Cowboys & Aliens Ending Explained: Sacrifice & Forgiveness

Summary

• Cowboys and Aliens is a perfect concoction of thrilling action with comedic genius, making for a special watch.
• Ella Swenson is the alien who finally sacrifices her life to save the Earth. She’s also driven by her desire to avenge the death of her species.
• The film ultimately focusses on forgiveness and developing as a human being.

Cowboys & Aliens follows a criminal, Jake Lonergan, who awakens with no memories and a weird bracelet around his wrist. 

From the beginning, it is evident that Jake has done some unspeakable things in life, and many people want to see him jailed. However, when aliens begin killing the people of the Wild West town of Absolution, Jake teams up with Ella Swenson, Colonel Woodrow Dolarhyde, and a native American tribe to defeat the apocalyptic species. 

In the end, Black Knife helps Lonergan regain his memories, and he can locate the ship where he was once held prisoner. 

Finally, they save the people from the alien ship and blow it up, saving the world. 

Although most of the plot is pretty linear and easy to comprehend, some of the minuscule details make the show stand out and can be easily missed by a casual viewer. ‘

In this article, we will discuss those very details and their bearings on the ending. Let’s get started!

1. Ella Swenson’s Sacrifice at the End of Cowboys & Aliens

Initially, Swenson is presumed dead, and her body is thrown into the funeral pyre. However, she emerges from the flames unharmed and reveals that she’s an alien whose race is destroyed by the same species that is tormenting the Earthlings.

Swenson concludes that she disguised as a human to blend in and wants to save the Earth from the nefarious species.

In the final moments, Swenson begs Lonergan to give her the alien bracelet-weapon because she can use it to blow up the alien ship from the inside. She bids a tearful farewell to Lonergan and crawls towards the ship’s heart, where she sets off the explosion. 

The benevolent alien gives up her life to save the Earth from the alien menace. Her compassion for humanity and motivation for revenge pushes her to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Ella approaches Jake several times during the film. Viewers might be tempted to put a stamp of romance on their dynamic, but Ella reveals that she’s interested in Lonergan because of his bracelet.

She is interested in discovering how Lonergan ended up with that bracelet and where the aliens are. Ultimately, she pays the ultimate price to destroy the aliens once and forever.

2. Jake’s past Ruins his Relationship with his Former Gang

Throughout the film, Lonergan meets many hostile people who hate him for unknown reasons. Later, he realizes that the aliens robbed him of his memory when he was kidnapped. The first time Lonergan meets Dolarhyde, the latter informs the former that he stole gold from him.

Stealing gold seems to be a regular activity for former Jake Lonergan. This is important because the film shows Lonergan bringing stolen gold home in a flashback. However, Wills wanted him to return it, but Lonergan insisted on using the gold to start a new life together. 

Amid the fight, aliens invaded their homes, killing Wills and kidnapping Lonergan. This is the reason why Lonergan always blames himself for Wills’ death.

A major theme in Cowboys & Aliens is forgiveness and maturity as a human being. Several characters in the film have wronged each other in heinous ways. Lonergan stole gold from Dolarhyde and many of his former gang members. The protagonist also feels guilty for Wills’ death. Also, the Chiricahua Apache Native Americans blamed the people of Absolution for the alien invasion. 

However, everyone puts their grudges aside and works together to bring down the nefarious alien race. In the end, everyone repents for their crime and is forgiven somehow or the other.

Sheriff John Taggart considers Lonergan legally dead, thus relieving him of criminal charges and helping him start a new life. 

Percy’s relationship with his father takes a turn for the better when Woodrow offers him a position of power in the business. 

This gives the audience a sense of satiation because a full circle is completed for every major character arc, leaving us fulfilled from within.

3. About Cowboys & Aliens

Cowboys & Aliens is a 2011 American science fiction Western action film directed by Jon Favreau and starring Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer.

The film is based on the 2006 Platinum Studios graphic novel of the same name created by Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. The plot revolves around an amnesiac outlaw (Craig), a wealthy cattleman (Ford), and a mysterious traveler (Wilde) who must ally to save a group of townspeople abducted by aliens.

The screenplay was written by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby, based on a screen story by the latter two along with Steve Oedekerk. The film was produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Kurtzman, Orci, and Rosenberg, with Steven Spielberg and Favreau serving as executive producers.