The YellowstoneSeries Finale has come and gone, and while a number of fans have been outraged at the final season, arguing that it was rushed, it was lazy, there was too much dead space and too much Travis, it really did bring the show full circle.
By the time viewers got around to the finale, I think most of us knew how it was going to go. In the series finale of the first prequel series, 1883,a Native American elder named Spotted Eagle offers land in Montana's Paradise Valley, for Tim McGraw's character, James Dutton, to bury his daughter and build their home. However, he says his people will take it back in 7 generations... an Tim says "in 7 generations, you can have it."
Knowing that, and knowing the massive tax burden the Duttons were facing, plus Kayce's connection to the people of the Broken Rock Reservation through his wife Monica, it all made sense that the land would return to the Native Americans.
However... here's the kicker, Taylor Sheridan revealed it all in the 3rd episode of the entire show, titled "No Good Horses."
Chief Thomas Rainwater is in jail for stealing cattle from John Dutton after the first episode in the entire series kicks off with a fight between the Yellowstone and the Reservation. It ends in the death of Lee Dutton, as well as Monica's brother.
Donning an orange jumpsuit, Rainwater tells John Dutton (Kevin Costner) that it was never about the cattle, and that he was going to own the land again:
"This was never about cattle, John. It's about you, and everyone like you. After I interned at Emerson I worked for Merrill Lynch in mergers and acquisitions. I figure it will take about 14 billion to buy it all... The Valley.I'm going to buy your ranch first, right after you die and your children can't afford the inheritance tax. And then I'm going to pull down every fence, and every evidence that your family ever existed will be removed from the property. It will look like it used to, when it was ours. I will erase you from the future. And then I'll do it to the next ranch, and the next, and there's nothing you can do to stop it. I'm the opposite of progress John, I am the past catching up with you."
Pretty wild, eh?
Of course, it didn't quite cost 14 billion. The Duttons essentially gave it to them for free with a price of $1.25 an acre (fulfilling the 1883 agreement). And we all saw Mo go off on the people who were knocking down the gravestones so Rainwater isn't going to remove their legacy from the land like initially threatened.
We saw a more hospitable transfer of the land, but it just goes to prove once again that Taylor Sheridan always had that ending in mind, and was working towards it from the very beginning.
Check out the full clip:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LEVlPmEYVE
James Dutton
The original patriarch of the Dutton Family, James (Tim McGraw) was a farmer from Tennessee who took his family out west in search of a new life. The husband of Margaret Dutton and father of Elsa, John and Spencer, he chose to establish the modern day Dutton Ranch where his daughter Elsa passed away.
Margaret Dutton
The original matriarch of the Dutton Family, Margaret (Faith Hill) is married to James Dutton and the mother of Elsa, John and Spencer Dutton.
Elsa Dutton
Elsa (Isabel May) was the eldest child of James and Margaret Dutton. She also serves as the narrator of both 1883 and 1923. She was going to marry a cowboy named Ennis, however, he was killed on the journey West. She vowed to return to a Comanche warrior named Sam once her family reached its destination, however she was killed in an attack on the wagon train. The Dutton Ranch property was established where she died, and she was the first to be buried there.
John Dutton
John Dutton (Audie Rick in 1883, James Badge Dale in 1923) is the son of James and Margaret Dutton, brother to Elsa and Spencer. He was just a young boy during the events of 1883, however in 1923, he works alongside his uncle Jacob on the Dutton Ranch. He is married to Emma Dutton, and they have at least one son, Jack. John is tragically killed (in 1923) during an attack from Banner Creighton and his men.
Claire Dutton
Claire (Dawn Olivieri) is James Dutton’s sister, who joins the journey west with her daughter Mary Abel. A widow, she kills herself once her daughter is killed on the trail.
1923
Jacob Dutton
Jacob (Harrison Ford) is the brother of James Dutton, who becomes the leader of the family once James passes away. He and his wife, Cara Dutton, work to run the ranch with their nephews, John and Spencer, and John's son Jack.
Cara Dutton
Cara (Helen Mirren) is the wife of Jacob Dutton. A hard-nosed Irish immigrant, she becomes the matriarch of the Dutton family in 1923, following the passing of Margaret and James.
Emma Dutton
Emma (Marley Shelton) is the wife of John Dutton Sr. and the mother of Jack Dutton. Perhaps even more tragically, she kills herself following the death of her husband John.
Spencer Dutton
Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) is the second son of James and Margaret Dutton. Born after the Duttons settled in Montana (and the death of his sister, Elsa), Spencer is a WWI vet who spends time hunting in Africa before returning back to Montana to work the ranch.
Jack Dutton
Jack (Darren Mann) works on the Dutton Ranch alongside his father, John Dutton Sr. and great-uncle, Jacob Dutton. He is engaged to Elizabeth Strafford, the daughter of another notable rancher.
Here's the one part of the family tree we are still unsure about... the line runs through Jack and Emma, or it runs through Spencer and Alex.... that's the one missing piece of this puzzle.
My suspicion is that Jack may be the father of John Dutton II since the "II" title is generally used when the child is named after another relative, not the father. My initial guess was that John Dutton won't survive 1923 (and he didn't), and Jack will name his first born son after his late father... John Dutton II. Elizabeth gets pregnant in the first season of 1923, although she sadly miscarries.
That being said, I maintain my hunch that the line runs through Jack and that they'll get pregnant in again in Season 2.
Elizabeth Strafford-Dutton
Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) is Jack's fiancée. The two end up postponing their wedding briefly, but are planning on marrying very soon.
Alexandra Dutton
An extremely wealthy English socialite, she leaves her fiancé, the the son of the Earl of Sussex, in Africa and runs away with Spencer Dutton. The pair are married at sea on their way back to Montana, and could be the couple where the Dutton line runs through. Alex was sea sick on the boat, but could it be morning sickness? I suppose it is possible but like I said above, my hunch is still Jack. Or possibly the line goes through Spencer but the child raised by Jack after Spencer dies? There's a million ways it could go, but we know some of the Duttons won't survive the second season.
Yellowstone
John Dutton III
The modern day leader of the Dutton family and the current Governor of Montana. He is the father of Lee Dutton, Beth Dutton and Kayce Dutton, and the adoptive father of Jamie Dutton.
Evelyn Dutton
Evelyn (Gretchen Mol) is the wife of John Dutton III who passed away in a horseback riding accident when her children were young. She is the mother of Lee, Beth and Kayce Dutton.
Lee Dutton
Lee (Dave Annable) is the oldest son of John and Evelyn Dutton. The heir to the Dutton Ranch, Lee was killed by Robert Long (Monica's brother) after an argument broke out over stolen cattle.
Beth Dutton
Beth (Kelly Reilly) is the daughter of John Dutton III and wife of Rip Wheeler, her father's ranch foreman and right-hand man. Unable to have children of her own, her and Rip have taken in teenage Carter.
Rip Wheeler
Rip (Cole Hauser) is the Yellowstone foreman and right-hand man of John Dutton III. He came to the Dutton Ranch as an orphaned teenager after he killed his own father (who killed his mother and brother). Teenage sweethearts, he eventually marries John's daughter, Beth Dutton.
Kayce Dutton
Kayce (Luke Grimes) is the youngest of the Dutton siblings, and a former Navy SEAL. He's married to Monica Dutton and the father of Tate Dutton and John Dutton IV (deceased).
Monica Dutton
Monica (Kelsea Asbille) was raised on the Broken Rock Reservation. She is married to Kayce Dutton and the mother of Tate Dutton and John Dutton IV.
Tate Dutton
Tate (Brecken Merrill) is the oldest son of Kayce and Monica Dutton, the eldest of the 7th generation of Duttons.
John Dutton IV
John Dutton IV is the second son of Kayce and Monica Dutton, who tragically only lived a few hours following complications from an early birth and a car accident.
Jamie Dutton
Jamie (Wes Bentley) is the adopted son of John Dutton III and the black sheep of the Dutton family.
Christina
Christina is Jamie's ex assistant and the mother of his child.
James Dutton Jr.
The son of Jamie Dutton and his ex-girlfriend Christina, Jamie finds out he has a son after the birth.
We'll find out how it all shakes out in the second season of 1923, which is set to premiere on February 23rd on Paramount+.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NTnA_zH2QM&pp=ygUNc2Vhc29uIDIgMTkyMw%3D%3D
