Bridgerton boss defends decision to kill off beloved character at end of season 4

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Bridgerton Season Four

Bridgerton fans have been left heartbroken by the death of a beloved character that unfolded in the new batch of season four episodes.

The second-half of the highly-anticipated fourth season dropped onto Netflix last Thursday (26 February), following the part one premiere on 29 January.

For those who haven't been watching, this season follows the second-eldest Bridgerton, Benedict, played by Luke Thompson, and his romance with maid Sophie Baek, portrayed by Aussie actress Yerin Ha.

Things have certainly heated up in the new bunch of episodes, which see Benedict and Sophie finally, ahem, do it, as they fall deeper in love with each other and attempt to make their non-conventional relationship work.

However, away from the main romance of the TV series, fans were shocked to discover another tragic storyline involving Benedict's sister, Francesca Bridgerton.

In season three, we saw Francesca get her happily ever after as she married John Stirling, the Earl of Kilmartin.

A tragic death alters the direction of Bridgerton's fourth season (Netflix)

But, in a heartbreaking twist of fate, the character devastatingly died in season four at the end of episode six.

Franscesa goes to check on her husband after he complained of a headache and went to lie down for an afternoon nap; however, she finds him lifeless in their bed when she goes upstairs to wake him, and the episode ends with her screaming as she realizes.

The show doesn't explain exactly how John dies apart from Francesca mentioning his 'headache,' but in the book, he dies from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm.

In the author's notes of the novel, Julia Quinn explained that because of the limits on medical science in 1824 England, John's death would have 'remained a mystery to those who loved him. All Francesca would ever know was that her husband had a headache, lay down, and died.

Bridgerton showrunner Jess Brownell also told PEOPLE Magazine why, in the TV show, it was decided that John's death would happen when it did.

The death of course took the spotlight away from Benedict and Sophie in the final episode; however, there's an important reason for doing so.

Francesca's husband, John Stirling, dies suddenly at the end of episode six (Netflix)

Brownell told the publication, "Obviously, episode 7 does shift its focus a little bit to Francesca, but I think that John's death plays a major role in Benedict and Sophie's story.

"Because Benedict and Sophie have this giant obstacle between them - which is class - we felt like, in fact, this major loss might be the thing that could allow, particularly Violet and Benedict, to shift their perspective."

Essentially, John's sudden and unexpected death allows Benedict and his mother Violet, to see the situation with Sophie differently and 'a little more sympathetically'.

The showrunner explained: "Because I think when you go through a loss like that, you realise that life is short and love is the most important thing."

Justifying the timing, she added: "I think from back when we cast Hannah and Victor [Alli] in season 3, it was important to me that Victor knew very clearly what his timeline was, so he didn't get surprise killed off."

Brownell concluded: "We felt like it was the right timeline to allow us to really get to know Francesca and John as a couple, but also to allow ourselves enough time to properly grieve John."