Pictures shared before 1923 Season 2, Episode 6 make one thing clear: a war is coming whether Spencer makes it home or not.

Jacob Dutton’s men have fortified the house with fencing, and he’s got cowboys on patrol. Even Zane — fresh off of brain surgery — is armed and dangerous. Aunt Cara’s reaction tells us things go a little further than just preparations.

1923 Season 2, Episode 5 Recap:

The Montana Duttons were not part of Episode 5. Instead, the action focused on Alexandra ( taking a train west from New York), Spencer (picked up by Marshal Fossett) and Teonna (running from Father Renaud). We also got the first-ever train station sighting, but that’s not the focus.

Alex’s trip to Montana takes another sinister turn as she’s forced to wait tables to eat. She meets a delightful couple named Paul and Hillary and then an awful man who sexually assaults her in the dining car. Alex knocks his teeth out with her coffee pot, but she’s jailed as a result.

Thankfully, Hillary and Paul saw the whole thing happen and they stand up for Alex. Later they offer to take her home when the next leg of her trip is canceled. Some viewers wonder if these two have got something sinister planned, but on the surface, they look like fine chaps.

Marshal Fossett takes Spencer to Amarillo, Texas, where the Sheriff tries to get ahold of someone in Montana who can vouch for him. Sheriff McDowell takes the call and a message that Spencer’s almost home but fails in warning the youngest of the Dutton boys to not start any trouble. We leave him as he’s heading north.

Finally, Teonna’s party is heading north from Texas in an attempt to escape Father Renaud and Marshal Kent, who picked up their trail once again. Exhausted, they send Pete to find water and he spots the two men. A chase ensues and Ep. 5 ends with gunshots and a cliffhanger.

1923 Season 2, Episode 6 Preview:

Two big questions hang like a cloud over Episode 6. The first is who lives and who dies in the shootout between Pete, Father Renaud and Marshal Kent.

The second is what purpose Paul and Hillary will serve. They have money and are from England, so many have suspected a tie to Alex’s past, or something more evil. Could they be connected to Donald Whitfield?

Expect Spencer to get a little closer to home in Ep. 6, if not all the way home. Preview footage has showed him arriving by train, but there’s also a microsecond clip of him sprinting through a train car. That can’t be good, right?

Finally, expect plenty of the Montana Duttons, if only because Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren sat out Ep. 5. Photos show them fortifying the house but it’s hard to believe the shooting starts with “The Mountain Teeth of Monsters.”

More likely is, the stage will be set for an epic 1923 finale.