Requiem For A Hero

Requiem For A Hero

CODY LEARNS ABOUT RESPONSIBILITIES, WHILE LOU AND KID'S RELATIONSHIP TAKES A SERIOUS TURN...

Cody meets his hero, author Hezikiah Horn, who bests him in a shooting contest. When Cody claims only one man can shoot like that Hezikiah says that he is mistaken; Hezikiah Horn died a long time ago.

Lou returns from her run and is ordered by Rachel to wash up before she eats. She goes out to the shower stall, not realizing it's already occupied. She opens the door on a very surprised and naked Kid who, embarrassed, tells her to kindly leave.

Hezekiah explains that he stopped writing because all it brought about was grief. By writing about the West in all its glory, helped bring about its downfall. His stories attracted men who never think about the consequences for their actions. Men who think progress is the answer to everything. He is pained especially by the plight of the Indians.

Kid asks advice from Jimmy about Lou. Kid is hesitant about moving to the next step with Lou. He tells Jimmy he was more comfortable with Lou when she kept backing off. Now that she's not, he doesn't know what to do. Jimmy tells him to just do what feels right. Kid decides to take an overnight run with Lou.

Cody and Hezekiah run across the Indian Police and their leader, Jonathan Webster. They have been wreaking havoc on the local Indian tribes, murdering, stealing -- all in the name of order and progress. After coming across the bodies of three Kiowa braves, they witness the murder of a fourth -- despite a peace treaty between the Kiowa and whites.

Webster claims they were a renegade band; his men were just protecting themselves. Hezekiah claims the West is over. Progress has seen to that. The freedom and expanse of the West will soon be over, he tells Cody. He reminds Cody that he and all the other people with the Express will be out of their jobs once the telegraph is operational. But the human casualties of progress will be far greater. Slavery -- Mexican, Chinese, Indian, and African -- is a direct result of progress. Hezikiah continues that the U.S. is on the brink of war because of the need for progress.

Kid and Lou are on their way to the Redford station when Lou stages a fall off her horse, scaring the daylights out of Kid. He runs to her to make sure she's all right. Realizing she was just playing a joke on him, he surprises them both by kissing her. They arrive at the station where they are to spend the night. Lou surprises Kid again when she enters the bedroom wearing a white nightgown, a gift from Rachel. They make love and, for the first time, say "I love you."

Hezekiah and Cody find an entire Lakota village decimated by small pox. The doctor traces the outbreak to a batch of blankets donated by Webster. They burn the village and Hezekiah confronts Webster. Webster alludes that he resented how Hezikiah cared more for the Indian than for him and his mother. Hezekiah realizes Webster was lashing out at the Indian in an effort to get back at him. He apologizes to his son then takes a rifle and kills him.

Hezikiah then goes to Sweetwater where he takes his own life. He leaves Cody a letter explaining that he had to take responsibility to for his actions, face the consequences of what he had created when he fathered Jonathan Webster. Though killing himself was not the answer, he felt there was no way to go on living with the knowledge of what he had done.

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