Many years ago, the final Harry Potter book came out, after much anticipation. I had pre-ordered it from Amazon, but then realized that my postman probably wouldn’t deliver it until 2pm, which absolutely would not do. (I didn’t need it at midnight, but I did need it at 10am.) So I got in the car and drove to Barnes & Noble and waited in a very long line and made friends with a totally charming nine-year-old boy, and drove home, and sat on my sofa and opened the book and burst into tears at the dedication. And that is how I knew I would be crying throughout that book. You may be wondering where I am going with this: The instant the Downton theme song kicked in, I started to cry.

So just be aware of how this is going to go. Although I mostly held it together until…okay, not really that long. Who am I kidding?

Before we get into the plot, I’d very very much like to thank everyone who’s been part of this community for so long who hasn’t spoiled ANY of us on anything. You guys are the best. And now I don’t have to add my usual disclaimer. Everything that needs knowing is known, and we have so much to discuss. I apologize for how long this recap is. I just….didn’t want to have to stop talking about Downton forever.

To the boot room — where, FOR ONCE, nothing horrible was revealed. (I really did think it was going to turn out that the Gutenberg Bible was stashed there, inside some discarded old shoe.)