Williams and Fluellen meet. Williams spots the glove in Fluellen's cap and strikes him. Fluellen denounces him as a traitor, since he has been told that the glove he is wearing was plucked by the King from a French duke. If Williams knows that glove, he must be a friend of the Frenchman.
Warwick and Gloucester enter, followed quickly by the King and Exeter. Fluellen and Williams try to explain the situation from their differing points of view. Henry reveals to Williams that it was he, the King, with whom Williams had his original quarrel. What can Williams do to make amends for the harsh words he spoke then? Williams swears that he meant no offense to the King, and begs for pardon. Henry tells Exeter to fill Williams's glove with crowns. He also tells Fluellen that he is to be reconciled with Williams. Fluellen offers him some money of his own, which Williams tries to refuse but probably accepts, on Fluellen's insistence.
Exeter informs Henry of the French nobles who have been taken prisoner, and an English herald brings Henry a note telling him that ten thousand French soldiers were killed in the battle. All but sixteen hundred were men of substance in French society: princes, barons, lords, and the like. The English lost a mere twenty-five men, plus two nobles, a knight, and a gentleman. Henry once more gives praise to God, for the victory was God's work. He forbids any of his men, on pain of death, to boast of the victory. Henry and his men head for the village church, after which he says they will return first to Calais, and then to England.
Analysis
In stating that the English lost only twenty-five men, Shakespeare sticks to his source, the English historian, Holinshed. That casualties could be that low is almost impossible to believe, and modern historians estimate that four hundred English soldiers died. Even then, it was a great victory for the English. The English army probably numbered no more than six thousand, and the French had about twenty-five thousand. The English won because of their greater mobility and the effectiveness of their archers.
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