In the beginning of 1923, Elsa is narrating and speaks about her parents' children, saying only one would live to see their children grown and carry the family forward through the depression and every other hell of the 20th century.
1923 is an American Western drama television series that premiered on December 18, 2022, on Paramount+. The series is a prequel to the Paramount Network series Yellowstone and serves as a sequel to the series 1883, with Isabel May reprising her role from the latter as narrator Elsa Dutton.
Despite her death, Elsa's spirit lives on and narrates the events of 1883 from beyond the grave, reuniting with her husband Sam in the afterlife. In the second prequel series, 1923, Elsa's voice continues to narrate the story, showcasing her continued presence and influence on the Dutton family's legacy.
Elsa wasn't just the narrator — she was the very heart and soul of 1883. In short, it was simply time for Elsa to die, which heralded the beginning of an entirely new chapter for the Duttons.
Why was Elsa crying while playing the piano in 1883?
2 Elsa's Choice Of Music Is Prophetic
The fact she plays the song for Ennis, and cries while doing so, mirrors what happens when Ennis dies in Episode 5: Elsa lets out a mournful scream as her new love loses his life.
The caravan was heading toward Oregon, but the Dutton family had to settle in Montana after the death of their daughter, Elsa (Isabel May). Elsa was the main narrator of 1883 and appeared via voiceover in the first episode of 1923 as well.
Elsa was born on April 9, 1866 to James and Margaret Dutton, one year after the ending of the American Civil War. She is a farmer's daughter with a younger brother named John. When their parents decided to leave their Tennessee home and set off on a journey northward she and her brother went with them.
James does return, but it turns out he's been shot, with the first episode of 1923 confirming - via Elsa Dutton's ghostly voiceover narration - that he died of that bullet shortly after. Elsa also reveals that Margaret wrote to Jacob to come help her and her sons at the ranch in the aftermath.
Meanwhile, fan-favorite Shea Brennan (Sam Elliott) made good on his promise to see the Pacific Ocean so his late wife could “use [his] eyes to see the world” — then promptly shot himself.
But before her death, Margaret wrote a letter to her husband's brother, Jacob, who then found and raised Elsa's surviving brothers, John Sr. and Spencer.
In Yellowstone's season five, episode six, entitled Cigarettes, Whiskey, A Meadow and You, the graves of 1883's James (played by Tim McGraw), Margaret (Faith Hill) and Elsa Dutton (Isabel May) are shown on the ranch. As well as showing the family's ancestors' names, it is the first confirmation of their death dates.
She grew fond of him and their romance bloomed until there was a shootout with some bandits, resulting in Ennis' death. She later met a Comanche warrior in Kansas named Sam who she connected with, giving her a second chance at love. She later agreed to accept Sam's hand in marriage, but there was no ceremony.
Does Elsa get pregnant in 1883? The Yellowstone prequel never clarified whether Elsa (Isabel May) and Ennis (Eric Nelsen) consummating their relationship in 1883 season 1, episode 5 “The Fangs of Freedom" resulted in Elsa getting pregnant.
Throughout the episode, Elsa's narration is used to fill in the gaps of what has happened to the Dutton clan in the four decades that have passed since the events of "1883."
Elsa, who had decided to see her family in Oregon before returning to be with Sam, may be dead, but just as her spirit narrates the series (and the following 1923 series), so it's implied that her spirit reunites with Sam's in the afterlife.
Spencer Dutton is the younger son of James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Faith Hill) from the 1883 series. He is also the younger brother of John Dutton Sr (James Badge Dale).
What was the last thing Elsa said before she died?
As James cradled her, the two shed tears while sharing their precious memories and taking her final breath, Elsa said: “I know what it is. I'm not scared. I'm not scared, daddy.”
Towards the end of Episode 8 we see Elsa and Sam prepare to part ways. He teaches her phrases in his language like "I love you" and how to say her given name "Lightning Yellow Hair."
One of those girls is played by Aminah Nieves, an indigenous actress who landed the very important role of Teonna Rainwater — a veritable prisoner of the Catholics (and ancestor of Gil Birmingham's Thomas Rainwater, who we eventually meet in Yellowstone) who can dish it out as much as she can take it.
Elsa then went and had sex with Ennis (Eric Nelson), then basically informed him they were getting married. Ennis then got punched by James (Tim McGraw). Bandits arrived, a shoot-out commenced, and poor newly engaged Ennis was shot down.
However, Elsa dies from an arrow shot during an attack on the family's wagon train, and the couple never reunite. She chooses her burial spot to be in Paradise Valley, which eventually becomes the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
