesty the King": Henry, Francis I, Charles V, and the unnamed king of Portugal.
132	** The Season 1 episode "Arise, My Lord":
133	*** Henry bestows titles upon his illegitimate son, Henry [=FitzRoy=], as well as Thomas Boleyn. He also attempts to make Anne his official mistress (''maîtresse en titre''), but she refuses.
134	*** Cardinal Wolsey, who was recently denied the opportunity to rise to the papacy, is reminded that he does not have the authority to annul Henry's marriage to Catherine.
135	** The Season 1 episode "Look to God First":
136	*** Judgment regarding Henry and Catherine's marriage reverts to the Roman Curia.
137	*** Anne encourages Henry to read a book that says only God, not the Pope, can have authority over a king.
138	** The Season 2 episode "Checkmate":
139	*** The main focus of the episode is Henry's efforts to outmaneuver the Catholic Church in order to marry Anne Boleyn.
140	*** At the very end of the episode, [[spoiler: Henry plays with chess pieces on the naked body of one of Anne's ladies]].
141	** The Season 2 episode "His Majesty's Pleasure":
142	*** Cardinal John Fisher is "to be tried according to His Majesty's pleasure."
143	*** [[spoiler: Henry enjoys a spur-of-the-moment dalliance with a woman he meets in the woods]].
144	** A triple-meaning title for the Season 2 episode "Lady in Waiting":
145	*** Jane Seymour arrives at court to serve as a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn.
146	*** Soon after, Jane and her family begin waiting for Henry to cast Anne aside in her favor.
147	*** Meanwhile, a heavily pregnant Anne is impatient for her son to be born, as this is what she needs in order to get rid of the Seymours.
148	** The Season 4 episode "Moment of Nostalgia":
149	*** Brandon is plagued by memories of his role in defeating the northern uprising.
150	*** Henry's marriage to Katherine Howard makes him feel like the young, virile king he used to be.
151	** The final episode, "Death of a Monarchy":
152	*** [[spoiler: Henry dies off-screen at the end of the episode]].
153	*** The ghost of Jane Seymour warns Henry that Prince Edward will die young.
154	*** The epilogue notes that Elizabeth would become the last Tudor monarch.
155	* DoubleStandard: It's okay for Henry to stray, but that one of his wives ''might'' be doing the same [[ManlyTears does not please him]]. As he is king he tends to have this reaction about a lot of things, such that behavior that would in others be unacceptable is fine for him. Possibly justified: the King needs a legitimate heir, and anything that could call an heir's legitimacy into question including the infidelity of his Queen could cause generations of bloodshed.
156	* TheDragon: Sir Francis Bryan throughout Season 3. Charles Brandon on a more consistent (and ethical) basis.
157	* DramaticIrony: Henry's great desire to continue the Tudor line ends up indirectly causing it to end, since the audience either already knows or learns in the show's finale that ''none'' of his children will have children of their own because of his actions. Edward, due to being overprotected by his father [[ItMakesSenseInContext (or so the ghost of Jane Seymour claims)]] grew up sickly and died before he had a chance to marry and produce his own heir. Henry never gets around to arranging a marriage for Mary due to her constantly fluctuating status and the threat her husband might prove to Henry himself...so by the time ''she'' became queen she was in her late thirties with no children, and unlikely at that stage to be able to have any; her unsuccessful marriage to Philip II of Spain also failed to produce an heir. Elizabeth tells Mary that after seeing what happened to Katherine Howard (and no doubt remembering what happened to her own mother) she has decided she will never marry; this is TruthInTelevision as Elizabeth really did say this at age 9. For various reasons she stuck to this decision throughout her life, and upon her death, the English throne passed to the House of Stuart.
158	%%* DrivenToSuicide: Wolsey and Elizabeth, the lady in waiting of Catherine d'Aragon.
159	* DrunkWithPower: Henry. Thomas More has been worried about this for a long time.
160	-->'''More''': If the lion knew his own strength, hard were it for any man to rule him.
161	* DumbBlonde: Katherine Howard is portrayed [[TooDumbToLive as such]]. Mary Boleyn can be seen as this as well as her family uses her as a pawn in affairs with the king of France and then Henry. Later on, she marries a commoner without asking for permission and is subsequently disowned by her family. This may have been what saved her as she is not executed like her brother and sister.
162	* DyingAlone: After he dies, it is mentioned that the only attendees at Thomas Boleyn's funeral were "the ghosts of his children."
163	* EnemyMine:
164	** Every season Charles Brandon teams up with people he will try to bring down in the next season.
165	** In European politics at that time, the Holy Roman Emperor (who also had scores of other lands in Spain, the Low Countries etc) and the king of France were the most powerful. Henry was third. France and the emperor often sought Henry's alliance, while once binding against him as a heretic. In Season 3, the German States also get involved. Done on a smaller scale in court, where especially Charles Brandon allies with others against his enemy of the season. Only to make his former allies his new enemies the next. Also Cromwell teaming up with the Seymours against the Boleyns.
166	** Edward Seymour and Francis Bryan, while Edward knows Francis sleeps with his wife. Historically, Anne Stanhope was his second wife -- the first slept with his father. Perhaps Bryan is an improvement? Although in Season 4, Anne sleeps with his brother, and perhaps even has a son by him -- she insists on naming him after the brother, anyway -- so maybe not so much.
167	** Wolsey and Catherine of Aragon, whom he has spent the better part of a season trying to denounce as an illegitimate wife. It's a sign of how desperate the former is to get his titles back, but ironically it's what gets him charged with treason.
168	* EvolvingCredits: Each season's opening sequence includes new footage of Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Henry Cavill, in order to reflect subtle changes in their appearances, usually their [[TimePassageBeard facial hair]]. As well, only the wives who are alive at the time of the episode appear in the credits, [[spoiler: with three notable exceptions in the credits for the finale]].
169	* ExtremeDoormat: Anne of Cleves, which allowed her to get out of the marriage while at the first opportunity, and in appreciation, King Henry gave her everything she wanted. Which allows Anne to end the series with her own manor, retinue, freedom, and not to mention life, unlike wives one, two and five.
170	* EyepatchOfPower: Francis Bryan, whose many talents include assassination, politics, seduction and poetry.
171	* FaceDeathWithDignity: Anne Boleyn, Thomas More and Bishop Fisher. And Katherine Howard, who actually asks that the executioner's block be brought to her so that she may practice laying her head upon it. Kitty's request is TruthInTelevision, which makes it deeply unsettling. Although you do have to wonder if she really decided to try it out while totally naked... Subverted with Thomas Cromwell -- not only is he reduced to a sobbing wreck, faced with a jeering crowd, but it takes five shots to actually kill him. In Cromwell's case, two of the conspirators against him (Sir Francis Bryan and Thomas Seymour) got the headsman drunk so Cromwell's execution would be as painful as possible (after both they are the third conspirator, Charles Brandon, are shown giddy with anticipation about the last laugh they'll derive at Cromwell's expense). It's only made worse by the fact Cromwell sees the headsman staggering, so he knows what's coming. By the third stroke -- which lands ''in his shoulder blades'', even Sir Francis and Duke Brandon are disgusted. As is fellow conspirator and cold fish Edward Seymour, who wasn't involved in getting the headsman drunk. Thomas Seymour, on the other hand, seems unfazed. Eventually someone else takes away the blade and finishes the job.
172	* FakeGuestStar: There were only three actors that featured in all four seasons: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, and Anthony Brophy. Anthony who? Yes, even though ambassador Chapuys continued to play a big part in the story, he was never even in the opening credits. This in contrast to [[MrFanservice Lothaire Bluteau]], who had only a few minutes here and there in the last season as the French ambassador, but was a regular during that time.
173	* {{Fanservice}}: The show is built on it. It goes out of its way to show the sex lives of secondary and tertiary characters in great detail, and everyone is quite beautiful.
174	* {{Foil}}: Charles Brandon to Henry. Both grew up together as friends with similar interests and personalities. Over the years as Henry's vices increased Charles matured and became increasingly disturbed by Henry's actions.
175	* ForegoneConclusion: Obviously this is the case with a historical drama, although enhanced by the facts that a lot of it has to do with the deaths of various characters.
176	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
177	** Henry to Anne Boleyn: "Your neck... I love your neck." Three guesses what happens to her neck in Season 2!
178	** Henry to Thomas More, after offering him a knighthood: "You're not a saint, Thomas". (St. Thomas More was canonized in 1935.)
179	** In a conversation between sisters Mary and Elizabeth, not long after Edward's birth, Mary tells a young Elizabeth that while their father still loves them, [[HeirClubForMen a boy is more important]]. Elizabeth, who out of her own choice would never marry and still be a competent queen, playfully replies "''I'' don't think so". Especially considering that his daughters ended up becoming even more famous and powerful than Henry himself.
180	** When the ghosts of Henry's first three wives appear to him in the series finale, Catherine of Aragon and Jane Seymour berate him for how he's ruined their children's futures, but Anne Boleyn only mentions how proud she is of her daughter, hinting that Elizabeth has the best fate in store.
181	* FramingTheGuiltyParty: Anne and George are framed for incest and treason, which they are innocent of. But they also are heavily implied to have poisoned Catherine of Aragon.
182	%%* GambitPileup: The royal court in action.
183	* GenreBlind: Robert Aske underestimates just how devious the court of Henry VIII is. It leads to his imprisonment and execution.
184	* GirlPosse: Catherine Howard's ladies behave more like her giggling best friends than her courtly servants, and are often seen gossiping, playing, and trying on her royal accessories.
185	* TheGoodKing: Charles V and King Francis 1. Both are potrayed as being better monarchs then Henry VIII.
186	* TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Averted with the Boleyn sisters. Mary and Anne Boleyn get along well until Mary's secret marriage, even though Anne is after Mary's former lover. However, this may have saved Mary's life as she was not executed along with her siblings.
187	** Averted also with Mary and Elizabeth. Mary takes care of her and even helps her get back into the king's family circle. Of course, the series is set well before Mary became [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen queen]].
188	** Interestingly, Edward and Thomas Seymour fit the personality types of these tropes much better than any pair of two sisters. At first, they seem okay with each other, but then Thomas states he hates him and sleeps with his wife. This hatred would become even clearer after Henry died.
189	* GreatOffscreenWar: The war of the roses. King Henry VII and Elizabeth of York were both involved in it.
190	* GorgeousPeriodDress: Everyone, all the time, but especially Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.
191	* TheHeretic: Thomas Cromwell, Anne Boleyn, Cranmer and quite a few others, not helped by the fact that the definition of heresy changes at least once per season. By Season 4, there are loads of them. Henry's last queen, many of her ladies, the Seymours and Anne Askew all had reason to fear being branded as such. Not to mention, Edward and Elizabeth are being raised as heretics, or so Mary complains.
192	* HeirClubForMen: The whole reason why Henry had six wives. Extremely ironic when you know that both his daughters not only got to be the queen's regnant but also were both competent rulers and are remembered to this day.
193	* HeroicBSOD: Henry, when his wife Jane Seymour dies of childbed fever after giving birth to Prince Edward.
194	* HistoricalBeautyUpdate: A parade of [[TheBeautifulElite pouty-lipped sexpots]] of both genders in GorgeousPeriodDress? ''The Tudors'' is the ''god'' of this trope. After all, we can't have all that hot and [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment sexy sex]] being had by ''ugly'' actors, can we? Not to mention that the women are all very thin. When someone comments on Katherine Howard's round bum, well... it isn't (historically, she was described as 'pleasingly plump' as having some extra weight was desirable in those times). Noted in [[http://harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=230 this Kate Beaton comic]].
195	* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Just about anyone in the cast of note.
196	* HistoricalHeroUpgrade:
197	** Thomas Cromwell and above all, Anne Boleyn. Traditionally (before the 1960s at least) portrayed as the ruthless, evil villains in depictions of Henry's life. The show breaks away from that by simply making them ''human''. Cromwell does some pretty bad things, but James Frain plays him in a way that makes it clear that he doesn't ''like'' everything he does. He just [[Series/{{Rome}} turns loyalty into a vice]]. Anne meanwhile is portrayed as a spirited young woman who falls in love with the king and is driven by that love, rather than greed. She is also shown to be a very loving mother, which [[TruthInTelevision she was in real life]].
198	** Mary Tudor, who is almost always portrayed as the evil side in TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry with Elizabeth. Here there's some foreshadowing of her future retaliation against Protestant supporters, but she's still portrayed in a very sympathetic light.
199	* HistoricalRelationshipOverhaul:
200	** Mark Smeaton and George Boleyn were not known to be lovers, and it is only recently that people have been speculating about the latter's sexuality.
201	** Anne of Cleaves and UsefulNotes/HenryVIII almost certainly never had a one night stand after their amicable divorce.
202	* HistoricalVillainDowngrade: The show downplayed the villainy of some Protestant characters, such as Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell, and Thomas Cranmer. It also downplays the fanaticism of Edward VI and says that King Henry VIII and Elizabeth I changed the history of the United Kingdom forever. The show also refers to Elizabeth I's reign as the "golden age". That is not exactly subtle. It even insinuates that the Protestant side was much more tolerant (though not exactly more heroic) than their Catholic counterparts. Anyone who is familiar with the history of the Protestant Reformation knows that is objectively not true and Protestant fundamentalism is very much a real thing.
203	* HistoricalVillainUpgrade:
204	** Thomas Boleyn gets this, so very much (and so does many of his media adaptations). He for one is appalled at the very idea of his daughters being made whores by anyone, even by his King. When he found out that Mary had become mistress to King Francis, he was horrified and brought her back to wed someone just to save her reputation. And when Anne first caught Henry's attentions, he took a great risk to bring her back to Hever to lay low with hopes that Henry's feelings would cool down (to no avail). He even kept Anne's letters from her childhood for safekeeping and they were so well preserved historians still used it as a source centuries later.
205	** George Boleyn. Nothing is actually known, good or bad, about his marriage to Jane Parker; to depict him as a rapist without even one person he knew ever even hinting at such a thing in their writing is ''harsh''.
206	** For that matter, Jane herself. There's no historical evidence that she testified against her husband, or any evidence that she was a schemer. Even earlier beliefs that she somehow arranged Katherine Howard's affair with Thomas Culpeper (incidentally, a real villain and about as bad as the show portrays him) have recently been challenged.
207	** Edward Seymour, for one. While he probably wasn't a great guy -- he was a major force at court for a good amount of time, you didn't do that and be nice -- he was definitely ''not'' the bastard shown in the series. When he was Lord Protector (read: ''de facto'' King) during Edward VI's minority, he was pretty well-liked by the common people because his policies were helpful to them. When he fell from power and was executed, they actually needed extra guards to make sure there wasn't a riot over it.
208	** In a mild case, Katherine Howard. While the show portrays her as definitely guilty of adultery and insinuates that she had a promiscuous past even by modern standards, while in RealLife Katherine Howard was never actually found guilty of committing adultery and most modern historians assert that she was a victim of sexual abuse - being a child when her adult piano teacher began a sexual relationship with her.
209	** Bishop Gardiner is much more villainous here than he was in RealLife.
210	** Catherine de Medici is shown to be one of the worst 16th/17th century monarchs to have ever lived. In reality,, she was no worse than any other nobleman or noblewoman in Europe.
211	* HistoryRepeats: At one point Catherine of Aragon catches her servant Anne with a necklace given to her by the King, Catherine explodes at Anne [[ArcWords while also declaring that Henry will tire of her.]] Only a few years later Anne is Queen and finds her servant Jane Seymour with a locket with Henry's image inside. She responds fairly similarly to Catherine.
212	* HollywoodCostuming: Needless to say, some of the costumes are certainly not accurate to 16th century England.
213	* HollywoodOld: The adult Mary is 17 when we see her first, and the actress who played her was 16. However, in her last appearance, Sarah Bolger was 18, while Mary is 30. It creates some confusion for the viewer when Katherine Howard spitefully claims Mary is much older than her and past the age to marry; Tamzin Merchant is four years older than Sarah Bolger, and Sarah looks nowhere near "old maid" status in the scene.
214	* HonorBeforeReason: The Earl of Surrey.
215	* HonoraryUncle: Ambassador Chapuys to the Lady Mary.
216	* HotterAndSexier: This is definitely one of the more... carnal adaptations of Henry VIII's reign.
217	* IdiotBall: Katherine Howard and Thomas Culpeper practically had [[IdiotBall Idiot Balls]] superglued to their hands. Joan Bulmer, Francis Dereham and Lady Rochford each had their moments carrying one, too.
218	* IgnoredExpert: In the fourth season episode "As It Should Be", Henry refuses to believe his doctor when said doctor tells him that "the bloody flux" is sweeping through the camp, devastating their army. Henry orders him to get the "cowards" out of their sickbeds to fight, [[ThePlague with predictable results]]. Incredibly, despite this, Henry's troops eventually succeed in taking Boulogne.
219	* InnocentFanserviceGirl: There's a few here and there, Lady Elizabeth Darrell being among them.
220	* IncurableCoughOfDeath: Henry's sister. Also, several people came down with the "Slight Dizziness of Death" when the ''Sweating Sickness'' rolled into town... Historically, the sweating sickness did actually kill a lot of people at the time and then vanished with nary a trace. To this day, people aren't quite sure what it was, although the prime suspect is some variety of hantavirus. At the time, pretty much any cough -- especially ''coughing blood'', a symptom of tuberculosis -- was a potential IncurableCoughOfDeath.
221	* InternalHomage: Some parallels between the executions of Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard: both wear a blue dress for the occasion, and both are seen taking one last look at the sky before the blade strikes.
222	* InterplayOfSexAndViolence: Six wives altogether, and which two are the ones that get the most nude and sex scenes? The two that eventually get their heads cut off. Coincidence?
223	* InTheBack: If Henry reassures you of your importance to him while your position is already unstable, you should really beware. Thomas Cromwell and the Boleyns learned this, as did Wolsey & Thomas More.
224	* {{Irony}}: Strictly fictional but: Henry refused to have Jane crowned until she gave birth to a son. She died after giving birth to a son but before being crowned. As a result, some people are questioning Edward's place in the succession. In RealLife, Jane wasn't crowned because there was an outbreak of plague in the planned spot for the coronation and, obviously, she as the king's wife wasn't going to go anywhere near there until the threat was over. Also, Edward's place was never threatened by her not being crowned. Coronation or not, with Catherine and Anne dead, Jane was religiously and legally Henry's wife, and therefore, he was the legitimate male heir of a king. Still, that's a pretty sweet bit of irony the show's throwing at Henry.
225	** Thomas More uses Henry's own arguments in defense of Catholicism to defend himself. Henry indeed had done this, attacking Luther in print and was named Defender of the Faith by the Pope for it (a title the British monarchs carry to this day).
226	* IronicJuxtaposition: Katherine Howard [[spoiler: makes love with Thomas Culpeper]] while the rest of the court prays for Prince Edward to survive a life-threatening fever.
227	* {{Jerkass}}:
228	** UsefulNotes/HenryVIII, a man of fiery passions, quick to anger and swift to act like a complete ass at all times and condemn at the drop of a hat, albeit likely to show some regret afterwards (after the executions are done that is) once he's calmed down.
229	** Thomas Boleyn. He cares only about his children as political pawns and is ready and willing to denounce them and send them to the executioner in order to save his own life. It's no wonder why he ends up dying alone.
230	** Edward Seymour. He is one of the biggest dicks in the show.
231	* JumpScare: A few in the Season 1 episode "Message to the Emperor," in which Henry's [[ProperlyParanoid paranoia]] amid an outbreak of sweating sickness [[SanitySlippage leads to]] some terrifying {{Hallucinations}}.
232	* KangarooCourt: Anyone who Henry thinks is against him but is too prominent to simply destroy (such as Thomas More, Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and the Earl of Surrey) are subjected to such trials, Cromwell and Anne Boleyn are not even allowed to speak in their own defence.[[note]]This was actually standard then - the accused lacked any right to speak, call witnesses, question prosecution witnesses, or have an attorney. It's not for nothing those are in the Bill of Rights.[[/note]]
233	** It's common for the Council to resort to torture in order to get a confession. However, it's pretty obvious that they will cease to torture only after the victims confess to the crimes that they want them to confess. Several people in the series get sentenced due to forced confessions such as those or false testimonies.
234	** This gets even lampshaded in Season 4. During the trial of the Earl of Surrey, the judges state that there aren't enough proof to sentence him. The Earl of Hertford then state that his ''innocence isn't excuse enough for him not to be sentenced''. Surrey is then sentenced to death.
235	* KarmaHoudini:
236	** Thomas Boleyn is an absolutely infuriating example. He escapes the executioner's axe only because he wholeheartedly denounces his son and daughter to the King's investigators, and while they are put to death he only cares about whether he keeps his title and estate as Earl of Wiltshire or not. What a dick. It's better if you know your history, as he would die just two years later, having lost everything he and his daughters worked for. Of course, if you really know your history you'll know that he was never imprisoned or blamed up in real life, even by Henry.
237	** Sir Richard Rich and Thomas Wriothesley definitely count, too. What about two of the most self-serving and treacherous bastards in this show, persecuting their former fellow Protestants and torturing Anne Askew, in a most vile and inhumane manner? The punishment for both of them is...let's see...Uh, right, getting promoted to even higher ranks. (According to Henry's testament, Wriothesley will be, next to Cranmer, the highest minister under the Procterate of Somerset. That he will be Seymour's underdog and under his constant watch helps a bit, at least. Well, and Rich will also not only keep his head, but prosper, making it even into the reign of Queen Elizabeth, being considered to be a respectable and trustworthy person by all.)
238	** Francis Bryan, the most bastardly member of King Henry's court, and one of the few who never takes a fall.
239	* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: Quite a bunch of people did this to Thomas Cromwell.
240	* LadyOfWar: What Henry imagined Isabella of Spain to be, and therefore also suspected her daughter Catherine to become if he gave her half the chance. Averted in that Catherine would never wage war against her husband or England.
241	* LargeHam: Peter O'Toole as [[UsefulNotes/ThePope THE POPE]]!
242	* LicensedGame: [[http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/6536/the-tudors/index.html?src=frmtrygame&osdetect=true For the PC.]]
243	* LipstickAndLoadMontage:
244	** Catherine of Aragon, grimly dressing for the Legatine Court.
245	** Anne Boleyn, grimly dressing for [[spoiler: her execution]]. [[IronicJuxtaposition Ironically juxtaposed]] with Jane Seymour happily dressing for a visit from Henry at her family's home.
246	* LoveRuinsTheRealm: Henry goes too far to be able to marry Anne Boleyn. The result is political and religious chaos.
247	* ManipulativeBitch: Anne Boleyn, Lady Rochfrod and the Countess of Hertford.
248	* MaleGaze: Constantly, thanks to all the MsFanservice characters. Perhaps most frequently with Katherine Howard who is highly sexualized in the show. Most interestingly, in [[https://youtube.com/FZV5nubiGyY one scene,]] Katherine dances in the rain whilst Henry and Thomas Culpepper watch her from their windows, where she dances in the rain: in Henry’s gaze, Katherine‘s dance is innocent and childish, almost ethereally so (Henry envisioning her as a “perfect jewel of womanhood”) whilst in Culpepper’s, her dance is a lot more sexual, with camera close ups on her breasts and legs— both men dehumanizing her and seeing her as an object, but in different ways.
249	* MaritalRapeLicense: George Boleyn uses this in his arranged marriage to Jane Rochford.
250	%%* MatingDance: Anne and Henry in Season 2.
251	* MayDecemberRomance: Katherine Howard is only 17 and a little younger than Henry's daughter Mary. This is TruthInTelevision for the Tudor age, but we don't know exactly how old Katherine really was; 17 is about the upper limit for modern educated guesses, but many historians suspect she was only 15.
252	* MeaningfulEcho: In a manner of speaking. Henry writes a pamphlet attacking Martin Luther and praising the Pope as the true ruler of Christendom, and seeks More's approval before publishing it. More advises against some of the strong wording, but agrees with it mostly. When Henry splits from the church, More throws the words of the pamphlet back at him. The pamphlet comes back ''again'' when the Archbishop accuses More of pressuring ''Henry'' to write it.
253	%%* MeaningfulFuneral: Jane Seymour's.
254	%%* MentorArchetype: Thomas More.
255	* TheMistress: Charles Brandon has an official one! And besides the ones he married, Henry has a couple of other girls on the side, like Mary Boleyn and Bessie Blount.
256	* MoralityKitchenSink: The Catholic side of the conflict is certainly not tolerant, but does come off as the more heroic side. The Protestant side is generally more tolerant, but does not come off as being the more heroic side.
257	** Many historians point to the Protestant Reformation as being a proto-liberal movement. Liberals, (at least prior to the 20th century) were largely allied with Protestant churches in Protestant majority countries. Liberalism in Catholic majority countries was much more secular, anti-religious and atheistic.
258	* MoralMyopia: Really, Henry? You're upending the Catholic Church and trying to get an annulment on spurious grounds because your latest fling won't give it up to you, never mind who or what you're hurting in the process, and you're calling ''Catherine of Aragon'' heartless? That's more than a bit rich!
259	* MsFanservice: Brandon's French mistress was a fairly obvious device to introduce some more sex into the plot after Henry VIII was getting old and infirm and not catting around anymore. Not to mention, most if not all of the women on this show get naked at one point or another.
260	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
261	** ''Henry'', of all people, seems to get one (shocking, I know) when Cromwell tells him that Wolsey committed suicide. He makes haste to cover up by ordering that no one must ever know, then shouts for everyone around him to leave before he starts to sniffle... Kind of a repeating pattern for Henry; he mourns Cromwell in the similar fashion after he allows him to be executed.
262	** Brandon and Bryan, who sabotage Cromwell's execution out of spite (along with Thomas Seymour) by getting the executioner drunk, clearly seem to repent having done so when it takes ''five blows'' to get his head off.
263	* MythologyGag: A RealLife example -- in a scene in series one, Henry is seen composing 'Greensleeves' for Anne Boleyn, though it is now believed that the tune was composed in the Elizabethan era.
264	* MySisterIsOffLimits: Played straight with Charles Brandon and Princess Margaret. Interestingly enough, it was played more straight ''before'' Brandon and Margaret hooked up, when Henry asks Brandon to take her to Portugal. After they get married, Harry is more upset at the fact that Brandon didn't ask for his permission as king and acted behind his back than because the wife in this case is his sister.
265	* NakedPeopleTrappedOutside: Multiple examples.
266	* NiceMeanAndInbetween: of the first three wives, Jane Seymour is nice, Anne Boleyn is mean and Catherine of Aragon is inbetween. Of the second trio of wives, Anne of Cleves is nice, Katherine Howard is mean and Catherine Parr is inbetween.
267	* NoPreggerSex: Anne Boleyn turns away Henry when she's pregnant. This was really a belief back then that sex during pregnancy could harm the unborn child.
268	* NobleTopEnforcer: Suffolk, despite having some less than noble moments surrounding Anne Boleyn's fall, comes off as this for the rest of the series, especially during the Pilgrimage of Grace, where he negotiates with the rebels, and later is disturbed when Henry intends to renege on all the promises he made to Aske. His punishment of the rebels amounts to executing a handful of the leaders while leaving the multitudes following them unharmed. Unfortunately, under the threat of censure (and probably [[OffWithHisHead more]]) from Cromwell and Henry, Charles eventually goes through with putting down the rebels violently.
269	* OffWithHisHead: Lots of people. It's what Henry is known for.
270	* OhCrap:
271	** Surrey, when he is told the king refuses him an audience. Before that he still has the confidence he can set matters right by talking to him.
272	** Cardinal Wolsey suffers a series of OhCrap moments, starting with his learning of the King's love for Anne Boleyn (whom he'd just treated with withering contempt) and ending with his arrest.
273	** Catherine Parr, when she receives presents from Henry, realizing that he means to court her and probably marry her. "You know what happens to his queens! ''Everyone'' knows what happens!"
274	** Henry in the final episode, when the ghost of Anne Boleyn informs him that she was innocent of all charges, meaning he killed her for no reason.
275	*** And another when Jane Seymour's ghost told him point blank that his son, the heir he so desperately wanted, would die young and that it was due to Henry's overprotectiveness that Edward would fall into an early grave.
276	* OneLiner: Christina of Milan when summing up her opinion of potentially marrying Henry, after what happened to his first three wives: "Frankly, Sir, if I had two heads, then one would be at His Majesty's service. Alas, I have only this ''one."''
277	* OneSteveLimit:
278	** The popularity of the name Mary at the time caused some issues, including the writers compositing Henry's sisters Mary and Margaret into one character called Margaret to reduce the number of Marys to keep track of.
279	** Averted with other common names of the period, with two Annes, two Janes, four Catherines/Katherines, and '''ten''' Thomases. In Season 2, up to five Thomases were in the opening credits at any given time, six if you count the silhouettes of Wolsey. Thankfully they are usually referred to by last name and/or title.
280	* OneWomanWail: Especially heard upon the execution of Anne Boleyn.
281	* OnlyFriend: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, is Henry's oldest friend and trusted confidante. He retained the King's favor for forty years and died peacefully, unlike pretty much everyone else of note in the royal court at the time. Fittingly, Henry Cavill is the only actor besides Jonathan Rhys Meyers to appear in every episode.
282	* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Jonathan Rhys Meyers starts to slip in Season 3, and it seems the strain of doing an 'old man' voice makes it more difficult to hold the English accent as his Irish comes through even more in the last two episodes of Season 4.
283	%%* OopNorth: The Pilgrimage of Grace.
284	* OpinionFlipflop: After Bishop Gardiner is dismissed from court. He's barely left the room, before everyone starts fawning over and switching their allegiance to Edward Seymour.
285	* ParentalFavoritism: Mary might think it okay that their father is more fond of Edward, but Elizabeth does not.
286	* PetTheDog:
287	** In spite of the fact that Henry could be a real asshole of a ruler, he did have his moments with Jane Seymour in that he truly did love her. Towards the end of his life, he also had this with Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, and to a lesser extent Catherine Parr. A quiet, beautiful scene of him laying hands on sick people to cure them is also this. Made especially poignant, since his own body is declining as well.
288	** George Boleyn presents a cruel twist on this. He is an arrogant prick who rapes his own wife on their wedding night, but his one sympathetic quality is that he seems to genuinely care about his sister Anne's well-being, as opposed to their father who very clearly sees her as nothing more than a political pawn. Yet his one sympathetic quality results directly in his downfall and death, when his close relationship with his sister is twisted into an accusation of incest for which he is tried and executed.
289	%%* PimpedOutDress
290	* PlotParallel: This supercut[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiClYk6dqOA&ab_channel=CathleenMonroe]] shows astonishing similarities between Henry's elevation of Anne Boleyn over Catherine of Aragon and his subsequent elevation of Jane Seymour over Anne.
291	* PosthumousCharacter: There are occassional allusions throughout the series to Henry VII, Henry VIII's father. Not many of which are flattering.
292	* PrettyInMink: Although fake fur is used, either for budget or [[ItsFakeFurItsFine to avoid offending viewers]].
293	* RagsToRoyalty: Cinderella style, but subverted. Anne Boleyn gets there mostly by ''pretending'' to be pure-hearted. The same could be said for Katherine Howard. It says something that these two end up losing their heads by Henry.
294	* ReallyGetsAround: Henry VIII wins, although Charles Brandon and others also qualify.
295	* RealityIsUnrealistic:
296	** Yes, the Field of the Cloth of Gold and ensuing wrestling match really did happen.
297	** Multiple viewers expressed confusion and dismay in regards to how Catherine of Aragon was portrayed as physically much older than Henry. In real life, Henry and Catherine were married for 23 years and were both in their early-mid forties by the time he finally divorced her and she was his longest marriage by far (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr are tied for second place at a comparatively measly 3 years each). It often gets overlooked due to her simply being the first wife of six. In addition, while Catherine was reportedly quite beautiful in her youth, by that point, the multiple stillbirths and deaths of her children in infancy had understandably aged her quite a bit (Mary was the only one of ''six'' children the pair had together who survived to adulthood.) If anything, rather than Catherine looking too old, Henry looks far too young (Jonathan Rhys Meyers was 29 during the filming of Season 1.)
298	* TheRunnerUpTakesItAll: King Henry VIII inadvertently ends up secularizing, liberalizing and modernizing the United Kingdom by undermining feudalism, promoting "Renaissance Humanism" and making treason a bigger cause for execution then hersey. He also allied with the Northern European Protestant-majority countries which are among the most liberal in all of Europe.
299	** The dissolution of the monasteries ended up leading to a decline in religiosity in the United Kingdom. It was panned in most of continental Europe at the time however.
300	** While King Henry VIII was "liberal" for 16th/17th standards, he would have little in common with 18th century secular liberals like David Hume, Edward Gibbon, Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
301	* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech:
302	** In the final episode of Season 2, Charles Brandon, furious at Thomas Boleyn's greater concern being for the fact he gets to keep his title and his head rather than that his son has already been executed and his daughter will soon follow suit, slams Boleyn against a wall and makes his contempt clear about Boleyn's seeming indifference to the fact he willingly sacrificed his children for his own ambition.
303	-->'''Charles Brandon''': Did you watch your son die?! What about your daughter, will you watch her suffer? Will you watch her die?! [[ArmorPiercingQuestion Tell me, Boleyn, was it all worth it]]?!
304	** Henry gives one to his advisors in Episode 2 of Season 4, lambasting them for appearing to put their agendas above his wishes and the needs of England, as well as chewing them out for poisoning him against Cromwell.
305	-->'''Henry VIII''': My Lords, I assure you I am ''not'' content. I have relied upon you to inform and counsel me, and yet I am the most deceived. I have trusted and favored all of you, and I have formed a sinister opinion that most of you are liars and flatterers who look only to your own profits. I know what you are planning, and if God gives me the strength, I will see to it that none of your projects ''ever'' succeed! ''[sadly]'' I mourn Cromwell's death. ''[His advisors looks shocked]'' Yes, I mourn him! I mourn him, now that I perceive that my counselors, by light pretext and by false accusations, made me put to death the most...faithful servant I ever had.
306	* RefusalOfTheCall: Robert Aske demurs the invitation to lead the Pilgrimage of Grace at first because he loathes the idea of rebelling against the king.
307	* RenaissanceMan: Quite a few. Makes sense, considering the proximity to the literal Renaissance.
308	** Henry composed music, knew his languages, wrote a rebuttal to Luther and proclaimed himself a humanist. His children, especially Elizabeth, also grew up to be this.
309	** Thomas More: Statesman, lawyer, theologian, writer of ''{{Literature/Utopia}}'', friend of Erasmus, and diplomat. His daughter Margaret, who was one of the greatest Latin experts in England, too.
310	** Lots in the aristocracy were this actually. It had become fashionable for first boys (Henry's generation) and then also girls (his children's generation) to become exceptionally learned.
311	** Anne Boleyn to an extent as well, mostly because she grew up at the courts of Margaret of Austria and the French court. In RealLife, this, not her looks (which were unremarkable) is what charmed Henry.
312	** Catherine Parr, easily one of the most erudite of Henry's wives.
313	* RevolvingDoorRevolution: Henry's constant religious changes left people very unsure of what he really wanted them to believe. Cromwell became a victim of this. Protestants and Catholics did too, as Chapuys highlights in a letter to the emperor.
314	%%* RequisiteRoyalRegalia
315	* RevengeByProxy: Since Reginald Pole is out of Henry's reach in continental Europe, Henry has both his mother and brother executed. And perhaps his nephew, a child we last see being led away by the power-grubbing Edward Seymour.
316	* RoomFullOfCrazy: Henry produces a fine example when he designs Nonsuch Palace in solitude after Jane Seymour's death.
317	* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething:
318	** Henry was a patron of the arts and humanism, composed music and led troops into battle.
319	** Catherine of Aragon personally gave alms to the poor after Easter mass.
320	** Anne Boleyn worked hard to promote her religious ideals.
321	** Catherine Parr published two books (including the first to be published by an English queen under her own name) and served as regent.
322	** Averted with Catherine Howard, who is portrayed as being solely interested in having fun, presents and men.
323	** Mary, Elizabeth, and Edward were all intellectual prodigies who studied a vast array of subjects and were renowned for their learning. The King's daughters were both accomplished musicians, and all three of them spoke a variety of languages.
324	* SoapOperaRapidAgingSyndrome: Where the adult actors show the passing years via changing hairstyles, the youngest characters (Elizabeth, Mary and Edward especially) frequently get new actors several years older than the previous ones.
325	%%* SelfMadeMan: Thomas Cromwell.
326	* SheCleansUpNicely: Anne of Cleves, after getting released from being queen and not having to worry about being executed for failing to give Henry a son, cheered up considerably. Ironically, this new side of her might have made Henry start to wish he'd consummated their marriage after all. In Season 4, Henry finally does sleep with her (after having already re-married). However, he literally appears to JUST be sleeping with her, spooning really. In their very last scene together Henry definitely has Anne in his arms as they lay in bed (apparently fully clothed) and there is no indication that they engaged in intercourse.
327	* ShootTheMessenger: Invoked and ultimately averted: [[spoiler: After receiving some extremely bad news from one messenger (namely that the King of Scotland has rebuffed Henry's offer of a peace between them and a Scottish army has invaded and is laying waste to northern England), when a second messenger arrives, before he can open his mouth, Henry rounds on the man, holds a knife to his throat and threatens the messenger with death if he speaks. However, he relents when the messenger tells him that his son Edward is seriously ill at Windsor]].
328	* ShoutOut:
329	** Theatre/{{Macbeth}}: Brandon seeing Lord Darcy's ghost during a feast at Pontefract Castle.
330	** ''Film/AmericanBeauty'': Catherine Howard's fondness for rose petals.
331	* SmugSnake: Thomas Cromwell.
332	* StandardRoyalCourt
333	** In Season 2, this has definitely turned into a DecadentCourt.
334	** As in real life, the Queen sets the tone for the court. The decadence is emphasized under Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard; Jane Seymour's efforts at reining things in are less obvious.
335	* StealthInsult:
336	** Edward Seymour to Henry VIII when talking about Catherine Parr's regency: She has great clarity of mind, and a woman's touch which soothes and cures where a man would usually rush into anger and complaint.
337	** Ambassador Chapuys delivers one to Henry himself in Season 2. "I want my reign to be remembered eternally." "I have no doubt that your Majesty's reign will always be remembered."
338	%%* SweetPollyOliver: Brandon's latest squeeze.
339	%%* TerribleTrio: Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell and Thomas Cranmer.
340	* TemptingFate: In Season 2, Henry expresses a wish to be remembered forever (see StealthInsult above). Henry remains one of the most famous monarchs in British history, but he's remembered for going through wives like tissues and fathering his least favourite child and arguably ''the'' most famous monarch in British history, Elizabeth I.
341	* TooDumbToLive:
342	** Katherine Howard. Francis Dereham and Lady Rochford also deserve honorable mentions. Despite being equally stupid, Joan Bulmer somehow manages to emerge unscathed. Dereham seems to be the worst. While all the others at least try to conceal what they are doing, Dereham goes out of his way to spread it far and wide.
343	** The Duke of Buckingham, who told ''way'' too many unreliable people that he was planning treason, and also couldn't control his temper in front of the king.
344	* ToughLeaderFacade: Subverted in that she was not supreme ruler. Otherwise fitting with Catherine Parr, who was married to a king who thought nothing of sending her sister and ladies to the [[EvilTowerOfOminousness Tower]] while also agreeing to a warrant for her arrest. She still managed to greet her most bitter enemies with a smile and then get the king on her side in the end.
345	* TheTourney: We see a couple of them throughout the show, most of which end with Henry getting injured.
346	* UnfinishedBusiness: In the last episode, Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, and Jane Seymour all come back to give Henry a piece of their mind.
347	* UniversallyBelovedLeader:
348	** Catherine of Aragon. Not just the great majority of the English people, but also Rome and her powerful nephew were on her side. Even the French King remained half-hearted in his support of Anne, not wanting to engage his son to her daughter but rather to Catherine's daughter Mary. This shows that even in France, people believed Catherine to be Henry's legitimate wife. That is especially important: France was the ''sworn enemy'' of Catherine's family, and yet they recognized her marriage as valid. In real life, even ''Martin Luther'', ''John Calvin'' and ''Ulrich Zwingli'' supported her. Literally no one in Europe thought Henry was in the right.
349	** Catherine of Aragon was the daughter of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_Monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella]], considered some of the best monarchs (and best 'people') to ever reign...ever. It's 'still' met with academic gasps to insinuate that either ruler wasn't the saint they are remembered as.
350	** Jane Seymour also counts. She is almost universally loved both in England and by most of Europe.
351	%%* UnwantedSpouse: Anne of Cleves.
352	* UnwittingPawn: Sir Thomas More. The man is an effective administrator, intelligent, virtuous within the boundaries of his religion, and a close friend of the King's, but this doesn't stop him from being taken apart by the Boleyns.
353	* UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans: Thomas Cromwell got his former friends beheaded and ordered the hanging of hundreds of those who wanted to stick to the old religion. He will have his reformation for the good of the realm. Mary Tudor also [[CallForward showed signs of this]].
354	* VillainProtagonist: Henry VIII is pretty much a terrible person who backstabs ''everyone'', is given to fits of temper, and operates on the principle of ItsAllAboutMe at all times. He's the protagonist.
355	* VorpalPillow: How Margaret kills the King of Portugal.
356	* WackyCravings: Henry figures out Jane Seymour is pregnant when she starts eating quail eggs with every meal.
357	* WellIntentionedExtremist: Thomas More on the Catholic side of the religious dispute, Thomas Cromwell and Archbishop Cranmer on the Protestant side.
358	* WhenSheSmiles: Joss Stone as Anne of Cleves.
359	* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: The series ends with a quick summary of the Tudor dynasty after Henry's death:
360	** Prince Edward became king [[AChildShallLeadThem at the age of nine]] and died of illness [[DeathOfAChild at the age of 15]].
361	** After [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor an attempt to stop her accession]], Mary ruled as queen for five years, earning her "[[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Bloody Mary]]" moniker by [[BurnTheWitch burning]] [[TheHeretic hundreds of Protestants]].
362	** After Mary's death without issue, Elizabeth [[TheHighQueen began the 44-year reign]] that would be known as "the Golden Age."
363	* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: Henry is very scared of getting sick. Justified because he needs to live long enough to sire an heir. Also TruthInTelevision -- the real Henry was a notorious hypochondriac.
364	* WickedStepmother:
365	** Anne Boleyn would have liked to see Mary killed and developed a paranoia that Mary would eventually have Anne herself burned alive. She does try to make amends with Mary, however, but Mary understandably rejects this. A TruthInTelevision, Anne actually asked Mary several times to acknowledge her as Queen with the promise of reconciliation with Henry if she does so. Mary would always throw it back to her face. Though not shown, Anne during her imprisonment, actually begged one of her jailors to send a message of apology for how Anne had treated her and stated she only feared Mary because of what she and Catherine of Aragon stood for. Unfortunately, Mary would reject this as well for she believed Anne was this trope so much even when it became increasingly clear that a lot of Mary's misery came from her father, she still blamed Anne for all her ills.
366	** Averted with Jane Seymour and Anne of Cleves, who are both very nice to Mary. Admittedly, Mary didn't like Anne of Cleves very much to start with because a) She's a Protestant and b) She's the replacement for Jane Seymour, who Mary adored. But Anne eventually wins her over, enough that she is not too keen on the next wife in line.
367	** Katherine Howard doesn't get along with Mary either. She did try, but Mary rebuffed her, and she responded by getting nasty.
368	** Inverted with Catherine Parr. She is very kind to her, but Mary has turned into a wicked stepdaughter. She does have a good relationship with her two other stepchildren, though.
369	* WillTheyOrWontThey: Or rather 'Did they or didn't they?' Henry ends up in Anne of Cleves' bed ''after'' he's divorced her, both of them in their nightgowns and snuggling, and she seems to enjoy it. Was there sex, or was it just for comfort and security?
370	%%* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Elizabeth.

Context Series / TheTudors