Our pioneers' terrible luck continues (and then some) as they make their way over the
lonely yet dangerous Plains in 1883 Season 1, Episode 9, "Racing Clouds."
Episode 9 opens with a terrible disaster involving Risa (Anna Fiamora) and her spouse, written
by Taylor Sheridan and directed by Ben Richardson.
When Risa's horse responds erratically to a rattlesnake bite, the animal throws her
off, and her husband Josef (Marc Rissmann) is bitten by the reptile as he rushes to aid
her.
Colton (Noah Le Gros), a wrangler, responds fast to kill the rattler, sucking the venom
from Josef's wound.
With the marriage in such horrible circumstances, it doesn't appear that things can get much
worse until...
The next morning, Elsa gets a fever, and James and Margaret agree to let her ride her favorite
horse Lightning instead of riding in the wagon.
Elsa's voice-over narrative takes over as she glances at her father.
"I looked into his eyes.
I stared at them for a long time.
That was the moment I realized I was going to die."
Let's take a look at the five most key scenes from 1883 Episode 9 that are crucial to the
series' overall arc.
AN EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXTREMELY EXTRE
James' horrifying discovery of scores of murdered Lakota women and children opens Episode 9.
Shea soon deduces that the crime was performed for the sake of fun and horses by bandits.
As James continues his investigation, Shea comes to a halt and scolds himself, "Getting
old."
I'm growing sloppy and elderly.
"Damn you, God!"
He understands that their footprints go straight back to the wagon party, and that the Lakota
would incorrectly assume they are to blame for the deaths.
When they rejoin the gang, Thomas suggests that they go to Fort Caspar and let the soldiers
hunt down the murderers.
"We're passing through Lakota, Shoshone, Nez Perce, and Black Foot territory.
Shea informs Thomas and James, "Everyone of them is going to know what happened here before
we get to 'em."
There's just one option, and it's a difficult one: "We need to stay right here until we
find those murderers, kill their sad asses, clip the hair from their fucking scalps, and
return them and their horses to these people's husbands and dads," Shea says.
A FIGHT BETWEEN WARRIORS
"I'll sell you or I'll murder you," a Lakota guy (Jeremy Gauna) tells Elsa as he sits on
horseback with his bow drawn.
Given those two alternatives, Elsa grabs a nearby handgun and shoots him and another
assailant while suffering an arrow wound to her torso.
Elsa is a born fighter, and when she is confronted by the Lakota chief, she does not back down.
He comes to a halt as she yells in Comanche and adds in English, "Warriors know those
phrases."
Despite her injuries, Elsa says, "My husband taught me."
He's a Comanche, by the way.
"Those are his own words."
The chief tells her, "You fight like a Comanche."
"Your relatives were not murdered by us."
We discovered them.
Elsa informs the guys, "Right now, my father is chasing their murders, and if he's hunting
them, he'll find them."
The leader asks Elsa her name after taking in the news.
"Lightning with golden hair," she answers in Comanche.
The leader, surprised and delighted, tells her, "Good name," and then rides away with
his soldiers.
Elsa's fast thinking spared her and the others in the wagon party's lives.
A FATHER-TO-FATHER CONVERSATION
When James notices the Lakota approaching Shea, Thomas, and his location, he disregards
prudence and sprints towards them.
"You act like a Comanche too," the Lakota chief says to the Yellow Hair's father, immediately
identifying him as Lightning.
"Your daughter stated you were chasing my relatives' murderers," he continues.
"I chased them down and murdered them," James says.
I've left them in the sage brush for you to scalp and deal with as you like.
We didn't touch your deceased since I don't know your God or his regulations, and your
horses are grazing by the river."
The Lakota are content with his response and are at peace.
"Do I still have a family?"
James inquires hastily.
"Do I still have a daughter?"
you might wonder.
"Their footprints led from the remains of my family, my wife, my children, my mother,
and we waged war on your people, and your daughter stopped it," the leader says.
"By being the finest fighter of all," James says when asked how she stopped it.
"There are surgeons in the fort," the commander says, his voice sad.
Take her there and say a prayer for her.
"I'll pray as well."
THE DUTTONS' PROSPECTIVE FUTURE
After confronting Elsa in the wagon, James goes outdoors and discovers Margaret.
Her expertise as a Civil War medic has taught her that Elsa's wound is almost certain to
kill her.
Margaret attempts to remain optimistic after James sees the dirty arrow that penetrated
their daughter's liver, stating, "She's young and she's so strong."
"And she's the light of my life and my soul," James answers.
She'll perish."
Margaret slaps him, shocked, but James continues, "If we don't take it now, she'll die in some
fort with some doctor dosing her up so bad she can't see straight, and we'll have stolen
her."
"We'll lie to her and tell her she's OK," James continues.
We'll let her gaze at the world through those huge dreamer eyes until she can no longer
see."
Margaret, distraught, sobs, "She'll be another cross on the route that we don't visit."
It will be gone in ten years."
This is the point at which James takes the decision that will have ramifications for
all future generations of the Dutton family.
"Where we bury her is where we stay," he says Margaret.
That is where we call home.
I'll locate the location.
"By God, I'll discover the location."
Fans of Yellowstone know that the Duttons will end up in Montana.
ELSA CONFIRMS HER DESTINY.
Elsa decides to ride Lightning instead of riding at the rear of her family's wagon after
waking up with a fever.
"It didn't hurt at all yesterday," Elsa tells her father as he helps her onto her horse.
"I've saved all the suffering for today."
"The day after usually gets worse," James says with a smile.
"What happens the next day is a mystery."
Elsa's voice-over narrative begins when she observes her parents staring at her: "I looked
at my father.
I looked past his grin.
I saw his concern.
"I saw something deeper, as if he was already grieving, as if I had already died."
"It seemed as if my soul had been dislodged for whatever cavern in our chest the soul's
attached to, and it felt free," Elsa says in the narrative.
Elsa is a wise young lady who understands that she will die.