THE LAST WHITE ROSE - EPISODE THREE: "TOLL OF TEWKESBURY"

One page synopsis of Episode Three of "The Last White Rose": "Toll of Tewkesbury" On Ambion Hill in the early hours of August 22, 1485, Merlin urges Richard to recall Tewkesbury in a flashback to the events in May of 1471. With Warwick dead, George of Clarence reconciles for expediency sake with his brothers Richard and King Edward IV. Joining forces with the House of York is a necessity for now there is a new threat: Henry VI's wife Queen Margaret of Anjou, whose Lancastrian misfits are marching towards Tewkesbury from the south while Yorkist troops approach from on the north. The womenfolk have been deposited at Gupshill Nunnery while the men march to nearby Tewkesbury, arriving totally exhausted and inefficient in weapons. The witch of Anjou sees how overmatched her troops are without support of Jasper Tudor's superior Welsh troops she had hoped to join. Now time is against her. She opts to retreat until a more opportune time, but the Duke of Somerset and her hothead son Prince Edward of Westminster overrule her and commit to engaging the Yorkists at Tewskesbury with the intention of drawing them into a trap and surrounding them. Westminster and Somerset put too much reliance on Sir John Wenlock who has befriended Anne. As Wenlock waits in the Square to ambush the York troops once they have passed, he delays the signal to attack. The more he hesitates, the more his troops grow restless, dissident. Westminster, assuming Wenlock will come through, advances with his crossbowmen thinking the York troops will be trapped by the pikemen and easy pickings for Lancastrian arrows. King Edward and Richard are wise to the tactics, recalling the strategy of William the Conqueror at Hastings. The King draws Lancastrian troops out into the open. The Yorkists begin a faux retreat. When Wenlock doesn't show, Somerset realizes the battle is lost. In a fit of fury, he gallops through the gamut of York troops toward the Square to gain his revenge on John Wenlock. Somerset screams "Traitor, traitor", and wields his axe, beheading the man who would not betray Anne. Soon they are trapped as the Yorkists ride in to capture those left. Likewise, with Somerset abandoning his troops, confusion ensues and those with pitchforks and clubs flee in fear for their lives across the bloody meadow. This enrages Prince Edward, who is ferreted out of his flanks, leaving him vulnerable to Richard of Gloucester and his troops. He is captured by York Sir Richard Croft and imprisoned in Tewkesbury Abbey. At the same time the majority of the Lancastrians hie away, their only escape across the roaring Avon where most drown in the roaring rapids. King Edward IV, Richard and George of Clarence interrogate Westminster in the Cellar. Richard seeks the whereabouts of Anne, but in a fit of rage George of Clarence plunges his sword into Prince Edward's heart. Anne is now a widow. A messenger informs them the Anjou witch has been captured and Anne is safe at Gupshill. Richard gallops off in great haste to the Abbey where they are reunited in a loving embrace. Much is left unanswered. The Anjou witch is in chains in the Abbey barn where Richard and Anne visit. Margaret spits at Anne, defying her and cursing her, causing Richard to order the witch's chains tightened. Richard takes Anne to dear friends at Oldenhall in Tewskesbury for care. Edward IV is adamant that Anne, as the wife of the slain Prince of Wales, must be carted back in chains to London with the Anjou witch. Richard objects but realizes for political expediency and the welfare of the throne that it is fruitless. Paraded through the streets of London, the two women are subjected to ridicule. Margaret deservedly, Anne not so. Margaret is taken to the Tower to see her decrepit and insane husband Henry VI of the House of Lancaster who Clarence dispatches before her eyes with a stroke of his sword to revenge the House of York. Anne is placed under attainder in the home of his brother George of Clarence while Richard is dispatched to curb more uprisings in the north. Six months later, a foreboding suspicion invades the joyous atmosphere of a reunion between Anne and Richard during a day on the Thames to Windsor Castle where the King is holding a special reception with all its pomp and circumstance. Circumstances are about to change as Merlin warns from outside the castle, "Beware of the dastardly deed, Richard, Anne. Beware..."