Season synopsis
Contains spoilers for this season and earlier seasons.
Henry’s struggle to end his marriage to Catherine breaks the English church’s relationship with Rome. He declares himself head of the Church of England, has Catherine removed from court and secretly marries Anne Boleyn. Their daughter Elizabeth is born; the Act of Succession then orders subjects to recognize Henry’s authority and his children with Anne ahead of Mary. Thomas More and Bishop Fisher refuse the oath. Fisher is executed first, and More follows after imprisonment and trial. Anne suffers an earlier miscarriage, further weakening her family’s position at court.
Thomas Cromwell helps Henry consolidate power by investigating and suppressing religious houses. Jane Seymour arrives at court and draws the king’s attention. During another pregnancy, Anne learns Henry has suffered a near-fatal jousting accident. After he recovers, she finds him with Jane and confronts him. A second miscarriage follows; Henry’s affection turns more decisively toward Jane. Cromwell builds a treason case against Anne. Mark Smeaton is tortured into a confession, while George Boleyn, Henry Norris and William Brereton are also convicted; Thomas Wyatt is acquitted.
Anne waits in the Tower as her marriage is annulled and Henry proposes to Jane, who accepts. Jane asks him to restore Mary to the succession, while Anne maintains her innocence in her final confession. The execution is delayed, briefly raising Anne’s hope that the sentence may be postponed, but she is beheaded in the Tower. In the finale, Elizabeth is removed from the line of succession as Henry turns toward a new marriage and political alignment.