In November 1605, the Gunpowder Plot came terrifyingly close to reshaping England’s future. This episode explores what would have happened if Parliament had actually exploded - killing the king, his ministers, and much of the political class in a single moment.

Rather than retelling the familiar story, this video focuses on the aftermath that never came to pass: the succession crisis, the fate of Princess Elizabeth, the absence of a functioning government, and the realities the conspirators failed to anticipate.

We then return to what did happen, how the plot unraveled, how the conspirators were hunted down, and how the trials and executions turned a failed conspiracy into a permanent political myth.

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