Sister Wivespatriarch Kody Brown has been called the villain of the series time and time again through the years, butKody may not be as much of a villain as his wife Robyn Brown, who he’s been protecting throughout their marriage. Kody beganSister Wiveswith a massive family surrounding him when the show started in 2010. Married to Meri Brown, Janelle Brown, and Christine Brown, Kody had been courting Robyn and dealing with the idea of bringing another wife into his already-large family. In contrast, his circle has diminished dramatically by the advent ofSister Wivesseason 19.
Throughout the years,Kody’s relationship with Robyn took a tollon his other marriages. While Kody brought Robyn into the family to be his fourth wife, things quickly took a turn when he had to legally divorce Meri in order to marry Robyn and adopt her children from a previous marriage.It made things clear to Kody’s other wives that they were no longer a priority, at least not in the way that Robyn and her children were. Christine, Janelle, and Meri had all been holding down the fort with their children, but Kody favored Robyn and her kids quickly.
The large family, which by 2016 included two young children to bring the total toa whopping 18 kids fathered by Kody, struggled to make things work as the kids continued to grow up. Kody’s marriages with his original trio of wives suffered as he built up his relationship with Robyn quickly, ensuring that she was certain she was cared for rather than fairly doling out time and resources to the rest of his family. After years of feeling like they were less-than,Kody’s other wives chose to stand up for themselves, making it clear they weren’t interested in mistreatment.
Christine, who was Kody’s third wife, was the first to decide to leave her marriage with the patriarch and move on with her life. While Christine and Kody’s marriage did seem to have some love and affection, Christine knew that Kody hadn’t prioritized her and her six children at all since Robyn came into the picture. DuringSister Wivesseason 17,she left Kody and the rest of the family to move away from the Brown homestead in Arizona, picking up her life and moving to Utah to be closer to her family of origin and older kids.
After Christine left, Janelle and Meri both seemed to understand that they were being mistreated in their marriages, as well. Kody felt a lot of hurt and betrayal in the ensuing months after Christine’s departure, and after disregarding Meri entirely and picking brutal arguments with Janelle, things changed in the relationships. While Kody has seemed like the villain, especially duringSister Wivesseason 18,Robyn has been behind the scenes pulling the strings for years, and Kody has been protecting her image by taking the fall.
8Kody Always Favored Robyn
He’s Consistently Put Her First
Kody and Robyn’s relationshiphas been predicated on the idea that she’s his favorite wife, even if that’s never been communicated aloud on the series. Kody had three successful marriages and several children before he met Robyn, butit became clear after they pair met and began courting that he’d never truly been in love before. That was difficult on his other wives, but Kody shielded Robyn from the women for quite a while before the trio met their potential new sister wife.
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While Kody’s relationship with Robyn wasn’t like anything he’d felt before,he tried to rationalize the way he was treating Robyn in his head as the attentiveness of new loverather than accepting reality. As Kody moved through the motions with his other wives, it became clear that he’d never put them first and had focused on himself before meeting Robyn. With his new wife in the picture, Robyn came first and Kody made sure she was treated as the favorite.
7Kody Put Robyn’s Kids Before His Others
He Doesn’t Care About His Other Kids
Although Kody’s seemed to be clear that he cares for Robyn more than his other wives, he’s always been upfront about being equal opportunity when it comes to his kids. Whether that’s the truth or not, Kody has tried to be open about the fact that he believes he gives equal attention to all of his children. Unfortunately, it’s been proven thatKody’s wrong in that regard, putting Robyn’s kids before any of his others.
In the early days of his marriage to Robyn,Kody was able to move more freelyfrom home to home to be with each of his wives and his kids more equally. Although things have changed in part due to Kody’s relationships, and in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kody now lives full-time with Robyn and their children.Kody rarely spends time with his other kids, despite having nearly a dozen other children.
6Kody Always Talked Highly Of Robyn, Not His Other Wives
He’s Given Her Special Treatment
While compliments don’t seem to be Kody’s forte, he spends a lot of his timecomplimenting Robyn onSister Wives. Sharing what he loves about his only remaining wife and doing his best to ensure that she knows he loves her,Kody’s open about his feelings on the series when he hasn’t been that way with his other wivesin the past. Though Kody’s struggled to be openly affectionate before, the fact that he is with Robyn is truly shocking.
Kody’s inability to be kind to his other wives despite knowing that they would have enjoyed the same level of compliments is difficult to see on Sister Wives. The series was meant to document the real marriages between Kody and his wives, but insteadtypically shows more of Kody’s faults as a husband. Moving through his relationship with Robyn, Kody’s always been more openly affectionate and complimentary.
5Robyn Always Seemed Like The Victim In The Brown Family
She’s Always Played The Victim Role
Although Kody and Robyn have always been on a similar wavelength, he’s allowed her to shrink back from being the bad guy in a lot of situations, instead seeing Robyn play the victim of the Brown family. While things have happened that have caused the entire family despair,Robyn has always managed to make the bad times about her. Playing the victim in the most obvious of ways, Robyn has worked hard to cultivate a space for herself to make everyone’s problems her own.
Throughout the run ofSister Wives, Kody has surely taken notice as his wife cries about everything regardless of whether it impacts her and creates problems that allow her to play the victim role. Rather than being upfront about her issues or commenting on things without trying to make them relate to her,Robyn has spent her time playing the victimno matter what. Rather than holding her accountable, Kody’s been able to pump Robyn up,ensuring she feels valid in her victimhood.
4The Other Wives Seemed To Resent Robyn
They Knew She Was The Most Important
Although Robyn came into the family and promised to remain on an equal playing field with Kody, she quickly became the wife he favored the most. Robyn’s behavior was never something that she was able to explain, but she justified everything she did to keep Kody around her as much as she could. With Kody’s other wives taking notice of her behavior and commenting on it to no avail from their husband,they all began to develop resentment for Robyn.
Kody and Robyn’s marriage was a mysteryto Christine, Janelle, and Meri as they moved through the difficult times that Robyn ushered in. Although Kody was making the definitive decision to break his schedules with his other wives to be with Robyn more frequently,Christine, Janelle, and Meri resented Robyn for not pushing him to be with them, too. Rather than trying to uphold the plural marriage they all thought they wanted, Robyn stole Kody’s time from others.
3Kody’s Covered For Robyn’s Poor Behavior
He Doesn’t Let Her Take The Fall
While Robyn’s poor behavior was on display for all to see, theSister Wivesstar wasn’t ever called out for the things that she did to Kody’s other wives. Whether it was something as small as a backhanded comment about another wife or something as large as taking Kody’s time with one of the other women,Robyn was never in support of the other wives. Despite saying she was deeply interested in a plural marriage, Robyn was looking to be monogamous with Kody without the title.
Rather than letting Robyn be open about the way she was thinking, feeling, and behaving, Kody covered for her. Instead of saying to one of his other wives that he was staying an extra night at Robyn’s because she’d wanted him to,Kody often told lies about his own desires and behaviors in order to allow Robyn to maintain neutrality. Putting her persona above his with the other wives, Kody was protecting her fiercely.
2Robyn’s Blamed Kody For Her Own Downfalls
She Can’t Take Accountability
While Kody was often sticking his neck out for his most recent wife,Robyn was blaming Kody for the bad things that happenedto her. Although Kody and Robyn struggled to see eye-to-eye on some of the ways that they were perceived by the other wives, it was clear to both of them that they were on an island by themselves. Instead of trying to repair things with Janelle, Meri, and Christine,Kody and Robyn continued to isolate themselvesand Robyn continued to foster a sense of anger toward Kody.
Instead of being able to see herself for who she is,Robyn made it clear that she was annoyed with Kody for the way that she came off to others. While Kody was taking the blame for Robyn’s shortcomings, she was blaming him for all of the failures she’d amassed within the Brown family. With contention between them, Robyn found herself irritated with Kody.
1Kody’s Let His Life Get Destroyed For Robyn
He’s Lost Everything But Her
After years of dealing with the fact that his marriages were crumbling and his children were pulling away, Kody’s been left with a lot fewer people in his family than he started with. Losing three of his four wives,Kody has also seen several of his children choose to forego a relationship with their fatherin their adult lives. Despite knowing that he did a lot of that with his behavior, Robyn’s influence and the infatuation he felt for her overshadowed all of it.
Robyn’s influence in Kody’s lifeand the way she took hold of the way he interacted with others created some serious issues in the Brown family. While he was busy falling in love with her and choosing to cover for her poor behavior,the other relationships in Kody’s lives were deteriorating entirely. Now, with his family continuing to crumble and even Robyn considering pulling away, theSister Wivesstar is left with the consequences of his actions.
Sister Wives
Cast
Sister Wives is a TV series created for TLC that follows Kody Brown and his four wives as they raise their eighteen children and tackle the challenges associated with their massive family dynamic and the stigma that comes with their way of life.
