Abusive Parents: Hector Webb is emotionally cold and distant from his daughter even before the attack, and when she catches a few boys peeping on her, rather than comfort her, he blames her for it and claims that she has the same devil that killed her mother. When she arrives home clearly assaulted, bruised and scared, he forbids her to tell anyone what happened and all but blames her for it again.
All Men Are Perverts: What Mrs. Oleson thinks when she is made aware that her son, Willie — along with Albert and several of the other boys — are peeping in on Sylvia. Nels and Charles both tell her to relax, that there's no harm, no foul in boys being naturally curious. Even school teacher Laura asserts that it's no big deal.
Armor-Piercing Response: Albert and Charles get into a heated argument when Albert announces his intention to marry the pregnant Sylvia, dropping out of school and getting a job to do so. Charles has a long list of reasons as to why this would be a horrible idea on Albert's part, including the suggestion that Albert couldn't possibly love Sylvia's baby (the issue of another man's violent rape) like he would his own. Albert fires back with "Well then you LIED to me, Pa! You always told me that you loved me like I was your own. Well, did you?" All an exasperated Charles can do is weakly mumble to Caroline to "try to talk some sense into the boy".
Bait the Dog: Albert seeks a job with blacksmith Irv Hartwig, who accepts him, and when the former tries to take money from his boss to elope with Sylvia, Hartwig lets Albert have $80 and promises him a pair of horses, but asks about Sylvia's whereabouts. It turns out that he is the rapist and it was all part of his plans to find his victim and rape her a second time, culminating in the climatic scene where poor Sylvia suffers a fatal accident.
Break the Cutie: Let's see – the boys all sexually harassing her at school because she's got a mature body for her young age; she's almost kicked out of school on the insistence of Mrs. Oleson (but everyone else shoots down her motion); her father – a widowed, weary alcoholic – is emotionally cold and distant with her; she's stalked by a rapist who horrifyingly violates her; her father is very hard on her after she reveals she's been raped, even to the point of calling her a whore who somehow deserved what she got; she's scandalized when Mrs. Oleson finds out she's pregnant (and to boot, she somehow deduces, without proof, that Albert is the father) … and she's still stalked by the rapist, who ends up causing her death. Yep, that pretty much summarizes the sad, sordid story of one Sylvia Webb.
Kill the Cutie: In the final scene, where Sylvia falls to her death after being chased up a rickety ladder by the rapist.
Cartwright Curse: Sylvia – the name of the episode, her falling in love with Albert and the foreshadowing throughout make it clear she isn't going to survive the end of this episode.
Child by Rape: How Sylvia actually became pregnant, and what Caroline makes Albert understand is that this child was not born out of love but of a sickening, sadistic act by a monster, and that he needs to think of how Sylvia must feel about being a mother and bearing a child by this horrible act. Word of God has it that Mrs. Oleson - who had earlier spread vicious gossip about how the child was the result of Albert and Sylvia fooling around and getting it on in the sack – is made to eventually realize the truth.
Albert and the rest of the Ingalls family are outraged that so many of the townsfolk believe the gossip that he is the father of Sylvia's baby. They would have more of a leg to stand on if he hadn't gone out of his way to insist on corroborating the rumor as soon as he learned of its existence.
Dr. Baker contacts Mr. Webb about his daughter's pregnancy through telephone and, despite knowing that the switchboard is operated by an unabashed gossip who already eavesdropped previous conversations, decides to mention the news on the phone line rather than discuss it on private. Mrs. Oleson eavesdroppes and spreads the news.
After losing his head upon learning that Albert and Sylvia were spending time together against his orders, Hector bursts into the Ingalls home with his rifle drawn and threatens to kill Albert if he doesn't tell the truth about Sylvia's pregnancy, only to be physically overpowered by Charles and ultimately learn that Albert had nothing to do with his daughter's condition
Died in Your Arms Tonight: Albert holds Sylvia as she briefly regains consciousness to whisper her love for him … and as she finally loses consciousness for the last time (and dies shortly afterward).
Downer Ending: Sylvia dies from the injures sustained from a fall off the ladder after trying to escape her rapist. Albert will probably be scarred for a long time after losing his girlfriend so tragically, her father, who had started seeing his errors, will never be able to make amends with her and the town will be haunted by the fact that a monster walked among them.
Fainting: One afternoon, when Laura keeps her after school to perhaps talk about her life and see what's bugging her lately, Sylvia faints ... and this will lead to Dr. Baker's examination and realization that she's pregnant.
Go Out with a Smile: Albert and Sylvia kiss, and Sylvia smiles at Albert shortly just seconds before her death.
Gossip Evolution: Mrs. Oleson finds out about Sylvia's pregnancy when she overhears a private conversation between Doc Baker and Mr. Webb, and proceeds to spread the information around town ... after adding her own embellishment that Albert is the father. Albert hears of the rumor's existence when he is given the opportunity to deny it to the school board, which he refuses to do; he then goes around town telling everyone who will listen that it's true. It becomes hard to blame anyone, including Mrs. Oleson, for continuing to believe a rumor when its victim confirms it himself.
Heel–Face Turn: Once Albert swears to god that he isn't the father, Hector Webb breaks down crying in both grief realizing who really impregnated Sylvia and remorse he almost killed an innocent child. For the rest of the episode he acts like a genuinely good father working with Albert to find Sylvia, shooting Irv Hartwig, and lets her spend her last moments alive with Albert so she can die happy.
Last Kiss: Albert and Sylvia kiss for the last time, then Sylvia smiles at Albert shortly just seconds before her death.
Let Them Die Happy: In her final moments, Sylvia hears Albert say that they'll be allowed to marry, which he's only saying her to let her die happy.
Malicious Slander: Mrs. Oleson eavesdroppes on a phone a conversation between Doc Baker and Mr. Webb about Sylvia being pregnant, and immediatly jumps to conclusions about Albert being the father, which she spreads throughout the town.
My God, What Have I Done?: Hector, after Albert swears to God that he wasn't the one who got his daughter pregnant, and realizes that Sylvia wasn't being a "whore", but was brutally raped by someone.
Pædo Hunt: The series' bible has it that Irv Hartwig (the masked clown rapist) was a child predator, preferring young teen-aged girls who have either developed early or are going through puberty. A respected town blacksmith (and well aware that reliable DNA testing methods were non-existent) he used his outfit to search for victims, stalk them and then carry out his crimes.
Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: The clown-masked rapist, who stalks and eventually rapes Sylvia (and, it is implied by at least one series bible, many other young teen-age girls having entered maturity). Also, what Caroline makes Albert realize what Sylvia went through and is likely still going through.
Remember the New Guy?: Irv Hartwig was never seen before this episode, but has been living in the town long enough to establish his business and become a respected member of the community. Justified since the rapist needed to be someone the town trusted (to drive home the point that a rapist can look like anybody) and the producers likely didn’t want the fans upset that an established character turned out to be a monster.
Restrained Revenge: When Caroline learns that Harriet spread rumors about Albert allegedly being the one who got Sylvia pregnant, she confronts Harriet in the restaurant kitchen, telling her that she's going to go to church on Sunday and ask God's forgiveness for what she's about to do, then pushes a pile of dough in Harriet's face, adding "But to tell you the truth, I think the good Lord would've done the same thing!".
Slut-Shaming: Sylvia is on the receiving end of this on two occasions: first when a reunion is caught to discuss the boys peeping on Sylvia, and Mrs. Oleson accuses the girl of flirting with them and provoking their attention. Then when gossip about her pregnancy being a result of fooling around with Albert, and she's refered to as a "tramp" when Albert confronts them, and finally, when her own father says he "can't believe a whore!".
Teen Pregnancy: 14-year-old Sylvia gets pregnant, albeit not by choice.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Speculation abounds as to what happened to the rapist – it's the town blacksmith, Irv Hartwig, hiding behind a clown mask and wearing a black suit to conceal his double life – after the final confrontation in the ramshackle barn. Shortly after Sylvia had fallen off the ladder, Hartwig tried to rape her unconscious body when Mr. Webb shot him; the rapist had appeared to be fatally wounded but (after a short cutaway where Albert realizes Sylvia is badly hurt) viewers quickly find him nowhere in sight, leaving only his clown mask behind. The trope kicks into gear with fans speculating what became of Hartwig; theories range from his eventual death due to blood loss, to an escape to Mexico, to even eventually being arrested in another town, tried, convicted and put to death for his crimes. Other fans, meantime, have stated that Hartwig was killed right then and there, but was not seen on-screen after being shot.
Word of God has it that Mrs. Oleson - who had earlier spread vicious gossip about how the child was the result of Albert and Sylvia fooling around and getting it on in the sack – is made to eventually realize the truth.