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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!

Best episode
S2E10 Destiny and Fortune
8.71,038 votes
Worst episode
S1E1 In Cold Blood
7.41,744 votes
Top season
Season 2
8.1avg
Binge time
1d 9h
38 episodes
BestEpisodes
WorstEpisodes
BestSeasons
AllEpisodes

Seasons4

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Episode Rankings

  1. #1 Fan Favorite
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    The Tudors Season 2 Episode 10 - Destiny and Fortune
    8.7/10(1038 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown

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  2. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 10 - Death of a Monarchy
    8.6/10(914 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  3. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 9 - The Act of Treason
    8.6/10(894 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jon Amiel
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 5 - His Majesty's Pleasure
    8.3/10(903 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  5. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 5 - Bottom Of The Pot
    8.3/10(705 votes)

    S4:E5

    Lord Hertford’s investigation into allegations of the Queen’s infidelities moves with speed. Deeply upset by revelations of his beloved young wife’s sexual past, Henry weeps. But once adultery is uncovered, his response is swift and decisive.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  6. The Tudors Season 3 Episode 4 - The Death of a Queen
    8.2/10(747 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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    The 20 WORST Episodes of The Tudors

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  7. The Tudors Season 1 Episode 10 - The Death of Wolsey
    8.1/10(1049 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Michael Hirst

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  8. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 8 - Lady in Waiting
    8.1/10(805 votes)

    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.

    Director:Dearbhla Walsh
    Writer:Unknown

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  9. The Tudors Season 3 Episode 8 - The Undoing of Cromwell
    8.0/10(763 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  10. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 3 - Checkmate
    7.9/10(844 votes)

    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.

    Director:Colm McCarthy
    Writer:Unknown

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  11. The Tudors Season 3 Episode 1 - Civil Unrest
    7.9/10(821 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  12. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 6 - The Definition of Love
    7.9/10(820 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  13. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 7 - Matters of State
    7.9/10(805 votes)

    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.

    Director:Dearbhla Walsh
    Writer:Unknown

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  14. The Tudors Season 3 Episode 3 - Dissention and Punishment
    7.9/10(736 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  15. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 7 - Sixth And The Final Wife
    7.9/10(662 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  16. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 9 - Secrets of the Heart
    7.9/10(646 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  17. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 8 - As It Should Be
    7.8/10(656 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  18. The Tudors Season 3 Episode 2 - The Northern Uprising
    7.8/10(745 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  19. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 4 - The Act of Succession
    7.8/10(828 votes)

    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.

    Director:Colm McCarthy
    Writer:Unknown

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  20. The Tudors Season 2 Episode 2 - Tears of Blood
    7.8/10(880 votes)

    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.

    Director:Jeremy Podeswa
    Writer:Unknown

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  21. The Tudors Season 1 Episode 8 - Truth and Justice
    7.8/10(994 votes)

    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.

    Director:Alison Maclean
    Writer:Michael Hirst

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  22. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 6 - You Have My Permission
    7.7/10(652 votes)

    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.

    Director:Ciarán Donnelly
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 3 - Something For You
    7.7/10(680 votes)

    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.

    Director:Dearbhla Walsh
    Writer:Unknown

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  24. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 2 - Sister
    7.7/10(683 votes)

    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.

    Director:Dearbhla Walsh
    Writer:Unknown

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  25. The Tudors Season 4 Episode 1 - Moment of Nostalgia
    7.7/10(769 votes)

    S4:E1

    A long hot summer, thirty years into the reign of King Henry VIII, and well into middle age, Henry takes his fifth wife, Katherine Howard. The Queen's "low background" combined with her youth and beauty, arouses a lusty familiarity in certain members of King Henry's court most notably his handsome young servant Thomas Culpepper.

    Director:Dearbhla Walsh
    Writer:Unknown

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Best Episodes Summary

"Destiny and Fortune" is the best rated episode of The Tudors. It scored 8.7/10 from 1,038 votes. Directed by Jon Amiel and written by Unknown, it aired on June 1, 2008. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "Death of a Monarchy".

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