Despite his impact, the most important character in Bridgerton season 2 only had four total minutes of screen time. Based on the novel The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn, Bridgerton season 2 tells the story of Anthony’s contentious romance with Kate Sharma (Simone Ashley), the older sister of the young debutante who he intends to marry. With each season of Bridgerton aiming to tell the story of a different Bridgerton sibling, showrunner Chris Van Dusen hopes to create eight seasons, which will allow audiences to get to know each Bridgerton family member more intimately. In season 2, Edmund (Rupert Evans), the deceased patriarch of the family, makes his first appearance in a flashback.

When the Bridgerton family is first introduced in season 1, their father, Edmund Bridgerton, is already long dead. As the oldest of Edmund’s children, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey) has inherited the title of viscount, which Edmund held before he died. He has taken on the role of head of the family ever since, behaving as a father figure for his siblings. Though he isn’t mentioned much in the first season, by Bridgerton season 2, it is revealed how Edmund died. Just as he did in Quinn’s novel series, Edmund dies from anaphylaxis after having an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Unfortunately, a teenage Anthony is with Edmund when he is stung by the bee and Anthony helplessly watches as his father dies, unable to help him.

One of the biggest plot points in Anthony’s Bridgerton season 2 courtship story is that he doesn’t want to fall in love with anyone. His goal is to find a spouse that will be a suitable wife and mother, and someone who he can tolerate living with. The main reason that Anthony doesn’t want to fall in love is that he doesn’t want to cause anyone as much pain as he saw his mother experience after his father’s death. Not only does Edmund’s untimely passing affect how Anthony views love and vulnerability, but it also colors the way the entire Bridgerton family functions from that moment on. His death is a painful moment on-screen and in just four minutes, it changes everything for the main characters.

Edmund’s untimely Bridgerton season 2 death is the catalyst for Anthony’s aversion to love. Anthony witnessed how much agony his mother Violet (Ruth Gimmel) was in after Edmund’s death, which made him vow never to make someone hurt as much as his mother did. He was also left to pick up the pieces of his family’s life after Edmund’s death, because in her grief, Violet was unable to. Edmund’s death forced Anthony to become the duty-focused, serious man that he is in the Bridgerton series. Ironically, though, the bee sting that caused Edmund’s death also is the catalyst for Anthony’s romance with Kate. In The Viscount Who Loved Me, Anthony fears that a bee sting will kill Kate and tries to suck out the bee venom to save her life, putting them in a compromising position and forcing them to marry each other. The Netflix series changes the marriage of obligation, but the bee sting does create one of the first intense romantic moments between him and Kate.

Bridgerton season 2 also shows how Edmund’s death affected the rest of the family, with Anthony’s heart-to-heart with his youngest brother Gregory (Will Tilston). Gregory and Hyacinth (Florence Hunt) are the only Bridgerton siblings to grow up without ever knowing Edmund. As such, they’ve grown up viewing Anthony as a father figure as much as an older brother. Having Anthony tell Gregory about their father and how much Gregory is like him was an important bonding moment for the brothers but also shows how much their family dynamic has shifted since Edmund’s death.

Edmund doesn’t have a large role in Bridgerton season 2, but his presence is felt heavily in everything that his family does. His death impacted Anthony most of all. Since Anthony was a witness to his father’s death, he not only had to deal with becoming Viscount Bridgerton at a young age but also internalized the trauma by becoming fearful of love.