Unfortunately, Mrs Hughes has no choice but to hire her, since Edna did not leave Downton with a bad reference. Tom, Mr Carson, and Mrs Hughes are upset that she is back, remembering her unorthodox behavior towards Tom. Rose encourages Cora to hire Edna, who presents the reference Mrs Hughes wrote for her. She lies about why she left Downton seven months earlier, saying it was her own choice to move on. She holds her interview in Ripon, claiming she has a sick aunt to think of. She responds to an application posted by Rose for lady's maid to Cora because O'Brien had unexpectedly left. She does, though she thinks Edna is not cut out to be a housemaid.Įdna in Ripon.Edna returns to Downton Abbey, having honed her skills as a lady's maid. Tom kindly asks Mrs Hughes to give her a decent reference. But Mrs Hughes say that, 'there are rules to this way of life and, if you don't intend to abide by them, it is not the life for you.' Edna leaves soon after being fired. Edna doesn't think she has done anything wrong, insisting she is just as good as he and that there was nothing improper. Mrs Hughes does not approve of the way Edna has attempted to pursue Tom and says to Tom that he let Edna make him feel ashamed of his new life. After hearing this news, both Mr Carson and Mrs Hughes immediately agree that she has to go. She later tells Mrs Hughes and Mr Carson that she had made plans to meet Tom, inappropriately using his first name, when they ask her to do a job that clashes with those plans, asking them if she must do what they asked her to do. At one point Edna enters Tom's room whilst he is changing and impulsively kisses him, after he asks her to leave. She later takes his arm at the Thirsk Fair. Hughes is watching her suspicously, especially after Tom begins to feel uneasy about moving upstairs. She makes him feel guilty about having moved up in the world, going so far as to get him to eat downstairs again and suggest that he drive them to the Thirsk Fair, after urging him to come with them. She even skips work to go see him in the Grantham Arms, after hearing that he would be eating lunch there. He seems to be taken aback by her behaviour, but responds in a polite way to her forwardness.

Unlike the other servants, she shows no respect when talking with Tom, and refuses to stand up when he enters the servant´s hall. Edna starts asking questions and making comments about Tom and Sybil, saying that Lady Sybil could have done better but that he is handsome, which prompts Mrs Hughes to tell her to mind her place. He, however, is not ready for romance because he is still in mourning for his wife, Lady Sybil Branson. With their newborn infant, Tom and Lucy settle in Downton as a new portrait of Violet hangs in the main hall.Headstrong, ambitious, and determined, Edna sets her sights on the recent widower Tom Branson. Notably, Downton Abbey: A New Era culminates in a happy ending for Tom Branson, who marries Lucy Smith, Lady Bagshaw's secret real daughter and sole heir to the Bagshaw estate, in a lavish ceremony.

The Downton residents and staff also become integral to ensuring that The Gambler gets finished. This gives Mary a chance to dip her toes in showbusiness and ultimately results in the butler Thomas Barrow moving to Hollywood for a promising new life.

Meanwhile, back home in England, Lady Mary agrees to oversee productions for the silent film The Gambler at the Grantham estate, which covers the costs of much-needed house repairs. Violet later succumbs to sickness and dies – but not before bequeathing the villa to her granddaughter Sybbie Branson. The Crawleys visit France at the invitation of a Marquis after the Dowager Countess Violet Crawley inherits a French Riviera villa. 2022's Downton Abbey: A New Era sees the Crawley family's story continue, with massive changes to the fates of several main characters.

Downton abbey episode guide