But then there is the good news that Queen Jane has become pregnant, which takes King Henry's mind off the fact that another rebellion is growing, one involving his cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole (Mark Hildreth), a Plantagenet and a contender for the throne. He seeks to overthrow Henry from afar, with the help of the Vatican and the French King. Henry dispatches his new confidante, Sir Francis Bryan (Alan Van Sprang) and one of Jane's brothers to assassinate the traitor, but Pole eludes them constantly. When the time comes for Jane to have Henry's son, she remains in labor for over two days, forcing a C-section and causing her eventual death. Although the King is overjoyed at his son's birth, he is devastated at the loss of the wife he loved so much and goes into a deep depression, speaking only to his fool for weeks. Thomas Cromwell seeks to align Henry's realm further with the Protestants and pushes for the marriage of Henry and Anne of Cleves (Joss Stone), using trickery and a deceptive "likeness" of Anne in the form of a painting. When Henry does agree to the marriage and finally sees Anne of Cleves, he despises her instantly and works to annul the marriage in any way he can, which he eventually succeeds in doing. This becomes Cromwell's undoing and costs him his life in a most unpleasant manner. Finally, Sir Francis Bryan locates a new mistress to cheer the King up in the way of Katherine Howard (Tamzin Merchant), a 17-year-old wild child. Naturally, the King is smitten and the season closes.
The special features include a Tudors timeline with events which you can click to see a snippet of footage with Michael Hirst, Executive Producer, as he discusses the topic. There are also cast biographies, a gallery of shots and the first two episodes of The United States of Tara, another Showtime series. There are also additional special features such as cast interviews available if you put your DVD into your computer and have internet access, but if you are like me, you want to watch your special features like your series, on your television. When will Showtime figure this out!?!
Overall, I must admit that I miss Anne Boleyn's character as she was quite the spitfire. While this series remains strong and this season is still fantastic, I didn't enjoy it quite as much as the last. I hear there is only going to be one more season of The Tudors and considering how expensive it must be to put on a production of this magnitude, I can understand. But I will miss it just the same and do wish they'd continue it on with the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth. Oh well.
