A furious Elizabeth I summons the heads of both houses to London to explain their actions.

The fact that both sides had displayed their banners in the battle was a particular affront to her—as it had been a symbolic rejection of the monopoly of the state on making war.

However, the treatment of the dynasties is not even handed.

Ormonde—who, as a cousin of the Queen's and a court favorite, manages to persuade Elizabeth that it is the Geraldines who are at fault—is pardoned.

Desmond (who had been brought before the privy council on a litter) and his brothers, John and James, are on Ormonde’s urging arrested and detained in the Tower of London.

John is widely regarded as the real military leader of the Fitzgeralds.