A year has passed since the previous episode and the house is preparing to go to Duneagle Castle for ten days, which you'll remember is the Scottish home of Rose's parents, Lord "Shrimpy" and Lady Susan Flintshire. Mary is eight months pregnant, but despite the men's reticence, she makes the journey to Duneagle. The ladies' maids and valets also accompany their masters, but the rest of the servants -- plus Branson and Isobel (who are far enough removed from the family not to be invited) -- stay home, which leads to two geographically-separated sets of storylines.

Up north, the hosts are thrilled to welcome their guests, none more so than Rose, not least because her parents are openly hostile to each other and her mother is terribly critical of her personally. The house is a fair bit more old-school than Downton, with the servants addressing each other by their masters' names rather than their own, but we don't really get to know any of the Duneagle downstairs staff other than Lady Susan's maid "Wilkins," who's dumb enough not to consider the idea that someone named "O'Brien" might be familiar with the taste of whiskey.

Gregson just so happens to be near enough Duneagle to pay a visit and Mary's suspicious of his motives, as well she might be since he declares his love to Edith. She doesn't know how their relationship can work given his My Wife Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest problem, and, frustrated, he confesses his situation to Matthew. While Matthew's sympathetic, he doesn't know how Lord Grantham could ever give his blessing. That doesn't stop Edith from deciding to continue to see him, though.

The men go hunting and Shrimpy confesses to Lord Grantham what was obvious to everyone -- that he and his wife don't like each other. Susan echoes this sentiment to Cora. Shrimpy also tells Lord Grantham that he's going to have to sell Duneagle, as he's run it into the ground. He praises Lord Grantham for modernizing Downton before it was too late, and Lord Grantham realizes that Matthew's vision for Downton was correct. With their lives a mess, Shrimpy and Susan separately (surprise) ask Lord Grantham and Cora if Rose can come to live at Downton, so it's a good thing that Rose is far more likable here than she was when she was first introduced to us. Before we say goodbye to Duneagle, though, we've got the Gillie's Ball, which is very Scottish, as you might expect. Mary can't restrain herself from dancing and pays the price when she feels ill and, as such, resolves to go back to Downton with Anna ahead of the others.

Back at Downton, some of the servants -- most notably Jimmy James and Alfred -- feel like blowing off some steam while their masters are away. Also, there's still some tension between Thomas and Jimmy James, although even Alfred at this point is like "Dude, would you please get over it?" Meanwhile, a new food seller shows up to Downton and takes a shine to Mrs. Patmore, and when it comes out that there's a fair in town that week at which he's got a booth, everyone gets it in their heads to go -- save Carson, just in case you were wondering if the earth suddenly came off its axis. He does adorably tend to young Sybil, though, so there's that.

In other news, as I mentioned, Branson -- not knowing the Flintshires -- stays home and the Dowager Countess worries about him, so Isobel promises to look after him. Also looking after him is a new maid "Edna," who is pretty clearly smitten with him from the first moment we meet her, for which it's hard to blame her. She fairly brazenly invites him to eat with the staff, but Isobel has already suggested Branson spend some time with the servants rather than moping around on his own, reminding him that his position as agent allows him to fraternize with whomever he pleases. He shyly shows up downstairs, not that he's not welcomed by anyone but Carson when he does. Also in Isobel news, she entertains Dr. Clarkson and the old girl's still got it, as he invites her to the fair. However, when Dr. Clarkson broaches the subject of them getting involved romantically, Isobel tells him, essentially, that she wouldn't want to ruin their friendship. It's characteristic that she'd value the single life, but I do wonder if she'll be more inclined for company after the end of this episode.

At the fair, a wager is made on a tug of war with Branson, Thomas, Jimmy James, Alfred and Mrs. Patmore's new man repping Downton. Jimmy James wins a bunch of money, as well as the satisfaction of beating a bunch of jerks. Unfortunately, the losers are not only sore, but also rough and when Jimmy James -- having flashed his cash around -- wanders drunkenly off, a couple of the losers surround him with a view to take it out of his pretty face. Thomas, having kept tabs on the object of his affection, intervenes and ends up taking the beating, after which Jimmy James decides he's willing to be friends if Thomas won't try any funny business. Also, it turns out Mrs. Patmore's new man is a right grabby sort and Mrs. Hughes has to break the news -- but Mrs. Patmore is actually relieved, which THANK GOD, because that guy was wretched. Last bit of business before the end: When Edna takes one too many liberties with Branson, she gets her walking papers. Although I'm not sure Branson liked her particularly, the storyline let us see him A) cry, B) take his shirt off and C) be consoled by Mrs. Hughes, which is all great stuff, if not necessarily in proper ranking order.

Okay, here it is. Right when Mary arrives back in Downton, she starts going into labor, so she heads straight to the hospital where Dr. Clarkson and Isobel take care of her. Mary gives birth to a son, the new heir, and Matthew -- having rushed back from Scotland -- arrives to the hospital to tearfully greet him… only to get into a car accident on the way back to Downton and die. I mean, we don't see a death certificate or anything, but he'd look pretty doornail-ish to me even if, thanks to the earlier UK airing, it weren't public knowledge that Dan Stevens was leaving the show before I even wrote my first recap. I'm guessing Mary and Branson, with their common tragedies, are going to have a lot to talk about in Season 4.

Think you've got game? Prove it! Check out Games Without Pity, our new area featuring trivia, puzzle, card, strategy, action and word games -- all free to play and guaranteed to help pass the time until your next show starts.