Unforgiven Scene 25 Summary

  • Daylight. The outhouse from before is in the foreground, and the cabin is in the background.
  • Will and the Kid are watching. Mike has been in the outhouse for a while, and the Kid makes a joke about it.
  • He's antsy, and tells Will to tell him if he sees Mike. He doesn't want Will to shoot him himself.
  • Will, a little impatient, tells the Kid he can shoot him.
  • The scene shifts, and a shirtless Ned is being whipped by Bill in the sheriff's office.
  • Beauchamp and other deputies are there.
  • Everybody seems uncomfortable as Bill relentlessly whips Ned.
  • Outside, the whole town (including the prostitutes) is listening, horrified. The sound of the whip can be heard from just about anywhere along the street.
  • Back inside, Ned's back is a bloody mess. Bill stops, and asks for the names of his partners.
  • Ned gives them two fake names. Bill confers with Beauchamp, and reminds him that those aren't the names he gave them previously.
  • Bill sends a deputy for Alice and Silky. He tells Ned those two are going to tell a different lie than him.
  • He says that once he's finds out, he won't hurt the women, but he will hurt Ned—"not gentle like before, but bad."
  • Back at the cabin, the cowboys are playing cards. Mike gets up to go to the outhouse again.
  • Bill's deputy tries to get him to wait, but Mike makes a joke and rejects the offer.
  • Mike cautiously steps outside.
  • Will and the Kid recognize him. Will tells the Kid to go and get him: "He's all yours."
  • The kid cautiously sneaks through the bushes up to the outhouse.
  • He opens the door. Nobody is inside.
  • Meanwhile, Bill's deputy comes out, sees the Kid, and cries out, "Assassins!"
  • Will fires his shotgun at the house as a quick diversion.
  • The Kid opens the door to the other outhouse. Mike is in there. They stare at each other. Mike is terrified and says "No" several times.
  • The Kid hesitates for a second, and then fires three shots into Mike's chest before running back to Will.
  • They run back to their horses.
  • The men from the cabin are in pursuit.
  • Will tells the Kid to cover him with the rifle.
  • The men fire off a large number of rounds as Will and the Kid ride off.
  • The scene shifts, and Will and the Kid are waiting by a tree, not far from Big Whiskey.
  • The Kid asks Will if the recent gunfight was how things were in the old days. He claims he was only scared a little.
  • The Kid keeps blabbing and drinking whiskey. He laughs as he recounts his recent baptism by fire.
  • Then he tells Will that was his first kill. He admits to lying before.
  • Will can tell the Kid is having a hard time with this. He tells him to take a drink.
  • The Kid brags about killing a man while he was going the bathroom, nervously laughs, and then starts crying.
  • Meanwhile, a woman on horseback has been approaching for some time. This must be one of the women with payment.
  • The Kid is in disbelief. He can't believe that Davey and Mike are never going to breathe again.
  • Will waxes philosophical: "It's a hell of a thing, killing a man."
  • One of the women shows up. She says two others rode east, and were followed by two deputies.
  • She gives Will the money. He counts it. He tells the Kid they'll give Ned his share together so the Kid knows he's not being cheated.
  • The woman pipes up with a stunning revelation: Ned is dead.
  • Will can't believe it. He knows Ned went south, and that he didn't kill anyone.
  • She reveals that Little Bill killed Ned during the interrogation. She insists that it wasn't on purpose—"Ned just died."
  • She starts telling him how it all happened.
  • Bill kept beating Ned until Ned finally started to talk, telling Bill about many of Will's more egregious exploits (an incident with dynamite that killed women and children, the killing of a U.S. Marshal).
  • In the middle of the story, Will takes the Kid's bottle and starts drinking. There's no turning back now.
  • Will knows Bill wasn't scared by Ned's tales about Will.
  • He tells the Kid to give him his Schofield. The Kid says he can keep it because he's never going to use it again.
  • Will checks to see if it's loaded.
  • Later that night, it's raining again, and Will and the Kid are in or near Big Whiskey.
  • Will tells him to take his and Ned's share of the money and give it to his kids. If he's not heard from in a week, he tells the Kid to give the money to Ned's wife.
  • The Kid knows Will is going to kill Little Bill.
  • Will tells him to get some glasses with his share, and to be careful on the road. People will be looking for him.