Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is one of the most popular television shows on Netflix at the moment, having recently dropped internationally on the streaming service ahead of the release of season three of Bridgerton.
If you’re anything like us, you’ve binged the whole series and now, your TikTok and Instagram are full of videos of Queen Charlotte and George — but plenty of people are asking, what happened to Reynolds? Did he die? What happened between him and Brimsley?
The secret love story between Brimsley, the Queen’s hand, and Reynolds, the King’s hand, was one of our favourites on the show, and it was heartwarming to see their relationship develop over the episodes, eventually culminating in an intimate bathing scene between the two.
The show employed narration from both past and present day and made things a bit confusing, but more engaging. One thing viewers flocked to the internet to find out, though is what happened to Reynolds? It wasn’t stated what happened to him, but all that we know is that he is no longer at court, and his relationship with Brimsely ended some unknown time ago.
Warning: there are spoilers below.
What Happened to Reynolds?
If you’re not up to date yet, Brimsley, who is Queen Charlotte’s butler in the original series, also appears in the spin-off and is secretly in a relationship with King George’s footman, Reynolds.
Their ambitious plans to unite the King and Queen, coupled with their bouts of jealousy and disagreements, make them an ideal couple, leading to fans’ disappointment when they did not end up together in the series finale.
In case you missed it, one of the last scenes of episode six shows Reynolds and Brimsley dancing together at a ball. The scene quickly cuts to the present day Bridgerton timeline and Brimsley is seen dancing alone, reminiscing about the time he spent with Reynolds and the night they danced together. This shows us that the two are no longer together, and from what we’ve gatherd, Reynolds is no longer at court.
It is initially implied that Reynolds passed away, or so viewers assumed, given it wasn’t explained properly. Eagle eyed viewers, however, will note a conversation between Queen Charlotte and Brimsley in the present day in which she asks if he ever married. Brimsley seems sad at the conversation and asks “who could I ever find who would be free to spend a lifetime with me?” and that he is “always here”.
The conversation between the two makes two things clear: there are numerous obstacles for the two to be together that wouldn’t necessairly have been possible to overcome. Furthermore, Brimsley’s dedication to serving Queen Charlotte mean that he didn’t have much of a personal life.
Despite the confusion, the actor Hugh Sachs, who portrays the older Brimsley, has shed some light on what actually happened to Reynolds. In an interview with Vulture, Sachs revealed, “There was a scene that got cut, and thus wasn’t filmed, where I was supposed to meet the older Reynolds. He was the love of his life, and for whatever reason, they couldn’t remain together“.
“So, in the deleted scene where they cross paths in the corridor, it wasn’t a moment of animosity. The reality was that, given the era they lived in, being gay was still a crime punishable by death, making their relationship impossible.”
This revelation may either answer our queries or leave us feeling even more heartbroken. Regardless, we’d be thrilled to see an older version of Reynolds! Hopefully, though, we’ll get some concrete evidence of what actually happened to Reynolds soon enough!
Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story is now streaming on Netflix.
