The BEST episodes of The Tudors
Every episode of The Tudors ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of The Tudors!
The young, vibrant King Henry VIII, is a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the English court and the human heart with equal vigor and justifiable suspicion.
#1 - Destiny and Fortune
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/1/2008
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.
#2 - Death of a Monarchy
Season 4 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/20/2010
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.
#3 - The Death of Wolsey
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/3/2007
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.
#4 - The Death of a Queen
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/26/2009
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.
#5 - The Undoing of Cromwell
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/24/2009
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.
#6 - True Love
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/6/2007
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.
#7 - His Majesty's Pleasure
Season 2 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/27/2008
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.
#8 - Look to God First
Season 1 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/27/2007
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.
#9 - The Act of Treason
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 5/25/2008
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.
#10 - Lady in Waiting
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/18/2008
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.
#11 - The Northern Uprising
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/12/2009
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.
#12 - As it Should Be
Season 4 - Episode 8 - Aired 6/6/2010
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.
#13 - His Majesty, The King
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/22/2007
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.
#14 - Secrets of the Heart
Season 4 - Episode 9 - Aired 6/13/2010
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.
#15 - Message to the Emperor
Season 1 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/13/2007
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.
#16 - Natural Ally
Season 4 - Episode 4 - Aired 5/2/2010
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.
#17 - Sixth and the Final Wife
Season 4 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/23/2010
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.
#18 - Something for You
Season 4 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/25/2010
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.
#19 - Dissention and Punishment
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 4/19/2009
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.
#20 - Sister
Season 4 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/18/2010
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.
#21 - Truth and Justice
Season 1 - Episode 8 - Aired 5/20/2007
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.
#22 - Bottom of the Pot
Season 4 - Episode 5 - Aired 5/9/2010
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.
#23 - Moment of Nostalgia
Season 4 - Episode 1 - Aired 4/11/2010
King Henry VIII marries his fifth queen, a lusty teenager whose beauty and checkered past inflame the passions of a trusted courtier, Thomas Culpepper.
#24 - Arise, My Lord
Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 4/29/2007
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.
#25 - Matters of State
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 5/11/2008
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.