Contains spoilers for this episode and earlier episodes.
The sweating sickness breaks through the court's usual business and pleasures. Compton dies, leaving Tallis to compose a funeral anthem for the man he loved. Henry still receives a French ambassador and enjoys a lavish picnic with Anne, but the apparent safety of their outing collapses when they return to reports of deaths in London. Palace servants rush to protect the king, while Anne is directed away with George. Henry searches for remedies and asks his physician how the illness might be stopped. The answers offer little certainty, and his fear soon reaches beyond the immediate possibility of catching the disease.
Anne becomes seriously ill at Hever, and Henry faces the prospect of losing her without being able to control what happens. His isolation brings nightmares, including a vision of Anne dead beside him. Wolsey also falls sick, further disrupting the government around the king. Anne eventually recovers, with George relieved to see her fever break and her father already thinking about her return to Henry. News that the sickness is retreating arrives alongside hope of progress on the marriage case through Cardinal Campeggio. Tallis's music accompanies the remembrance of those who did not survive. Henry finally rides out to meet Anne and embraces her in the open countryside, grateful for a reunion that had seemed uncertain.