Who poured this poison into Dorothy’s ear? Perhaps the cardinal himself, or perhaps Cromwell’s enemy, the Duke of Norfolk.

Norfolk was absent in person from episode two, but behind most of its drama. Cromwell’s deeply enjoyable interrogation of Thomas “Tom Truth” Howard – England’s worst poet until Rick from Young people – ended with the rhetorical question of who had put in his head the idea of ​​marrying the king’s niece and one day becoming king himself. Of course, it was Howard’s half-brother, Norfolk. As Lady Shelton warned, ever since his niece Anne Boleyn was separated from his head, the Duke had sought another route to the throne, and this was his latest.

Norfolk is also likely the originator of the destructive rumor that Henry intended to marry Cromwell to his daughter Mary, a fabrication clearly designed to put the king in a murderous vein.

Unless… East a fabrication, isn’t it? Cromwell, of modest birth, cannot hope to marry the daughter of English and Spanish royalty. So why is he taking the risk of looking like her by giving Princess Mary a ring? Artist Hans Holbein looked rightly green about the idea, and even though Cromwell told Meg Douglas that a ring is not a token, he needs to know how that could be interpreted. And what are we to make of Cromwell’s dwelling on Mary’s intimate declaration that she would like to have a child of her own? Could our man start pushing his luck?

Everything he ever dreamed of could be possible with Mary, that is certainly not the case now, nor could Cromwell salvage his reputation with a quick marriage to Dorothea.

Whether Cromwell’s luck was spurned or exhausted was a concern of “obedience.” The episode began with a replay of scenes from the first series showing The Fall of Wolseyand it was more than just a useful catch-up for anyone with a foggy memory – it was a miniature version of what was to come. Wolsey’s story – a modest rise to great wealth and influence followed by a cruel demise at the hands of Henry VIII – is also Cromwell’s story. When he and George Cavendish discussed what brought Wolsey down, his pride or becoming an enemy of Anne Boleyn (Wolsey stopped a young Anne from marrying the noble Lord Henry Percy due to the taint of Boleyn’s “trade” and she never forgave him), we We can also ask the same thing of Cromwell. What will be the big mistake that will lead to his own downfall? And is it already committed?