Long post: About Henry's compliment to Hans
So I have seen mutliple people mention or geek out over Henry complimenting Hans, but I haven't seen people mention how great the writing of this little conversation is. So I'm gonna rectivy that.
Because the conversation can seem a little bit odd to people who are not used to the practice of mutual deniability. It might not even seem really important. Which is a testament to the writers, as they perfectly manage to convey the subtleness required for this.
So to start, Henry asks Brabant how to flatter/compliment someone in Italian, while specifying that it's meant to be somewhat romantic/flirtatious.
Brabant teaches him this line
Which is clearly meant to be taken as line Henry can use to expres aesthetic attraction and even romantic interest to another person.
Henry of course says this line to Hans, trying to pretent that he's just showing off what he's learned.
He's trying to keep up the appearance that he isn't just complimenting Hans and expressing attaction to Hans.
Which is of course something you shouldn't be doing, because a man telling another man basically "I think you're hot" is a very quick way to get yourself accused of "sodomy" or similar "perversions" and there.
Hans, because he speaks fluent Itallian, clocks Henry's compliment immediately. But he also understands how stupid and potentially dangerous Henry's flirtatious comment is.
So he has to be carefull when responding. He doesn't want to reject Henry's comment, or react in a way that will attract a lot of attention. But he also can't accept the compliment fully, without making people who might overhear suspicious of him and Henry. So the chooses to play dumb, and pretent to not speak Italian, to allow Henry to make his comment sound less like an admission of attraction, and keep up that He is not actually flattered by it, without shuttibg henry down.
At this point, Henry realises probably that admitting to your best friend and lord that you're attracted to him isn't a good idea. In part because if the before mentioned risk of being called a "sodomite". But also because, If Hans recognises the compliment but doesn't feel the same way about Henry, then Henry risks loosing his best friend and one of the most important people in his life. So he explains his compliment in a way that weakens the original meaning.
"I'm dazzled by your beauty" becomes, "you look good". An admission of attraction, becomes just one friend complimenting another. The "more or less" even accentuates this point, by admitting that there potentially is more behind the statement, that isn't being said. But to other people listening, it will just sound innocent enough not to draw attention.
However, telling someone they look good can stil be interpreted to be romantic. So Hans reply tries to further explain Henry's comment, by once again plaing dumb.
"You where talking about my clothes right?" Now what was at first was a somewhat clumbsy attempt of Henry to subtly convey his attraction to Hans, has become Henry complimenting Hans' clothes. And thus it has become completely normal and okay for Hans to accept Henry's compliment. Nothing weird to see here people. Just a friend saying he likes another's clothes.
However, Hans reply holds a double meaning. Because you can also interpret his reply as "You mean even in these clothes?" Which shifts the mean to once again to refer to Hans' beauty, not his clothes. Which is probably Hans trying to signal to Henry that he got the original compliment, and that he's actually flattered by it.
If our hero Henry got that last part, I'm not sure. Because if he did, he would get that Hans is showing appreciation and even reciprocity to Henry's expression of aesthetic and romantic interest. But at Suchdol, it kindof seems like Henry is still believing that Hans isn't actually interested in him, in that way, based on the shock of his reaction. Whether that is because he doesn't know or doesn't want to hope that it's real, idk. But I like to believe Henry is bit dense.
One last note, I find it very revealing that Hans is shown here to not only being very aware of his social surroundings, but also very good at subtly conveying information in his speach, while sounding politically correct. Which is probably due to his noblemans upbringing. (Which is another reason why Henry might not get it). I just think it's cool that the writers incorperated that.
(Also thanks to @stormhedges for having screenshots of this convo on Tumblr, you saved me having to look through some footage)
