Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
Henry raises Thomas Boleyn to the nobility and gives his young son Henry Fitzroy an impressive collection of titles. The ceremony celebrates the boy in public, but Catherine understands the threat to Mary's position and asks Wolsey what it means. Henry then tells Catherine that he believes their marriage was never valid. She had hoped his visit meant renewed affection; instead, he presents separation as though her agreement were already assured. Elsewhere, Brandon and Margaret have married without permission. Brandon turns to Compton to carry the news to Henry, knowing the king's anger will fall on the messenger as well as the couple.
Wolsey convenes a private church hearing to find a way out of Henry's marriage. Bishop Fisher challenges both the argument against Catherine and Wolsey's authority to overturn a decision already made by a pope. The cardinal's threats cannot force the agreement he needs, and he tells Henry the matter must go to Rome. That route becomes still more difficult when news arrives that imperial troops have sacked the city and taken the pope prisoner. Catherine's family connection now carries immediate political weight. The final blow is personal: Fitzroy dies of the sweating sickness. Henry loses the son he has just celebrated, leaving his new titles and public hopes without the child they were meant to advance.