The Heavy Crown

**The Heavy Crown** is the first episode of the second season of *Pennyworth* and the eleventh episode of the series overall. It aired on Epix on December 13, 2020.

## Synopsis

Alfred Pennyworth tries to profit off a war-torn London that threatens to be overrun by the fascist Raven Union.

## Plot

Behind Raven Union lines, Martha Kane finds herself interrogating a Raven Society member at gunpoint who is trying to plead for his life. He tries to say that she has heart, but Martha says she does not. She manages to get the location out of the guy she was interrogating, but is forced to make a daring escape when the Union cops arrive and start shooting at her.

Through the use of a wartime propaganda film, it’s mentioned that one year later, the Raven society is now known as the Raven Union, which under the stewardship of Lord Harwood has supposedly “liberated” England.

In Langley, Virginia at the CIA Headquarters, Thomas Wayne briefs the CIA on the situation, and on the Raven’s opposition, the English League, a hodgepodge of anti-fascist groups ostensibly fronted by The Queen but in reality, it is really organized rather badly at that by the Prime Minister. Moreover, the Raven Union now controls 90% of the country, with the exception of London and some other key cities, but it is all but inevitable at this point that they will win. According to Thomas, who has been witness to the chaos that is quickly unfolding, when the Raven Union gains control of London, “It’ll make Arkham Asylum look like a country club,”.
Due to the fact that the Raven Union winning is all but inevitable, the U.S. is choosing to not intervene. Instead, they will play nice with the Raven Union. As a result, Thomas is eventually told they want him to go back to England as a Station Chief. He is reminded that if he can’t get with the program as it is now, that this is the part where he can step down gracefully.

Meanwhile Alfred Pennyworth, along with his brothers in arms Bazza and Dave Boy are running a no-questions-asked lounge bar in Soho’s neutral zone, where the rules are strict — no politics and no guns. In addition, the money is decent, though it is being supplemented by odd extracurricular jobs, which are supplied by various people, among them Detective Inspector Aziz, now on the English League’s High Council.

Martha disapproves, thinking that Alfred is abandoning his principles, but he is doing all of this because he wants to accumulate enough cash to relocate him and his mother to America before the Raven Union’s eventual capture of London. As it turns out, by abducting one Colonel Salt for a hefty fee, this seems like a good way to expedite that plan and his subsequent departure from British soil.

Whereas Salt, has George Orwell captive and eventually shoves a chisel in his ear and incinerates the man in question. Later, Salt recognizes Alfred from the papers and claims his dad was a hero to him. Alfred seems glad to hand him over to Aziz, but he’s snatched right back not long after and quickly resumes work for the Raven Union as though nothing even happened.

Aziz is quickly on Alfred’s doorstep complaining about this since it implies a leak that potentially came from Alfred himself, though he vehemently denies it. Salt, it turns out, was a bigger fish than first implied, and Aziz is curious if he mentioned anything about a Project Stormcloud. Later, Alfred ponders these details with Gulliver Troy, who swiped Salt away from Aziz at Alfred’s request in exchange for another hefty chunk of change.

Meanwhile, Bet Sykes, is now a captain working at a Raven Union detention centre, and repeatedly fails to get information out of a supposed subversive. Bet’s superior reckons he can get her to open up by raping her, citing party protocol as justification for doing so, and telling Bet to put the kettle on while he goes about it. She doesn’t exactly take kindly to that and brutally beats him to death with the metal teapot, before making off with the girl.

In the end, “Stormcloud” is hinted to be something that causes a great deal of blistering agony for the test subject. It is further revealed in this trial run of the weapon, that the casualties of Stormcloud must look as though they died peacefully.

## Cast

* Ben Aldridge as Thomas Wayne
* Emma Paetz as Martha Kane
* Hainsley Lloyd Bennett as Bazza
* Ryan Fletcher as Dave Boy
* Dorothy Atkinson as Mary Pennyworth
* Ian Puleston-Davies as Arthur Pennyworth\*
* Ramon Tikaram as Inspector Victor Aziz
* Edward Hogg as Colonel John Salt
* Harriet Slater as Sandra Onslow
* Jessye Romeo as Katie Browning
* Paloma Faith as Bet Sykes
* Jason Flemyng as Lord James Harwood

Co-Starring* Jessica Ellerby as The Queen
* Louis Dempsey as Major Sutcliffe
* Quinn Patrick as Lee
* Gretchen Egolf as Dallas
* Ben Fox as George Orwell
* Jessica Claire as Vikki Dufrench
* Billy Wright as Hobbes
* Ross Armstrong as Harry
* Rosa Coduri as Sheri
* Lee McQueen as Vic Dobson
* Greg Haiste as Jaunty Announcer
* Beverly Chinnama as Doctor
* Sam Rafall as Union Guard
* Hywel Morgan as Union Officer

## Trivia

* Filming for the ten-episode season began on January 2020, with a proposed air date of late 2020, but was halted in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming resumed in August and concluded in 14 November, 2020..
* At NYCC Metaverse, Pennyworth was announced to return on December 13, 2020 with the first four episodes of Season 2 dropping weekly before a mid-season finale on Jan. 3, 2021. The remaining six episodes will air sometime later in 2021.
* Ian Puleston-Davies is only credited in the main cast for this episode.

## Media

### Promotional Videos

Pennyworth (EPIX 2020 Series) Season 2 40 TeasePennyworth Season 2 Promo (HD) DC Alfred Pennyworth origin storyPennyworth (EPIX 2020 Series) Season 2 Official TrailerPennyworth (EPIX 2020 Series) Episode 201-Clip 2Pennyworth (EPIX 2020 Series) Episode 201- Clip 3
### BTS Videos

Pennyworth Panel - Jack Bannon, Ben Aldridge, Paloma Faith - MCM London - Oct 2019Pennyworth Season Two Cast & Producer Interview EPIX
### Gallery

S2 Opening Credits Part 1S2 Opening Credits Part 2S2 Opening Credits Part 3S2 Opening Credits Part 4S2 Opening Credits Part 5S2 Opening Credits Part 6S2 Opening Credits Part 7S2 Opening Credits Part 8S2 Opening Credits Part 9S2 Opening Credits Part 10S2 Opening Credits Part 11S2 Opening Credits Part 12S2 Opening Credits Part 13
## References

1. ↑ https://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/pennyworth-season-two-renewal-announced-for-epix-tv-show/
2. ↑ NYCC: PENNYWORTH SEASON 2 FINDS THOMAS WAYNE ENGAGED TO SOMEONE WHO ISN'T MARTHA - Syfy