Where every major character ends up in season 3 of 'Bridgerton'

After traveling for a couple of months, Colin (Luke Newton) returns to the ton with more swagger and confidence, quickly becoming one of the most eligible bachelors of the season. Meanwhile, Penelope (Nicola Coughlan), after overhearing Colin's unkind comments last season, has put her longtime, unrequited crush on him aside to focus on finding a husband and getting out of the Featherington house.

Colin offers to give Penelope lessons in charm to attract suitors, but in doing so, he finally develops romantic feelings for her. After a steamy makeout in a carriage during episode five, they immediately get engaged.

But Penelope's Lady Whistledown secret threatens their relationship. During episode six, Colin catches Penelope delivering a new issue to the printer. Despite being angry with Penelope about her Lady Whistledown persona, he goes through with the wedding anyway, claiming it's out of honor since the two had already had sex.

Cressida Cowper (Jessica Madsen), who pretends to be Lady Whistledown for the reward, also finds out Penelope's secret and attempts to blackmail her. Penelope comes up with a smarter plan. Instead, she sends Queen Charlotte (Golda Rosheuvel) a letter as Lady Whistledown and asks if she could address the public herself and plead her case.

Penelope is unmasked as Lady Whistledown at the ball and says that she was careless with the power she gained from writing as Whistledown but would be more responsible if the queen allowed her to continue. The queen doesn't punish Penelope and Colin ends up forgiving her — and admitting that he was envious of her success and bravery.

The epilogue, which takes place months later, reveals that Penelope gave birth to a baby boy and Colin published a book about his travels, called "Traveling With Myself."

The finale ends with Penelope retiring her literary persona, and formally introducing herself as Penelope Bridgerton in her column.

Kanthony's season three storyline focuses on the couple enjoying marital bliss and trying to produce an heir. After extending their honeymoon to prioritize their own happiness, Kate (Simone Ashley) returns to the ton pregnant with the couple's first child.

In part two, after the Polin wedding, Kate talks about missing India and Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) tells her that he'd like to see her home country soon, before their baby is born. Then, he comes up with the idea for them to move to India.

Kate is a bit unsure at first, but Anthony explains that he wants their child to grow up as a Sharma and know their history.

Because the journey takes months, Kate and Anthony leave town shortly after so they can prepare for their baby's birth in India.

Season three of "Bridgerton" introduces Benedict's (Luke Thompson) new love interest, a forward-thinking widow named Lady Tilley Arnold (Hannah New). They end up having a casual relationship and she introduces Benedict to another of her friends, Paul, who has been intimate with both men and women.

In part two, Benedict has a threesome with Tilley and Paul. But Benedict and Tilley's romance comes to an end because she develops deeper feelings and wants to be more than friends with him. Although Benedict thinks Tilley is "extraordinary," he's not ready for a serious relationship because she opened him up to new, freeing experiences and he doesn't want to give that up yet.

"The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know," Benedict tells Eloise. "It feels right now that the next thing I might learn may change me entirely."

Little does Benedict know that his life is going to change soon, in the next season of "Bridgerton."

The season three finale includes a scene heavily implying that Benedict's love story will be the focus of season four. During a conversation with Eloise, she says that she'll return to town in time for their mom's masquerade ball.

"I will be there, hiding out behind a mask, avoiding eligible ladies like the plague," Benedict retorts.

Francesca (Hannah Dodd), the third-eldest Bridgerton daughter, became more prominent in season three after making her debut in society.

She's more shy and introverted than her siblings but forms an instant connection with a similarly reserved man named John Stirling (Victor Alli). After getting married at the Bridgerton house during a small ceremony, Francesca and John prepare to relocate to his primary estate in Scotland.

Francesca explains to her mom that moving to a quieter, more peaceful place will allow her to get to know herself better and learn who she is.

The finale also plants the seeds for the major component of Francesca's story — her eventual romance with John's cousin. At the final ball of the season, Francesca is introduced to John's cousin Michaela (Masali Baduza) and immediately gets flustered in front of her. Francesca is last seen heading to Scotland in a carriage with John, Michaela, and Eloise.

In Quinn's book series, Francesca is married to John for a short amount of time before he dies unexpectedly. His cousin, Michael Stirling, becomes the new earl. Years later, Francesca and Michael reconnect and get married.

Season three kicks off with Eloise forming an unexpected friendship with Cressida and trying to fit in with the other ladies of the ton after the Lady Whistledown debacle last season.

Despite Eloise and Penelope's friendship being on the rocks, she keeps her Lady Whistledown identity a secret — until she learns of Penelope and Colin's engagement at the start of part two.

During episode five, Eloise tells Penelope that she must reveal her Lady Whistledown secret to Colin by midnight. Just as the clock strikes 12 a.m. at Colin and Penelope's engagement party, Cressida interrupts and announces that she's the mystery writer.

Eloise later implores Penelope to stop writing Whistledown issues, because she can't continue the ruse while married to Colin. But Colin ends up finding out Penelope's secret on his own. After foiling Cressida's plan to blackmail Penelope, Eloise and Penelope slowly repair their friendship.

However, in the finale, during a conversation with Benedict, Eloise says that she feels "directionless" and has spent most of her life in Mayfair or at Aubrey Hall. She concludes that if she wants to make a change in the world, she has to see more of it and meet new people.

Eloise decides to travel to Scotland with Francesca and John so she can have some adventures before returning to town next season.

When Lady Danbury's (Adjoa Andoh) younger brother Marcus Anderson (Daniel Francis) arrives in town during part one, she's not friendly or welcoming to him. It's later revealed that she holds a grudge against him because he snitched on her to their father and prevented her from escaping the night before her wedding to Lord Danbury. Because Marcus betrayed Agatha, she became distrustful of him and distanced herself.

During the penultimate episode of the season, Lady Danbury and Marcus discuss their childhood grievances. Marcus explains that the night before her wedding, he was trying to protect his sister from the dangers of the outside world.

Lady Danbury, in turn, says that her life has been so full of joy lately and she was concerned that he'd take it away from her.

Lady Danbury and Violet Bridgerton (Ruth Gemmell) also have a heartwarming conversation during which they acknowledge a major plot point from the spin-off show "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story": Lady Danbury having had a secret relationship with Lord Ledger, Violet's dad.

The two women agree that they're adults who are free to do whatever they want. But Lady Danbury also adds that if Violet's blossoming romance with Marcus doesn't end well, she's choosing her friend over her brother.

During a present-day scene in "Queen Charlotte," Violet told Lady Danbury that her garden was in bloom and she was considering romance again.

Little did Lady Danbury know that Violet would end up developing an attraction to her brother during season three of "Bridgerton."

Violet and Marcus lightly flirt throughout the season, and the finale ends on a promising note for them.

Like previous seasons of "Bridgerton," Queen Charlotte spends a great deal of time in season three trying to track down Lady Whistledown. This time, however, she turns it into a true ton-wide witch hunt by offering a 5,000-pound prize to the one who unmasks Whistledown.

Cressida claims to be Lady Whistledown in a bid for the prize money, but Queen Charlotte doesn't buy it. After taking tips from members of the ton, she narrows her search to the Bridgerton family specifically.

Eventually, however, Penelope unmasks herself to the Queen, who allows her to plead her case to the ton at the Dankworth-Finch ball in the finale. Miraculously, Queen Charlotte pardons her of all gossip-related crimes.

"She seems humbled. But we will be watching that she remains so," the queen says. "What is life without a little gossip?"

Prudence (Bessie Carter) and Philippa Featherington (Harriet Cains) host the Dankworth-Finch ball with their husbands — with a financial assist from Penelope — at the end of season three. It's a spectacular affair and the perfect venue for Penelope to reveal her true identity as Lady Whistledown to the ton.

The revelation has an added bonus: Lady Featherington can tell the solicitor from the Crown that the conspicuous amount of money her family came into was from Penelope's writings, removing them from scrutiny.

Months after Penelope's revelation, she, Prudence, and Philippa give birth to children. But in a twist, neither of the elder siblings, who were under significant pressure to produce an heir, has a son. It's Penelope who gives birth to the new Lord Featherington, but Prudence and Philippa seem perfectly content to have given birth to daughters.

Cressida goes from a mean girl to a full-on antagonist in season three of "Bridgerton."

Desperate to avoid a forced marriage to an older, off-putting man named Lord Greer, Cressida gets the idea to pose as Lady Whistledown and collect the queen's reward. However, Penelope writes a Lady Whistledown issue that discredits Cressida and shows she was lying. After tarnishing her family's reputation, Lord Greer rescinds his marriage offer and Cressida's dad decides to send Cressida to live with her Aunt Joanna.

In one last-ditch effort, Cressida tries to blackmail Penelope so she can use the money to start a better life for herself elsewhere. But Penelope outsmarts her and Cressida is last seen getting into a carriage to Wales.