Will ‘Mary & George’ End Like the Book? Novel Takes Strong Stance on King James I Fate
[Warning: The following contains details about the non-fiction book on which Starz’s Mary & George is based.]
History gets a re-write in The King’s Assassin: The Fatal Affair of George Villiers and James I. The non-fiction book, written by Benjamin Woolley, is the basis of Starz‘s sexy period drama Mary & George and examines evidence suggesting that George Villiers really did kill King James I like his enemies accused after the Scottish king’s death in March 1625. Will Mary & George end the same way? Here’s what the book tells us about how the Starz drama could potentially conclude.
George Villiers, with the help of his mother Mary, pulled off a meteoric rise when connecting himself with King James I in 1615. James was so enraptured with George that he publicly expressed his desire for George to be his “wife.” For the decade that followed, George was always by James’ side whether it be matters of court, state, or carnal affairs. Eager to take George down, his political opponents immediately accused the Duke of Buckingham of poisoning the king. George held on to power and influence after the death of the monarch, even as an investigation was launched into his accused involvement in his lover’s end.
Ultimately, nothing came of the accusations against George, but Woolley argues that hubris and vulnerability drove George to poison his lover and the source of his success. Woolley also notes in the book that he might have accidentally killed the king after a prescribed medical treatment went wrong. With just two episodes left in the seven-episode limited series, Mary & George seems to be setting itself up for one possible outcome.
Nicholas Galitzine‘s George has been enjoying his unlikely success for two episodes now. Once he and James (Tony Curran) finally got together in Episode 4, it’s only been uphill climbing and massive ego-inflating for George. Just like history, James prefers a hands-off approach to governance and only opens parliament when he needs more money for his lavish lifestyle. James’ desire to have his lovers alleviate the task of decision-making puts George in a great position, but it also gives him the false sense that he’s a good politician. In reality, he sucks! But you couldn’t make his ego believe that.
George is getting so bold that he resents his mother, the scheming and actually brilliant Mary (played with devilish ferocity by Julianne Moore). George is getting too big for his britches, forgetting that it was his mother’s constant fighting that made him succeed. The road wasn’t smooth, but it was paved because of her, not because George was so talented that his transition happened seamlessly.
With a rivalry brewing between the titular stars, Mary & George is setting the stage for a violent end. It’s not hard to imagine who would come out on top in a hypothetical fight to the death between this mother and son, but George has gotten himself out of near-death situations before. History tells us that James was the first to die in 1625, then George followed in 1628; he was stabbed to death by John Felton, an army officer with a grudge against George. Mary then died in 1632. Given that Mary & George is a limited series based on a book about death… we’d say it’s safe to assume that the series will depict at least some of these ends.
As for whether James’ death could be by accident or on purpose, the show will clearly have to make a choice between the two. A teaser for the final episode released by Starz on May 9 (see below) reveals a beautiful, romantic moment orchestrated by George himself. He guides James, who appears weak and possibly ill, to a bedroom he set up in the middle of a forest as a kind of whimsical castle for them to share. The pillars around them are draped in flowing fabrics, and the bed is a dream. George is clearly still committed to making his lover feel special in the finale, but he always has an ulterior motive.
George hands a bottle of wine to James and watches him drink it with great interest. Knowing that George possibly poisoned James in real life, you wonder if this is the moment he does it, but then George takes a drink from the bottle himself just before the clip ends. This could be a foreshadowing of George feeding James a bogus medicine, on accident or not.
Given the violent nature of the series so far, and given George’s increasingly conceited mindset and a newfound penchant for cutthroat violence, we’d put our money on George intentionally killing James and by doing it in a more violent manner. He’s not suave enough for poison, and most of the deaths in this show so far have been bloody. If we’re right that George will take a more physical route to kill the king, could the show take liberty and say that Mary could be involved as well? There’s historical evidence hinting that Mary could have helped her son procure the poison, so having her in the room where it happens isn’t definitely in the cards.
Mary & George, Fridays, 9/8c, Starz
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