Thomas Cromwell's tale races to a bloody conclusion in Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light trailer

There are few happy endings in the court of King Henry VIII—and many unhappy endings were masterminded by Thomas Cromwell, the monarch's chief minister. Cromwell (Mark Rylance) professes himself a hunting hound in the Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light trailer. But even being the king's most loyal dog won't be enough to save him from another unhappy ending.  

"May, 1536. Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife, is dead," goes the PBS Masterpiece synopsis. "As the axe drops, Thomas Cromwell emerges from the bloodbath to continue his climb to power and wealth, while his formidable master, Henry, settles to short-lived happiness with his third queen, Jane Seymour. But how long can anyone survive under Henry’s cruel and capricious gaze?" 



Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light (a sequel series to 2015's Wolf Hall) aired last year in the U.K. to critical acclaim. Rylance and Damian Lewis returned to reprise their roles as Cromwell and Henry, respectively, alongside a cast of powerhouse British actors. That includes Oscar nominee Jonathan Pryce as Cardinal Wolsey, Timothy Spall (Secrets And Lies) as the Duke of Norfolk, Harriet Walter (Succession) as Lady Margaret Pole, Thomas Brodie-Sangster (The Queen's Gambit) as Ralph Sadler, Harry Melling (also The Queen's Gambit) as Thomas Wriothesley, and current Masterpiece fave Kate Phillips (Miss Scarlet) as Jane Seymour. (Claire Foy starred as the series' late Anne Boleyn.) 

With such talent and acclaim—the first series was nominated for several Emmys and won the Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Television Film—one would think that the production of more Wolf Hall was a slam dunk. But director Peter Kosminsky recently revealed that he and Mark Rylance took a "significant" pay cut to work on the sequel. "We had shepherded the series through a ten-year development process but, in the end, it was necessary for us to work for very little to get the show made," Kominsky wrote to British lawmakers about the funding crisis for scripted content in the U.K. You can see for yourself what makes these lavish period pieces so vital when Wolf Hall: The Mirror And The Light premieres in the U.S. on March 23.