'Sister Wives' star Kody Brown asked his 3 remaining wives to 'conform to patriarchy' after Christine announced she was leaving him

• Kody asked his three remaining wives to "conform to patriarchy" on Sunday's "Sister Wives."
• He said he was bitter because his family was no longer the one he originally "designed."

Kody Brown asked his three remaining wives to "conform to patriarchy" on Sunday's episode of TLC's "Sister Wives," toward the end of the family meeting where Christine announced the end of her marriage to Kody.

After a lengthy discussion during which all of the Brown parents discussed the logistics of the split and the future of their polygamist family, Kody said, "I'm going to be the head of my household again, and so I'm not going to be circumvented in that. And so, if everyone's willing to conform to patriarchy again, I guess."

"'Cause, I've been fighting to make everybody happy. My bitterness is out of trying to do that and not having the family that I had thought about and designed," he added.

Kody continued, "And if it is too awkward or if I don't feel like I'm the head of my household when people are around, then I'm not going to have the whole family together. I'm at a point now in my life where I don't have time to waste on people who won't respect me or treat me with respect."

The reality star said he was "disappointed" in how he'd managed his family lately "because somewhere along the line, I should've taken the reins, but I felt like all of your independence was more important." He said that as a result, the family had lost "unity" and that he was "sorry we failed."

In response to part of Kody's speech, in her own solo confessional interview, his second wife, Janelle, told the cameras, "Yeah, I didn't know I'd signed up for patriarchy, but that's not what we all agreed on in the very beginning." Kody disputed her opinion in his own confessional interview, saying Janelle did agree to patriarchy when she married him.

In her own solo interview, Kody's fourth wife, Robyn, worried that Christine's decision would "rock us" and said she hoped everyone was taking their "responsibility" to the family seriously.

Christine became Kody's third wife in a 1994 spiritual marriage after he legally married Meri in 1990 and spiritually married Janelle in 1993. Robyn joined the family in 2010 as a spiritual wife and later became Kody's only legal wife after he divorced Meri so that he could legally adopt Robyn's three children from a previous marriage. Neither Janelle nor Christine has ever been legally married to Kody.

"Sister Wives" season 17 airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on TLC.