The duke was glad to see him coming to claim his title, though Simon simply told him he would never marry or sire an heir. Years later, Simon came to his father's bedside when he learned his father was dying. The duke re-iterated Simon's uselessness and sent him away again. He had also written his father letters, which had gone unacknowledged. By age 11, Simon was speaking well and came to visit his father to show him. When she learned of his stutter, she took him as a dependent, promising to help him overcome his stutter on the condition that when he stepped into the light, he would be worthy of the attention he commanded. When he was six, Lady Danbury came to visit and was surprised to find him alive, as his father had told her Simon was dead.

Simon continued to be schooled by nursemaids, though his father refused to see him. When Simon was four and still not speaking clearly due to a speech defect, the Duke ordered Simon out of his sight, saying Simon was dead to him. After learning it was a son, he took Simon out to show him off while Sarah died of a hemorrhage. When his mother cried out, his father ran inside the room, where Simon was then born. The tragedy of losing Simon could have clarified Anthony's thoughts on whether or not to follow his heart and made his arc much more emotional and meaningful.As Simon was born, his father waited outside, only concerned with whether or not he would have an heir. One of the reasons mentioned for Simon not returning to the show is precisely the change in the story's focus, so killing off the former main character in a way that would personally affect the new one would have made a lot of sense. Simon's death would not only resolve all these issues, as it could also have contributed to Anthony's character development. As Anthony himself admitted, the Bridgertons' reputation was in danger of being ruined, which makes any attempt to justify Simon's absence at such a troubled time very unrealistic. The Duke of Hastings is now part of the Bridgerton family, meaning that he would have to step up at difficult times for them such as when Eloise was being framed as a political radical by Lady Whistledown. As if not showing up at the opening or the ball wasn't enough, Simon was also absent at the most stressful time for his wife's family. Saying that Simon was back home taking care of the baby works at first, but it quickly melts away as an explanation for the character's absence considering how the story of Bridgerton season 2 develops. The truth is that there was no way out to explain Simon's absence in Bridgerton season 2, meaning that killing off the character would have been the better option. Even if those explanations had been given, it would still have been a bit of a stretch to believe that Simon would not have shown up for the opening of Will's club or at the Bridgerton’s ball.

Given the importance his name alone carries in the context of the show, there should have been numerous explanations to justify Simon's absence from each of the major events of the season, which there wasn’t. More than a fan-favorite character, Simon is the Duke of Hastings and married into the Bridgerton family tree. Related: Why Bridgerton Forgot Francesca Again - Where She Was For Most Of Season 2Ĭonsidering all the importance that Bridgerton gives to social structures and how important appearances were in that period, it is almost a break of immersion that Simon doesn't have an active role in the events of season 2. Whatever the reason, Simon's absence didn’t come without a price. Regé-Jean Page and producer Shonda Rhimes mentioned how Simon's story in Bridgerton had been envisioned as a one-season arc, but recently producer Chris Van Dusen suggested that things hadn't worked out to bring Regé back. Although Regé-Jean Page's departure from Bridgerton appears to have been on good terms, to this day there has not been a definitive answer as to why he left.

Simon of bridgerton