#his relationship with gregory was so complex until it got on my nerves because gregory deserved better

[cosmic-walkers]

you know, thomas basically prepped gregory to be the type of man he absolutely despised, and always sought to find other sons elsewhere. thomas hated men who had things handed to him, he loathed that nobility and this idea that they didn't have to work for what they got. yet, he turned gregory into that. he put gregory through Cambridge, rather than put in in an apprenticeship (and i mean, he did put him in some apprenticeships, but gregory being sent to Cambridge was a huge social thing as well), he brought him up to literally be a gentleman, arranged a marriage between him and Elizabeth seymour so that the cromwell family could be connected to royalty, and even allowed him to stay with norfolk over the summer, his "enemies" (which is why IMO there was merit to dorthea believing thomas betrayed wosley, but that's for another post!).

and we see how in many instances, he subconsciously loathed gregory. this is also why he is closer to cristophe. cristophe is everything thomas wanted in a son - someone who was like him, someone who had a rougher start in life, someone who fought for what they wanted, etc. i mean, in the books, cristophe even sleeps in thomas's room with him. in contrast to the one scene where we see gregory in thomas's room, Gregory is fully dressed, and he is almost a stranger in his sleeping father's presence.

it's also why he warmed up so closely to jenneke. it's like thomas mentally punishes gregory for not struggling the way *he* did, or the way cristophe did, or the way perhaps jenneke did when she grew up without a father for some time.

thomas had this need to climb higher, and to find his way in noble society but didn't want to fully commit on his own. so he used gregory. and naturally, that would be okay, but more and more, he started to loathe him because again, Gregory subconsciously reminded him of the men he hated and detested and Gregory, really couldn't do anything to fix that.