The Duchess of Hastings has left the building.

Netflix struck gold when they released the first season of Bridgerton in December 2020. During the cold days of winter, the romance between Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor) and Simon Basset (Regé-Jean Page) heated our screens and tapped into a thirst for regency romance. The first season went on to receive universal acclaim, even earning an Emmy nomination for Best Drama Series. Because the Netflix series is inspired by the popular Julia Quinn book series, the series shifts each season’s focus towards a new lead and a new love story to follow. In Season 1, audiences enter London society with the eldest daughter; in Season 2, we follow the eldest Bridgerton sibling, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) as he begins his search for a wife. The upcoming season will shift focus to Colin Bridgerton (Luke Newton) as he starts to see his friend, Penelope Featherington (Nicola Coughlan) as something more.

Even though the leads would change with each season, there was an assumption that audiences would still spend time with the previous season’s couple and explore their lives post-happily ever after. Those dreams were initially dashed when Regé-Jean Page announced his departure after Season 1, leaving Phoebe Dynevor to still appear without her character’s husband. Though her appearances were few and far between, Daphne still made use of her time to give insight during pivotal points in Season 2, like at Aubrey Hall and Anthony’s wedding to Edwina Sharma (Charithra Chandran). It gave fans hope that they could still spend some time with Daphne while watching one of her other siblings fall in love.

Yet, it did not come as much of a shock when it was announced that Dynevor is making her Bridgerton exit ahead of Season 3. With the Bridgerton series continuing to expand with each season, as well as the upcoming spinoff series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, there’s only so much room for the previous diamond. Narratively, it makes sense to not see the Duchess of Hastings when she no longer lives in the ton nor participates in the London season; she’s busy being a wife, a mother, and a duchess. Though her exit doesn’t dramatically change the dynamics of the series, it does shift the balance in the family dynamics moving forward.

Pall Mall Is Down a Bridgerton

Some of the best moments in the series thus far is when the entire Bridgerton family is together. Apart, they are all respected, admired members of polite London society; together, they’re a competitive, chaotic group who knows how to get under each other’s skin. Whether they’re sitting around the dinner table together or playing a game of Pall Mall, being around the Bridgertons together always brings out their carefree, playful side. It’s a reflection of how they love each other fiercely and will defend each other no matter what.

The love the Bridgertons have for each other runs deeper than one just out of the family– they share a bond of losing a father, Edmund (Rupert Evans), and how it impacts each of them. After his untimely death, the Bridgerton siblings stepped up to be each other’s support when everyone else failed to understand their pain. Anthony took on the responsibility as the new viscount and the duty to provide for his family; Daphne became more maternal in taking care of her younger siblings. Though she spends so much of Season 1 bickering with Eloise (Claudia Jessie), there is something tender between them when they recall the day their father died. In Season 2, Anthony has a similar moment where he shares memories of his father with his youngest brother, Gregory (Will Tilston).

In losing Daphne, the Bridgerton family dynamic feels incomplete. Though these family moments are sprinkled throughout a season centered on a romantic love story, the familial love between these siblings has proven to be just as effective and important. It humanizes this seemingly perfect family and draws the audience closer to their stories. It’s unrealistic to have all the Bridgertons together all the time (unless they were all to live at Aubrey Hall with their spouses). It’s more than just missing a player for Pall Mall or a co-conspirator in a prank– there’s more to dive into with the Bridgerton family as a whole, so Daphne not being there deprives the audience of her distinctive role within it.

Wisdom From a Diamond

As a diamond of the first water, Daphne experienced a courtship completely different from Anthony does in Season 2. When she did make appearances in the second season, Daphne served to offer perspective and wisdom to her brother as he struggles to reconcile his duty to his family and his duty to his heart. Daphne understood duty like this as the first woman of her siblings out and set the bar for finding an acceptable match; she won the lottery in marrying the Duke of Hastings, but more than that, hers was a love match. She genuinely fell in love with her husband through their ups and downs. Being married and outside the throes of London society gives Daphne a unique perspective in watching her siblings find their love matches. In losing Daphne, we lose the useful insight and experience that her other siblings need.

While her mother, Violet (Ruth Gemmell), can offer a mother’s advice, Daphne brings maternal wisdom through the lens of being a sister. She sees her siblings differently than Violet and it can help penetrate the truths her siblings need to hear. Anthony needed Daphne to confront him on his growing desire for Kate (Simone Ashley) so that he could face it himself. With her brother that’s closest in age to her, Colin, about to realize his great love, Daphne could be a key person to help her brother out. In fact, in the Colin-centric Bridgerton book, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton, Daphne has an impactful conversation with Colin about how to know when a person is in love. It’s one of the bigger moments in the book that wakes Colin up to realize the depths of his feelings for Penelope, and it’s a moment that audiences will now be deprived of in the third season. This particular moment could still happen between Colin and the most recent lead, his brother Anthony, but there’s something special in seeing a brother and a sister discuss matters of the heart. Plus, she has two sisters now part of the London season, Eloise and Francesca (Hannah Dodd), who could stand to heed their elder sister’s advice.

A New Direction for the Duchess

Bridgerton opens at the beginning of Daphne’s entrance into London society. She is the entry point for the audience as they step into her world. In a major way, Daphne Bridgerton is the strong foundation that gives audiences a character to follow while meeting a plethora of characters. Her season, as well Phoebe Dynevor’s chemistry with Regé-Jean Page, set the bar for how romance could succeed, not only for her character but for the series as a whole. As we continue to latch onto new characters and storylines, we lose sight of the foundation that made Bridgerton the talk of the ton.

Just like her Season 1 co-lead, Phoebe Dynevor is exploring new roles outside the regency world of Bridgerton. Recently she received critical praise after the premiere of her new film Fair Play at Sundance Film Festival alongside her co-star Alden Ehrenreich. Thanks to Bridgerton, Dynevor’s career is being thrust in a new direction, and although it’s exciting to see what projects she takes on next, Bridgerton just lost the last of the original anchors that helped make audiences fall head over heels for in the first place. At the end of the day, Daphne Bridgerton-Basset has her happily ever after with the love of her life. Though she is gone from our screens, she is not forgotten. Who knows – we could still get a surprise cameo from her at one of her sibling’s weddings.