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The Best Episodes of The Tudors

Every episode of The Tudors ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of The Tudors!

The Best Episodes of The Tudors

The Tudors is a history-based drama series following the young, vibrant King Henry VIII, a competitive and lustful monarch who navigates the intrigues of the...

Seasons4

  1. Background image for Destiny and Fortune
    8.7/10(947 votes)

    #1 - Destiny and Fortune

    S2:E10

    Queen Anne is imprisoned in the Tower, awaiting her execution. The king granted her wish for a special executioner, but he is delayed and the execution has to be postponed. King Henry proposes to Jane Seymour now that his marriage to Anne has been declared null and void. He hopes she will gave him a legitimate, male heir.

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    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown
  2. Background image for The Act of Treason
    8.6/10(817 votes)

    #2 - The Act of Treason

    S2:E9

    Anne has lost a son and with it her last chance at a lasting marriage with Henry. The King's affections are shifting anyway: the Seymour family are awarded rooms at court and seem likely to replace the Boleyns as royal favourites. Several in the court begin to move against Anne who is accused of adultery. Arrests are made of suspected lovers and of Anne herself. All, including the Queen, are sentenced to death.

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    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown
  3. Background image for Death of a Monarchy
    8.4/10(7 votes)

    #3 - Death of a Monarchy

    S4:E10

    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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  4. Background image for His Majesty's Pleasure
    8.3/10(815 votes)

    #4 - His Majesty's Pleasure

    S2:E5

    Attempts to legitimise the King's marriage and increase his power hit unmovable obstacles as Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher insist that only God can be head of the church. Imprisoned in the Tower of London they face likely execution unless they take the Oath of Allegiance. Meanwhile Henry's wandering eye continues to roam.

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    Writer:Unknown
  5. Background image for You Have My Permission
    8.3/10(6 votes)

    #5 - You Have My Permission

    S4:E6

    Unmarried once more Henry reflects on his dynasty and orders a new Act of Parliament which restores the succession rights of his two daughters, the Princesses Elizabeth and Mary. His roving eye undaunted by age or experience, he notices the attractive soon-to-be widow Catherine Parr. After the disastrous mismatch of his last marriage a mature woman is just what he needs.

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    Writer:Unknown
  6. Background image for Sixth And The Final Wife
    8.3/10(6 votes)

    #6 - Sixth And The Final Wife

    S4:E7

    Henry marries Catherine Parr - his sixth and final wife. A loving step-mother and compassionate companion, Catherine is liked and respected by all at court save the Catholic Bishop Gardiner who suspects her to be a heretic. Henry prepares to invade France.

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    Writer:Unknown
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  8. Background image for The Death of a Queen
    8.2/10(675 votes)

    #7 - The Death of a Queen

    S3:E4

    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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  9. Background image for As It Should Be
    8.2/10(6 votes)

    #8 - As It Should Be

    S4:E8

    The siege of Boulogne is a long, expensive and difficult military campaign that is finally won by Henry’s troops at great financial and human cost. Rejuvenated, Henry rejects the idea of marching on to further conquests, preferring to return to England in triumph.

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    Writer:Unknown
  10. Background image for Secrets of the Heart
    8.2/10(6 votes)

    #9 - Secrets of the Heart

    S4:E9

    Henry VIII’s health is on the slide: the recent siege of Boulogne has taken its toll on his aging body and his ulcerous leg is constantly in pain. Bishop Gardiner and the Catholic Church are once again in the ascendant at court but, tired of conflict, Henry demonstrates little enthusiasm for the ambitious Bishop’s accusation that Catherine Parr is a heretic.

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    Writer:Unknown
  11. Background image for The Death of Wolsey
    8.1/10(942 votes)

    #10 - The Death of Wolsey

    S1:E10

    Cardinal Wolsey is down but not yet out. Although exiled, he tries to gather last-minute support from his old enemy, Queen Katherine. She hesitantly agrees to his plan, as she finds herself in a situation similar to that of the fallen Cardinal. But their plot is intercepted by the King's new advisors and Wolsey must pay the ultimate price.

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  12. Background image for Lady in Waiting
    8.1/10(728 votes)

    #11 - Lady in Waiting

    S2:E8

    At Henry's command Jane Seymour is made a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, to the discomfort and suspicion of the Queen. When Henry is seriously injured in a jousting match all thoughts turn to who might succeed him. There will be far-reaching consequences if Anne's pregnancy does not deliver a healthy son.

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    Writer:Unknown
  13. Background image for The Undoing of Cromwell
    8.0/10(686 votes)

    #12 - The Undoing of Cromwell

    S3:E8

    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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  14. Background image for Sister
    8.0/10(6 votes)

    #13 - Sister

    S4:E2

    Thomas Culpepper - Henry VIII’s newest servant - continues to make eyes at his King’s young bride, Katherine Howard. Her servant suggests seduction. While the King shows his age by going to bed early during the Christmas celebration the young but not so innocent members of his court party on.

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    Writer:Unknown
  15. Background image for Something For You
    8.0/10(6 votes)

    #14 - Something For You

    S4:E3

    Buoyed by the happiness that a young wife brings an aging man, Henry is noticeably more tolerant and forgiving than he once was. Such goodwill is well appreciated by the peasants of the North who gratefully accept Henry’s forgiveness for the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt, during a Royal visit. But the King’s benevolence may yet be tested by his new Queen: Katherine Howard has submitted to seduction by the young and handsome Thomas Culpepper.

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    Writer:Unknown
  16. Background image for Natural Ally
    8.0/10(6 votes)

    #15 - Natural Ally

    S4:E4

    Rejuvenated by his tour of the north of England, Henry feels a new man and longs after his new Queen; unaware that her affections are diverted elsewhere. Katherine’s past begins to catch up as an old liaison comes looking for a job threatening to reveal all about their sexual history. Someone beats him to it when an anonymous letter is sent to the King containing accusations of adultery. Although unconvinced of the rumor, Henry confines Katherine to her apartments pending a thorough investigation.

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    Writer:Unknown
  17. Background image for Checkmate
    7.9/10(757 votes)

    #16 - Checkmate

    S2:E3

    Henry's patience finally wears out and he marries Anne in secret, appoints his Lutheran chaplain Thomas Cranmer the head of the Church of England, and strips Queen Katherine of her title and status; the king and new queen have their first child, and are disappointed that it's a girl...whom they christen Elizabeth.

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    Director:Colm McCarthy
    Writer:Unknown
  18. Background image for The Definition of Love
    7.9/10(738 votes)

    #17 - The Definition of Love

    S2:E6

    As the Reformation gathers pace Sir Thomas Cromwell becomes ever more powerful as propagandist-in-chief of a new moral order. Royal confidence has given way to doubt. Henry is haunted by the memory of the executed Thomas More while Queen Anne Boleyn's insecurities border on paranoia. Her husband's affairs continue and an effort to have her daughter Elizabeth betrothed to a French royal fails when the French King refuses to recognise that the infant Princess is of legitimate birth.

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    Writer:Unknown
  19. Background image for Matters of State
    7.9/10(726 votes)

    #18 - Matters of State

    S2:E7

    The English Reformation is in full swing. Queen Anne suffers from nightmares and feels threatened by Katherine and her daughter. Henry pays an unplanned visit to an old friend, Sir John Seymour, father of Jane Seymour.

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    Writer:Unknown
  20. Background image for Civil Unrest
    7.9/10(739 votes)

    #19 - Civil Unrest

    S3:E1

    King Henry marries for the third time, taking as his queen the demure noblewoman Jane Seymour. A growing number of his subjects protest the king's decision to abandon the Catholic Church.

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    Writer:Unknown
  21. Background image for Dissention and Punishment
    7.9/10(660 votes)

    #20 - Dissention and Punishment

    S3:E3

    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.

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    Writer:Unknown
  22. Background image for Truth and Justice
    7.8/10(894 votes)

    #21 - Truth and Justice

    S1:E8

    A papal envoy has come to discuss the annulment of the King's marriage to Katherine of Aragon, as requested by the King. The outcome of these discussions will determine Cardinal Wolsey's future career as well as the King's romance with Anne Boleyn. These discussions will also influence the nature of the relationship between England and Rome.

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  23. Background image for Tears of Blood
    7.8/10(788 votes)

    #22 - Tears of Blood

    S2:E2

    Christmas at the Tudor court is a time for ringing in the new. Mistress Anne Boleyn has replaced the banished Queen Katherine. The King's chaplain, Thomas Cranmer, makes a fact-finding visit to Lutheran Germany while Henry withdraws both the authority and taxes of the Catholic Church at home. And a royal visit to France finally convinces Anne to consummate her relationship with Henry, even as his best friend Charles Brandon suggests that she is no virgin.

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    Writer:Unknown
  24. Background image for The Act of Succession
    7.8/10(742 votes)

    #23 - The Act of Succession

    S2:E4

    Sir Thomas More refuses to accept Henry's command that his people swear an oath of "allegiance and recognition of the King's supremacy" to both church and state. Anne is made aware of the King's womanizing ways, and arranges then gives her blessing to his next mistress. Also, Anne has a confrontation with Lady Mary, Henry's daughter.

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    Director:Colm McCarthy
    Writer:Unknown
  25. Background image for The Northern Uprising
    7.8/10(668 votes)

    #24 - The Northern Uprising

    S3:E2

    The uproar over the king's break with the Catholic Church turns into a full-blown rebellion that comes to be known as "The Pilgrimage of Grace." Immobilized by an old jousting injury, Henry sends Charles Brandon to deal with the uprising and focuses his attention on the Lady Ursula Misseldon.

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    Writer:Unknown
  26. Background image for His Majesty, The King
    7.7/10(1.0k votes)

    #25 - His Majesty, The King

    S1:E4

    As a reward for his denunciation of Martin Luther, the Pope christens Henry “Defender of the Faith,” but a brush with death causes the king to seek a solution to his lack of an heir. Princess Margaret marries the decrepit King of Portugal reluctantly, but the union is short-lived; Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn intensifies when Anne goes home to her family estate.

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    Director:Steve Shill

Best Episodes Summary

"Destiny and Fortune" is the best rated episode of "The Tudors". It scored 8.7/10 based on 947 votes. Directed by Jon Amiel and written by Unknown, it aired on 6/1/2008. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Act of Treason".