Mid-1918. Lord Grantham receives some shocking news from the front; both Matthew and William have been wounded in France. Unfortunately, William has sustained serious damage to his lungs and is unable to recover, prompting him to ask Daisy to marry him before he dies. Meanwhile, Matthew has suffered a serious spinal-cord injury and is paralysed from the waist down. He is told that he will never walk again or father children. Lavinia insists that this changes nothing and that she is not concerned about having a sexual relationship and children but only wants to care for him. However, Matthew tells her to forget him and sends her away, while Mary attempts to nurse him back to health.
A new maid, Jane, is hired after Carson and Mrs Hughes decide to take her on, despite her being a war widow with children. Mrs Hughes has also been secretly helping Ethel and her baby, as Ethel's lover Major Bryant has ignored her pleas.
Despite not truly loving William, Daisy is pushed into marrying him by Mrs Patmore, who wants William to die happy, and by William's wishes that Daisy be left with a widow's pension so that she can be looked after. They marry while William is bed-ridden, surrounded by the other staff, Edith and the Dowager Countess. William dies in his sleep, not long afterwards, with Daisy by his side.
Bates is taken aback when Vera promises to expose old secrets about Mary and Pamuk's death, as he as paid her to divorce him and thought she was satisfied. When Mary discovers this, she confesses everything to Richard Carlisle and asks him to help, since she accepts his offer of marriage. He accepts and expresses his pleasure that she is now in his debt. She returns to Downton, and he succeeds in binding Vera to an exclusive contract with binding confidentiality obligations, thereby silencing her. He announces his engagement to Mary in the newspaper without informing her. Carlisle tricks Vera into signing a contract, preventing her from selling the story to anyone else, but on finding out, she warns that she will still bring ruin to Bates.
A very sad episode! Poor Matthew and William! RIP William! xx
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