What Happened To Reynolds?! Queen Charlotte Mystery Has A Simple, Heartbreaking Answer

Queen Charlotte’s most tragic love story between Reynolds and Brimsley ends in a heartbreaking mystery… but what really happened?

Queen Charlotte’s biggest unanswered question is simple: what happened to Reynolds, and why is he missing by the time of Bridgerton? Bridgerton’s wonderful spin-off introduces two of the Shondaland universe’s best romances, but in doing so set up tragic ends for both of them. Not only is Charlotte and George’s romance defined by profound trauma, but the secret love affair between the Queen’s right-hand man, Brimsley (Sam Clemmett), and the king’s man Reynolds (Freddie Dennis) is as beautiful as it is seemingly doomed. The pair share fleeting moments, but are pulled apart by duty, and ultimately, they don’t make it.

At the end of Queen Charlotte, Reynolds and Brimsley are shown dancing together, before a heartbreaking edit to the future reveals Brimsley dancing alone. It seems he and the blossoming romance are further victims of King George’s illness. And indeed, by the events of 1815, Reynolds is conspicuously missing from the Royal household, prompting fears that something had happened to the king’s man. So what happened to Reynolds after Queen Charlotte and why is he missing from Bridgerton?

Why Reynolds Faded Away In Queen Charlotte – Is He Dead?
Typically, when a TV show of movie has a character fade away between timelines as Reynolds does in Queen Charlotte’s ending, it is invariable a sign that they have died. Reinforcing their absence is a deliberate creative choice, and it’s certainly a straight forward reading to believe Reynolds has died before the events of Bridgerton in 1815.

But according to Brimsley actor Hugh Sachs, the answer is arguably more tragic than a death, as he told Vulture that the two simply grew apart, which was to be shown in a deleted scene:

“There was a scene that we didn’t film, because it was cut, where I was going to meet the older Reynolds. He was the love of his life, and for whatever reason, they could not stay together. So, when they would pass each other in the passageway in the deleted scene, it wasn’t a toxic moment. Because of the world they inhabited, it was still a hangable offense to be gay, and it was just not possible.”

That is a deeply sad revelation, but it doesn’t quite fit Reynolds and Brimsley’s arc, nor the idea of all-encompassing love presented by both Bridgerton and Queen Charlotte. For Charlotte to turn her back on an easy life, and Lady Danbury to ignore ruin for her affair with Lord Ledger (Keir Charles) doesn’t quite ring true, even if the cost of their secret life being revealed is higher and more deadly. Perhaps that is why the scene was cut – because leaving their ending open to interpretation arguably leaves space for a more reasonable explanation.

Queen Charlotte Secretly Revealed Reynolds Leaves Brimsley Before Bridgerton
When Queen Charlotte asks Brimsley if he’s married or has a family, he dutifully asks how could anyone be in a relationship with him, when he’s by her side at all times. That is a heavy sacrifice that he makes, but it’s one he opts into. Assuming Brimsley still works in the Royal Household, as the deleted scene would have confirmed, the increasing pressures on Brimsley and Reynolds as members of the staff no doubt led to them having to make a choice to end theirs. That is far more tragic than the idea of them being forced apart by death or trauma – they had to simply refuse their love.

That answers why he’s not still in a relationship with Reynolds by the time of Bridgerton, even without the deleted scene. And because that deleted scene is now not canon, there is also room to speculate on why Reynolds left the King’s service. Queen Charlotte establishes that Reynolds feels the same duty of care to his master as Brimsley does, and very clearly feels the pain King George feels as he goes through his torturous treatments. There is no way that would be endurable for so long while not being able to display any of that care. The idea of Reynolds being stoic for decades in the face of that is unthinkable – even Charlotte didn’t, and the cost of her relationship with George is writ large on her as an older woman. Reynolds was probably destroyed by what he saw his King go through.

Queen Charlotte’s True Story Reveals Another Clue About Reynolds
Unfortunately, if the true story behind Queen Charlotte and King George is anything to go by, the King actually endured multiple rounds of his torturous treatment (under duress), so that could well still happen in this timeline too, even with the Queen looking after him. him. In real life, Queen Charlotte was a knowing participant in the King’s treatment, which was not considered inhumane the same way it is in Queen Charlotte, because it was considered medical progress.