THE SPANISH PRINCESS (S1E2) “Fever Dream”: Cut The Strings Of Fate

Welcome back to Tudor England and this week’s look into The Spanish Princess! Viewers got the wedding that they’d been waiting for, but everything isn’t bathed in golden sunshine, as the first major setback to Catherine of Aragon’s road to the English throne occurs. This week, Catherine gets her heart’s desire, as well as a shock. Lives will be lost, feelings will be changed, and there is nothing that can be done to repair the damage…or is there?

When we return to Westminster, Catherine and Arthur have officially married and the couple emerges from the ceremony. There is much pomp and circumstance, and in the air is the hope and promise of joy, happiness, and heirs to the houses of Spain and England. However, the expectations of their wedding night don’t quite go according to plan…

Under Pressure

Granted, Catherine and Arthur are both quite green when they marry, but since they are considered grown adults, they are expected to throw their virginity out the window and immediately procreate for the good of the kingdom. Everyone is putting pressure on them to hit the sheets. There’s one little obstacle: Arthur is still smarting from his brother’s “trickery” and is still quite timid in the boudoir. Although Catherine is perfectly willing to do the deed, Arthur backs off. There is no lovemaking that night.

Along with his flock of mates, Harry comes to his brother’s bedroom door to see how he fared with his new bride on their wedding night. Arthur feigns a satisfactory outcome, but the sheets tell the truth.

At a fête thrown in honor of the couple, wrapped up in the merriment, Harry gets a little too close to his sister-in-law and Arthur’s jealousy rears its ugly head. As the elder brother and the next king, having to deal with everyone’s expectations of him, Arthur suffers something he never thought he would: an inferiority complex. Harry has passion, is poetic, and swept his wife off her feet. Poor Arthur doesn’t stand a chance.

After a heartfelt talk between Arthur and Catherine, they come to a bit of an understanding and possibly a first step into truly falling in love. They are shown to have consummated their marriage (take note, this may come up as an important plot point later!) and may honestly become the power couple everyone expects. Then the bottom falls out.

While Arthur was busy shoving his brother to the floor in a fit of jealousy, Henry VII and his mother were cooking up another plot to gain more allies. Yet another Margaret, his sister, Meg Tudor (Georgie Henley), is the latest pawn in their father’s politics. Henry organizes a treaty with King James of Scotland by promising his eldest daughter as his wife. True to form with all the female characters thus far, Meg expresses a plethora of objections to being forced into a marriage that she doesn’t want, particularly to her grandmother. Luckily, her requests are momentarily honored as Henry and Margaret Beaufort await the rest of Catherine’s dowry to aid them in their impoverished state.

Love is Taken Away

Unfortunately, England comes down with an illness, where people experience rapid sweating and fever that immediate escalates in severity as quickly as it began. As Lina falls ill and is tended to by Oviedo, back at Ludlow Castle (the palace where the couple have moved to), Catherine awakens to an empty bed and a drenched pillow.

Arthur has been stricken by the sweating sickness and his health is fading quickly. Elizabeth and Henry are summoned, but by the time they arrive, their son, that promise of a bright future for their kingdom, has succumbed.

Elizabeth of York has already been established as quite an unlikable character, however she undoubtedly is thinking once again about the choice that was made to have both her brother, Richard of York, and cousin executed. This returns us to the curse made by herself and her mother, Elizabeth Woodville, that stood to punish whoever killed the Princes in the Tower. Both Richard and Edward Plantagenet were both held in the Tower of London before their executions. Poetic justice? I think so, and her own eldest son was the sacrifice. As the whole family stood by a lovely tree as Arthur’s heart was buried under it, Maggie then blatantly tells her cousin that she warned her that the curse would come down on her.

Once the family returns to London to lay Arthur to rest, and Maggie questions what will happen to Catherine now that he is gone, Elizabeth’s coldness and callousness rapidly travel to the surface. She speaks the final line of the episode, which will set up Catherine’s greatest fight yet: “I do not care what will happen to her ”.

What Could Have Been

Personally, I think that as The Constant Princess gave a fictitious scenario as to what could have happened had this love story actually unfolded, the fact that they completely obliterated that plot line makes me feel somewhat cheated. They didn’t go over Arthur and Catherine’s endless discussions and secret pacts; making plans about their children and what’s to come. Historically, Catherine and Arthur were married only a few months before his death, but here he dies in mere days? Obviously, flushing Arthur clears the way for the possible (and inevitable) marriage of Catherine to Harry, and while I understand that it was necessary to move the plot forward, they could have spent at least one more episode on their relationship. There was barely any exploration of it. I think it may be time for a flashback very soon.

Maggie’s deep pain, anger, and resentment towards her cousin Elizabeth (and by extension, Catherine) has been frozen in her soul for all these years. Knowing that Edward Plantagenet and Richard of York were killed to secure the status of Elizabeth’s sons, by Catherine asking for Maggie Pole’s forgiveness for her “role” in their deaths, that genuine apology and expression of sorrow allows Maggie to drop her guard and truly begin to feel some affection towards her.

Lina de Cardonnes continues to be the breakout character of the series, because she is portrayed as not only rather progressive for the times, but also because she is the most blunt. She maintains her station in life, but cleverly and pointedly puts people in their place when she needs to. While we are only two episodes in, the performances have allowed the layers of each character to peel away like an onion. Unfortunately, we are stuck on the superficial layers of Harry and Rosa at the moment.

In the flush of romance with Stafford, Rosa gives into his charms way too easily and is setting herself up for a drop kick to the heart. Lina tries to set her straight, that she’s being set up to be ruined, but our stubborn little lovestruck flower continues to let the wrong man pollinate her. If they follow 16th century social mores, something tells me Rosa’s tale will end in woe as well. As for Harry, we already know what type of person is coming. We are waiting to be introduced to Henry VIII, the man who earned a reputation for changing wives rapidly, defying the clergy, and ruling his country with an iron fist.

As a fever dream is quite unusual and induced by illness, the episode’s title is quite plain: a fever took away the dream for Catherine. Her dream of wedded bliss, her dream of staying in her adopted country, her dream of being queen. All hopes and plans are gone in a puff of smoke, a feverish nightmare.

Coming up, Catherine will soon be embroiled in a decision that will not only affect her life, but a royal bloodline and history itself. Two pomegranate seeds have been counted and enjoyed! Join me next week as I cover the third episode, “An Audacious Plan”.

Do you think killing off Arthur so early in the series will help or hurt the storyline? What do you think of how Catherine is being treated by the Tudors?

The Spanish Princess returns on May 19, 2019, on Starz.