Everything You Need to Remember About 'Wolf Hall'

Wolf Hall is, in many ways, the Platonic ideal of what a period drama is supposed to be and do. Sumptuous to look at, gloriously dense, unapologetically intellectual, and made with remarkable attention to period-accurate details, the six-part drama featured an all-star cast of British heavy hitters and racked up eight Emmy nominations. That we're getting a second helping of this world and its story in the form of Wolf Hall: The Mirror & the Light feels like nothing so much as a very expensive and welcome gift. The series is based on a trilogy of novels by the late Booker Prize-winning author Hilary Mantel. The first two —Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies —were adapted for the original six-part series, with the final installment, The Mirror & the Light, used as the material for its sequel. (Although it only covers four years of history, it is packed with drama.)

In many ways, it seems almost unnecessary to write a recap of what happened during the first season of Wolf Hall, given that the bulk of its story is not only a remarkably well-known piece of history but one that's been adapted so many times before. But this drama manages to put its own spin on the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn by shifting its focus to Thomas Cromwell, a man who had an outsize impact on history but who is (strangely) often left out of our larger conversations about Tudor England. 

Mantel's fictional take on this period is as much a character study of Cromwell as it is a story of King Henry and is remarkably sympathetic to the blacksmith's son who rose to become a king's right hand. This is, by the way, an interpretation that's somewhat at odds with literary tradition, which generally likes to set Cromwell's scheming and ambition at odds with the quiet moral certainty of men like Sir Thomas Moore and Bishop John Fisher, both of whom were canonized in the Catholic Church following their executions for refusing to acknowledge Henry as head of the church. (It's hard to compete with literal saints, after all.) 

Wolf Hall, the series, is a bit more ambiguous about its feelings for Cromwell, presenting him as a study in contradictions. A great deal of that is due to star Mark Rylance's performance as the man in question, which suggests much without ever truly (or at least openly) committing to anything. Loyal, petty, and a genuine believer in the religious reforms he's working to bring about, this take on the character truly contains multitudes.

The story begins in 1529. King Henry VIII (Damian Lewis) has been on the throne for two decades and, frustrated by his lack of a male heir, is attempting to get out of his long marriage to the very devout Catherine of Aragon (Joanne Whalley). He's lusting after Anne Boleyn (Claire Foy), who has her eyes on the ultimate prize and refuses to become his mistress when she could become his queen. The issue of the "King's Great Matter" was preoccupying all at court —and in many other places around Europe. 

Cromwell is a solicitor to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey (Jonathan Pryce), Archbishop of York, and a staunch ally of Henry's —at least until he runs into problems trying to get his marriage annulled. Particularly hated by Anne (for both his failures in the issue of Henry's marriage and his earlier decision to forbid her from wedding Harry Percy, the future Earl of Northumberland), Wolsey's stock is plummeting. Henry has dismissed him as Lord Chancellor and essentially banished him to his ecclesiastical seat in Yorkshire, a massive snub for a man who once wielded such power. (The real Wolsey had never even been to York at this point in his life.) 

This is infuriating for Cromwell, who genuinely loves Wolsey. The two men come from similar lowly backgrounds (Cromwell, a blacksmith's son, and Wolsey, a butcher's) and have kindred striver's hearts. Cromwell himself heads to court to attempt to bring Henry around, but ends up catching the king's attention himself. 

Unfortunately, Cromwell's attempt to bring Wolsey back into the king's good graces is for naught. The Archbishop is arrested but dies on his way back to London before he can be charged with treason. This devastates Cromwell, who embarks on a revenge tour that will essentially last the rest of the series. He slowly takes out those who caused, mocked, or cheered Wolsey's death one by one. 

On the plus side, Henry takes an immediate shine on Cromwell, approving of his loyalty to his now-dead master and creative (read: flexible) thinking about religion. He even summons him in the middle of the night to assuage his insecurities about his marriage — has he sinned by marrying his dead brother's wife in the first place? Cromwell, no dummy, reassures the king of his apparent awesomeness and encourages him to break free of the shackles of Rome entirely. 

As a result, Henry puts forth a bill insisting that he be allowed to be named head of the church in England, divorce Catherine, and marry Anne all on his own say-so, without any input from the Pope. Wolf Hall doesn't dive too deeply into the core religious issues at the heart of all this, framing the English Reformation as a question of political power as much as faith. The influential theologian Sir Thomas More (Anton Lesser) is executed not for refusing to betray his religious beliefs but for refusing to bend to Henry's will. But, in the end, the king has his way: Catherine is pushed aside to a castle in the middle of nowhere, a pregnant Anne is crowned, and all is different in England, though it's not yet apparent how much. 

Unfortunately for Anne, however, she gives birth to a child of the wrong gender and can't see the future to know that her daughter, Elizabeth, will one day change the world. As Henry begins to sour on her, Cromwell is charged with the task of getting rid of yet another unwanted spouse, just as the king's attention begins to turn to a new romantic target.

As a series of miscarriages leaves Anne increasingly distraught and tense about her own future, Henry is drawn to Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips), who is many things (quiet, not very assertive, maybe a little bit dumb) that his current wife is not. Despite Cromwell's own seeming romantic feelings toward Jane, he begins to advise her and her family on the best way to ensnare a king, now that Anne has proven a lady in waiting to a queen certainly doesn't have to stay one. 

Citing rumors and gossip cultivated from women like Jane Rochford (Jessica Raine), Cromwell constructs an elaborate case of adultery against Anne, implying that she cheated on the king with no fewer than five different men, one of whom was her own brother George. That Cromwell knows none of these accusations are true is obvious, that he doesn't particularly care is horrifying. (That some of the men he accuses are those he still holds grudges toward about Wolsey's death doubly so.) 

There's something impressive about the way he crafts Anne's downfall during her trial, tricking George into reading insults he never said, using the queen's genuine kindness to young Francis Weston against her. But perhaps he never had to do anything really. Anne's fate was decided before she was ever charged in court. Either way, it's a harrowing reminder that Cromwell, in many ways, has been the monster at the end of this book the whole time, acting in full knowledge of what he's doing — and what kind of man he's helping. 

Anne's execution is heartbreaking to behold, as the shaking queen mounts the scaffold, clearly hoping against hope that Henry will change his mind, forgive her, save her if she is just meek enough, or says the right thing. He doesn't, and the imported French swordsman has her head off in a single blow. 

It's probably worth remembering that won't be the case for Cromwell when his time comes. But that's a story for another series. 

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light will premiere on most local PBS stations and stream on the PBS app on Sunday, March 23 at 9 p.m. ET. All six episodes of the new series will be available on PBS Passport for members to stream starting on premiere day. Wolf Hall is available to stream for members on PBS Passport and on the Prime Video Masterpiece Channel.