In total silence, Jane (Emily Bader) and Guildford (Edward Bluemel) ride in a carriage guarded by many knights as My Lady Jane Season 1 Episode 4, “Bluebird Is Dead,” begins. Jane steps out at the palace and Seymour (Dominic Cooper) is there with the crown. She places it on her head as the narrator speculates how this will all play out. The title lettering appears, now reading “My QUEEN Jane.”
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She enters the throne room, where everyone addresses her as “Your Majesty,” including the Princesses Mary (Kate O’Flynn) and Bess (Abbie Hern). When Lady Frances (Anna Chancellor) instructs Katherine (Isabella Brownson) and Margaret (Robyn Betteridge) to address their sister in the same way and curtsies low, Jane faints in shock.
My Lady Jane’s “Bluebird Is Dead”
Mary berates Seymour for giving Jane the crown. In her doldrums, she dons Henry VIII’s famous portrait robes to cheer herself up. She decides she’ll have to kill Jane herself.
Seymour insists he can assist. Mary promises him he’ll rule by her side, then grabs him around the neck and demands the key to his “zoo,” the Ethian prison.
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Jane wakes up in Edward’s (Jordan Peters) bed, wearing his robe and surrounded by courtiers. She tears up, looking at Edward’s wheelchair.
Left alone with Edward’s valet, Charles (Christian Patterson), she wonders why he named her heir. Charles tells her Edward held her in high esteem. She asks about Edward’s death. He tells her that Edward had isolated himself in the north turret. Knowing how cold and damp the north turret is, Jane is instantly suspicious.
Investigating the King’s Murder
Jane heads up to see the room Edward allegedly leaped from in the north turret. As she gazes out the window casement, Guildford taps her on the shoulder. They share their emotional turmoil in the typical English manner.
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Guildford tells her Lord Dudley (Rob Brydon) swears he’s innocent of poisoning the king. She points out that if Dudley isn’t the murderer, she must find the real killer, as they must’ve sent the assassins after them as well.
Day One as Queen
Frances wakes Jane up to get ready to be queen. While her sisters play with the jewels, Jane is told there will be a coronation extravaganza. She notices Katherine’s wedding ring, and Margaret informs her that Frances made Katherine marry Leicester (Jim Broadbent). Jane is outraged, but Katherine points out he died, and she’s fine.
Frances persists in giving Jane advice on how to be queen while Jane is preoccupied with meeting with the privy council to order Lord Dudley’s release from the Tower of London.
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Frances visits her rooms and gives her new staff instructions on her daily expectations. They are very satisfactory.
Jane hears Lord Dudley’s pleas of innocence while Seymour stands over him, smirking. Making his case for Dudley’s guilt, Seymour announces he has a witness, his cook.
Just One More Thing
Jane questions the cook in the gardens. Her story quickly falls apart. Jane instructs Charles to release Lord Dudley immediately, then turns to questioning the cook about why she lied. Rather than answering, the cook tries to run, but the guards catch her in her Ethian form, a rabbit, and kill her.
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Jane tries to censure Seymour for killing people with impunity. He points out the cook was a “beast” and redirects the murder onto the dead cook.
Mary makes her way into the prison with a large box. She has a guard open a cell and tells the prisoner to get into the box or be Seymour’s next experimental subject.
Sneaky Seymour
The Dudleys’s groom, Rupert (Stewart Scudamore), leads Guildford in horse form back to the new stables. Seymour overhears him talking to Guildford and questions why the royal grooms were dismissed from this stable. Rupert covers with a reason. Seymour then asks whose bed is in the stable and whose clothes are on it. Rupert tries to claim them as his. Seymour doesn’t believe him. Instead, he concludes that Guildford is sleeping in the stable because Jane’s kicked him out of her bed. He finds that delightful.
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Rupert subtly hurries Seymour out of the stable, and he leaves just as Guildford returns to human form.
Murderous Mary
Bess returns to her room and finds Mary holding a knife to Petunia’s neck. Mary accuses her of stealing Edward’s will. Bess asserts that Edward had the right to choose his heir. She begs Mary to let Petunia live. Mary allows it but sets some ground rules. To make it up to Mary, Bess must take the large box and place it next to Queen Jane.
Frances, Katherine, and Margaret are in Jane’s rooms. Bess arrives with the box and a small pile of books. Jane invites her to stay for a drink and a chat. They discuss their memories of Edward.
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As they talk, Bess sees the box lid rise and a black adder peek out. As the snake moves towards Jane, Bess decides she can’t go through with it and replaces the books on top of the box, trapping the snake. She excuses herself, carrying the box and books, just as Guildford arrives.
Connecting the Dots
Jane and Guildford go for a walk. Jane tells Guildford that Seymour is behind everything. Arriving at his quarters, Guildford shuts the door and asks Jane why she isn’t looking for the cure. She says she’s been a bit busy. They spar verbally for a bit and then start kissing. Guildford calls it quits before it goes too far and heads to the stable.
He’s packing a bag when his father arrives. He tells Lord Dudley he’s going to Florence to investigate a letter that might hold the key to curing him. Dudley dissuades him and tells him Jane must name him king instead of only royal consort.
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Guildford accuses him of using him to climb the throne. Dudley doesn’t deny it but points out the pains he’s gone through to keep Guildford safe.
The next day, in the gardens, Bess lets the black adder out of the box with Petunia watching from a distance. The snake slithers out, transforms into a man, and runs away. Bess is shocked and shocked again when she turns to Petunia and finds a woman (Tallulah Greive).
Petunia thanks her for protecting her and apologizes for failing to protect Edward. Bess asks her to tell her everything.
In Dreams
Jane dreams of being pursued through a labyrinth by Seymour and his men. She wakes up to find Phillips and Hodgkins looming over her. They place a pillow on her face and start stabbing. She wakes up for real with a gasp.
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Realizing the goons were Kingsland Guards and Seymour commands them, she sneaks into Seymour’s office to snoop. Seymour arrives and finds her going through his papers. She asks him for a list of the Kingsland Guards by name. He opens a locked cabinet with a key on a red string. She notices a black folder in the cabinet.
As he’s about to hand the list to her, he stumbles, and the entire list falls in the fire. She watches him put the key to the cabinet in a small box on his desk. She leans in close and invites him to a support party that evening.
Seymour tells Mary about the invitation as they walk to Bess’s room. Mary hammers on the door and, when Bess opens the door, demands to know what happened. Bess tells her the snake had died in the box.
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Walking away, Mary tells Seymour that Bess is lying. She tells Seymour to bring some Tofana to the supper party.
Supper Party Shenanigans
Jane and Frances greet her guests at the supper party. Guildford arrives and asks Jane to keep working on a cure. She promises she will once Edward’s killer is caught and tells him she’s outfoxing him as they speak. While Seymour enjoys the snacks, Katherine and Margaret search his office for the key and folder.
At the table, small talk is painful as Mary fawns, Stan flirts, and Seymour tries to get Guildford to go hunting with him at dawn. While the attention wanders, Mary poisons Jane’s cup.
Seymour proposes a toast, and Jane picks up the poisoned cup. Her sip is interrupted by Frances proposing a speech to herself. The toast proceeds, but Stan accidentally picks up Jane’s cup, which Frances then takes so he can perform later in bed. She’s about to drink it, but Seymour purposefully clinks it too hard and shatters the glass.
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Jane sees Katherine and Margaret walk past the open door with the folder. She winks at Guildford, who acknowledges the message. Later, alone, they open the folder and find coded letters. Guildford recognizes the cipher used in the letters as the Alberti Cipher. He takes her to the stable and finds the cipher wheel in his trunk.
(k)Nights in White Satin
Sitting in her bed, Frances suddenly hears singing from outside her window. Stan’s standing in the courtyard with a lute singing to her. She goes down and grabs his lute. He proposes. She rejects him.
When she tells him he isn’t husband material, he takes umbrage and nearly spills the truth about Guildford. Her interest peaked, she threatens never to see him again if he doesn’t tell her everything.
Mary rides a bound Seymour while wearing her father’s robes. The whole time, she berates him for preventing Frances from drinking the poison. Afterward, she wonders what Jane does with Guildford all day. Seymour mentions that Jane’s dismissed the grooms from the West Stables.
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In the West Stables, Jane and Guildford decipher the letters and discover they’re love letters between Mary and Seymour. One letter references the Florentine Widowmaker, and Jane realizes they’re talking about Tofana, the poison used to kill Edward.
Tipping Her Hand
Taking the letters, Jane tells Guildford she’ll call a council meeting to share their discovery. As it’s nearly dawn, Guildford has to stay behind in the stable. Jane meets up with Mary in the gardens. Mary tells her she’s heading to the West Stables. Desperate to keep Mary from seeing Guildford in horse form, Jane blurts out that she knows Mary killed Edward.
She holds up the proof, the letters. Mary drops her cloak and runs at Jane, screaming. She tackles her to the ground, gets the letters, and eats them. Sitting on Jane, Mary chokes her until she lies still. Grabbing her cloak, Mary hurries away.
Guildford paces in the stable, waiting for dawn. A hooded figure sneaks up to the door. Dawn breaks and Guildford changes as Frances watches from the crack in the door. The narrator recounts the secrets being discovered and adds his own. Edward wakes up in a bed, surrounded by nuns.
All eight episodes of My Lady Jane are now streaming on Prime Video.
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