Marion Purges The Raven — The Broken Sun and a Price
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Marion breaks up a violent confrontation in her bar, asserting her authority and clearing the place of patrons.
Marion discovers Indy at the bar and punches him, revealing their strained past relationship.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Remorseful and fatigued; apologetic toward Marion but focused on the pragmatic objective of retrieving the artifact.
Indy sits quietly at the bar, endures Marion's physical blow with wry composure, asks about Abner Ravenwood's collection, negotiates a price for the sun piece, produces and lays down five thousand dollars from a money belt, kisses Marion as a bargaining/connection gesture and leaves.
- • Obtain the specific bronze sun piece needed for his quest.
- • Re-establish a fragile trust with Marion to secure cooperation.
- • Minimize emotional fallout while achieving his mission objective.
- • His quest (and duty) justifies personal and financial cost.
- • Marion, despite bitterness, will ultimately act rationally for money and survival.
- • A personal appeal (kiss, money) can reopen closed doors from the past.
Anger and contempt overlaying sudden, fragile grief — a hard front masking pain and a yearning for control and dignity.
Marion bursts through the back door, angrily clears the bar of patrons, physically confronts and punches Indy, bargains bitterly about her father's collection, accepts five thousand dollars as down payment and later reveals the broken sun medallion by removing her scarf.
- • Assert control over her bar and life after years of being passed over.
- • Convert Indy's need into tangible resources (money) to fund her plan to go to the States in style.
- • Protect and leverage her father's collection (and the medallion) as bargaining power.
- • People like Indy broke her life and cannot be trusted without proof.
- • Money equals power and the only realistic path out of her current life.
- • Displaying vulnerability is dangerous; she must weaponize anger to keep the upper hand.
Hesitant obedience — he wants to obey Marion but shows discomfort in escalating violence; deferential and pragmatic.
Mahdlo responds to Marion's command, comes from behind the bar carrying a large axe handle to intimidate and herd patrons out the door, lays the handle on the bar when Marion tells him to leave, and waits obediently for instructions.
- • Execute Marion's orders to restore order in the saloon.
- • Use physical presence to deter further violence and protect the establishment.
- • Support Marion's authority to keep his livelihood secure.
- • Marion is the legitimate authority in this space and should be obeyed.
- • Physical display of force (axe handle) will quickly clear the crowd.
- • Keeping the saloon intact preserves everyone's income and safety.
Aggressive and ready to fight; prideful and reactive to perceived insult or challenge.
The Sherpa stands as one of the two combatants who rise to violence; his aggressive posture with supporters (gripping ice axes) precipitates Marion's entrance and rapid dispersal of the fight.
- • Defend honor or status against the opposing climber.
- • Intimidate rivals and supporters to maintain group dominance.
- • Maintain reputation among other local patrons.
- • Physical confrontation settles disputes and preserves honor.
- • Backing down equates to loss of face before peers.
- • Weapons at hand are legitimate means to enforce dominance in this setting.
Confrontational and competitive; quick to escalate and protect group pride.
The muscular Australian climber rises to face the Sherpa and supports the brewing brawl with threatening posture and presence of ice-axes; he is intimidated and forced out when Marion intervenes.
- • Win the fight to prove physical superiority.
- • Defend his group's honor against local challengers.
- • Leverage intimidation to maintain social standing in the bar.
- • Physical strength is the primary currency in bar disputes.
- • Backing down jeopardizes reputation with fellow climbers.
- • This foreign outpost tolerates rough justice.
Initially charged and noisy, then chastened and relieved as conflict is shut down; watchful and curious about Marion and Indy.
The mixed crowd reacts to Marion's authoritative entrance — they quickly quiet, are herded out through the front door by Mahdlo and Marion, with grumblers singled out. Their retreat underscores Marion's control and isolates the private exchange between her and Indy.
- • Avoid prolonged involvement or injury from the brawl.
- • Remove themselves from the proprietor's wrath to prevent loss of favor.
- • Preserve personal safety and come back another night.
- • The bar owner's authority is final and must be obeyed.
- • Getting expelled from the saloon is worse than losing a fight.
- • Self-preservation matters more than taking sides in an internal dispute.
Mentioned repeatedly as the deceased father whose collection is the subject of Marion and Indy's negotiation; his death (avalanche) is …
Referenced in Marion's backstory as the previous owner who went 'snow crazy' and legally handed the saloon to Marion, providing …
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
The fireplace anchors a corner where the initial trouble breaks out between the Sherpa and the Climber; it contributes to the bar's heat and atmosphere and frames Marion's dramatic entrance from behind the bar.
Mahdlo carries a hefty wooden axe handle from behind the bar and uses it as an intimidation prop to herd the crowd out the front door; he then lays it on the bar when Marion instructs him to leave. The handle functions as immediate crowd-control and a physical assertion of Marion's authority.
Marion grabs a whiskey bottle from the shelf, pours herself drinks at several emotional beats to steady and mask grief, and uses drinking as a performative cue to punctuate her vindictive lines and to regain composure after the avalanche moment.
Indy sips a clear, fizzy seltzer at the bar, which underscores his steady, controlled demeanor amid the chaos and provides a counterpoint to Marion's heavier liquor. Marion later refills his glass, using the drink as a small, grounding intimacy during negotiations.
Five thousand dollars in crisp American bills is produced by Indy from his money belt and slapped onto the bar as a down payment; Marion sniffs and pockets the cash, using it as both a literal and symbolic test of Indy's commitment and trustworthiness.
Indy removes the money from a money belt beneath his shirt, enabling a discreet but decisive transfer of funds in front of Marion. The belt functions as a practical plot device to make immediate payment believable and plausible.
The broken, sun-shaped gold medallion is the scene's McGuffin: Marion wears it concealed; it is referenced during bargaining and finally revealed physically at scene's end, confirming Marion's custody of a crucial piece needed by Indy and raising the stakes of his quest.
Marion deliberately loosens and removes the scarf draped around her throat at the end of the scene to reveal the broken sun-shaped medallion; the scarf serves as concealment and a theatrical device to transform a private possession into a visible plot clue.
Indy sits on a barstool until Marion punches him, knocking him to the floor; the barstool is used as a physical touchpoint to dramatize Marion's force and Indy's vulnerability at the opening of their exchange.
The huge stuffed raven mounted behind the bar functions as visual anchor and namesake motif for the saloon; it observes the entrance and lends theatrical weight to Marion's proprietorship and the space's identity during the confrontation.
Location Details
Places and their significance in this event
The Raven Saloon is the stage for the entire event: a noisy, transnational frontier bar where local tensions, illicit economies, and personal histories collide. Marion reasserts proprietorial sovereignty here, clearing the crowd and converting a public space into a private negotiation arena with Indy.
The front porch functions as the egress where Marion and Mahdlo expel patrons and warn them not to leave bodies there; it demarcates the public boundary between Marion's maintained interior order and the chaotic street beyond.
The fireplace corner is the hotspot where the Sherpa-Climber dispute ignites; it provides spatial focus for the fight and Marion's dramatic interruption, its heat and shadows amplifying the scene's primal violence and domestic intimacy.
Organizations Involved
Institutional presence and influence
Nepalese Native Patrons represent local regulars whose presence gives the saloon its cultural texture; they are part of the mass Marion clears and whose compliance legitimizes her command.
Sherpa Mountain Guides appear as a represented faction among patrons; one Sherpa escalates to violence, provoking Marion's intervention and demonstrating localized social tensions inside the saloon.
Sleazy International Smugglers and Fugitives populate the saloon as part of the diverse clientele; they form the ambient, opportunistic backdrop whose presence heightens the stakes and realism of Marion's authority and Indy's negotiation.
Mountain Climbers are represented by the Australian combatant and his supporters, serving as the foreign faction whose clash with Sherpas triggers the scene; they embody outsider aggression and resource-driven competition in the bar.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
No narrative connections mapped yet
This event is currently isolated in the narrative graph
Part of Larger Arcs
Key Dialogue
"MARION: That does it! I’ve been patient with you no-goods long enough. I’m not open at 2 o’clock for myself, you know. It’s all for you. And how do you repay me: Trouble and noise and blood on my floor! I won’t have it. Everybody out! Out! Out! We’re closed. Closed! Do your killing outside! And don’t leave any bodies on the porch!"
"INDY: I need one of the pieces your father collected."
"MARION: You want trust, give some. I want to smell your money."