Heartwarming / The Tudors

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• The scenes between Charles, The Holy Roman Emperor, and Catherine of Aragon. You can tell that he truly cares for his aunt, and her happiness. There is a genuineness to his concern for her that goes beyond the political, when he is told that Henry is tiring of her.
• When Thomas More is being taken to his execution, the executioner kneels and begs forgiveness for what he's about to do (standard practice for the time). More not only helps the man to his feet but tells him to have courage and to perform his duty. He even gives the executioner a kind smile before kneeling at the block.
• Instead of dumping him roughly on the block, the guards gently lay Mark Smeaton down on it.
• Most scenes between Mary and Elizabeth. Specific ones include Mary comforting baby Elizabeth in Season 2 (extra points since Mary has every reason not to care if this particular baby is upset), the two sisters snuggled in bed and talking about their new brother in Season 3, and Mary telling Elizabeth that they've both been restored to the succession in Season 4. Even their father's issues with their mothers does not stop them from being loving sisters.
• Any scenes between Katherine of Aragon and Mary or Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth.
• Any scenes where Henry shows affection for his children.
• The celebration scene after Catherine of Aragon dies is kind of emotionally all over the map, but one unfailingly sweet moment comes when Henry affectionately scoops up Elizabeth and immediately finds himself caught up with a couple of boys playing with toy swords. The way he tells one of the boys, "Protect me! Protect your king!" and then playfully tells the other, "I'll have you sent to the Tower!" all while holding his daughter in his arms just seems so genuinely lovable.
• Many of the scenes between Mary and Chapuys, especially in the fourth season.
• At Christmas in Season 3, when Henry is presiding over the festivities with his new Queen, Jane Seymour, and his newly-reinstated daughter Princess Mary. Mary and/or Jane have arranged to bring his most-recently-delegitimized child, Princess Elizabeth, to court, and Henry publicly calls her his daughter (important as he'd had her mother executed for adultery and speculated Elizabeth wasn't his) and lifts her up to sit beside them. He announces to the court, "Je suis en familie (I am among my family)."
• The relationship between Henry and his Fool, shown during the immediate aftermath of Jane Seymour's death. At first it just starts off with the Fool being, well, a fool. But as the episode progresses you see the Fool helping Henry through his grief until he ends up somewhere around being pseudo-paternal.
  Henry: *tearing up, his head in his Fool's lap* I miss her, Will. I miss her so much.
  Fool: *tenderly* I know, but this too shall pass. Why go on dwelling in darkness? You know, the land of the wounded king is only a parched wasteland, thirsting for rain and your majesty's grace? *Henry snaps out of his BSOD*
• The procession of the King as he journeys north, with all the people cheering the royal family. As Henry says:
  "These are the true people of England, and they love their king."
• Each and every interaction between Mary and Eustace Chapuys, the Spanish Ambassador. Though Henry, at times, treats her properly, it is Eustace that is her true father figure. Every private moment between them speaks of nothing but compassion and care, despite Chapuys' ostensibly political purpose.
• Similarly, each interaction between Princess Mary and Duke Philip of Bavaria. The cousin of Anne of Cleves, he visits the English court to pay suit to her. At first, Mary is somewhat wary. He is, after all, a Lutheran and she still a staunch Catholic. But then she listens in on a private conversation between Duke Philip and Anne of Cleves (with Queen Anne's permission, of course) from behind a curtain:
  Anne of Cleves: So, you met Princess Mary?
  Mary: *looks up*
  Duke Philip: I did. It was only for a moment, but I relive that moment over and over again in my mind. I was told before that she was charming, intelligent, well-read, gracious. A true heir of Catherine of Aragon, a true princess...but nothing prepared me for her beauty. A beauty that comes from inside...to me she's the most beautiful creature on God's earth.
  Mary: *looks genuinely touched, and soon becomes smitten with the young Duke*
  • Not long after that, there's a moment at court when while dancing, Phillip winces in pain, claiming Mary trod on his foot; he quickly leaves the ballroom, with Mary trailing behind him, desperately apologising...but once they've left the courtiers behind, Phillip pulls Mary behind a curtain, smiling widely, telling her he just wanted a moment alone with Mary, assuring her she's far too graceful to have ever done something so clumsy and asks Mary's permission to kiss her. It's clearly Mary's First Kiss and the first time she's been romanced, and when they part, she's clearly got Tears of Joy in her eyes.
  Phillip: You're crying...
  Mary: Only because I'm so happy.
• The fact that Anne of Cleves and Henry were able to remain friends despite having been divorced from each other.
• The relationship between Catherine Parr and her second husband. He genuinely seems to be a kind man who cares for her, sadly dying in pain, and she seems to genuinely care for him, though she also loves Thomas Seymour. It makes her catching the King's eye, and the loss of trust it causes, all the sadder.
• At the end of the show, Henry sees Anne Boleyn (either as a ghost or his own imagination) and she tells him that although she desperately wanted to give him a son, she is now so proud of Elizabeth. More so, she's the only ghost that Henry begs not to leave.
• The last meeting between Henry and Charles Brandon.
• The fact that two of Henry's Queen actually get along. Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard get along like a house on fire.
• Henry seems genuinely moved to regret when Anne of Cleves - now vivacious and confident, and no longer his - returns her wedding ring to him. The camera goes in tight on the ring long enough to show its distinctive scrollwork. In multiple subsequent episodes, the camera lingers over Henry's hands... and he's clearly wearing the ring on his smallest finger, having been unable to bring himself to have it destroyed as "a thing of no value" like Anne suggested.
• When Henry is saying goodbye to Catherine Parr, Mary and Elizabeth before he dies, Catherine and Mary are crying. Henry briefly meets Elizabeth's eyes, sees she's not crying, and gives a small nod of what appears to be pride - this child with Anne isn't crying; steal and iron to the end, Elizabeth is, and Henry knows that - she will have what it takes to survive, the ability to control her emotions.

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