#wolf hall spoilers

[jamesfrain]

"He picks up the gifts and leaves her. He stands outside the room. He leans against the wall, his eyes resting on a picture, where a twisted man adheres to a tree, and bleeds from head, hands and heart" —The Mirror and The Light by Hilary Mantel

Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light | Episode two 'Obedience'

[throughinktosecondpage]

'There is an abbey, Launde...in the heart of England.

The air is always sweet there. And it's quiet. A little heaven here on earth.

And I'd think to myself...I'll live here one day, when all my work is done.'

Yes, his work is done. He passes through the gate. The air still sweet, the birds in song, new white brick glittering in the sun: here, his little heaven.

[stilltrails]

congrats to wolf hall/tmatl for being the first form of media that allows audiences and characters in-universe to unapologetically & seriously mourn thomas cromwell.

for his death to be less of a "ha ha ha, you deserved it" and more of a "this is a horrible thing being done to a man, and it's not pleasant to see".

like we know his death is wrong, it makes us sad.

we haven't had that before.

[cosmic-walkers]

There is such a strong sense of familiarity, trust and respect Mary has for Thomas. I'm specifically speaking about the scenes where she so casually, takes her hair down in front of him like he is a life long friend. Where she hugs him and breaks down, and she quite literally has to be pulled off of him. And then, when she is telling everyone how much he's helped her, and gave her her new horse.

I think it's such a contrast to what Thomas is used to working with royals, especially when it comes to royal women and hair.

I'll never forget the scene in the book, when Anne invited Thomas into her room in the middle of the night, and her hair was out, and she was simply in her night gown. That was a power play by Anne, which Thomas realized. It was showing him that to her, he was less than a person. There was no need to be modest around him because she didn't register him as anyone of note - he is even compared to her fool in that moment. Looking for the page/quote where Thomas explains it...anyway. But why cover your hair for a man you don't consider a man of note?

With Mary it's different. The lack of gable hood, the familiarity, the ability to be around her at her most vulnerable moments. In contrast to Anne, who saw him as nothing, Mary sees him as everything in these small moments. Which is why I think he was so taken aback when she embraced him. Because he isn't used to that. There is no ulterior motive. The last time he was around a royal woman with her hair down, and she was undone, it was the emphasize how little regard she had for him.

Now, when a princess does it, it's to emphasize the opposite. That she sees him as a person and she is so grateful to him.

[diotimas]

"since that time i have injured and offended my master, for which i ask heartily for his forgiveness and beseech you all to pray to god with me that he will forgive me. oh father forgive me."

[austin-friars]

Among many things, I judge Tudor shows a lot by the portrayal of Mary I. So seeing Mary in Wolf Hall was incredibly refreshing. We know a lot of Mary I portrayals can be extremely biased, unfair, and they typically go out of their way to villainize her, paint her as insane, etc. Aside from The Tudors and Becoming Elizabeth, finding a good Mary portrayal is extremely difficult.

So thank god for Wolf Hall making Mary multifaceted, regal, elegant, yet vulnerable and headstrong at the same time. Her relationship with Thomas is also such a huge point of interest for me, I really like how things are going so far.

[spaghetti-machete]

not the cheek kiss 😭 girl i have never seen a wedding so colddddd

[terribleoldwhitemen]

@cinemaocd mentioned you on a post “Mark Rylance and Kate Phillips as Thomas Cromwell...”:

@terribleoldwhitemen: Ur tags! EXACTLY! Fuck all Jane/Crom flirtation in the book though she does troll him over the wedding night which I'm still pissed that they didn't include (maybe somehow it will be in the next ep?) but it was a let down for me because it felt like she was building an arc and then dumped it.

​right!! I thought perhaps I wasn't smart enough to catch what mantel was doing in regards to dropping that thread completely in MatL, but I was certainly disappointed, especially with the way the miniseries brought it to the fore. extremely excited to see it highlighted again (even if this first episode is all we end up getting).

[i-am-countess-olivia]

Got thoughts about how Jane's demise was portrayed in ep4. Cromwell actually being present at her death bed, followed by his tearful and angry outburst of thoughts which in the book stayed firnly in his head.

Mmmm. Not sure. Cromwell was full of missteps in TMATL but I don't recall him ever this overtly, dramatically reckless.

[polka-spots]

I finally finished the Mirror and the Light and I am inconsolable. Everyone either fled for their own safety or turned on him but Christophe stayed there and then as Thomas walked to his death Christophe called himself a Cromwell and cursed out the king. I am. His own son fled for his own safety and Christophe was the only one to stay and call out Henry, potentially at the cost of his own life. I just. I have no words. I am crying over people who have dead for 500 years, I knew the outcome from the beginning but I found myself hoping that it wouldn't happen and now I am crying about an orphan French boy who probably never existed and thr themes of loyalty to a master, except Henry killed his most loyal servant and Thomas tried to save Christophe except Christophe probably got jimself killed calling out Henry. This is probably incomprehensible but I just have no words for how this ending wrecked me emotionally. Something about loyalty even unto death. And just Christophe risking death to call out the king as Thomas is going to his death, and declaring himself a Cromwell, just fucking ruined me.

[jamesfrain]

Damian Lewis as Henry VIII Wolf Hall: The Mirror and The Light | Episode three 'Defiance'

[throughinktosecondpage]

rip tim tam tommy you may have broken a man's jaw in a single blow but your neck wasn't strong enough to repel that axe 🙏😭

[stilltrails]

something about his 'sons' being away from him and separate when he's about to be executed did something to me.

Richard in the wilderness.

Gregory trapped in some desolate looking windowsill.

Rafe breaking down.

And Wriothersely getting everything he was promised and nearly crying, at Austin Friars?

Damn

[cosmic-walkers]

I think the best way I could describe this episode is 'fear'. The absolute fear that Thomas feels after Jane's death when reality begins to weigh on him. The complete devastation in his eyes when Mary told him that Stephen had returned, the way that his relationship around Henry is different. Henry isn't a friend to him, he's a dangerous person, but now he realizes he's stuck. The way he accidentally let it slip that he would retaliate against Henry, in front of Risley, and the cold fear that we see in his face.

Thomas is genuinely terrified. I don't think he believes death, is looming in the air, but he knows that something is going to happen. And i mean, the fear he is feeling was enough to get him sick, and nearly die. It brought back his Italian fever but this time, it was worse, much much worse.

He can't even talk straight, he can't walk straight, he can't think. Thomas, a man who has been nothing but brave and resilient his whole life is finally being broken down, and finally succumbing to fear. Which is something he truly, truly, never thought he'd be able to feel fully.

What did Anne say in the first season, "Fear can unmake a man" , and well...it's happening.

[diotimas]

also rafe sadler the man that you are.......the scenes between him and cromwell broke my heart so many times. and when he read THAT letter to henry i lost it

[throughinktosecondpage]

maximum rizz even on the scaffold 🙏🙏

You know Thomas is suffering some serious depression in episode 6 because he doesn't even care about getting blood on his Armani doublet