HBO‘s The Gilded Age Season 4 opens on a scene that probably sent chills down the spines of fans of Julian Fellowes‘ other big hit period drama, Downton Abbey. (Specifically those of us who are still not over the tragic death of Jessica Brown Findlay‘s Lady Sybil in childbirth.)

**Spoilers for The Gilded Age Season 4 Episode 1 “Ring the Bells,” now streaming on HBO Max**

The new season of The Gilded Age opens about six months after Season 3 in England, where a doctor has rushed to Sidmouth Castle to tend to Gladys (Taissa Farmiga) during a difficult childbirth. The prognosis is not good: the baby is breached and it looks like the Duke of Buckingham (Ben Lamb) will have to choose between Gladys and the baby.

“I wasn’t scared for Gladys,” Taissa Farmiga told DECIDER last week. “Because I got to talk with Julian and [co-showrunner] Sonja [Warfield] before, I had a bit of knowledge of where Gladys was going this season, so I luckily — unlike audiences — didn’t have to be stressed.”

That said, Farmiga knew it wouldn’t be an easy day at the proverbial office.

“I knew it was going to be a harrowing experience for her. Obviously it was intense to film,” she said. “I really do love heavy emotional scenes and well, you know [I’m a] ‘scream queen.’ I got to exercise that in The Gilded Age? That’s exciting!”

Bertha Russell (Carrie Coon) is naturally horrified when the Duke’s sister Lady Sarah (Hattie Morahan) bluntly announces he has to save the “heir.” However, kinder hearts prevail. The Duke begs to save both, but if it comes down to Gladys or the baby, he would choose Gladys.

“In that time, the heir was everything, and especially when you’re considering the aristocracy in England,” Carrie Coon told DECIDER. “I mean, Gladys is ostensibly married off in order to save that family; their fortune and their lineage. And so it makes sense that Lady Sarah — who I love, I think Hattie is so great in that part, she’s amazing — [says that in] a really critical moment.”

Coon went on to explain how Bertha’s experience in England helped set up her larger emotional arc for the season. “It puts Bertha in the moment of realizing she almost lost her daughter,” Coon said. “She’d almost lost her husband less than a year prior and so it’s really put everything in perspective for Bertha this season — what’s important to her.”

Farmiga revealed that it also meant “a lot to Gladys” that Hector chooses her because she was “forced into a marriage that she thought was going to be a hellish experience.”

“And in the end — ugh — Bertha was right,” Farmiga said. “She’s happy and she has a partner for the first time…. So I think this is just that extra validation of, ‘This is my partner. Maybe I can have what my mother’s been wanting for me, what my Mother has with George,’ or what I thought she had.”

Morgan Spector, who plays Gladys’ father George in The Gilded Age, also saw the Duke’s choice as Bertha’s triumph.

“I would also just add I think it is that sort of final moment of vindication for Bertha,” Spector said. “Like, ‘Oh, I was really right about the character of this man and who he will be.’”

“That’s right, yes. It’s very validating that way,” Coon said.

However it’s not all triumph for Gladys and family. Although Gladys successfully gives birth to a male heir for her husband, things quickly take a turn. Gladys’ loyal maid Adelheid (Erin Wilhelmi) discovers she’s bleeding heavily after the delivery. In the end, Gladys is saved, but only thanks to a hysterectomy that was performed without prior consent. The episode ends with Bertha and the Duke knowing that Gladys can never have any more children, but with the Duchess blissfully in the dark.

Will Gladys ever learn the truth about her situation? That seems like it could be the next juicy Gilded Age storyline…

New episodes of The Gilded Age Season 4 come out on Sunday nights at 9 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.