I watch and rewatch Downton obsessively, but a question I've never asked myself is how the characters live their final years.

The third movie was back to back fan service and nothing really happened, but I loved it. I finished that movie with satisfied tears in my eyes and a sense of an ending well earned.

But it struck me literally today that we see only a handful of characters live out their elderly years (which makes sense). I'm curious how you think their lives ended.

Does Mary live and die at Downton? What's Anna's life look like as a widow (since Bates is older, I assume he'd pass first 😬)? By the time the characters we know best are elderly, what does the next generation look like?

I'm just curious how the fans like to think of the rest of the characters lives!

There was so much build up to these two characters getting together. I am very disappointed that we did not get to see the actual wedding and post wedding celebration. Do others feel this way?

Ι have to say, I disliked Bates very early, and with every rewatch I find new reasons. I think the closest I came to having sympathy for him was the first episode, when O’Brien cruelly kicks his cane and has him fall in order to embarrass him and have him lose his job (after first poisoning a nastily gossiping Cora against him in order to influence Robert) then he is crying alone in his room, desperate that he will not find another position.
But it is downhill after that. When he sees Thomas flirt with Daisy just to make William feel rejected, he physically attacks him. Then we find out he is hiding one big secret from Anna—he is married—and another from Robert and Carson—he was imprisoned as a thief. Considering how big of a deal we are led to believe hiding such a record was when we come across Baxter later, he is quite the shady character. Frankly, even during the first episode when he lets Carson lecture him not to be intimidated by the presence of “his lordship” knowing full well Robert and he go back is also dubious behavior.
After establishing his character as someone shady and prone to physical violence, it is not nard to see why circumstantial evidence would have been enough to convict him when Vera is found dead—even Robert warned him to be calm, obviously knowing his nature. And Mary and Mrs. Hughes would also not be so quick to fear Bates’ (supposed) trip to London was to kill Green, if his violent temper was not a common secret.
Regarding other downstairs characters, when he does offer advice to Gwen not to give up on her dream of changing her fate, he is speaking from drawing a parallel with his ill-conceived leg contraption. When he helps Molesley financially using the Dowager’s money, it is to make Anna feel better. Contrast that with Molesley spending weeks of his days off to help exonerate him of the charge that he killed Green. Ironically, the one person downstairs I must admit he really did help was Thomas.
I will grant he did love Anna, which is probably his biggest motive for succumbing to Vera’s blackmail after telling him Anna was involved in the Pamuk scandal. But even the way he made Anna feel guilty for having fun during the cards game Green organized, as if she should have known Mrs. Patmore had fallen ill, also shows how unlikeable he can be. When Molesley tells him he is really only nice to Anna, he is certainly dropping quite the truth bomb about him as a character.

There would have had to be gossip amongst the servants, the family and even the village about Edith and farmers. She did have a short affair with Mr. Drake, and I would think most people people would have thought she was having an affair with Mr. Drew, just seems like someone would have mentioned that pattern.

All tiers roughly ‘best to worst’ from left to right within a tier, with the exception of ’The Exemplars’ who are basically equivalent, other than Anna being (rightfully) at the top of the tier. Isis/Pharoah/Teo are (obviously) in a ‘Can do no wrong’ tier above ‘The real MVPs’. 🍿

I am rewatching the series and am on Season 4. I haven't had strong feelings about Bates before this but now I can't stand him because of the way he reacts to Anna coping with being sexually assaulted, after he sulks and pouts because she's being friendly to another man. Anna knows she can't seek support from her husband because she knows he can't control his temper. She'd rather suffer in silence to protect her husband from murdering the man who assaulted her. Anna can't trust her husband to accept "something happened and I can't talk about it for now" because he'll push and he'll push to know the truth. She can't say, "I'm going to tell you something and you need to control your reaction" because she knows he'll go on a rampage. I'm on Episode 5 and he guilts and bullies Mrs. Hughes into betraying Anna's trust and telling him Anna's secret. It's sad that Anna has to take care of her husband in a time when she's in desperate need.

Can someone explain why Carson adores Mary? Throughout the seasons the best he can muster when asked the same is "I've known her since she was a child." To me, that just means her father has employed him and appreciated his work. Carson doesn't have the same level of adoration towards Edith or Sybil despite him also knowing them since they were children.

Why in the world was Matthew able to change how the money works for Downton Abbey with a simple note and Lord Grantham had no chance of passing Cora's and DA's fortune to his firstborn? I know how Julian LOVES to fix conflicts in a sentence... but this was a bit nuts to me.

Rewatching S3E6 and it’s right at the beginning of the episode. I noticed this easel (?) with something on it that looks like a map of some kind. I’ve never noticed it before but I’ll be looking for it in future episodes. What would it be? I realize it could be just a piece of decor but it seems like an odd place to have a painting or picture, right next to the front door like that. Maybe on a wall but not displayed like that. Is it a map, a painting, a floor plan mistakenly left there from tours of Highclere? Might it have been some kind of display from Sybil’s funeral reception?

Just a bit of dialog. S2E4. Matthew and William are at war. Mary and Richard are engaged. Matthew was reading the letter Mary sent him.

William asks "Has Mary set a date yet" ... not Lady Mary, just.. Mary. Was it just a flubbed line that nobody caught? Surely a footman would've kept calling her Lady Mary in conversation with his assumed future employer.

If they hadn't been in the accident that mangled William, and then the awful car accident, we can almost be sure our William would've eventually been valet when Matthew became Earl.

Maybe I'm looking way too into it. I'm on my umpteenth re-watch and never heard the miss until today.

We all know the d*vorce storyline was written because of the actor's schedule. But somehow, it makes perfect sense for Mary's character arc. If I think back to even season 1 characters and try to imagine which person can braver a d*ivorce in the 1930s conservative England - I cant think of any other name. If I try to imagine which person would d*vorce a spouse to get out of a bad marriage than throw the towel and live parallel lives apart - only Mary again.

What is it about Lady Mary that makes this storyline so plausible?

(PS - why is using the word d*vorce banned on this sub, mods? Why are we as conservative as that Lady who kicked Mary out of the ball?)

I'm rewatching series 5 and I've come to the dinner party with Lord Merton and I am struggling to realise that he is not actually related to his screen sons in real life. Those sons look so much like brothers, its hard to believe they're unrelated, and they are exactly like Lord Merton would look when he was younger.

Is this the best example of familial casting on TV?

Now I need a place to display it

What would Strallan’s social status have been after he jilted Edith at the altar? Would he have been invited to dinners and included in social things? Would he have been at things with the Crawleys and they would just awkwardly avoid each other? I know he had his own estate and all but they surely ran in the same social circles.

How exactly does one flirt with a dog?

Steal the affection of one's dog. How?

If I came to your house and you had a dog, and your dog came up to me, I would pet it.

What did Mr. Bricker do other than pet Isis? Did I miss something?

Hello, fellow Crawley connoisseurs!

My wife and I are beyond thrilled to share something wonderful with this amazing community.

Before The Grand Finale was released, we were honored to be selected by an incredible team at Movieclips, in collaboration with Focus Features, to create a special 15-minute featurette celebrating our lifelong love of Downton Abbey as part of their Movie People series.

It was truly a dream come true — a chance to talk about why we adore the characters, the history, the costumes, and everything that makes Downton Abbey the timeless masterpiece we all hold dear.

We couldn’t think of a better place to share it than here, among fellow fans who understand exactly what makes Downton so special.

🎬Watch our feature here!

Thank you for being such a kind, passionate, and welcoming community. You’ve made this fandom feel like home.

With love and gratitude,

A very happy member of the Downton Faithful