Henry prepares for war with France but receives cautious counsel from the powerful Cardinal Wolsey, who urges a peace treaty; the king learns that his queen's lady-in-waiting Elizabeth Blount is pregnant with his child.
Henry contemplates an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V of Spain despite his "Field of Cloth of Gold" ceremony celebrating allegiance to France, and executes a rival; Elizabeth gives birth to the king's illegitimate son.
A visit from Charles V forces Henry to conceal his growing disaffection from Queen Katherine, who is the influential Spanish monarch's aunt - even as Henry comes face-to-face with the seductive Anne Boleyn for the first time.
Despite being named "Defender of the Faith" by the Pope, Henry begins to scheme to replace his queen with the more desirable Anne Boleyn, as court intrigues involving Princess Margaret and plots against Cardinal Wolsey intensify.
Henry is stunned by a reversal in his alliance with Charles V and forced to look elsewhere for European support, while an insulted Anne Boleyn refuses his offer of permanent mistress status, inflaming his desire to marry her.
An increasingly confident Henry VIII grows dissatisfied with the Catholic Church's progress with his petition for an annulment of his marriage, making Cardinal Wolsey further vulnerable to conspirators.
The country is struck down with food shortages and an outbreak of plague, forcing the normally buoyant Henry to doubt his future and abilities - but a sudden change in fortunes is on the horizon.
A special envoy from the Pope arrives to hear Henry's petition regarding the legitimacy of his marriage, with the fate of Cardinal Wolsey's career, the king's romance with Anne Boleyn, and the nation's relationship with Rome in the balance.
The fall from grace and power of Cardinal Wolsey is fast and merciless, with the one-time Lord Chancellor stripped of authority and influence. His replacement is an unusual choice: the morally righteous Sir Thomas More.
A disgraced Cardinal Wolsey tries one last, desperate gambit to resurrect his career by allying himself with the similarly fallen Queen Katherine, but the king's new advisors learn of their plot.
The Reformation begins as Henry breaks with the Catholic Church and declares himself head of the church; Anne's insistence leads to Henry breaking all contact with Katherine and banishing her from the court.
Henry continues undermining the Catholic Church's influence in England, while his chaplain makes a fact-finding tour of Lutheran Germany; Anne resolves to consummate her relationship with the king as Brandon plants doubts about her virtue.
His patience at an end, Henry marries Anne in secret, appoints his Lutheran chaplain Thomas Cranmer the head of the Church, and strips Queen Katherine of her title and status; the king and new queen's first child is born, a girl christened Elizabeth.
The country is asked to swear an oath recognizing the new royal succession, and Henry's supreme authority; Anne becomes pregnant again; Sir Thomas More refuses to swear to all aspects of the oath and is jailed in the Tower of London.
A miscarriage and her sister's impetuous marriage jeopardize the Boleyns' influence at court; after many failed attempts to coerce his endorsement of the king's powers, Sir Thomas More is ordered to be executed as a traitor by a reluctant Henry.
The power of Thomas Cromwell spreads as he investigates the Church for corruption, even as the Pope denounces the execution of Sir Thomas More; the queen is rebuffed by the king of France, who refuses to recognize her daughter's legitimacy.
The persecution of the Catholic Church reaches its pinnacle as Thomas Cromwell confiscates its wealth for the crown, making Henry the richest English king in history, while Katherine dies in pious poverty.
The brief resurgence of Anne at court is short-lived, as Jane Seymour rapidly replaces her in the king's affections, a process speeded up by Henry's near-fatal jousting accident and Anne's hysteria-induced miscarriage.
The fall from grace of Anne Boleyn is swift and complete, as the king grants greater powers to the family of his new love Jane Seymour, and accepts Thomas Cromwell's obviously trumped-up charges of adultery against the queen.
Anne awaits execution in the Tower of London as Henry's marriage to her is annulled, baby Elizabeth is removed from the line of succession, and Henry proposes to Jane Seymour, who accepts.
Henry VIII weds a third time: to shy, demure noblewoman Jane Seymour, a union that he and his advisors pray will result in a male heir; once-loyal subjects rebel against Henry's crusade against Catholicism.
The rebellion now known as the "Pilgrimage of Grace" begins in earnest, with Henry dispatching Brandon to deal with the uprising; bedridden due to the recurrence of his jousting injury, Henry takes a new mistress: Lady Ursula Misseldon.
Henry reconciles with his estranged daughters Mary and Elizabeth in time for the Christmas holidays, but betrays and brutally suppresses the rebellion against him after making conciliatory promises to the uprising's leaders.
The leaders of the Pilgrimage of Grace uprising are put to death, but Brandon is disturbed by the cruelty and mercilessness of the suppression; Henry celebrates the birth of a son but his joy is short-lived as Queen Jane dies within days.
Henry remains in seclusion while mourning the queen's death, an opportunity that enemies of the crown seize to murder several friends of the court; Cromwell is disturbed when Henry doesn't resist his new church's similarities to Catholicism.
Matchmaking begins in earnest as Cromwell schemes to secure the Reformation by marrying Henry to a Protestant wife - but the king's marital reputation precedes him; the condition of Henry's wounded leg turns life-threatening.
War looms with France and Spain aligning against England with backing from Rome, so Henry agrees to a politically fortuitous marriage with Anne of Cleves, a plain and unsophisticated German aristocrat he has never met.
Henry moves swiftly to annul his loveless marriage to Anne of Cleves, and beds a new mistress, 17-year-old Katherine Howard; Princess Mary falls in love with Duke Philip of Bavaria; Cromwell's fall from favor is sudden and dramatic.
King Henry VIII marries his fifth queen, a lusty teenager whose beauty and checkered past inflame the passions of a trusted courtier, Thomas Culpepper.
Henry's age catches up to him during Christmas celebrations, but his youthful and randy court continues the party without him; the arrogant Lord Surrey takes aim at the powerful Seymour clan.
A noticeably more benevolent and tolerant Henry VIII forgives the citizens of the North for their rebellion against him, but the youthful wife he dotes upon launches a passionate affair with Culpepper.
The king's warm welcome in the North reinvigorates him but his queen's past catches up to her when a former lover appears with threats of blackmail, and an anonymous letter exposes her infidelities to Henry.
The king is devastated to learn of his beloved queen's ribald past and present affairs, and banishes her from court, even as the investigation rounds up and tortures suspects.
The newly single Henry surprises his countrymen by restoring his daughters to the royal succession, forging an unexpected political alliance, and manipulating events to marry an attractive, mature, and recent widow.
War looms with France as Henry marries Catherine Parr, who proves to be an able and respected queen and stepmother, finally giving England's king the stable, happy household he has long desired.
The war with France is nearly lost when one of Henry's officers cleverly engineers a sudden victory, but the triumphant king's health has been weakened by the costly adventure; Brandon returns from France with a mistress.
In the Series Finale, Henry defeats one final political foe but faces his mortality after the deaths of both his best friend Charles Brandon and King Francis of France, and the ghosts of his former queens appear for a final confrontation.
Finale - Henry’s thoughts turn to his own mortality with the news that his long-time friend and sometimes foe King Francis, and his unshakable soldier Charles Brandon, are each dying. As he faces death, Henry encounters the ghosts of his former wives who each get a chance to confront him. Hans Holbein paints a last, iconic portrait of the Tudor King.
