In the third season, as Branch recovers from being shot, he comes to believe he was shot by David Ridges, a Cheyenne who was thought to have committed suicide and been cremated.Walt and the others do not believe him, and he begins his own investigation.

Walt refuses to rule Branch's death a suicide after he finds soil in the shotgun shell.Branch has also entered the election, to unseat Longmire, and he is secretly dating Cady.