A Fraying Cromwell's Hold Slips as 'Wolf Hall' Endgame Begins

Historically speaking, Thomas Cromwell is not a man who is easy to know. While many historical records of his public actions survive, we know relatively little about his private life. It's why the Wolf Hall franchise (both the television series and Hilary Mantel's trilogy) is so fascinating, offering Cromwell the depth he is often denied by history, for both good and ill. And Wolf Hall: The Mirror & the Light's fourth episode gives Cromwell a uniquely tragic sort of interiority just as the shape of his doom begins to come clear.

The Jenneke of the episode's title is a fictional construct, a character created by Mantel to stand in for an illegitimate child Cromwell was rumored to have. However, it should be noted that no historical evidence of such a child exists. In the world of the story, Cromwell's daughter has revealed herself in an attempt to save her father. Having heard he was in danger from the northern rebels, she wants to spirit him back to Antwerp and safety. But in the larger arc of Cromwell's story, Jenneke (played by Ellie de Lange) is as much a concept as a person: an intriguingly personal "what-if" scenario about the life he could have had if he'd made different choices as well as hope that he might be able to one day fashion a life for himself that's free of Henry's chains.

It's what his visions of Laude Abbey represent — the possibility of peace. Cromwell has dreams of retiring to the Abbey with his newfound daughter, content to stroll amongst the busy beehives and lush flowers. Jenneke smartly refuses to place herself voluntarily under Henry's control and returns to Antwerp, with her father wistfully watching her go.