#andith

This registered to me as absolutely bizarre when I first watched it, and in the years following. I was pretty into their 'ship, thought it was cute, especially the way they bonded in season one. I also felt it would be cool to show someone who was clearly traumatized by the war actually getting an ending that didn't fall into the three established categories of: cure, death, so sad the show can't possibly be expected to deal with it. Alas. Crucially, I also thought it went very nicely with Edith's other development in season two - less self absorbed, more observant and considerate of others, interest in machinery and farming, both of which are things we know Anthony is also into, even some interesting things comparing her to Cora and Isobel in terms of her lady of the manor style.

I thought it was a huge missed opportunity (still do, by the way), but I also thought it was kind of baffling for him to do. The reasons he (and others, especially Violet) put forward against the match throughout the season read to me as ones we were supposed to see as surmountable problems to be solved - because they are. Strallan is wealthy, and compared to Robert, clearly actually on top of recent industrial developments. He can hire a nurse and also be married. We see this logic (can't do x, hire someone to do x) in his very first appearance after his injury - he has hired a chauffeur. Disability does not prevent a loving relationship. Edith would probably be widowed earlier than usual, but being a wealthy 45 year old widow, potentially with children, is hardly a terrible fate for women of her class.

So why does he jilt her, and why does he do it at the end of the aisle?

If he was so unsure about marrying her that a few snide comments make him willing to take such drastic action in front of everyone, those same comments in the weeks prior should have prompted him to do this in literally any way that was less awful to her.

If he's just not that into her, why come when Robert invites him back. If anything, not coming probably improves Robert's opinion of him there. He also wouldn't tell Edith he enjoys seeing more of her more than he should - that is a flirtatious line even I managed to clock.

Does he just not get the importance/finality of it until he's standing in the church? The man's been married before, so while it's a possibility, I don't really think so.

Does he think doing this publicly is the only way to get Edith to back off given her previous insistence?... Not if I'm meant to find either of them at all sympathetic, to be honest, and I think JF wants me to, at least a little.

So the conclusion I arrived at is effectively that he is not entirely stable and incredibly susceptible to outside influence, partly as a result of trauma and injury doing a number on his sense of self. Which is tragic, but also means it probably would indeed be very difficult to build a whole new marriage from the ground up. Not a satisfying ending, but oh well. There's always fanfiction.

The Andith fandom is mostly to be found on fanfiction.net, and I think is filled with some ridiculously talented writers. They've built gorgeous fanon for Anthony's family, staff, and background, and some of them share the same fanon. So my first instinct when I read multiple references to a conversation between Anthony and Edith where she tells him she loves him not in spite of his injury, but because of it, and that she wants him to be her life's work, I thought this was another part of that shared fanon. After all, I'd never seen it, and I've watched Downton Abbey once every couple years whenever I got a particularly bad cold. Edith is my favourite character alongside Gwen and Mrs Hughes. Surely, I would have remembered.

But, it seemed clunky. Out of place in a fanon that, by and large, is understated and subtle, preferring gradual revelation rather than such a blunt, spelled out, character motive rant. So I began to investigate. I'm not that good at investigating. Eventually, it took reference to another piece of dialogue I had no memory of but is mentioned on the Wikia page (the bit about Consuelo Vanderbilt), to get me to a reddit thread that explained. There are multiple cuts of Downton Abbey, and the one I've been watching on Netflix is different to what was aired in the UK. It also referenced the episode the scene is meant to be in, so I was able to find it on YouTube (looking for 3.03 deleted scenes should do it, if you're curious).

The scene is pretty bad. It segues extremely awkwardly from Anthony mentioning meeting Consuelo to the life's work bit. Edith's line here is actually worse than I'd seen mentioned. She loves him "[because] of [his] needing to be looked after." Yikes. I can sort of see the sentiment, but it's phrased so terribly poorly. Now, having a character fail to find the chill, witty answer to their partner being pessimistic isn't terrible. It took me a good while to consider how Edith could have responded to "soon you will be wheeling me around" (in my opinion, the one line on the show Anthony's actor does terribly), but there are ways to respond that aren't so bizarre. Saying she wouldn't mind, or that that's really a long way off, or that at least they'll be buying the Rolls Royce of wheelchairs are all in my read authentic to Edith's character outside that scene and less awful than what she actually says. They're not perfect responses. But they don't confirm so explicitly the thing Anthony himself fears ("I don't need a wife, I need a nurse" - Edith here is all but promising she sees her roles as his wife as being his nurse, which means it's much less likely he'll be able to see her blossom and set her free, and much more likely she will effectively force him to become a burden to her), and the things he's been told he is imposing on her.

It also undercuts Edith's character development from season two. Making his injury about her, and failing so categorically to see that he values independence and being useful and would hate to feel like a burden to his wife, are things I might have expected of season one Edith, not season three.

So while what I missed explains his decision making somewhat better than its absence, I don't think it's worth it. Ultimately, Edith's character development is more important to me than a spelled out explanation for why we get yet another character with a disability summarily written out. So now I've found the answer to my confusion, I will proceed to ignore it.

Still. I think their marriage could have been neat. Edith could still have made waves writing her letter to the editor. Robert could still have felt entitled to interfere given he clearly doesn't trust Anthony to take care of her. We could have seen a happy marriage that still empowered Edith's journey to modern woman (on-screen, unlike so much of Sybil's) and also addressed the trauma of the war and the economics of country estates in a way that went beyond Robert being an absolute idiot when it comes to money. Then again, I don't trust JF to have done that super well, so maybe it's all for the best we're getting to enjoy the fandom instead.

Anthony’s injury is caused by damage to his brachial plexus which he suffered via bullet wound in the back (below the shoulder). The brachial plexus (google it, it’ll make sense when you see it) is a network of nerves that send signals from the (cervical) spinal cord, to the shoulders, arms, and hands.

The main area of damage is right next to the armpit, below the shoulder’s ball-and-socket joint. The bullet entered and exited cleanly, without hitting bone or leaving a trace behind (which is why his arm was not amputated).

While his arm is often referred to as “useless”, it is not completely paralyzed. He still has his sense of touch, but suffers from bouts of numbing, extreme weakness, and a nearly nonexistent grip. He is able to move, (especially at his elbow with the support of his left arm) but it’s so stiff and heavy that he’s better off not forcing it.

The sling is only bound around his hand, and not his whole forearm or wrist. If you think about it, a sling that supports at the hand still needs muscle support from the bicep (to keep the forearm “afloat”, if you will) - which he is clearly able to do. Otherwise, his “deadweight” would cause his wrist to bend, causing more discomfort in his hand - this is where he would benefit from a sling wrapped around his whole forearm.

The reason he prefers the sling (rather than have his arm hang at his side) is because the position prevents less numbing in his forearm and hand. If he just “deadweighted” his right arm everyday, the weight would only add pressure to the brachial plexus, causing even more numbness - his shoulder would get tired faster and would probably slouch to the right as well.

In the sling, he is better able to support the weight of his arm (again, keeping the arm “afloat”) - no compression, less numbing, and less stiffness. This also keeps his bicep “engaged” daily. The only time he removes his sling is when he sleeps and he follows a detailed stretching regimen from his doctor.

Now, in relevance to my one-shot…

Let’s just say Anthony is going down a similar path to Matthew’s recovery. Nerve damage has always been fascinating to me, so I’m excited to play around with physical therapy ideas to help Anthony heal. Full disclaimer: he will not be cured 100%. It’s just not my thing. No jabs to anyone who’s gone down this path, it’s just not my cup of tea ✌🏼(this is coming from someone who insists the bullet entered and exited cleanly without hitting bone or organs lol)

I have a feeling this one-shot could turn into something more - I was avoiding having to think of some amazing plot line but now that I think about it, I could easily just have his healing journey be the plot! I’ve already thought up a really cool doctor character too (it’s me, hi, I’m the sham it’s me). It could have really extensive medical chapters with smut in between! I kid, I kid, there’s no way I could write PT scenes without angst anyway lol. I wasn’t actually kidding about the smut though… Anyways, for now it’s just a really long one-shot - we’ll see!