Meaning of Charlotte having Down's syndrome? Ep in old girl's school

I think the over-riding factor was to introduce fear to the situation. Back in the 19th or early 20th Century (maybe even a bit now if we are honest) there would have been massive fear and mistrust of the "different" Even if she could talk clearly and concisely and could have been a credible witness she would never, ever have been believed or take at all seriously as so often anybody with any physical abnormality would have been treated like an abomination, so throw into that mix even the slightest mental incapacity and they would have been "Carted off". Blimey even unmarried mothers can tell the tales of being sent to the sanatorium so people didn't have to bear the shame of seeing them. So much for Christian ethics being predominant in those days..... very sad.

'tler

I got the impression that Morse was filled with compassion for her. Now, and perhaps in the 1960s as well, we understand that people with Down Syndrome are not lunatics or dangerous, but kind, sweet, gentle people. That was not so at the time of the 1866 murders, when they were often misunderstood or even feared. When Morse looked at the photograph and realized she had Down Syndrome, he (I believe) knew instantly she could not have ever been the murderer and was perhaps even sad that she'd even been suspected.

I hadn't seen this episode before tonight, 26/6/16 on repeat (I came to Endeavour late with the start of series 3) and was knocked out by how brilliant it was, so many subtexts and layers of storyline. Excellent acting, fabulous atmosphere, lots of twists and turns.

Regarding Charlotte and the final photo reveal - and what an emotional twist it was - I read it that Morse, seeing the face of Charlotte for the first time, realised that she was incarcerated for the rest of her life not because her family thought she was necessarily guilty of the murders but because they could not accept, as people 'of their time' that their child was 'disabled' in that way. As a previous poster on here commented it would not be tolerated or accepted at that time. The family might have felt they could hide their "shame" until the probing that would have been necessary after the murders but after that, it would have become common knowledge which would not have been acceptable to them, so their only recourse would have been to place her somewhere to hide her away.

Morse, as more enlightened than most in his time, would have immediately realised how this had transpired and been saddened by it.

I very rarely get shivers watching TV, but that final reveal really touched me.

[deleted]

We don't know for sure why Charlotte was not killed. But remember, the killer (Blaise-Hamilton's illegitimate half-Indian son) was driven by anger because he was excluded from the wealthy life (and parental love) enjoyed by his half-siblings. He's supposed to have snapped one afternoon and murdered the three children on the lawn in an unpremeditated rage. He then went into the house and killed two servants. Charlotte was in the house too, and he apparently saw her (the mallet was left on the floor behind her). It isn't hard to imagine that the killer spared Charlotte because he realized that she, too, was ostracized, excluded from parental love and much of the privilege of wealth. After all, she was inside alone while her sister and brothers played in the sun.

He may have attempted to frame her after the fact, but if he was in enough of a rage to bludgeon a baby I doubt he was thinking clearly enough at first to plan such a thing. It must initially have been more of a gut reaction to spare Charlotte. I like to think so, anyway.

Morse's reaction was probably, as others have said, sadness at realizing how all these awful myths had built up around a little girl who was disabled and ultimately neglected.

What a poignant ending.