He allows the audience to see what is going on in his head with the events of the past and future. Hal monologues:.
So when this loose behavior I throw off.
And pay the debt I never promised,.
By how much better than my word am I,.
By so much shall I falsify men's hopes,.
And like bright metal on a sullen ground,.
My reformation, glitt'ring o'er my fault,.
Shall show more goodly and attract more eyes.
Than that which hath no foil to set it off.
I'll so offend, to make offense a skill,.
Redeeming time when men think least I will.
(2.2, lines 208-217).
In this monologue, Hal gives the audience a taste of what is to come once he becomes King. The rest of the world may think of him as a spoiled Prince, but in actuality Hal is acting this way to gain more loyalty before his crowning when his true personality will replace the Hal of old. Hal is merely learning the ways of the commoners and building a relationship with them so that when he is King he will not be unknowing in his ruling. This way, he will have knowledge of the common countryman greater than that of all his advisors put together. After this scene, the audience starts to realize that the current nobles misunderstand Hal and that he is actually preparing for his reign and has the potential to be a better King than his father. .
Even if other people see it, King Henry IV needs to see Hal's transformation himself. Hal promises his father several times in the play of his true character. The first occurs when Hal and the King are preparing for war against Northumberland, Worcester, and Harry Percy. King Henry IV asks Hal how he could do all of the wild and immature things that he has done and be the son of a King, and eventually turn into a King. Hal says that he "will redeem all this on Percy's head, / And in the closing of some glorious day / Be bold to tell you that I am your son (3.2, lines 132-134). Now his father realizes the reason for Hal's actions and that Hal is ready to take over as King and "Be more myself " (3.
