[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the My Lady Jane Season 1 finale.]
Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader) is freed from the confines of her history in My Lady Jane’s first season. Instead of a typical period drama chronicling the doomed queen’s nine-day reign and eventual beheading, the Prime Video romantic comedy series gives the historical heroine a different ending.
In Episode 8 of the first season, it seems as if the show will follow the history books and execute Jane. Instead, that’s where her story really begins. Just as the executioner is about to lay down his sword on Jane’s head, Susanna (Máiréad Tyers), in her Ethian form, saves her best friend from a grisly fate.
Still alive, Jane races to Guildford’s (Edward Bluemel) side before he burns at the stake. After palpable sexual tension and a slow burn for the ages, Jane confesses her love for Guildford as fire and chaos rage around them. TV Insider spoke with Bader and Bluemel about this pivotal moment in Jane and Guildford’s love story and more.
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“That’s such an incredible moment because the sad tragedy of it is that’s actually where her story ended,” Bader said of that finale moment. “From what little we do know, she handled it like the bravest woman imaginable at the age of 16. I think just the fierceness and resilience of her, she’s willing to die for him [Guildford] 100 percent. Until she shows up and sees him there, she still has that glimmer of hope that maybe her sacrifice will have freed him. I think at that moment, all bets are off.”
She added, “And it’s like, if I have two more seconds in this lifetime with you, I’m going to tell you exactly what’s in my heart. I think that is so romantic. It’s the perfect moment. It’s like, they’re going to burn to death.”
Jane and Guildford’s road to true love in My Lady Jane, based on the novel of the same name, isn’t easy. Jane starts out despising Guildford and does not want to marry him. However, her walls begin to come down after discovering Guildford is an Ethian. They bond as Jane tries to cure him from uncontrollably turning into a horse—yes, a horse!—during the day.
“There’s a moment when they realize that they need each other, and specifically when Jane realizes that Guilford needs her,” Bluemel said. “I think that puts them on much more of a level than they have been before, when it just feels like an arranged marriage that Jane has no control over. And then suddenly, I feel like they can identify on something, and that brings them closer together. And then, inevitably, one thing leads to another.”
Bader recalled the exact moment Jane’s feelings for Guildford turned romantic. “When she’s made queen, the first person that she needs and wants at that moment is him,” she said. “They have a conversation because they can’t really fully be with each other in that moment, but there’s definitely a longing there.”
At the beginning of the season, Guildford is desperate to be cured of his Ethianism. By the finale, Bluemel believes Guildford has come to accept all of himself, even the part that turns into a horse.
“I think Jane really helps him accept who he is, and I think that is a theme of the whole show,” Bluemel explained. “The whole allegory of the Ethians is instead of running away from what you are, even if it’s persecuted or even if it’s looked down upon, it’s finding the beauty in who you are. I think if somebody said to me, ‘Now you can turn into a horse whenever you want,’ I feel like that’s a great thing. But in the world that they live in, it’s treated with such shame that he can’t see the beauty in such a gift, I guess. Jane really helps him realize that, and his love for Jane, I think, brings that out on him and allows him to break free of his slight restrictions on his Ethianism that other Ethians don’t have.”
Meanwhile, King Edward (Jordan Peters) ventures into uncharted territory of his own. After evading death from rivals, mainly Mary (Kate O’Flynn), in his own castle, Edward escapes his dangerous court and sets out on a new path. After years of being bound by his duty to the throne, Edward is finally free to find out who he really is. But does Edward miss being the king at all?
“With all the craziness that was happening to King Edward, I think he low-key loved it,” Peters admitted. “His sister’s trying to poison him, and he’s just trying to figure out what’s he going to do… When you have power, you enjoy it so much. When you lose it, just kind of like, man, now I’m kind of a nobody, and I think that is something interesting to explore.”
The ending of Season 1 turns the page to the next chapter of Jane’s story, and the cast already has ideas about a second season.
“If we went to another season, I think that Jane is on the run, and it’s time to fully commit to badass Jane Grey,” Bader said.
Bluemel added, “I think it would be nice to work more Jordan [Peters]. We have such an amazing, big ensemble cast, but because of all the different stories, there are people that I haven’t quite worked with yet—Jordan being one of them. It would be really fun to see how the characters we’ve got to know maybe interact with each other… and just get to know all of the characters.”
Watch the full video above with the cast of My Lady Jane.
My Lady Jane, Season 1, Streaming Now, Prime Video