Warning: This article contains spoilers for Bridgerton season 3 and Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.
By this point, we’re all starting to come down a bit from the sensational high that Bridgerton‘s final four episodes of season 3 bestowed upon us. Among its many developments, Penelope successfully continued her run as the ton’s most invaluable protagonist and Eloise continued being the queen of television characters as far as any of us are concerned.
Indeed, when it comes to storytelling in the ton, these two are the unstoppable forces to the unmovable object of Regency-era London, using their keen intellect and chaotic good tendencies to carve out a certain niche of drama that arguably puts the plights of the rest of the ton to shame. But while Eloise and Penelope are intellectual equals, their shared brilliance still only nabs them second place in the who-run-the-world department. The Whistledown saga might be singular and unprecedented, but as Robert Downey Jr. taught us last summer in Oppenheimer, true power stays in the shadows. Who, then, is more brilliant than our resident bookish intellectuals?
All hail the ton’s true head honcho
There’s no question at this point that the mightiest, most brilliant player in the ton is actually the doyenne Agatha Danbury, and she’s worked hard to earn such a distinction. Throughout Bridgerton, Danbury’s wisdom and wit have been two of the most invaluable resources out there, both for the well-being of the ton’s residents and the entertainment mileage of us viewers. Without her, the marriages of both Daphne and Anthony would have had far bumpier — even unassailable — roads to contend with, as both Simon and Kate found themselves needing a bit of sense knocked into them along the way. Danbury, as always, was happy to provide it, and her insertions resulted in happy endings for both couples and a very satisfied Queen.
And just as well, because who better to hand off auxiliary navigation of the ton to than Danbury, the woman who — thanks to Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story — we know has been slogging through the depths of the Regency jungle since she was quite young? She’s been playing social chess long before her most recent match with Charlotte, fighting tooth, nail, and loneliness in order to protect not only her position in society, but the dignity with which she’s maintained it all these years. It’s that aforementioned would-be checkmate she inflicted upon the Queen in Bridgerton‘s season 3 finale that brought Danbury’s power to the forefront like never before. Much like how Princess Augusta saw the value in Danbury as an adversary in Queen Charlotte, Danbury saw the value in the rebellious excitement Lady Whistledown pumped into the ton. Had she not convinced Charlotte to see things similarly, Penelope’s self-reveal as Lady Whistledown could have resulted in a much less fortunate season finale, to put it lightly. As a result of her wisdom and foresight, Penelope can now be happily married to Colin, pursue a life as a public writer with an unshielded byline, and set a positive example of what’s possible for the rest of the women in society. Talk about brilliant!
Not to be confused with a different Agatha who displays similar puppetry skills in Marvel’s WandaVision, it’s this Agatha who’s been pulling the Bridgerton strings all along. Penelope and Eloise are brilliant in their own rights, and Lady Whistledown wielded a mighty power as the ton’s secret scribbler for three seasons running, but none of them hold a candle to the altruistic puppeteering of Lady Agatha Danbury. Thank heavens she’s fond of the Bridgertons!
All three seasons of Bridgerton are available to stream on Netflix and a fourth season has been confirmed.