1883: Is Elsa Dead? How She Can Survive The Lethal Arrow

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Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for 1883.

1883 season 1, episode 9 “Racing Clouds” sees Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) getting shot by an arrow that impales her torso and threatens to slowly kill her with an infection – but this doesn't necessarily mean that the character is bound for death. This scene finally explains what led to the violent opening scenes of 1883's pilot episode, during which Elsa grabs a pistol and shoots a mounted Indigenous American warrior, who simultaneously shoots and impales Elsa's stomach with an arrow. After resisting the urge to commit suicide following the death of her first love Ennis (Eric Nelsen), and then surviving a hurricane only to leave her Comanche husband Sam (Martin Sensmeier) behind so she can be with the Duttons, Elsa once again faces yet another seemingly insurmountable challenge. This time, as an actual physical infection threatens to kill Elsa, her chances of survival are slim. That said, no one on the entire cast of 1883 is tougher than its protagonist and narrator Elsa Dutton.

Rubbing salt on Elsa's potentially lethal wound is the fact that the skirmish stemmed from a huge misunderstanding. The band of Lakota warriors that brutally attacked Elsa's caravan mistook them for horse thieves who slaughtered a nearby Lakota settlement next to the Oregon Trail. James Dutton (Tim McGraw), Shea Brennan (Sam Elliot), and Thomas (LaMonica Garrett) manage to find and kill the thieves, but are too late to stop the Lakota from gravely wounding Elsa, who barely survives the skirmish. Fortunately, Elsa's wearing pants again and has healed up enough to be able to get back on her horse.

Related: Why So Many Yellowstone Fans Hated 1883

1883's finale is on the horizon, and Elsa's fate will