Warning: if you don’t want to know some of the secrets from the last four episodes of season 3 of The Gilded Age, stop reading now. Here we will openly discuss spoilers accidentally revealed by Carrie Coon, Taissa Farmiga, and articles that, even without revealing “everything,” deliver some important plot twists.

As the season enters its final stretch, the paths of the characters in The Gilded Age seem to converge toward conflicts and revelations that will shake both the public sphere and the most intimate relationships. At the center of it all is the engagement between Marian Brook and Larry Russell, finally confirmed accidentally by an article published to comment on episode 4 but discussing episode 5 in detail. To keep some surprise, I will focus on the main fact: Larry proposes to Marian and she accepts. However, the couple has already started under threat, as if every step toward happiness is always accompanied by a shadow from the past.

The next episode, episode 5, marks the official proposal and how happiness is short-lived: Bertha, completely opposed to the engagement, puts a plan into action to separate them — literally. Larry is sent to Arizona, supposedly to help George with the purchase of the mines, which physically distances him from Marian at the most delicate moment of their relationship. That’s when Bertha starts acting behind the scenes.

One of the pivots of the conflict will be Larry’s visit to a gentlemen’s club — or, as many already call it, a brothel — at the invitation of friends. Jack accompanies him that night. There, Larry ends up meeting Maud Beaton, which leads him to warn Oscar. Everything indicates the place has dancers, gambling, and women circulating — but so far, no direct confirmation of sexual activity or explicit scandal. The issue here is not what actually happened, but how this will reach Marian — and on what terms.

Some believe that Oscar, either out of bad faith or manipulation by Bertha, will be the one to tell Marian about Larry’s presence there, perhaps omitting the more innocent details. Others argue that he will remain loyal, and the revelation will likely come from Jack or a misunderstanding involving Mrs. Blaine, given that Oscar had already warned Marian about Larry’s past with her. Either way, Marian will react with distrust, pain, and a crisis of romantic identity: once again, she finds herself entangled with secrets, lies, and the feeling that no man is worthy of her devotion. This was shown in the trailer for the final episodes.

This reaction will not come only from jealousy or moralism, but because Marian believes that, being engaged, she cannot go back. The idea of breaking a third commitment — after the fiasco with Tom Raikes and the broken engagement with Dashiell Montgomery — places her at the center of a dilemma that goes far beyond the present. Everything points to an emotional collapse that will bring to light the deepest roots of her insecurity: the figure of her father, Henry Brook, whose death left not only debts and uncertainties but also a trail of disillusionment about men and romantic commitments. As suggested in interviews by the cast, this trauma will be made explicit in an intimate conversation between Marian and Agnes, who will finally set aside her rigidity to offer her niece understanding and advice based on her own experience of an unhappy marriage. It is at this moment that Agnes may also reveal more about Henry Brook, showing that Larry is far from comparable to him.

Another important point is that, during this crisis period, Larry will be absent — which makes it difficult for him to explain the situation or defend his integrity. But he will not be passive: there are strong indications he will confront Bertha directly, affirming his decision to marry Marian even without his mother’s approval. This attitude will be crucial for Marian to realize that, contrary to what she fears, Larry is on her side — not on the side of a manipulative mother or an undefined past.

As Carrie Coon accidentally revealed in an interview, the climax of the reconciliation, however, seems to come with an unexpected and dramatic event: George Russell is attacked and seriously injured, and it is Marian who brings Dr. Kirkland to try to save him. The image shown in the trailer, with Marian and Bertha sitting side by side, holding hands, suggests not only a truce but the beginning of a new relationship between them. And if Bertha sees that Marian — once again — was essential in saving her husband, she may finally recognize the value of her future daughter-in-law — not as a “dowerless girl,” but as someone with strength, loyalty, and character. This is the turning point for a possible definitive acceptance.

Meanwhile, some bet that Oscar is more involved with Maud Beaton than with plots against Marian. Carrie Coon has already confirmed in an interview that Oscar and Turner will meet again. Which suggests that the favors asked of Bertha may relate to an attempt to expose Maud, recover money, or restore Oscar’s social status, and not necessarily to destroy Marian’s engagement. Still, doubts remain: Oscar may be more ambiguous than he appears — and perhaps he is dividing alliances between Bertha, Turner, and his own interests.

Another non-spoiler Reddit theory bets that Oscar’s reunion with Turner (now Mrs. Winterton) will end in a possible marriage between them that could save Oscar financially, while definitively removing him from the possibility of sabotaging Marian. Considering that we have already seen him crying in the trailer and a Vanity Fair critic accidentally revealed that Oscar’s lover, John Adams, dies, which brings a very emotional and delicate plotline for the character who cannot openly mourn, it makes sense that he might consider marrying — both for money and to keep up appearances. Why Turner? Because Carrie Coon (always her!) said their reunion comes with a “twist.”

Other narrative threads also gain more defined contours. Gladys’s story with the Duke should head toward a place of maturity. As Taissa Farmiga hinted, there is a glimmer of hope at the season’s end for the character. This could mean Gladys takes control of the relationship, perhaps imposing a separate living arrangement with her husband or even planning a return to New York.

Peggy, surrounded by rumors and social judgments, is likely to have her secret — her previous marriage or romance with her boss — more exposed. The moment when she quietly descends the stairs in pain seems to foreshadow another clash between what she wants and what society allows.

In the end, all signs point to the Larian couple (Larry + Marian) going through trials, doubts, family interference, and old wounds — but surviving. And perhaps precisely because they face all this, they will emerge stronger, more mature, and ready to build something solid. It is a journey of self-affirmation for Marian, liberation for Larry, and maturation for Bertha herself — who may finally understand that there is more power in love than in control.