The music swells in the opening scene of My Lady Jane Season 1 Episode 8, “God Save the Queen,” and Jane (Emily Bader) stares at her heavy manacles as she walks under heavy guard to the Tower of London.
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She enters the courtyard and recalls attending Catherine Howard’s execution as a child with her mother, Frances (Anna Chancellor).
My Lady Jane’s “God Save the Queen”
Two guards show Jane into her cell. As they remove her manacles, she asks them if Guildford (Edward Bluemel) is also in the Tower. They remain silent.
She inspects her cell and furniture. Looking out the window, she sees rain falling on the execution block. In frustration, she shakes the bars on her window and notices that one is looser than the other. The guards bring in her dinner. One sneezes, and she advises him to take pollen in his ale every morning.
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The other guard warns the sneezer, George (Harry Trevaldwyn), not to get friendly with the prisoner. Jane begs for any information at all about Guildford. As he locks up, George whispers to her that Guildford isn’t in the Tower.
Outside the palace wall, commoners rally and chant, “Free Queen Jane!” Inside, the royals and nobles attempt to have an afternoon’s entertainment. Queen Mary (Kate O’Flynn) shoots a commoner — possibly Ethian — with a crossbow, killing him. He falls to the ground, joining the many other bodies scattered all over the lawn.
“Be a Queen, Not a Tyrant”
Norfolk (Will Keen) tries to advise the queen that she cannot kill anyone she likes. Mary doesn’t listen and calls for the next target. The attendants bring a blindfolded Bess (Abbie Hern). Mary tells her to run and shoots a bolt that misses, although Bess screams. Norfolk demands that Mary stop. He tells her to listen to the mobs outside. She must be a queen, not a tyrant.
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Mary speaks softly and tells him to step aside. He apologizes for his tone. Mary picks up another crossbow. Bess is struggling with the attendants, begging Mary for mercy. Mary turns suddenly and buries the next bolt in Norfolk’s chest, killing him.
Frances steps forward and congratulates the queen. She offers a plan to deal with the uprising.
In her cell, Jane eats and wonders where Guildford is. She notices that her spoon has an interestingly sharp end. Using it, she chips away at the stone at the base of the loose bar and removes it.
Visiting Hours
Stepping out, she realizes a fall would kill her. She gets back inside. Frances arrives and tells her she’s made a deal with Mary. Jane must denounce Ethianism. Jane refuses. Frances bemoans that Jane is too sheltered to be strong. Jane retorts that she isn’t weak; she’s just not cold and unloving and unlovable.
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Frances begs Jane to take the deal. Jane tells her to tell Mary that she wants to see Guildford first before any deals are discussed.
Guildford wakes up in Seymour’s Ethian prison, aka The Zoo. His neighbor is Alice (Holly Freeman), Fitz’s twin.
The guards fetch Jane from her cell with orders to bring her to the stables to see her husband. Instead, she finds a horrific, bloody scene laid out, leading her to the decapitated horse’s head. She cries out. Mary comes down from the hayloft, taunting her. The horse isn’t Guildford.
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Mary offers her a chance to save Guildford. She hands Jane a speech. If Jane reads it in court, Mary will spare Guildford. Jane says she can’t trust Mary. Mary gets that.
Edward (Jordan Peters) and Fitz (Joe Klocek) seek out Archer (Michael Workeye) and the Pack to ask for help in saving Jane and retaking the throne. Archer declines. Edward promises that he’ll right the wrongs to Ethians that happened during his reign. Archer says it’s too little, too late.
Star-Crossed
In the palace gardens, William (Brandon Grace) leaps out to surprise Katherine (Isabella Brownson). She pushes him off her and tells him she can’t be with Seymour’s son. He offers to take her away somewhere Seymour’s spies can’t find them. Katherine refuses. She needs to stand by her family in this difficult time.
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In her cell, Jane tries reading Mary’s speech out loud. George comes in and gives her notes, saying she’s not selling it. Jane asks why he cares. He tells her about a cousin who changed and died.
Seymour visits Guildford in his cell and offers to fake his death so that he can work for Seymour. Guildford refuses.
Mary’s Excitement
In the Queen’s chambers, Frances attends Mary as Groom of the Stool. Mary explains that excitement makes her irregular. Speaking to Frances as she sits on the toilet, she describes the executions of Jane and Guildford. Margaret reminds her she promised to spare Guildford. Mary tells her she lied.
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Charles (Christian Patterson) comes in, bringing in a gift from Prince Phillip of Spain. Mary is intrigued.
Margaret visits Jane in the Tower and tells her that Mary lied and she won’t spare Guildford. Jane thanks her. Margaret apologizes for getting her in trouble. Jane tells her she’s an amazing person but advises her to remember to be kind, expect people to be good and forgive them when they’re not.
Jane hugs Margaret close to her. Margaret whispers, “F*ck Mary,” which Jane responds to in kind. Jane formulates a plan requiring her to gather moss from the wall of the Tower.
A Spanish State of Mind
Mary practices her Spanish in her chambers. Seymour arrives. She greets him in Spanish. Seymour notes her good mood. She tells him she’s in love and to look inside the gift Charles delivered earlier.
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Seymour is startled to find a human arm inside the box. Mary explains it’s the arm of Spain’s very last Ethian. He’s eradicated the Ethians in Spain with his Best Inquisition.
The hand of the arm has a ring. The gift is a wedding proposal, and Mary tells Seymour she will accept. Seymour is shocked. She tells him she was never going to marry him. However, because she’s fond of him, she’s found him a bride.
Jane lowers herself out of the window, triggering a security alarm (lots of guards yelling).
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Mary has chosen Katherine to marry Seymour. Katherine storms out. Frances follows. Katherine refuses to be bartered again. She chants, “No!” loudly, flips her mother double middle fingers and runs out screaming. She knocks on William’s door and tells him to marry her. They kiss.
Jane’s New Plan
Jane mixes the moss she gathered with calcium hydroxide from the chalk wall, creating a neurotoxin. She calls the guards and wants an audience with Mary. She applies the neurotoxin to her lips and tries to kiss Mary, but the queen rebuffs her.
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Mary directs her to read the speech. Jane addresses the gallery and confesses that she made mistakes as her queen. She addresses the hatred of Ethians that’s been stoked by the rich and powerful. Mary orders the guards to take Jane away.
As Jane is dragged away, she states she does not condemn Ethians. She condemns Mary. Mary responds by calling for Jane’s execution.
A Daring Rescue
Lord Dudley and Stan, dressed as peasants, stake out the Tower. They knock out two guards. They take the armor and search the Zoo for Guildford.
Dudley finds Guildford’s cell, but they still need the key. Stan tackles Lord Seymour and takes his key. They get Guildford out of his cell, but when he stops to ask Alice to come with them, she says she can’t break out. Guildford leaves the key with her.
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Hearing Seymour approaching with guards, Guildford tells Dudley and Stan to run. He’ll deal with the pursuers. Dudley tells Guildford that he did kill his mother, but it was an accident. He tells his son to forgive himself. His mother loved him.
Seymour and his guards arrive. Guildford sends Dudley and Stan away. Seymour directs his guards not to interfere in their duel. They fight.
Final Thoughts
Jane contemplates her death. The guards are talking outside her cell. She asks George to bring her some wine. He thinks getting plastered is a great idea.
In the Pack encampment, Susannah (Máiréad Tyers) begs Archer to rally the Ethians and help save Jane. Archer tries to convince her that the alliance with the Scots will be best for the Ethians.
Outside, Edward is berating himself. Fitz has enough and tells him to either do something or stop whinging. Edward gets an idea.
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George brings the wine in and accepts Jane’s invitation to drink with her. She drugs one goblet with the neurotoxin. At the last minute, she knocks the goblet out of his hand. They share a (safe) drink. Jane looks resigned to her fate.
The Tower of London courtyard is full of people as the executions are about to begin. Mary addresses the crowds and orders the guards to bring Jane out. Seymour notes that Katherine’s not with them.
Standing on the platform, the executioner asks for Jane’s forgiveness, which she rejects. She is blindfolded. Guildford is watching and desperate to do something. Jane kneels.
As the executioner raises his ax, a hawk flies down and claws out his eyes. He swings his ax at the bird and hits his own leg. A huge flock of birds begins to dive-bomb and attack the crowds.
The Ethians Take a Chance
Susannah runs onto the platform and unties Jane’s blindfold. She passes on greetings from Edward.
Mary’s screaming from her throng for someone to light Guildford’s pyre. Jane runs across, dodging the crowds. She climbs onto the pyre and tries to cut through Guildford’s bonds. It isn’t working fast enough. Guildford tells her to leave him, and she tells him, “Never.” She declares her love for him, and he responds in kind.
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They begin to kiss, but Guildford becomes agitated. He tells Jane to get out of the way. She steps away, and he transforms into a horse. He indicates she should ride him, and she understands.
Lord Dudley and Stan cover Guildford and Jane’s escape.
The narrator confirms that Jane and Guildford will live. However, there are also many plot threads left dangling:
-Mary is still queen. Someone should do something about that.
-Bessis (an Ethian) fox.
-Stand and Frances’s relationship is evolving.
-Katherine and William get secretly married.
-Fitz and Edward become intimate.
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In the light of dawn, Jane and Guildford cling to each other and discuss their future. Jane won’t run. They must go back and set things right. Guildford promises to be by her side. They kiss.
All eight episodes of My Lady Jane are streaming on Prime Video.
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