This blog post was written by me, but I’m adding @notawriter32 and @ghostwriterheartie (both on IG) as coauthors because so many of the ideas in here are theirs. We were talking about some of the “Protector Nathan” videos that popped up this week and stumbled into this theory as we were chatting. A lot of people think that Nathan is going to further embrace his role as protector in light of Little Jack’s illness - but we have another theory to posit.
Nathan Grant came to Hope Valley with one purpose - to protect Elizabeth Thornton and her son. Anyone who watches the show knows this purpose is derived from the guilt he feels because his actions and decisions resulted in Jack Thornton taking his place on a training mission that ultimately claimed Jack’s life.
And that purpose has defined who he is for the six seasons he has been on the show, up until the beginning of season 12.
But season 12, in our collective opinion, is about the end of his journey towards dismantling that piece of his identity. And while season 12 is not complete, there are some key pieces of the promos from episode 11 that really shine the light on this idea.
First though, we want to be clear that Nathan will always have the innate desire and need to protect his family when necessary - that’s not what we are talking about here. We are talking about him making it an integral part of the way he views himself and his role in his family’s lives and, most importantly, in his relationship with Elizabeth.
We first see Nathan as Elizabeth’s protector in season 6 - in all honesty, an innocuous piece of the puzzle, as he protects her in the saloon from Amos Dixon, but it is the first time he formally steps into that role.
In season 7, we see him step into the role again, this time however, with a lot of pushback from Elizabeth. During the windstorm, she goes out to help Emily, he finds them both and brings them back to the cabin, only to chastise her for putting herself in danger - despite her finding Emily without incident. When he tells Bill about the exchange, Bill reminds him that Elizabeth is stronger than she looks - a warning very early on that Nathan perhaps should have heeded. They settle their differences, and Nathan acknowledges that she has good instincts.
It is also at this point that Nathan and Elizabeth develop a code that they use throughout the series. “Be Safe” becomes a part of their lexicon after Nathan tells her that the reason he wants her to be safe is because she matters to him. It is then used multiple times over the years, and to the viewer, is their way of telling the other person that they care and love them - all enveloped in the guise of protection.
In season 8, this identity is solidified for the viewer with the Ft. Clay reveal. He specifically states that he came to Hope Valley because he knew Jack had a wife and child and he felt it was his duty to protect them. Elizabeth again bristles against this notion, asking why he would assume that.
And then he reveals a key piece integral to our theory. He felt guilty for falling in love with her because he felt like it betrayed Jack and his memory. It was this feeling of guilt that led him to hold back when it came to Elizabeth at first - that it was a betrayal, that he didn’t deserve to love her because it was his actions that led to Jack’s death. It’s such a heavy feeling at first that he considers taking a promotion and leaving Hope Valley to avoid the crushing weight of it all. It’s a stumbling block that remains in place throughout the series, even as we enter the penultimate episode of season 12.
Through seasons 9 and 10, we see him step into the protector role in much more subtle ways (crediting @Stephanie_heartinmotion here for her Protector video) like taking the plea deal to protect Lucas from jail time (indirectly protecting the life she was trying to build with him), or being the only person to step in and truly question her decision to leave Hope Valley with Lucas as he runs for governor, protecting her purpose.
In season 11, we begin to see this identity get challenged and shaken. First, Elizabeth is confronted with a man from her past that has sexually harassed her. He’s there to comfort her, and then as she reveals the story, you can see his protective instincts build up, and ultimately explode as she reveals that her harasser, Higgins, has been talking to Anna - a child his daughter was friends with. But Elizabeth stops him - he can’t do anything about it, Higgins is sly, he’ll slither out of trouble yet again if Nathan goes after him. Once he has calmed down a bit, he realizes it’s her place to challenge Higgins, she’s the one that has to do it. And he helps her by being by her side and doing what he can within his role as a Mountie. He didn’t protect her from Higgins, he supported her.
Another thing we see in season 11 is how this part of his identity is extended beyond Elizabeth, and is of course expanded to include Allie. It’s likely that his experience in raising a young Allie, and protecting her from the truth of her past, shaped him to be the kind of man that would ask for a reassignment to a small town to protect the family of Jack. But for the viewer, we’ve never really seen overly-protective Uncle Nathan or Allie’s Dad. Nathan learns a valuable lesson in episodes 9 & 10 of season 11, that he cannot protect Allie from the truth about her biological father. She will get hurt - that is a fact he cannot change - and in fact, his “protection” of her hurt her further, because she felt lied to. But, Nathan is given the lesson again that he needs to be there for her, to support her no matter what she’s feeling. And he does so in one of the most breathtaking scenes of season 11.
Even the scene in episode 11 of season 11 on the balcony of the saloon is relevant here. Sure, he’s protecting Elizabeth from “Shaw” but she has to be willing to take that leap too. She has to be brave enough.
Episode 1 of season 12, however, serves to remind the viewer of the stakes here. Nathan is bombarded with mentions of Jack, days after finally kissing Elizabeth for the first time, and the guilt resurfaces, despite Elizabeth’s insistence that he needs to let it go. He begins thinking about how Little Jack will be affected by the news, already planning how to protect Little Jack from getting too hurt by it, feeling like he has to “answer for it.”
However, there is a key moment with Rosemary that we think begins to shift his thinking. “You aren’t giving yourself enough credit.” She points out to him that there is more to him than the protector, that he makes her happy, both of them happy. And after that, he symbolically gives Elizabeth a box to keep Jack’s medal in, literally protecting Jack’s legacy. We all talked about how symbolic it was in the moment, but now we also see it as the first step in letting something else protect Jack’s memory. It’s not all on his shoulders.
The rest of season 12 is a masterpiece in showing how he stands beside her, how he supports her: he’s sitting in the chair listening to her talk about teaching, listening to her vent when she goes on the radio show, even suggesting she go back on the radio to answer the letters of support she received. He watches with delight as she also supports him, bravely stepping into the Diane DiMarco role with gusto to ensure his cover story with Toddy remains in place. He even uses the words “[your husband] worships the ground you walk on” indicating that they are on the ground together, as equals - a very different situation from her relationship with Lucas, who put her on a pedestal. He trusts her, he recognizes her bravery.
This may be an unpopular opinion, but episode 9 of season 12 represents Nathan really accepting that Elizabeth is brave and is capable and is written exactly the way it is to inform the viewer of those facts. First, he tells her matter-of-factly that he’s going out on stakeout. He’s keeping it calm for her, knowing her history, but she’s giving it right back, bravely accepting that this is his job and not giving him cause to worry about her. And when it came to her search for Allie, she has good instincts - he says he trusts them and he does. There is no emotional blow up about her going out to find Allie and Oliver, there is even very little emotional reaction to her being safe, because he has accepted that Elizabeth will do what she needs to protect what’s important to her, and will do so smartly. She doesn't always need his protection.
And in episode 10, he also acknowledges that his innate desire to protect his family, in this case Allie, again may have hurt her - his blow up at McGinty may have spurred the trespassing charges. He takes responsibility and tells Allie and Oliver this, and, this is important, Elizabeth finds his taking responsibility “appealing.” It’s been made clear throughout the series that Elizabeth doesn’t look to him for protection. More often than not, she feels suffocated by it, or ignores it entirely to pursue her problem on her own. Does she appreciate it when he is there for her? Yes, of course, but she doesn’t view him in the role of “protector” in her life. She doesn’t need that from him.
However, he still deep down retains that identity as protector going into episode 11, and it reveals itself as their faith is shaken. “I came to Hope Valley to protect Elizabeth, but this…I feel powerless.” His entire purpose for being in Hope Valley and a key part of himself for the past 6 years has been shattered with one conversation. Because he cannot protect Elizabeth from what’s coming. This is the final lesson, the final bit of healing that Nathan needs to go through in order to truly be with Elizabeth. And Bill is there to help him through it: “Elizabeth Thornton is as brave as they come,” (a reminder of what he already knows), and “Your job is to be there when it counts.” Nathan’s job isn’t to protect Elizabeth. It’s to love her without abandon and accept her unconditional love of him in return.
Something he has never fully allowed himself to do.
The choice Nathan made after Jack’s death was exactly as Rosemary said in season 8, it was noble and selfless for him to uproot his life and come to Hope Valley to protect the family of the man he felt he had traded places with. And he did it well - he’s literally saved her life, but he’s also figuratively saved the life she chose. He made that promise to Jack, and to himself, and to Elizabeth. But that promise was made in the shadows of a tragedy, and has left Nathan feeling like he's sitting in that shadow for a long time.
@notawriter32 shared the following poem with us because she realized how it fit this story:
TO BREAK A PROMISE
Make a place of prayer, no fuss,
just lean into the white brilliance
and say what you needed to say
all along, nothing too much, words
as simple and as yours and as heard
as the bird song above your head
or the river running gently beside you.
Let your words join
one to another
the way stone nestles on stone,
the way water just leaves
and goes to the sea,
the way your promise
breathes and belongs
with every other promise
the world has ever made.
Now, let them go on,
leave your words
to carry their own life
without you, let the promise
go with the river.
Have faith.
Walk away.
from
THE SEA IN YOU: Twenty Poems of Requited and Unrequited Love
© David Whyte and Many Rivers Press
This is what she said about the poem: …promises can have seasons. And there are times when a promise you have made no longer serves you or the person you made it to. And you have to be willing to let it go.
Should the writers be taking us on the journey we have theorized here, Nathan will need to let that promise go. This season has been focused on legacies and promises. Nathan needing to release his promise parallels the Canfield’s story this season, shedding their promise of protecting Angela in order to let her soar. Elizabeth shares her story of a broken promise, ending her engagement with Lucas when it was clear they wanted different things out of life, to help guide Fiona to following her own heart. Even Emily’s story as a budding entrepreneur has shades of it, releasing a promise she made to herself to want to become a teacher so she could be like Elizabeth and feeling embarrassed by the thought of changing her mind. It also is contrasted in Lucas’s storyline where there are promises you must keep - in his case, the need to keep his promise to Lee to create the National Park at all costs in order to maintain their friendship. It is also contrasted in Bill and Rosemary’s storyline, as Bill grapples with keeping his promise to Rosemary in light of reconnecting with Georgie (and maintaining protocol).
It flips the script that I think many Nathan fans have in their heads - that he has been ready and waiting for Elizabeth since season 8. And perhaps he was on the surface - he was waiting for Elizabeth to open her heart to him. Elizabeth has done her work - she’s grieved the loss of Jack and the life she was supposed to have with him, conquered her fears, and accepted Nathan into her heart for who he is, not what he is. But once she opens her heart to who he really is, he’s faced with the reality that identifying as her protector was the way he coped with the guilt over Jack’s death. He avoided actually working through that guilt, likely because this identity as Elizabeth's protector is so wrapped up in his identity as Mountie, but now he has to face it. He has to realize his promise to Jack before he met Elizabeth can no longer stand as he made it, not only because he is more than that promise, but because Elizabeth sees him (and has always seen him) as more than just a promise he made to her late husband.
Once Nathan lets his promise go, he will let go of that piece of his identity, the role of protector to Elizabeth and her son and of Jack’s legacy. He can step out of the shadow, and not feel like he’s replacing Jack. It will allow him to shed the guilt he feels over Jack’s death, and open his heart to love Elizabeth and Little Jack with everything he has, with nothing standing in the way.
Their relationship can no longer be defined by Jack and his death. Nathan and Elizabeth’s relationship has to stand on its own two feet.*
We said in our group chat at the end of episode 1 that this season was going to be about Nathan’s journey - and what a subtle, yet beautiful journey it has been. We can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
*These two sentences render my last blog post null and void and I accept that in the name of the best storytelling this show has ever exhibited.
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