First aired on Paramount+ on December 21, 2021.

 

James was at the battle of Drunker Church in Anteitum on September 17, 1876.

Bodies are strewn everywhere. James appears to be the only Confederate soldier left standing, but the Union soldiers don't pay him any attention until he sits down, and Tom Hanks comes by, sits down beside him.

James breaks down sobbing and Hanks puts his hand on his shoulder.

James spent three years in a Union prison, returning home weighing only 97 pounds.

James tells Shea and Thomas they they need a cook to keep everyone from eating like it's Christmas morning.

Elsa finds that the water isn't poteable. Her aunt Claire is a pain in the ass more concerned about being rude to Elsa than stopping people from drinking the water.

Elsa tries to help a young woman suffering by the side of the river, but James wants her to saddle Lightning.

Margaret is making tea to try to help the suffering population. She's not pleased he's taking Elsa with him to rustle cattle.

Elsa, though, is thrilled.

Ennis and Wade find another group of cowboys they know who point them in the direction of some wild bulls they can keep for food.

Shea is taking the trip so he can see Oregon one last time before the world eats him up.

Elsa is treating this like a grand adventure. James says it's not a gift. He needs her.

It's Elsa's 17th birthday, as she was born a year after the day that Lee surrendered in Appotamatox.

Their mission goes very well.

John wonders why people are singing at night. When do they sleep?

Claire is a pain in the ass. She's only there because she has nowhere else to go.

She belittles James and his dream of better things. She says it's a nightmare and tells Margaret she'll see.

Except the nightmare is coming to them by way of hooligans. Sadly, the arrive just after Margaret has an unpleasant exchange with Claire's daughter about coffee and children.

Claire comes in like a lunatic on stage telling them to be gone. Then she pelts them with rocks while they try to water their horses, and all hell breaks loose, leading to the deaths of many, including her daughter.

Margaret screams for John, who is safe. Claire is a slobbering mess, but she has only herself to blame.

Ennis flirts with Elsa as he worries that she's too pretty for him, and flirting with her will be a waste of his time. But when she removes her hat, he's dumbstruck. Yep, she's too pretty for him.

Shea and Thomas want James to go to town with them to talk with the marshall and get the bandits.

Elsa gives her condolences to Claire who can't even accept them graciously.

James says goodbye and tells Elsa to sleep with the gun he gave her.

In town, marshall Billy Bob Thornton deputizes the men before they go to the White Elephant Saloon to find their guys.

Josef points out the bandits and they're all killed. Then the entertainment just continues as if nothing even happened.

The lead bandit is Clive Barker. Is Taylor Sheridan a fan?

Joseph is on the ground shaking as Billy Bob wonders if he got them all. There is one guy left, and he ain't armed. Billy says he can see that, and shoots him anyway.

They've got to get a move on now because now they're going to be wanted men.

Claire won't leave, and James leaves her behind. When Margaret wants him to go back, James goes just to see her take her life. Shea and James bury her next to her last living daughter out of seven.