i know ppl have already noticed that in the tudors, wolsey, anne and cromwell parallel each other a lot, and id just like to expand on that because i think its a very interesting choice (speaking mostly in show canon here, in terms of these people as characters, not historically)
all three of them are, along with henry himself, the focal point of the one of the first three seasons - wolsey for season 1, anne for season 2, and cromwell for season 3. during their respective focused seasons, there are many parallels between the characters; all three of them start the season at the top, and end it at the bottom, dying or getting executed in the last episode; all three of them are considered to be the characters with the most influence on henry during their respective seasons, and are arguably the most hated by all the other characters on the show; and they all (except wolsey, since he starts the cycle) have a hand in the downfall of the focal character of the previous season - anne (and cromwell too somewhat) with wolsey in season 1, and cromwell with anne in season 2.
cromwell’s death at the end of season 3 breaks the cycle. after this, there is no second focal character throughout an entire season in season 4. there is just henry. id like to explain that by focal character, i dont mean a character who is just present for every episode of the season, because of course there have been characters beyond the three of them who did that - what i mean is a character who, througout the season, has a close knit relationship with henry, which makes them the target of practically every other character in the season, as well as makes almost every subplot of the season be somehow involving them - its the nature of their relationship to henry, specifically, that makes them integral to the season. season 4 has no character that completely fits the mold - a few come close, but none really make it all the way there.
it’s interesting, because the nature of these three characters’ relationships to henry is obviously, vastly different; but in my opinion, there is one thing they all share in common, and that is that, in the entire show, they’re the only characters that truly, completely, understand henry, and this is what makes them stand out so much.
i know people might argue that more, catherine or charles brandon understood him as well, but i disagree - i dont believe they did, fully. more in the show is presented as very idealistic, and up until the end, he doesnt truly understand henry’s desire for a divorce (this is what leads to his execution, ultimately - the refusal to understand and give in to henry’s desires). even before this, more and henry have several scenes arguing, and more struggles to understand why henry is no longer as fond of him as he once was. catherine, also, understands henry’s anger with not having a male heir, but she also doesn’t realize the full extent of his desire to divorce her (she believes henry sees anne as just a potential baby maker, and doesn’t seem to quite grasp the extent of his fascination with her - the scene where she tells him she was a virgin when she married him and he yells “thats not the fucking point” kinda represents this sort of.. integral misunderstanding of his character imo). charles was always more of henry’s fun loving side; when forced to deal with political matters, like the pilgrimage of grace in season 3, his discontent is very obvious. he doesn’t truly understand henry’s choices here. following this, he also grows more distant from him towards the end of the show. a good representation of why charles also doesn’t fully understand henry is one of their final scenes in the show, where henry asks him “what is to man most irrecuperable?”, to which charles gives two wrong answers, before finally giving up, because he doesn’t know which answer henry wants him to give.
in stark contrast, all of wolsey, anne and cromwell have at least one scene in which they express their complete understanding of who henry, as a person, is - wolsey’s “if you want to keep the love of a prince, you must be prepared to give him what is most deae to you”, anne’s “the king could change his mind; what he has given, he could take back; and what taken away, he could give back” and cromwell’s “in his heart, he has always been a true catholic, except in this one thing, that he would have neither pope, nor luther, nor any other man set above him”. interestingly, in all these scenes, the characters they are speaking to seem somewhat confused by henry’s actions, or by their reaction - further establishing that, while henry’s personality was confusing for many, these three could make sense of him.
a big part of henry’s arc in season 4 is how alone he feels, despire being surrounded by so many people at court. he’s lonely like never before, he feels old and desparately longs to be his past, younger self again. i don’t think it’s a coincidence that this begins after cromwell’s death at the end of season 3. by executing cromwell, henry has rid himself of the last person on earth who fully understood and knew him. with his death, for the first time since the start of the show, henry truly was alone.
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