#poweriad

additionally

i'm thinking about henry bolingbroke again. i'm thinking about the perspective of a man who just wanted to do it right but everyone pointed the finger at him when it all went so wrong. i'm thinking about how he had to stand up in front of a corrupt judge and be laughed at, and not even be allowed to cut down the man who took his uncle, that it was all foreplay for what richard really wanted to do, which was punish bolingbroke for refusing to keep his mouth shut and his head down and his rights wrongs. they'll treat h4 like cain but no one really ever asks if abel had it coming, let alone if cain hadn't been the one to really wield the weapon. you try to be the hero but heroes only ever get to die. in a crusade, in martyrdom. richard reached jerusalem before bolingbroke ever did, 'cause all he ever had to do was die.

not to sound like harold bloom by glazing falstaff but i have to wonder if falstaff taking credit for killing hotspur was in some way a mercy because on one hand while hotspur’s epicness is a threat to henry iv’s continued royal line (aka if hal gets got like richard) but on the other hand since henry iv seems to kin hotspur and view him as immensely powerful a la mr henry “iv” bolingbroke in his prime era of taking a bad bitch (richard ii) down, then the idea that hal killed hotspur would probably evoke next level anxiety in the (terminally ill and aged) henry iv, even if hal is his rightful heir. (thinking about the way jeremy irons delivers “why did you take away the crown” in hollow crown 2H4 like a whining child almost who can’t understand his turn with the toy is over.)

They put you on the throne at age 10, and you’ve been failing them ever since. Too immature to rule, too overreaching to deserve the power of being mature. A boy who was supposed to already be a man — a different man, your father. You were supposed to be your father. When he died you should have stepped out of time and let him take your place instead, a holy miracle. No one ever stops comparing you to your father. Do they ever let you mourn him without lamenting your failures?