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Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 Ending Explained: What Happens To Lady Whistledown?
There’s much happening in and around the ton, with wedding bells cheering for Penelope and Colin while Queen Charlotte and others send out a hefty reward for anyone who reveals Lady Whistledown.
Spoiler warning: This article contains details about Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2 ending
Bridgerton fans rejoice as the much-awaited episodes of Season 3 Part 2 are now streaming on Netflix. There’s much happening in and around the ton, with wedding bells cheering for Penelope and Colin and Queen Charlotte sending out a hefty reward for anyone who reveals the identity of Lady Whistledown.
But does Colin find out? Does Penelope step forward as Lady Whistledown? Do they ever get married? A great deal of drama unravels as Bridgerton progresses into the ultimate reveal of Penelope’s secret identity.
Penelope tries to reveal her secret identity to fiancé Colin
In the first episode of Part 2, that is Episode 5, titled Tick Tock, Colin announces the news of his engagement to the Bridgerton family. Eloise, aware of Penelope’s secret identity, urges her to tell Colin about Lady Whistledown before they get married. “You cannot marry him! Does he know... that you are Whistledown?” Eloise says.
Penelope claims she hadn’t found the right “moment” to tell her soon-to-be husband and requests for some time from Eloise. Her best friend gives Pen an ultimatum until Midnight to tell Colin otherwise she would do it herself.
Elsewhere, Penelope’s mother is not necessarily joyed by the engagement news and expresses her reservations. Lady Featherington wanted Pen to accept Lord Debling’s “secure” proposal.
Simultaneously, Colin conveys to her mother that he has proposed to Penelope “out of love” and that it was not any sort of arrangement. Then, the couple visits their future Bridgerton home where Pen and Colin engage in the highly-anticipated and steamy “Mirror scene” from Julia Quinn’s book, Romancing Mister Bridgerton.
However, Pen’s resolve to break her secret identity to Colin fails despite making several attempts to confess, only to be interrupted by something or the other. This other time Pen tried to tell him, the news of Queen Charlotte sending out a 5,000 pound reward to anyone who finds out about Lady Whistledown interrupts her. The second time is when Cressida declares herself as the mysterious gossip writer at Pen and Colin’s engagement gala, leaving the ton shocked and confused.
Queen Charlotte isn’t completely invested in Cressida’s announcement and urges her to write one more column to prove her identity and claim the reward. Meanwhile, Eloise advises Pen to not tell Colin since Cressida has taken the blame. “You cannot be both,” Eloise tells her pal asking her to let go of Lady Whistledown.
Cressida shows up at the Mondrich Ball uninvited and presents a short memo of her Whistledown column that manages to impress Queen Charlotte and the ton. She says the full issue will be published the following morning. Perplexed by Cressida’s feat, Eloise and Pen privately discuss her facade when the latter reveals that she is going to publish one last column to discredit Cressida.
Colin finds out Penelope’s secret identity
After Colin sees his sister and Pen rushing to another room following Cressida’s announcement In Episode 6, titled Romancing Mister Bridgerton, he is curious about Pen’s whereabouts. Hence, he follows her around only to find Pen’s carriage dropping her at a strange location.
Pen was dropping off her final Lady Whistledown column at the publisher's office. She turns to find Colin standing and is faced with his questions. “You... are Lady Whistledown?” a shocked and angry Colin asks. He emotionally reflects on the many lies, the ill material about his family, and the deception from Pen all this time.
“I will never forgive you,” Colin breaks it to Pen and walks away. The tumult follows the next morning as the ton is faced by two Lady Whistledown columns, only to reveal that Cressida is lying.
Pen and Eloise finally mend their estranged friendship but the latter maintains her stand to not help Pen to get Colin to forgive her. She believes it is Pen’s sole responsibility to do so. Later, Colin asks Eloise about Penelope’s secret identity to find out she’d known since last year. When asked about forgiveness, Colin tells Eloise that she is “lucky” that she had never “been in love,” indirectly expressing the hurt Pen had caused.
The Queen and the Ton find out about Lady Whistledown
Although upset, Colin and Pen still decide to get married. Ahead of their nuptials, the latter bumps into Colin in the street, which eventually leads to a reconciliation. He had been drinking at the Gentlemen’s Club and asked Pen about all the hurtful things she’d written about him, Eloise, and others.
Pen clarifies that it was because she was not proud of herself and wanted to hide behind a secret identity. But Lady Whistledown had finally helped her be confident and unapologetic about whoever she was. “I do not need to hide behind Whistledown,” she says and they kiss.
On their wedding day, Pen and Colin’s big moment is interrupted when Queen Charlotte demands the room be vacated with only the Bridgerton members and Pen. Her Majesty indirectly points out that Lady Whistledown is someone among the few.
Cressida resumes her search for Whistledown’s real identity and eventually finds out from a publisher that the gossip writer is a redhead. She rushes to visit Pen and hints at her knowledge of her secret identity. Cressida blackmails Pen for double the amount of Queen Charlotte’s reward so that she can settle abroad, or else she will reveal it to the Ton herself. Pen is forced to tell her mother about her secret.
When Eloise and Colin learn of Cressida’s ill deed, the latter goes up to her and tries to reason but Cressida is not one to comply and gives them until the Dankworth-Finch ball to pay her. At the ball, Queen Charlotte makes a surprise entrance and declares to the Ton that Lady Whistledown has sent her a letter and points toward Pen.
Stepping forward to explain her side of the story, Pen said, “I wrote about all of you because I was captivated by you, living your lives so out in the open.” She also acknowledges how careless she’d been with her power as Lady Whistledown.
The Queen generously allows Pen to continue writing but with more caution and Pen vows to be more responsible with her columns. “She seems humbled. But we will be watching that she remains so,” Queen Charlotte adds.
The Bridgerton Season 3 happily ever after
Colin conveys how he tried to separate Penelope from Lady Whistledown but after seeing all the letters she had sent him, he was struck with the realization that both are in fact, the same. Whereas, Cressida is sent away to live with Aunt Joanna by her father.
The final scene in the Part 2 ending shows Pen, Prudence, and Philipa with their babies. Pen had a son, who will bear the official title of Lord Featherington. Pen continues to write her columns but with a changed designation. Now, she signs, not as Lady Whistledown, but as Penelope Bridgerton. On the other hand, Colin has published his first book about his travel feats and Eloise moves to Scotland with Francesca and Lord Kilmartin after the latter two are wedded.
Eloise dreams of exploring the world beyond Mayfair and is introduced to Michaela Sterling, Lord Kilmartin’s cousin. The ending teases the potential romance between Francesca and Michaela in the future seasons that will be featured as the first queer romance in the Bridgerton series. In the Julia Quinn books, Michaela is a male character called Michael, who Francesca marries after Lord Kilmartin dies.
All episodes of Bridgerton Season 3 are now available to stream on Netflix.
ALSO READ: 6 Biggest Takeaways from Bridgerton Season 3 Part 2
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