Editor's note: The below contains spoilers for Episode 4 of 1923.1923 ended its third episode with such a shock that left us spending the following week on the edge of our seats. Would that be the end of Harrison Ford in Taylor Sheridan's world, or would Jacob Dutton pull through and continue the Dutton family legacy? What the shout-out at the end of the episode did was made us think that we'd instantly find Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) finally back home at the Yellowstone ranch. Instead, we watched a lot of setup and only a few answers as to what the ending of Episode 3 meant.

"War and the Turquoise Tide" brings us some necessary backstory for Spencer and his relationship with his family, particularly why he hasn't read any of the letters from his aunt Cara (Helen Mirren). When Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) finds them, she assumes it is from a wife that Spencer never told her about, but then he reveals that they are from his aunt and the two begin going through them one by one.

Meanwhile, back at Yellowstone, Cara is cleaning up Jacob's blood, and we don't know what state he's in or what is being done to get back at those who shot and killed at least John Dutton Sr. on their journey home. It is, for the most part, just cleaning up the aftermath of what happened in the shooting — not only do we bear witness to both storylines, but we're also left wondering why Spencer is just spending his time with Alex in Zanzibar instead of coming back home in spite of Cara's many letters trying to summon him. His 1923 storyline still feels like some old Hollywood romantic movie, and it is through this arc that we learn even more time has passed for Spencer and Alex than has done so back on the Yellowstone ranch. While Cara wrote to Spencer right away when she thought Jacob was going to die, he didn't receive it for three months. But will he make it back to Yellowstone in time to see his uncle alive?

RELATED: ‘Yellowstone’ Star Says Taylor Sheridan Already Knows How Series Will End

Well... At Least Jacob Is Okay?

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Image via Paramount+

All the setup to get Spencer to come back is set around whether or not Jacob is alive. The last we saw of him, he was bleeding out on the table, and then the fourth episode started with Cara cleaning all that blood off their table. Most of the episode could even be devoted to the assumption that he was either dead or at least dying. Well, surprise! He's alive and getting better, actually.

This week's 1923 does a pretty great job of hiding where Jacob is. Twice, Cara walks into a room that could possibly contain her husband, only for it to be either empty or occupied by someone else, so when she does finally make her way to Jacob's side, we're met with a beaten but breathing man. When he wakes up and takes her hand, it kickstarts Cara's return to town to talk to those in charge. She even holds it over Banner Creighton's (Jerome Flynn) head after she leaves that she knows what happened — but it's safe to say that the other characters neither know how Jacob is actually doing or where he is. Cara holds all the cards and is using them to her advantage.

It's nice to finally see Mirren given a more emotional storyline to work with because she has, for the most part, played a sort of passive part in the Yellowstone aspect of 1923. This time, she takes matters of the ranch and her family into her own hands. Watching Cara try to pick up the pieces was emotional, but she does so only to be rewarded with a seemingly on-the-mend Jacob. What this all does, though, is further establish what Spencer could be coming home to.

When Will Spencer Finally Return to the Yellowstone?

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Image via Paramount+

Something that's teased in Cara's conversation with Banner is Spencer's return. When she tells him to wait until he meets her nephew, he makes a comment about having already met him — but Cara is quick to correct him, mentioning the presence of another one. At that moment, Banner has a look of almost fear on his face, and it really does make you wonder what people know of Spencer and what his return to the ranch will bring. From what we've seen in South Africa and Zanzibar, he's loving and protecting and knows how to hunt, but the way Cara talks about him hints that there may be another side to him, one strong enough to strike fear into the hearts of the Dutton family's biggest enemy so far.

Now that 1923 is going on a little break, it's entirely possible that Spencer will jump back to the ranch over the break and be established there when the series returns in February — but this episode does a lot to set up what's to come, and why there might be a reckoning ahead for Banner and his people for what happened to Jacob and the rest of the Duttons.

1923 will return in early February 2023.