1923 Season 2 saw the series wrap, but not every plotline and every character ended up tied in a neat little bow.
The end of 1923 left some major questions unanswered, but the biggest one was this: What happens to Teonna Rainwater from here?
Who Is Teonna Rainwater on 1923?
When Season 1 of 1923 begins, Teonna is introduced as a young Crow girl who is being forced against her will to live at and attend an “Indian School” in Montana that the Catholic Church runs.
The schools are a concerted effort to eradicate what’s left of Native American culture as America spreads West by indoctrinating the younger populace into Christianity, and when the priests and nuns can’t get the results they want through teaching, they resort to abuse.
Teonna is a spirited girl who fights back, and when they lean on her even harder as a result, she lashes out and kills several of her oppressors.
Consequently, she’s forced to flee. and she spends a chunk of both seasons of the show on the run from a priest named Father Renaud and a lawman named Marshal Kent.
What Happens to Teonna Rainwater at the End of 1923?
Teonna ends up vanquishing all of her oppressors by the time 1923 ends, but it costs her everything — her home, her tribe, her boyfriend and her father are all gone by the end of the 1923 Season 2 finale.
The last time Teonna Rainwater appears on screen in 1923, she’s riding off West, headed for California and the possibility of a better life.
As it stands, we have no idea how Teonna gets to wherever she’s going, or what she might do when she gets there. We presume that she somehow makes her way to California, where she then begins a family that will eventually result in Thomas Rainwater, the Chairman of the Broken Rock Reservation on Yellowstone.
How Is Teonna Rainwater From 1923 Related to Thomas Rainwater From Yellowstone?
The only thing that’s ever been explained is that Teonna is an ancestor of Thomas Rainwater. We do not know what the actual relationship is between them.
Will We Ever Know How Teonna’s Story Ends After 1923?
Probably, but not directly. We couldn’t put it past Taylor Sheridan to update her story in a few decades’ time if the long-rumored 1944 is still a thing, which is unknown at this time.
However, that’s not what he did when he transitioned from his previous Yellowstone prequel, 1883, into 1923. He ended most of the main characters and provided brief contextual updates for how their lives had turned out before launching the new show.
In other instances, Sheridan has also used jumping backward and forward in time between two different shows in the Yellowstone franchise to reveal past plot points, as contemporary characters either visit old headstones and show viewers when certain people died, or share old family stories that fill in plot points.
Sometimes all it takes to update a character is a brief voiceover from 1883‘s Elsa.
Could we see something like that in future Yellowstone prequels and sequels? We wouldn’t rule that out, and it does seem likely that we’ll known more about Teonna’s fate at some point.
But as far as seeing more actual screen time with the character? We’d strongly advise viewers not to hold their breath on that one.
What Happens Next With the Yellowstone Franchise?
There’s very little in the way of information for a third prequel titled 1944, which was announced, but never mentioned again.
We do have cast details for a Yellowstone sequel that is set to star Michelle Pfeiffer, Patrick J. Adams, Matthew Fox and more. Paramount+ announced The Madison in August of 2024, and has slowly rolled out the actors, but has provided no further details.
‘1923’: Who Is Aminah Nieves, AKA Teonna Rainwater?
On 1923, Teonna Rainwater is played by actress Aminah Nieves. It’s her first major film or television role but unlikely to be her last. Here are photos from her two seasons on the Paramount+ show.
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes
‘1923’: Who Is Julia Schlaepfer, AKA Alexandra, Countess of Sussex?
Gallery Credit: Billy Dukes