After princess Elisabeth's baptism, Henry orders Thomas Cromwell to draw up a bill of succession favoring his and Ann's offspring, to be accepted by an oath from all subjects. The affront to the imperialist party is maximized by making princess Mary a lowly lady in waiting to her half-sister, yet the French King still refuses openly to recognize the new Queen. Ann orders her rival lady Eleanor Luke eliminated, by false charges of jewel theft. Tired of Henry's schismatic obstinacy, Pope Paul III makes the loyal, hence jailed bishop Fisher a cardinal, Henry orders his beheading. Thomas More can no longer support his entire family, yet answers Cromwell's questions with Henry's own pamphlet arguing for papal supremacy by divine right. At her father Thomas Boleyn's suggestion only an ambitious mistress is a problematic rival, Ann urges Margaret 'Madge' Sheldon to 'succeed' Eleanor. Thomas More refuses to take the oath as phrased, while accepting he succession, landing him in the Tower.

Henry warns Anne to stay out of state affairs, but her paranoiac fear of Catherine is only alleviated with her death and Anne's new pregnancy.

Anne goes to her death continuing to pronounce her innocence and that of the accused men.

Henry feigns reconciliation with Aske but ultimately has the leaders of the rebellion arrested; later he becomes ecstatic over Jane's pregnancy.

Forced to recant, Aske is hanged in Yorkshire, Cromwell coerces Brandon to execute more rebels as examples, and Jane suffers complications in childbirth.

While a grieving Henry remains in seclusion with his fool coming to grips with Jane's death, court intrigue turns to political assassination in his absence.

frustrated in his efforts to assassinate Cardinal Pole, Henry has his relatives executed while Cromwell supports a marriage to Anne of Cleves.

Henry settles on Anne Of Cleves as his fourth wife but is disappointed with her attractiveness and blames Cromwell for his unhappy situation.

As Henry seeks to have his marriage to Anne of Cleves annulled and Cromwell removed, Bryan pimps teenage Catherine Howard as Henry's new mistress.

Henry is proud of Catherine, his beautiful, vivacious seventeen year old wife, who buys silence from an old friend by making her a member of the court.

While Henry prepares for a politically important trip to meet the defeated Northern rebels, Queen Catherine carries on her passionate affair with Culpepper.

Catherine's buys the silence of an indiscreet former lover with a position in her chamber as her affair with Culpepper becomes more tempestuous.

Henry allows Bishop Gardner a free rein in rooting out heretics and sets his eyes on the soon-to-be-widowed Catherine Parr.

After leaving wife Catherine as regent, a bellicose Henry invades France and lays siege to Boulogne in an attempt to regain his French provinces.

Although Henry does take Boulogne, his troops are decimated by dysentery while back in England the Queen arranges to give Edward a tutor with Lutheran beliefs.