One thing that I have to say about Becoming Elizabeth is – I was right. About what you ask? Well that would be that Mary is scary as fuck. Like terrifying. She’s legitimately lost her mind in the quest for power and the want to honor her religion.
And judging by the ending she’s definitely – well – just a little bit cray cray.
But let’s regress.
The King is sick and that means that everyone is worried about him dying. But not because he would die, but because they’ve all burnt their bridges with Mary and if she ascends to the throne, they need to fix it. Hell, Dudley puts it best when he says that he needs to build a bridge.
So many of them do.
I think that we can all understand that people are terrified of having a Catholic rule, after everything that they’ve done to make the country Protestant. Dudely should be terrified after he stole everything from Mary’s church. She’s pissed and she hates him.
But he tries to build a bridge with Mary, by writing to her and telling her that Edward is sick. She of course comes right away, but I will be honest, I think she came for one reason and one reason only – she wanted to be prepared for her succession.
The thing is – royalty is all a game. If we’ve learned anything watching this show, it’s just that. Everyone is in a quest for power, prestige, and favor. Everything you do is a game of chess, hoping that someone won’t out wit you.
And for Dudley, from the moment that Mary arrives, he knows that his time has come. The moment that Mary has the chance, she will make sure that he suffers. While Mary scares the fuck out of me, he should be the one that she scares.
The truth is, in Becoming Elizabeth, Mary is iconic. She’s this give no fucks, bad ass. She was liked, but she also feared. She wanted a better life than what she had. Now, I don’t expect everyone to know – but being as this show sent me on a history deep dive – Mary wasn’t actually around when Edward died, so I wondered why they took the liberty of having her there.
But I also think that because her and Elizabeth end up banished from court before Edward died, that maybe she won’t be? Who knows. But we’ll get to that.
When Mary arrives at court to see Edward, you can see that these two love each other. She wants to be there for her brother, wants to protect him, wants for him to not cry. I think that she’s been a sister, but also a mother figure to him.
Yet there is no love lost between Mary and Elizabeth. Mary doesn’t care about her sister. You can definitely see that by how she treats her and all of the shit that she says about her. Mary has used Elizabeth as an scapegoat, but she’s also been unfair to her.
I almost want to believe that she’s sorry, when she starts crying and telling Elizabeth that she regrets the things she’s said, but being how those tears dry up quick as fuck, I don’t believe she’s sorry. I believe she’s a sociopath.
Elizabeth and Mary are both making their moves. Dudley alluding to Elizabeth that he would do anything for her as he did for her father. He knows that Mary will kill him, so why not go down trying to get rid of her. Mary, on the other hand, goes with Pedro to visit Somerset and get him on her side. Somerset had made her promises before that he failed to keep, but she knows that he’s best to have at her side.
The thing is – all these moves are being made and the king isn’t dead. There is always the chance that he will recover. And if he does, you can bet he’ll get someones ear. Like, Edward is a kid and so he’s going to believe the shit that is said to him.
Of course Somerset is going to join Mary, because he wants to be back in power. He’s an idiot, but he’s not a fool. He needs to fix shit. And he also doesn’t really care who it is that he crushes along the way. Look, I also know that Somerset has tried to play all sides, but that really hasn’t worked for him. After all, look at where he’s ended up.
He and Mary agree to confront her obstacles to the throne. He takes Dudley and she takes Elizabeth. Dudley and Somerset have the “my dick is bigger than yours” type argument. Mary though, she is in Elizabeths room when she wakes up (tré creepy) and tells her that they should go hunting. Of course Elizabeth knows this is a trap, but goes.
And Mary, well, she makes it known, that Elizabeth is being played. She also makes it known she thinks little to nothing of her sister. But Elizabeth – she’s pissed. She’s got this look on her face like, fuck you Mary. Mary tells Elizabeth if she remembers her place all will be okay.
Elizabeth knows that Mary has basically told her don’t come for the throne or I will come for you. This makes Elizabeth summons Dudley and tells him that she wants to be Queen, but will not seek it. Of course Dudley goes off and tells her what he thinks of Mary.
Now, Mary is all set to throw him into the tower, the next day. Elizabeth has played the side of her sisters, hoping to keep herself alive. But just as Dudley is set to go to the tower, they get the news that Edward has recovered. And then at this point – don’t blink. Cause a lot of shit happens in seconds.
Dudley has Somerset taken to the tower and executed the next day. Pedro shows up at the execution so Somerset is not alone, and manages to cover Somerset’s sons eyes in order to protect him from seeing his father is beheaded.
Mary and Elizabeth are of course thrown under the bus from Dudley and banished from court after a party that night. Edward is pissed and doesn’t want to see them.
Mary tells Elizabeth she has no love for her. They trade barbs and then end up laughing about how it isn’t easy being a woman, but the good thing is that they are safe as long as Edward reigns.
Dudley brings Jane Grey to court, after telling Edward that his sisters aren’t the only ones with royal blood.
And we end with Edward puking up some more blood – not that any of us thought that this recovery was going to last. Dudley, you may need to really work on strategy, because the young king is dying.
OTHER THOUGHTS
- Henry Grey is an idiot
- Jane Grey, I want her to have power so she can knock her Dad out
- All that’s happening shows that Thomas Seymour was smarter than others thought
- Somerset apologizing to Elizabeth, well… he owed her one earlier
- Robert Dudley getting married – well, I knew it would happen, but his wife is way too happy for court
- Dudley telling his son he has permission now to marry Elizabeth… you’re an idiot Dudley. Should have secured that shit along time ago.
