#him growing weaker while his son grows stronger is SO Freudian

[themidnightcircusshow]

Oh, absolutely. The whole Jerusalem thing is basically a neon sign saying he was incapable of reaching an end point. I also think it kind of works in opposition to the arguments that he overreached himself and would have spent all of his life trying to maintain France-- that quite possibly could have been the point. It was only Thomas' death that he seemed genuinely interested in a peace treaty (Vale does such a good job detailing how exhausted Hal seemed by that point) and I wonder if following Thomas' death and Henry's conception Hal knew just how badly things would go if he did die (🙃).

Not only do I think Hal was more than okay with his brothers being his heirs, I also wonder if he was putting off having children as long as possible. Catherine would have been young if they had gotten married when it was first suggested, and I wonder if the plan was either a) reject the treaty regardless so it doesn't matter or b) use her age as a way to avoid having kids as long as possible. His refusal to even consider marrying someone other than Catherine kind of contributes to this. If having a queen was so important, he wouldn't have held off for so long. John seems to have been the most like Hal, so them being close would make sense. Humphrey worships Hal too much and he and Thomas have a Henry shaped wall between them. But Courtenay he doesn't have the same kind of authority over, and I read somewhere that Courtenay was basically Hal's stand in at times because he was the one who knew exactly what Hal wanted. ...that makes it all so much worse. Chris Given-Wilson is the only biographer I've read who actually went into detail about why Hal was coming under fire at the end of Henry's reign, and he hates Hal a bit so it was hard to get a clear picture, especially when it came to problems with Henry (he claimed the assassin incident was fabricated without giving a reason etc). So I was never sure how accurate the accusations were. Them being not just unlikely but borderline impossible and Henry being the one to give them credence is just... bad. That's bad. Henry just does not come out of this incident looking good, to the point where I honestly wonder if their reconciliation was just Hal playing nice until Henry was dead. Like not only does it reflect terribly on him as a king, but it shows him as an absolutely terrible father who just doesn't prioritise the well being of his son. (Poor Mary just spends her afterlife screaming at him). Both Thomas and Henry I can imagine being involved on the periphery, but not actually ordering the assassin. Henry I can imagine mulling over whether he should do something about Hal or not, and just wanting it... not to be his problem anymore. And Thomas I can envision being on Team Hal Must Be Dealt With, but not really knowing what it entails (maybe thinking Hal would just be disinherited or exiled). Arundel interests me because I can't quite pin down why he hates Hal and Courtenay so much. Like I assume Hal was because of Hal's Ricardian sympathies, but that's just conjecture. Arundel and Courtenay had the entire Oxford saga, but that's still a bit obscure. Unless it wasn't just one thing and instead an accumulation of a lot of little things.

To torture you: Courtenay extremely reluctantly giving Hal any last rites he may need in case the Dagger Incident does end fatally

Oh mannnn. I was actually poking at the thing I've been writing about the Dagger Incident and trying to determine just whether Courtenay knew about the Dagger Incident before Hal pulled it or whether he didn't know until afterwards (I think he's somewhere in the middle - he knew the gist of what Hal was planning but not the details). But man. Courtenay being the one who Hal goes to for the last rites? I'm going to go insane.

Though I might raise you a wounded Hal, post-Shrewsbury and delirious with pain, insisting that Courtenay give him last rites...

And both are like an inverse of Hal at Courtenay's death bed, where "after extreme unction, with his own hands wiped his feet and closed his eyes". I'm going to chew glass.