Here’s how the various plotlines from Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale were finally tied up. (If you’re looking for my 3-star review, it’s here.)
The ending
At the very end of the film, we see the Earl and Countess of Grantham leaving Downton Abbey on foot, waved off by family and servants alike. They’re not going far, only to the Dower House on the estate, where Violet Crawley lived until her death in the last film (Downton Abbey: A New Era). As they walk away, everyone goes back into the house and with the driveway emptying, Andy the butler ushers the now-retired Carson inside, via the front door.
Robert Crawley has finally properly handed over the reins to Lady Mary, having been persuaded by Tom (widower of Sybil, the youngest Crawley daughter) and Bertie (Edith’s husband). Mary will continue to live in the Abbey with her son and daughter. George, her son with Matthew Crawley, is the heir to the Downton estate. We see her reading a story to both her children the nursery.
Mary’s sister Edith goes home with her husband; she is missing their son Peter.
In the grand hall, Mary sees flashbacks from her past, as family, friends and lovers dance and smile.
But let’s rewind – how did we get here?
The film starts with Lord and Lady Grantham and Edith going backstage in London at a performance to see Thomas Barrow, who used to work at Downton, the actor Guy Dexter, and the playwright Noel Coward. It is obvious Barrow is not just Dexter’s assistant but his partner too.
The next day Mary receives a red satin dress she has ordered. She is going to a party at Lady Petersfield’s grand London home, which will also be attended by a minor royal. She, Edith and their parents arrive at the party and the Press are all over Mary as they go in. However she is soon told to leave by Lady Petersfield as news has leaked that Mary is now divorced. She, her sister and parents have to hide out of sight under the stairs until the royals are ensconced upstairs, then Mary leaves in a taxi.
As usual Downton is facing financial problems, though the family don’t realise this for a while. Mary has been renovating cottages on the estate, providing them with plumbing. It’s expensive, but they think they have money coming from Cora’s inheritance from her late mother. However when Cora’s brother Harold arrives from America to update her on the winding up of their mother’s estate, he confesses that the money is gone. His friend Gus Sambrook, who has come with him, had taken it out of the new York stock market before the crash of 1929, though it had then been lost in further investments. Harold wants to use more Levinson/Downton money to invest to make back the lost money and pay back Gus. Cora refuses to be bounced into such a big financial step, so Gus privately tries to blackmail Mary into supporting him – he threatens to tell everyone that they slept together (which they had done on their first meeting). Mary refuses to bow to his demands.
The family spends a day at Ascot where Gus has a horse running. Mary is not allowed into the royal enclosure as a divorcee, and has lunch elsewhere with her father. The others, including Gus, go to the royal enclosure. Meanwhile Tom sees an old friend, who explains that Gus is a conman who has already been taken to court but got off on a technicality. It’s obvious he has stolen Cora and Harold’s money. Edith goes off to accost Gus, sending him away with the warning that she can ruin him across English society. Gus’s horse loses its race. Harold, who has stayed at Downton Abbey rather than go to Ascot, is getting ready to go back to America, and is again on good terms with Cora.
After the Petersfield debacle, Mary has found she has been ostracised by society. Her mother arranges a dinner at Downton Abbey but all the local worthies decline. It is only when Edith has the bright idea of inviting Guy Dexter and Noel Coward that suddenly everyone who declined gets in touch to rescind their dinner refusals. The evening is a great success with Coward singing at the piano and taking parts of Mary’s story for a future play (Private Lives, no less), and Barrow invited upstairs for coffee after dinner.
The Yorkshire Show takes place the next day. Isobel had co-opted Daisy, and Carson, onto the organising committee, and Daisy has been forthright about changes they could make. Carson has, in turn, been emboldened by her refusal to be cowed by local bigwig Sir Hector Moreland and has backed Daisy up. The show is a huge success and ends with Lady Mary presenting the final cup to Daisy’s father-in-law Mr Mason, a farmer with decades of experience. Mary is emotional as she realises how much support she has from local people as well as from her family.
Lord Grantham agrees to Lady Mary’s earlier suggestion that they sell Grantham House in London. It is hugely expensive to run. They can use the money freed up by the sale to secure Downton’s future including renovating the cottages. They plan to buy a large flat in the capital for when they are in town.
Below stairs, Daisy, now the cook, has been coping very well with her promotion. Mrs Patmore has retired, and gone to live with Mr Mason. Mudesley has agreed to calm down about his screenwriting. Carson has accepted that he needs to leave Andy, the new butler, to get on with his job. Bates has gone to the Dower House as Lord Grantham’s valet; Robert still remembers how Bates took a bullet for him in the Boer War. Anna will be Cora’s lady’s maid. She has asked Mary to be godmother to her unborn baby and Mary has delightedly accepted.