England is at peace. The Wars of the Roses have ended with a decisive Yorkist victory, and King Edward IV sits secure on the throne. A golden warrior prince, Edward avenged his father’s death, fulfilled his family’s birthright, and made the House of York triumphant.

His brother Richard, the realm’s fiercest general, returns to London to be honoured for a recent victory over Scotland. There, he finds a court grown decadent and divided. Edward’s once-passionate marriage to Elizabeth Woodville has curdled into resentment, as the aging queen clings to fading influence. Though Richard is dismayed by the court’s excesses, his loyalty to Edward remains absolute—and Edward knows he can trust his earnest, principled brother above all others.

Over the past twenty years, Elizabeth has elevated her low-born relatives, earning the scorn of the old nobility. Isolated and increasingly paranoid, she resents the warm bond between her daughter Bess and Richard, whose fair rule in the North has won him deep popular loyalty and affection.

No sooner has Richard returned to his northern estates with his wife and son than urgent letters arrive from Lords Hastings and Buckingham. Edward is dead—suddenly, inexplicably. In his will, he names Richard as Protector of the Realm and regent for his twelve-year-old heir. But Elizabeth, moving swiftly, raises an army to bring her son to London and have him crowned at once, bypassing Richard’s authority entirely.

Richard, unarmed and unready for political intrigue, rides south alone to fulfil his brother’s wishes. Calm, composed, and honour-bound, he disperses Elizabeth’s forces without bloodshed, takes custody of the young king, and brings him safely to London—only to find Elizabeth fled to sanctuary with her other children. There, protected by the Church, she begins a campaign to destroy him.

As the coronation nears, a shattering secret is revealed: Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth was invalid, rendering his sons illegitimate. By law and blood, Richard is the true heir. Though reluctant, he accepts the crown, believing that only he can prevent further civil war and repel a foreign invasion. The princes are quietly moved to safety, away from political schemers who would use them as pawns in their own quest for power.

Elizabeth, furious that the truth of her marriage has come to light, strikes a secret alliance with the exiled Henry Tudor—a distant Lancastrian claimant—and offers her daughter Bess in marriage if he will challenge Richard and restore her sons.

Though Richard is widely respected by commoners and many nobles, his old friends turn. First Hastings, then Buckingham, betray him—imagining they’ll hold more power under a child king. Shattered by their duplicity, Richard has both executed for treason, but spares others complicit in the plot, including Tudor’s mother, Margaret Beaufort; her husband, the powerful Lord Stanley; and the cunning Bishop Morton, a sworn enemy of York.

Tudor’s first invasion fails. He regroups in France with support from King Louis, who hopes to weaken England and prevent a revival of Plantagenet ambition. As Richard mourns the deaths of his ten-year-old son and his beloved wife Anne, his private grief spirals into despair. He begins to question whether God Himself has turned against him.

When Tudor lands once more, bolstered by French and Welsh mercenaries, Richard must rally England’s lords and their armies. Though a just and visionary ruler, many nobles are weary of war. Some resent the loss of privileges they enjoyed under Edward’s corrupt reign. Others believe Richard’s military prowess alone will suffice.

Three families will decide the battle’s fate: the ever-loyal John Howard; the bitterly jealous Northumberland, stripped of northern command by Edward in favour of Richard; and Stanley, stepfather to Tudor, whose loyalties remain a mystery until the final moment.

Even on the morning of battle, Richard cannot be sure who will stand beside him. Advised to retreat and fight another day, as Edward might have done, he refuses—vowing not to plunge England back into war over a crown.

As defeat looms, he spies a glimmer of hope: Tudor, separated from his army, stands exposed on a distant hill with only a small guard. Calling upon his 80 Household Knights, Richard cries, “Who will ride with me?” To a man, they respond with his motto: Loyalty Binds Me.

Together they charge beneath the eyes of the still-hedging Stanley army, cutting through Tudor’s bodyguard. Just meters from Tudor himself, Stanley joins the fray—surrounding Richard’s knights and cutting them down 80 to 1. Struck from behind, Richard is slain. His golden coronet is knocked from his head and lands in a thorn bush. His kingdom, and his legacy, fall to Henry Tudor.

Two years later, Elizabeth has reclaimed her position as mother to the queen and mother-in-law to the king. Yet still she schemes, plotting to restore her exiled son Edward with the help of an invading force. Tudor’s response is swift. Elizabeth is banished to a nunnery, stripped of power and status, left to reflect on the cost of her ambitions—and the misjudgment that handed the throne to a tyrant.

Through the voice of Bess, now queen, we learn the fate of the players in this drama. Under the rule of Henry Tudor—distrustful, vengeful, and cold—it did not end well for any of them.