We’ll be providing recaps of all seasons of Downton Abbey, as well as a recap of the 2019 Downton Abbey film. ..
Downton Abbey Season 2 Recap
Downton Abbey’s Role in the War
The conflict at Downton Abbey is a complex one. Robert, an old man, yearns to be involved in the war, but is considered too old. Sybil, a young woman, wants to do her part, so she defies convention to become a nurse. The conflict at Downton Abbey is a complex one that requires both people to act in their own best interests.
Matthew has been fighting in the war, but he returns to Downton to announce his engagement to Miss Lavinia Swire. Thomas serves as well, but he intentionally suffers a gunshot wound to his hand in order to be sent home.
Isobel convinces Cora to turn Downton Abbey into a hospital for soldiers recovering from war injuries. ..
Sir Richard Carlisle and Lavinia Swire
Lavinia is seeing Sir Richard Carlisle, a self-made man and owner of a prominent newspaper. Rosamund suspects something nefarious between them.
Lavinia tells Mary that she once stole important papers of state from her father, so that Richard would forgive him. Despite being in love with Matthew, Lavinia likes Lavinia and empathizes with her. She promises not to tell anyone her secret.
Proposals and Declarations of Love
Bates comes into a sum of money after his mother’s death. He believes he can convince his wife to divorce him with a bribe, so he proposes to Anna. She accepts.
Branson tells his girlfriend, Sybil, that he loves her and wants to be with her forever. However, Sybil is not able to reciprocate his sentiment yet and promises she will not tell anyone of his feelings.
Richard proposes to Mary, but she initially delays on giving her answer. Still in love with Matthew, she’s unsure if it would be right to accept Richard’s proposal.
Edith learns to drive a tractor in order to help some neighbors of Downton around their farm. She develops feelings for Mr. Drake, but his wife catches them kissing and Edith is not invited back.
Blackmail
Downton Abbey’s happy ending unfortunately doesn’t last long. Bates’ wife Vera unexpectedly arrives at Downton to blackmail Bates into staying with her and threatens to go to the press with the story of Mary’s affair with Kemal Pamuk–and how Anna helped cover it up.
Downton Abbey’s Bates resigns his position to go live with Vera. However, Anna later finds him working at a pub. He’s found information about Vera that could let him divorce her, so he eventually returns to Downton.
A Conditional Engagement
When Mary hears of Vera’s threat, she goes to Richard for help. She confesses everything that happened between her and Pamuk. He agrees to assist her, but on one condition: she marry him. She agrees. ..
Richard buys Vera’s story and forces her to sign a contract that would keep her from selling the story to another paper.
War Wounds
Downton soon receives terrible news: Matthew and William have been wounded in battle. William won’t recover from his injuries. Believing Daisy loves him, he asks the young woman to marry him before he dies. Though she doesn’t love him, Mrs. Patmore persuades her to accept the proposal, saying that she can’t hurt the man’s feelings while he’s on his deathbed. They marry, and William dies not much later.
Matthew’s injuries, on the other hand, are not life-threatening. But according to the doctor, he will never walk again, nor can he have children. Lavinia promises she will stay with him, but he sends her away. It is Mary, then, who ends up taking care of Matthew. ..
The Return of Patrick Crawley
Edith is skeptical of the officer, but she is drawn to him. She starts to think that maybe she did love him once upon a time. Patrick also starts to show interest in her. However, Edith is still worried about what the officer might do if he finds out she knows about his past.
When Robert finds information that could discredit “Patrick’s” claims, the man suddenly leaves Downton. He leaves behind only a note for Edith.
Bringing Lavinia Back
Cora and Richard are unhappy with how close Mary and Matthew are getting, so they plan to bring back Lavinia, hoping she will come between them. When the woman returns, she pledges to stay with Matthew. ..
The End of the War
On November 11, World War I came to an end. Downton Abbey tries to transition back to the way things were, but everyone soon realizes that they can never go back completely. ..
Matthew’s Recovery
Matthew starts to feel like he’s finally getting back on his feet. One day, he shocks everyone by getting out of his chair. Dr. Clarkson admits this recovery was always a slight possibility, but he never wanted to get anyone’s hopes up.
Matthew and Lavinia announce they will be married. Now that Matthew is recovered, Violet again wants to see him attached to Mary. She tells Matthew that Mary still loves him. Matthew loves Mary as well, but he feels he has an obligation to Lavinia.
Elopement
Sybil can’t stand the idea of going back to the way things were before the war. Branson, then, is finally able to persuade her to elope with him. When Mary and Edith find out about their plan, they persuade Sybil to wait to marry and instead try to speak with Robert and Cora about her wishes. ..
Robert, of course, is not happy with the idea of breaking up with Sybil. He tries to dissuade her and even bribe Branson, but they won’t listen.
Mary and Matthew
Lavinia becomes ill while at Downton and is put up in a room there. This leads to Matthew and Mary spending more time together. They kiss, which Lavinia witnesses. She tells Matthew they should call off the engagement, but he refuses, still feeling it would be cruel to her.
Cora falls ill and recovers, while Lavinia dies from her illness. Wracked with guilt, Matthew tells Mary they cannot be together. Only after this tragedy does Robert give Sybil and Branson his blessing. ..
More Downton Drama
Isobel and Cora argue about who should run the convalescent home at Downton. Eventually, Isobel leaves, only to return when Matthew is wounded.
Mrs. Hughes catches the maid Ethel in bed with Major Bryant and throws her out of Downton. Mrs. Hughes later helps Ethel and her baby son with food, as the girl is all alone. Ethel later discovers that Major Bryant died. She initially tries to seek help from her son Charlie’s grandparents. But when their offer to take in Charlie necessitates that she lose contact with her son, Ethel decides to keep the child without assistance. ..
After Ethel is fired, a new maid named Jane is hired at Downton. Dealing with marital issues, Robert finds himself attracted to Jane. They kiss, but Jane feels it isn’t right for them to be together and leaves. Robert is brought closer to Cora when she falls ill.
Thomas loses all his money in a scam. He tries to inch his way back into Downton by helping around the house.
Daisy is surprised to find out that her father wants to get to know her. She doesn’t know what to do, as she didn’t really love William. She doesn’t want to lie to his father, but doesn’t want to hurt him either.
The Death of Vera Bates
Drama intensifies when Bates learns of Vera’s death. While signs point to murder, he suspects that she killed herself and tried to frame him for her death. ..
Bates still doesn’t want to bring Anna into this situation. Yet, he marries her in secret, at Anna’s insistence.
How Does Downton Abbey Season 2 End?
The final episode of season two of Downton Abbey sees officers arrest John Bates for the murder of his late wife, Vera. ..
Downton Abbey 2011 Christmas Special Recap
Downton Abbey Season 2 picks up in the 2011 Christmas Special. Sybil sends news to Downton of her pregnancy, and the family is eager to find out the baby’s gender.
Bates is on trial for the murder of his wife. After being found guilty, he’s sentenced to be hanged–but his sentence later turns into life in prison. ..
Cora tells Robert the truth about Mary’s scandal and the circumstances of Mary’s engagement to Richard. Robert tells his daughter not to marry Richard and persuades her to live with her grandmother in America until the Pamuk scandal dies out. ..
In the Christmas special of Downton Abbey, Mary breaks up with Richard, who causes a scene and threatens to expose all the secrets of Downton. She also tells Matthew the truth about her and Pamuk, but he doesn’t care. The Christmas special ends with Matthew proposing to Mary. She accepts.
Downton Abbey season 2 is a story about the family of Downton Abbey. The show follows the lives of the Crawley family from 1912 to 1925. This season, we follow Lady Mary Crawley and her husband, Mr. Crawley, as they deal with the aftermath of World War I and their daughter, Lady Sybil. We also meet new characters this season, such as Mr. Carson and his son John.
