Has any character on Taylor Sheridan’s 1923 endured as many hardships and shown as much strength as Teonna Rainwater? Rainwater, played beautifully by Aminah Nieves, is a descendant of Chief Thomas Rainwater who, in Season 1, was stolen from the Broken Rock Reservation with other Native children and forced into a Catholic boarding school run by the fanatical Father Renaud (Sebastian Roché) and the cruel Sister Mary (Jennifer Ehle). We see her fight back against her oppressors when she kills both Sister Mary and Sister Alice (Kerry O’Malley) and escapes into the Badlands. Father Renaud dispatches several priests to track her down and bring her back.

A chance encounter leads her to Hank Plenty Clouds (Michael Greyeyes) who agrees to help her get back to her home, sending his own son, Pete Plenty Clouds (the late Cole Brings Plenty in Season 1, Jeremy Gauna in Season 2), to find Teonna’s father, Runs His Horse (Michael Spears). Tragedy strikes again when Teonna and Hank are overtaken by two priests. Hank is able to kill one of them but dies in the process of saving Teonna, leaving her to dispatch the other priest and escape. Soon after, Teonna is discovered by Pete and her father, Runs His Horse, and the three set off to hide among the Comanches in Oklahoma with Father Renaud and a pair of Marshalls in pursuit. Much as they try to fight it, Teonna and Pete begin to fall in love, ignoring her father’s warnings of attachments formed in times of danger.

In the Season 2 premiere of 1923, Teonna, Pete and Runs His Horse find themselves on the JA Ranch in Texas of all places, having missed Oklahoma completely. When asked about Teonna’s journey in Season 2, Nieves teased that it involves a lot of “running.” “Teonna is asking herself: how does she end all of this? How does she stay for people she cares about?” explained Nieves. In the safety of the Texas valley and the ranchers who mean her and her family no harm, Teonna gives herself permission to “surrender to the realities of the present moment,” according to Nieves.

To regain her strength and move forward, Nieves said that, after her five or six year absence, Teonna must “reestablish who she is as an Apsáalooke person, as a Crow person” by gaining a deeper “understanding of her culture with the help of her father.” By speaking their language with Runs His Horse, Nieves said Teonna will be able to retrieve her “understanding of the ways and traditions of her people that was relegated to the back of her mind by all the trauma that she experienced.”

One of the lights bringing Teonna back from the darkness is Pete and their already deep love for each other. As they consummate their relationship—with Runs His Horse’s blessing—Teonna and Pete bring each other comfort. “He taught her how to trust,” explained Nieves when asked how love has changed Teonna this season. “She didn’t know what that was. It was something she forgot how to do.”

This season, Jeremy Guana is stepping into the role of Pete Plenty Clouds originally played by the late Cole Brings Plenty, known to his friends as “Coco.” Guana, soulful and sensitive, is the perfect actor to honor Brings Plenty’s on-screen legacy. “Being able to sit there with someone who understood Cole as a friend was extremely important,” said Nieves when asked about acting alongside Guana this season. “Coco was like a brother to me. He still is my brother,” explained Nieves. “I’m very grateful to be able to share the screen with someone who loved him as much as I do.”

Nieves couldn’t divulge much about Teonna’s future, but pointed out that Teonna has “a lot going on physically, mentally, spiritually” with her that she will have to heal from. “I really hope that audience members take a moment to sit with Teonna, take in her journey and let it melt into their minds,” said Nieves. Nieves’ powerful performance almost certainly will assure the impact of Teonna Rainwater’s story.