Territory ending explained: Who is the killer of Daniel Lawson?

Territory is an Australian drama series created by Timothy Lee and Ben Davies. Based on a contemporary Western theme, it revolves around family politics within the largest cattle station in the world. Directed by Australian filmmaker Greg McLean, the story of Territory revolves around the fate of the Lawson family after Daniel Lawson, the estate in charge, meets an unexpected death.

A worthy Australian counterpart of Paramount's hit series Yellowstone, this Netflix exclusive was released with six episodes on October 24, 2024. Territory ensembles a cast of talented actors, including Robert Taylor, Sam Corlett, Anna Torv, Jay Ryan, Sara Wiseman, Michael Dorman, Philippa Northeast, Dan Wyllie, Hamilton Morris, Kylan Day, and Sam Delich.

At the end of Territory, after the war has ended, Colin reconciles with his older son and his wife, Emily. He hands over the keys to her, but right at that time, Elton makes his appearance with Daniel's wounded horse. He drops two bullet shells in Colin's hands, which reveals that Emily is the killer of Daniel.

Spoiler warning: This article contains major spoilers on the episodes of Territory. Reader discretion is advised.

What is the heritage of the Lawson family in Territory ?

Located in the region of Northern Australia, Marianne Station is the largest cattle station in the entire world. The station has been under the ownership of the Lawson family since the late nineteenth century. In the contemporary period, Daniel Lawson was the fifth generation in charge of maintaining the entire station.

The station is sprawled across the area, which can be compared to the size of Belgium. With such a large estate to handle comes its numerous internal and external struggles, with power dynamics working their way. According to the family rules, Daniel's elder brother Graham was the rightful heir of the station.

But their father, Colin Lawson, had an unjust bias for his younger son, which first gave rise to a tussle in the family. Graham additionally has been struggling with alcoholism and shares a strained relationship with his wife Emily. This is because her mother's family and brother Hank had been stealing cattle from their station for a long time.

Lawson's family relations start to face tensity after the death of Daniel Lawson

At the beginning of Territory, news arrives about Daniel's death. The news dictates that near the northern escarpment of the Lawson land, Daniel fell from his horse, injuring himself, and was eaten by a pack of wild Dingos.

After his death, tension starts to arise inside the family about who will get the throne—the future in-charge of the estate. Additionally, the Marianne estate has been drowning in debt, with competitors roaming like vultures, waiting to feed on its downfall. Colin detests handing the leadership to either Graham or his wife Emily.

The viewers are introduced to Graham's son from his previous marriage, Marshall Lawson, who left home to pursue a nomadic lifestyle with his friends Rich and Sharnie. Marshall's friends are shocked to learn about his secret identity, and the three make a visit to the estate. Graham and Emily's daughter Susie also comes back from her agricultural college and seems to be interested in running the family business.

Campbell Miller, who is also Emily's ex-boyfriend, seems to be interested in buying the estate, along with Sandra Kirby, who became a billionaire after a goldmine was discovered in their land. During the funeral, Colin gets into a scuffle with Hank after learning that they have been stealing cattle from the estate. Colin announces Marshall to be the future owner of the estate, much to the dismay of the other family members.

Graham feels dejected by the endless despise and refusal from his father, while Emily wants her daughter Susie to share her rightful part of the estate. Marshall is fed off by family politics and denies taking ownership. He runs away back again with his friends, stealing a couple of quad bikes. But his friend Rich is swayed by immense wealth and wants to use Marshall's family name to get some profit.

Territory brings the discrimination against the Aboriginals into context

Uncle Bryce in Territory (Image via Netflix)

In Territory, amidst all the family disputes of the Lawson family, the story proceeds to showcase the true owners of the land. Though the Lawson family owns the estate, the rightful owners of the land are the indigenous communities.

Though the Lawsons acknowledge the ancestral claim of the Aboriginals, they don't allow the natives to have free access to the land. Territory reveals a sacred place for the natives, which is one of the primary reasons behind their strained relationship with the Lawsons. Located in the Northern Plateau, the sacred place is near where Daniel died.

Territory goes on to introduce the character of Nolan, who is half-aboriginal but is not accepted by the community because of his mixed heritage. Sandra offers him to build his own estate in exchange for his coastline land area, where she plans to build a port. After having more clashes with the community, he accepts Sandra's proposal, much to the dismay of the community's chief, Uncle Bryce.

Here representing the condition of the Natives, Territory establishes a symbolism of how neo-colonialism takes advantage of the victims of consumerism. In exchange for Suzie to get her rightful share, Emily accepts Colin's offer to bring Marshall back to the family. It is also revealed that Emily still has a secret affair with Campbell.

Campbell plans to buy the station along with reconciling with Emily. Sandra, knowing Emily's plans, offers her a stake in the estate if she helps her achieve ownership, which she denies. Meanwhile, Marshall is facing his own problems, as his relationship with Rich gets more fragile with his growing intimacy with Sharnie.

While he and Sharnie visit the sacred site, they are attacked by Colin's thugs, leaving Sharnie with grave injuries. Emily rescues Marshall and manages to bring him back to the family. As the story proceeds in Territory, viewers get to know about the growing intimacy between Susie and Sandra's son, Lachie. But the strains between the family soon prompt Susie to leave him.

Territory brings Graham's life to a new turn when he decides to stand for election to become the next president of the Cattleman's Federation. This earns his father's approval, but he is soon lured by Sandra into addiction. He misses the election date, leading Campbell to win the position.

Colin beats up Graham, breaking their ties back again. Guilty and desperate, he makes a fatal attack on Hank, almost killing him, which sends him into prison. Emily also goes on to abandon him finally.

Territory reveals that Emily was the reason behind Daniel Lawson's death

As the story of Territory rolls towards its end, viewers are provided with the true story behind Daniel's death. It is revealed that he had plans to sell the entire estate to Sandra and push them all out of the way. When Emily confronts Daniel about this, he mocks her family heritage and threatens to put them in a more miserable condition.

A brawl takes place between them, and Emily shoots Daniel's horse. This leads him to fall from the horse and break his leg. She leaves him in the middle of nowhere to be torn apart by the wild Dingos. A native named Elton had witnessed it all and threatened Emily to keep Sandra away from their sacred site; otherwise, he'd expose her secret.

While serving incarceration, Graham hits rock bottom but still manages to stay sober. After his bail, realizing his brother's betrayal, he takes the initiative to bring the entire family back together. But another trouble knocks on their door when Lachie persists in reuniting with Susie. This leads to a tussle between him and Marshall, but the fight unleashes a bull in the vicinity that kills Susie.

This breaks Emily from deep inside, and she leaves the station. It is revealed that Sandra plans to dump radioactive waste into the estate, which will kill all its cattle. Additionally, her plan of constructing the road involves blowing off the sacred site, which leads the natives to rebel against her.

Meanwhile, Uncle Bryce convinces Colin to give the rightful land of the natives back to them. The Lawsons and the Natives finally reunite, while Sandra joins hands with the Millers to form a resistance against their rivals. During the fight between the natives and the capitalists, Campbell blows the sacred site, which results in furious resistance.

Campbell is almost beaten to death, but Nolan decides to spare his life. Sandra, realizing she is in grave danger, flees the country. At this point, Rich comes back, showing his true face by taking Marshall as a hostage. He threatens Colin to hand over the keys to their safe, but the grandfather and grandson manage to overpower him.

Colin regains his trust in his family and decides to hand over the keys to the house to Emily, who has reconciled with Graham. Territory provides a faint hope to end on a positive note until Elton arrives at the scene with Daniel's horse and two bullet shells. The hopeful family reunion goes astray when Colin realizes that Daniel was killed, and the season ends.

This leaves Territory open for a potential second season, which would likely focus on Colin learning of Emily's role in his son's death and the possibility of the Lawson family reuniting.

Territory is available for streaming on Netflix. Check our other articles for recommendations on more Western movies.

Edited by Somava