The Ending of “Bridgerton” Season Three, Explained (2024)

Warning: Major spoilers for Bridgerton season three lie ahead.

At last, Bridgerton fans everywhere can finally binge all eight episodes of season three. The second half of the hit period romance’s third season dropped today on Netflix—and with it, a whole new crop of questions and drama.

The last episode takes place a day after Colin Bridgerton and Penelope Featherington’s wedding. Instead of post-nuptial bliss, tension fills the newlyweds’ home as the two contend with the Lady Whistledown–size elephant in the room. Elsewhere in the Bridgerton family, Francesca is ready to embark on her own life as a newlywed after marrying John Stirling—but an unforeseen complication is thrown her way. As for single Bridgertons Eloise and Benedict, we can expect both siblings to begin new journeys down paths of self-discovery.

Ahead, gentle reader, we’ve rounded up all the answers to your most burning questions about the season three finale.

How do Colin and Penelope reconcile? And what happens to Lady Whistledown?

Colin’s discovery that Penelope is Lady Whistledown in episode six spells trouble for their romance. He decides to commit to marrying Penelope, though, despite feeling betrayed and Pen offering him a way out of their engagement. But although the two share a tender moment dancing together during their wedding breakfast, Colin reverts back to being cold and guarded by the next day.

Still, there’s nothing like a crisis to bring a couple together. Cressida Cowper uncovers Whistledown’s true identity and then insists Pen pay her, threatening to reveal the truth to the entire ton otherwise. Faced with this blackmail scheme, Colin goes into emergency mode. First, he beseeches Cressida to show mercy—though that quickly backfires when she instead doubles the amount she’s asking for. Later, Colin tells Penelope that he intends to ask Benedict to lend him the money to pay off Cressida. Penelope refuses this gesture. She does not want Colin to rescue her, she tells him, but simply desires his love. To this, he replies, “As long as you live with this secret, there will always be something between us.” Pen responds, “I know. Perhaps that is the key.”

Penelope writes a letter to Queen Charlotte, unmasking herself once and for all. She also uses all the money she made selling Lady Whistledown columns to fund her sisters’ spectacular vision for a joint ball. It is at this ball that Penelope comes into the light at last, revealing her alter ego before an audience that includes the queen, the Bridgertons, the Featheringtons, and the rest of the ton. The queen allows Penelope to state her case.

“I wrote about all of you because I was captivated by you, living your lives so out in the open,” Penelope says. “And in writing about all of you, I suddenly felt as if I had a life. I had power. And for anyone in this room who has ever had a taste of that, they should know it can be intoxicating.” She admits to being “careless with that power” and vows to courageously “live a life out in the open” and to “honor one’s weaknesses publicly.” Graciously, the queen grants Pen permission to continue writing as Lady Whistledown “more responsibly.”

Afterward, Colin reconciles Penelope’s voice with Lady Whistledown’s. “In truth, I have been envious of you—of your success, of your bravery,” he tells his new wife. “And now I simply cannot believe that a woman with such bravery loves me. How lucky I am to stand by your side and soak up even a little bit of your light.” Swoon!

Fast-forward a year later, and the two—along with Penelope’s sisters—are reveling in their happily ever after and welcoming their first child. Although Prudence and Philippa presumably had their daughters first, Penelope’s child is the only son—making him the Featherington heir.

What’s the deal with Francesca and Michaela?

Penelope and Colin aren’t the only newlyweds in season three. In the finale, Francesca Bridgerton ties the knot with John Stirling, a union that will take her out of Mayfair and to the Kilmartin family seat in the Scottish Highlands.

Joining them on their journey to Scotland is John’s cousin, Michaela Stirling. Upon meeting her, Francesca looks awestricken and momentarily forgets her own name—a callback to a conversation she had with Violet, who said, “When I first met your father, I could barely speak my own name. I was so taken by him. I stumbled over words most familiar.”

For those who haven’t read the original Julia Quinn novels, the introduction of Michaela’s character is our first look into what to expect from Francesca’s season. In the sixth Bridgerton book, When He Was Wicked, Francesca originally falls in love with John’s cousin Michael after John dies unexpectedly, two years into their marriage. It seems the creative team behind the Netflix series has decided to take a gender-bent approach to Francesca’s story.

It’s currently uncertain how the change in gender will affect Francesca’s storyline. Showrunner Jess Brownell told Netflix’s Tudum, “Part of Francesca’s exploration going forward will be about whether or not there is in fact something missing [in her marriage] … You’ll just have to wait to see, going forward, what we do with the addition of Michaela.”

Where are Kate and Anthony?

Sorry, Kanthony shippers, but it seems we’ll be bidding farewell to our season-two leads for quite some time.

Kate and Anthony actually didn’t appear in episode eight of the third season. At Colin and Penelope’s wedding in the previous episode, the couple decided to temporarily relocate to India, where they plan to welcome their first child. But don’t lose hope for Kanthony cameos in future seasons, as Anthony promises Kate in episode seven: “We will return.”

What’s next for Benedict and Eloise?

The remaining single Bridgerton siblings (besides Hyacinth and Gregory, who are children and, respectfully, should stay unmarried for quite some time) are heading on their own journeys of self-discovery by the end of season season.

After spending the entirety of the season engaging in an affair with the widowed Lady Tilley, Benedict embraces the fluidity of sexuality by having a threesome with her and her friend Paul. The throuple situation works out great for everyone—until it doesn’t. It turns out Tilley is ready to take her relationship with Benedict to the next level, while Benedict only wants to further expand his previously limited conceptions of love and lust. As he tells Tilley, “You’ve opened my world, and I’m not ready to close it again just now.” Ultimately, the two end things on relatively amicable terms.

As for Eloise, she finally mends her friendship with her best friend and now sister-in-law, Penelope. Still, she finds herself restless. “I’ve spent nearly all of my life in either Mayfair or at Aubrey Hall,” she laments during a late-night vent session with Benedict. “If I’m going to attempt to make change in the world, certainly I shall need to see some of it first.” Her solution? Joining newlyweds Francesca and John at their estate in Scotland, where she expects to live “outside our tiny bubble” and “have some adventures.” Cheers to new frontiers!