Character Analysis
Things get heated when Thomas Horner, an armorer, and Peter Thump, his assistant, get in a fight. This isn't just any old fight: Peter claims he heard Horner calling York the rightful king.
Now, that's a big deal: it's treason. Horner says he's never said such a thing, and he's not a traitor. There's bickering and name-calling—all things you might expect when someone calls you a traitor before the king. When Gloucester suggests Peter and Horner should duke it out themselves in a good old-fashioned duel, Peter flips. He doesn't know how to fight, but Horner does. He knows how the whole thing will end—with his loss.
Yet, somehow, on the day of the fight, Peter wins. Basically, Horner was so convinced he'd win that he got tanked right before the fight. Turns out that was a mistake.
So, what gives? Well, Henry takes this to mean that Horner was a traitor, and Peter was telling the truth. We think there's something more at stake. First, it's no coincidence that the little argument is about York being king. At this point in the play, that's not even in the cards, but these rascals plant it in Gloucester's mind.
Second, it tells us a lot about how our king and sidekick handle conflict resolution. Did you notice how Henry decides the outcome of the fight is from God? And Gloucester went straight for the jugular by having the men fight? That's because those are classic Henry and Gloucester moves. One wants to pray, and the other wants to fight. About everything.
In the end, it could be as simple as this: the stronger guy was drunk, so he lost. Or it could really be that the outcome was fated—maybe Horner was supposed to get drunk. We don't know; we just know how Henry and Gloucester react.