Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Sunday's episode of "Preacher."
The opening scene from this week's "Preacher" is a jarring non-sequitur that takes place in 1881. It's a grim, but captivating self-contained story of a soldier in the Old West, somehow connected to events in modern day Annville, Texas. It was probably confusing for newcomers, but for fans of the comics it was a welcome sight and indication that a fan-favorite would eventually make his way to the show.
Let's break down what happened:
Key to understanding the flashback scene is realizing that we're actually seeing the before and after of a huge transformation for the mysterious soldier. The episode begins showing his time with his sick wife and daughter before showing another sequence with dead men hanging from a tree in Ratwater, Texas.
While it may not be clear in the episode, that first scene occurs years ahead of the other one.
So who is this hardened killer and what happened to him?
The unnamed man from the flashback is the Saint of Killers. In the comics, he's an unstoppable marksman of limitless power. He was a human, but was so full of hate and so good at killing that, after dying, he was resurrected as the Angel of Death.
He's a major part of the "Preacher" comics, but his origins weren't explored in depth until the "Saint of Killers" spin-off comics. There, we learn he once had a wife and daughter but lost both to fever during the trek to retrieve medicine that we saw in the opening scene.
During this journey, he was stopped in Ratwater by a gang of thugs. He escapes them, but the time lost proved fatal: his wife and daughter both died while he was held up fighting off the thugs.
He would return to Ratwater twice. The first time he returned as a human trying to avenge his family. His plan failed and he was killed by the leader of the Ratwater thugs.
An unrepentant murderer in life, he was sent to Hell. But Satan and the retiring Angel of Death marveled at his talent for killing. In exchange for the chance for vengeance, the gunslinger sold his soul to Hell and was returned to Earth as the Angel of Death.
His first stop: Ratwater, TX.
He turned Ratwater into a ghost town, killing everyone — the thugs, bystanders, even the women and children. Vengeance was finally his.
The opening scene shows us the bookends of the mysterious soldier's story. We'll undoubtedly see the legendary character again and it'll be interesting to see how they tie these 130-year-old events into the current narrative of Jesse, Cassidy, and Tulip. The Saint of Killers is a legend and one comic fans have wanted to see brought to life for years.
