I'm all caught up, watching the episodes later in the week.

I find the whole thing which is basically one big family feud to be rather fascinating as well. Lot of players, and as it's been pointed out already, the writers are playing a little fast and loose with the historical facts as they're known, but who cares, it's not a documentary.

I 'm warming up to the whole Henry/Lizzie union. At this point it made perfect sense to merge the warring families and even though neither party wanted the marriage, they had to do what they had to do. I would like to think that perhaps they found a little affection for each other and it looks like the writers are letting the young couple develop along those lines. Let's face it, Lizzie's in a pickle now. Yeah, you love your mother but she has a baby now and she has to protect him as well. Lady Margaret nailed it by saying a threat to Henry is a threat to Arthur. What would you do in that impossible situation?

Looking forward to seeing how the writers develop the story.

 

That's sounds too much like the Anastasia "mystery". Did one of the girls escape the slaughter? I believe there was even a woman who claimed she was Czar's daughter, and many believed she was but the real Anastasia's remains were eventually identified by DNA in a shallow grave near the one that contained other family members.

Same thing with the princes in the tower. Likely they were murdered as suspected. Richard or Henry doesn't matter although it would be sweet if some sort of documentation came to light to settle matters once and for all. It's been so long I don't know if any forensic evidence could be obtained at this point.

*just wanted to say apparently there were several Anastasia imposters with Anna Anderson being the most well known.

 

what would i do in that situation? i would keep my distance from my scheming mother. arthur will be in trouble no matter what. while he is heir to Henry, the Yorks will want him dead. if teddy were restored to the throne, arthur would become a direct threat.

i wouldn't want my son to be heir to the throne. it just puts a target on him. i think it would be better to be within the royal orbit so life would not be too hard, but not smack in the middle of the turmoil. i think maggie landed well in Wales, and her husband is kind, at least in this rendition.

i remember in grade school when i was reading biographies, i wondered why writers pretended the royal succession had anything to do with who became king. it all came down to murder after murder after murder to me.

 

I agree that to be a royal in tumultuous times could be extremely dangerous but I expect that they all know the stakes, having been brought up in that life.

I applaud Lizzie so far in that she's walking the tightrope of loyalties between her husband's (and now her) family and that of the family she was born into. And let's give a hand to Henry who hasn't done anything so egregious yet that would set his wife against him to the point of no return. He's actually been a model ruler based on the guidance of his new wife.

Unfortunately, with everyone plotting around the young couple you never know what's gonna happen. Lizzie however, based on the reaction she got from her mother in the abbey when she went to visit (yes, I actually got to see it in real time this week...a fluke to be sure), makes her think that she must align herself with Henry rather than fight him cause the Yorks don't trust her anymore. That's the right thing to do.
If I got a letter from mom saying that Arthur would never sit the throne, I think I'd go to my husband and suggest that perhaps, if they can't keep her under control that she might have to be executed after all. Son trumps mother if she's scheming against my boy. It would kill me to do it but I would want to protect my child. And I'd be keeping a sharp eye on my mother-in-law as well...just saying.

At this point I've got to say that I think I'm getting the "vapors" for Jasper Tudor. Lady Margaret is such a fool. I also think Maggie hit the jackpot with her new husband. They married her down but he seems like a nice sort who wants to please his new wife. He was the only one who had the balls to stand up and speak for the young boy the Duchess of Burgundy set up to impersonate the York Prince. I hope he takes Maggie far away and keeps her safe cause her poor brother, I fear, isn't going to be around for long.

 

Very cool stuff. It's amazing what they can do with some old bones.

 

oh yeah! that's true! i had the day dream.

sadly, i think the daydream clouded princess di's instincts. her happily ever after would have been as "just" a mom with a devoted husband.

 

Poor Henry. Traitors at every turn. I imagine as the Tudors were more or less distant cousins, that the York prince Richard might feel like the "true" heir to the crown, but that's the fortunes of war. Henry did win at Bosworth. If he was a total arsewipe I could maybe sympathize with the whites, but he's proved himself to be a very capable ruler so far.

The way the show sets it up, this boy who walked into the court at Burgundy may actually be Elizabeth's lost son, but I'm with Granny. War could mean his death as well. And is it really worth it?

Lady Margaret worked my last nerve when she put that pillow over Jasper's face but I'm not too happy with that pathological liar Elizabeth either. I hope Lizzie isn't taken in anymore by her mother's protestations of love and has the bitch put in the dungeon. Do they have dungeons at the abbey? Lol. No excuse for what she did at little Henry's ennobling, despite what she might believe privately.

I felt for Maggie too. Royals don't play fair do they, keeping her son hostage while they send her off on a mission to debunk a boy who might actually be her cousin. I can't imagine what turmoil could be going through her head especially since she has a happy marriage with her Tudor husband.

 

darn! maggie back in the thick of things.

the alhambra! oh my gosh!!! and the princess dancing!! at first i couldn't tell if the king and queen were statues. i realize i had no idea about the royal court of spain.

 

two episodes?!? no, that's not nearly enough. it could go on forever for me.

now i also want to see a show on the spanish court. i wonder if we haven't gotten that because of the language difference. if there is already such a show, i would watch it with captions on. maybe spanish tv just doesn't do extravagant period shows.

 

Only two more episodes left? Of season one I hope. Surely there is much more story to tell unless Lizzie died prematurely.

I thought the last episode was powerful. I was holding my breath when Lizzie was addressing the troops that were defecting to Richard, and I almost teared up when she brought them back, leading the procession. Now that's a woman who loves her husband.

I feel kinda bad for Richard. Whether or not one thinks Henry should have been on the throne, this young man seems admirable as well. I hated that the priests gave him up after he claimed sanctuary but hey, a library is of more importance than a man's life or your principles/beliefs I guess.

Unfortunately, what other outcome could there be? As long as Richard lives, Henry's reign is not secure. Lizzie will be torn. If she even believes for one minute after seeing Richard that he is her brother she still has to give him up to his fate if she wishes to protect her own family. Add to that the guilt trip her dying mother laid on her to help her brother and she'll be lucky she doesn't have some sort of break down. She also knows what Isabella told her....no marriage alliance between the countries until all rivals to Henry's crown are eliminated. I'd hate to be in her shoes.

 

Well, Lizzie gave it her best shot. The writers have given us a completely believable Richard in the guise of Perkin Warbeck. He looks the part, he's kind and brave, seems to know things that only a York family member would know. He's a nice kid who loves his wife and son but OMG, is living out your remaining life as an unknown , safely, with your family worse than stubbornly holding on to your claim to the throne? Evidently, as he'd rather go down as the prince rather than live out his life as Warbeck.

As a viewer, I, like Maggie and Lizzie have been convinced he is the lost prince, although history would not support that. I did find it interesting after doing a little reading that there were some at the time who thought, based on his appearance, he might have actually have been one of the illegitimate sons of Edward IV or some other relative with a connection to the Yorks.

 

Our little Lizzie finally grew a pair and became the Queen she was destined to be. In order to save her own husband and sons, she had to sacrifice other family members and she did it although it took it's toll. Makes me wonder if the tale of the "curse" had some teeth in it after all. Arthur never did live long enough to ascend to the throne and Henry, even with eight wives, never sired a male heir that succeeded him either.