This My Lady Jane episode 6 recap contains spoilers for the Prime Video series.
Jane finds herself in trouble when her controversial new rules lose her much-needed allies, yet being deserted by her beloved husband, who's desperate to find an Ethian cure, is what hurts the most. Meanwhile, King Edward manages to escape the clutches of his grandmother with the help of Fitzy...
If fleeing court after shouting in the Queen’s face doesn’t scream guilt, then we're not sure what does, but before Jane can start hunting her wicked cousin Mary, she needs to hammer out a deal with those who can provide her with an army. However, when someone makes an attempt on her life while she holds court, it's a sobering reminder of the limits of her power.
"Half the court have f***** off back to their estates with their retainers," says Lord Dudley, who advises her that without soldiers, her agenda is somewhat in the mud. Yet Jane understands the nobles better than they think she does and organizes a tournament of jousting to pass the time while they wait for Mary to be found, knowing most Tudor men can't turn down the chance to watch a fight. Norfolk tries to make his excuses, but Jane "insists" upon him accepting his invitation. Hopefully, she can persuade him to choose her rather than Mary, but he seems like a particularly malevolent presence.
Archer congratulates Jane on her plan, but her joy is tempered by news that Guildford has departed in search of an Ethian cure. When she tells his father, he doesn’t seem surprised and shares some of his own wisdom concerning the nature of mankind. "Humans love to hate," he explains. It's like listening to Richard Madeley lecture Greta Thunberg.
'Right place, right time...'
Meanwhile, Margaret Beaufort is still trying to coax a beast out of King Edward, without success and through glimpses of family history she says she dreams of exterminating all the Verities in the kingdom. It’s a sign that while Jane is trying to heal the country’s divides, she might have to rehabilitate extremists on both sides of the metamorphic chasm.
Realising he needs to escape his idyllic prison, Edward decides to team up with that tall drink of water who’s been hanging around outside his prison cell. "Fitz," says he's helping Edward in return for cold hard cash and was simply in the 'right place at the right time', but there's definitely a vibe between them. Let’s hope Edward has finally backed the right horse, because let’s face it, given her love of Granny, we can only assume Petunia is also a bit of an extremist.
Escaping these nuns is a little more tricky than Edward and Fitz anticipated, but their battle against one of Margaret’s creepy minions really builds a bond between them. After a lifetime spent not knowing who to trust and looking for love in all the wrong places, we hope Edward has found someone he can rely on at last.
Jane is still reeling from Guildford’s desertion, yet rain means the tournament is canceled in favor of some ten-pin bowling. (It's certainly an easier set piece to film for the prop guys..) However, if we thought a game of skittles would be tame, we didn't count on the face-off between Archer and Lord Norfolk, with the repeal of the Division Laws at stake. In the words of Will Ferrell in that famous meme... "Wow, that escalated quickly!" Let’s hope Archer can roll.
Luckily he can and he takes the time to teach Norfolk a listen about the prevalence of Ethians in high society while he’s at it. What a man / bear he is.
Elsewhere there’s romance on the way for Jane’s little sister Katherine. Hurrah! From the lecherous old Leicester to this conscientious and affable young bachelor. However, that bubble of young love is soon popped by Frances Grey — who else — who advises her daughter she’s snogging Lord Seymour’s son. It’s quite a pickle and in a few decades, Shakespeare might even write a play about it. “He’s probably a spy for his father,” she says, forbidding her daughter to see him again.
'Jane Grey is thoroughly f*****...'
Yet Jane's Machiavellian mother isn’t done with her meddling and soon urges Lord Scrope to propose to Jane, telling him her husband is never coming back. Politically it makes sense as Scrope has a massive army and we can see Frances visibly tiring of her daughter talking about love like Romantic poets in an opium den. However, it soon dawns upon Jane that her mother might know more about Guildford’s departure than she’s letting on. Did she pay for that Ethian chap to trick her son-in-law and do away with him?
With Guildford chained up in the forest, it increasingly looks that way. “Just wait until you meet the beast trainer,” says his captor menacingly. Yet as Jane sets off to rescue him, Guildford’s groom finally tells her the truth about the day his master’s mother died. It turns out she was killed by Ethians, in an episode that must have saddled (sorry) the youngster with enough guilt and self-loathing to last a lifetime.
Realizing the folly of his horsey hang-up, Guildford manages to escape his bonds and gallops back to Jane, who's been abandoned by the nobility, who have rallied to Mary’s banner after she abolished the division laws. He’s not in time to stop Mary — who’s been deserted by Archer and his Ethians — and her allies seizing power though. "Jane Grey is thoroughly f*****..." explains our narrator colorfully.
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