What Happened In The Yellowstone Finale?

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Here's the fate of the Dutton family

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Paramount+’s most successful series to date, Yellowstone, has drawn to an explosive ending – but it’s not the end for Taylor Sheridan’s beloved universe. Here’s the Yellowstone ending explained – plus what will happen next.

(Paramount)

Yellowstone Season 5 Ending Explained

There’s an enemy in each season of Yellowstone, each vying for the Dutton family’s vast swathes of land. In season 5, however, this conflict turns within. While patriarch John Dutton III (Kevin Costner) is the new governor of Montana, his focus is to keep his land out of the hands of interlopers and businesses – but son Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) and girlfriend Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) have different plans, plotting to sell off the family land to developers looking to build housing and an airport. To achieve this, Sarah hires a clandestine agency to kill John and make it look like a suicide (solving the Kevin Costner issue) behind Jamie’s back.

John’s remaining children, Beth (Kelly Riley) and Kayce (Luke Grimes), are the ones to find the patriarch’s body – and Beth immediately points the finger at Jamie. The siblings wage war against their brother, but they’re left in a sticky situation: sell the land and succumb to Jamie and Sarah’s plans, or buckle under the weight of massive inheritance tax now their father is dead?

Either way, it’s war. Yellowstone season 5 jumps between the present and flashbacks six weeks prior to showcase what happened to John. By episode 3 of season 5B (the season’s 11th episode overall), Sarah is in the firing line: while Kayce reopens the case regarding his father’s death, uncovering new evidence, Sarah begins to panic. She fights with Jamie, before leaving in her car – where she is killed by assassins.

This all sets us up for the finale, when John’s funeral finally takes place. Throughout Yellowstone season 5B, Beth has reiterated that she will avenge her father’s death, threatening brother Jamie specifically. At the funeral, she repeats the sentiment – and just after, she upholds her promise. She gathers some weapons and heads to Jamie’s house, where the duo engage in a bloody fight. Just as it seems Jamie might overpower his sister and win, Beth’s husband Rip (Cole Hauser) arrives to level the playing field – and Beth stabs Jamie to death.

With Jamie dead, Rip and Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) hide his body in the chasm, set his car on fire and rearrange the scene to make it look like Jamie attacked Beth before fleeing the scene.

Meanwhile, Kayce has set to work selling the ranch: to Chief Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) and the Broken Rock Reservation, who are the only buyers who won’t transform it with concrete and condos. After centuries of strife, the Duttons sell the land back to the Native Americans for just $1.25 per acre – the same price the first Dutton paid for the land when they he purchased it from the people who stole it from the Natives in 1883. Kayce asks Rainwater to look after the generations of Duttons buried on the land, and he happily obliges. When Native children start pushing down the grave markers in protest, Mo (Moses Brings Plenty) chastises them, reminding them that the Duttons lived and died protecting this land. He goes to restore the first marker to its upright position: the grave of 1883’s tragic heroine, Elsa Dutton (Isabel May). In a voice over, Elsa reminds us of the prophecy in 1883: the tribes would reclaim the land from the Duttons in seven generations. Like clockwork, this is what happened.

As part of the deal, Kaycee and his family are allowed to keep a 5,000 acre plot on the old side of the valley where they settle down and become cattle ranchers. Beth and Rip, however, head out, relocating to west Texas – presumably setting them up for a new life, which will be the subject of a sequel series. We also see Teeter (Jennifer Landon) heading to the 6666 ranch to join Jimmy (Jefferson White), another possible spin off. Ryan, however, leaves ranching behind, reuniting with ex-girlfriend Abby (Lainey Wilson).

(Paramount)

What Next?

The titular Yellowstone ranch has not just been subject to Yellowstone, but prequels 1883 and 1923, too, all tracing the family’s long-surviving grip on the land. However, the season 5B finale saw the end of the Dutton family’s place here, and we already know a season 6 isn’t on the cards. So what next?

Fans can rest assured Taylor Sheridan’s universe is going nowhere soon, with multiple sequel series in the works. The latest is a rumoured spin off centring on Beth and Rip’s new life on their new ranch, which we see them settling down on in the season 5B finale. Meanwhile, the rumoured 6666 spin-off may also have been teased in Yellowstone’s final moments, with Teeter heading to the famed and historic Four Sixes ranch to join Jimmy, who ventured there in season 4.

The furthest sequel along its development journey, however, is The Madison, centring on a New York City matriarch (Michelle Pfeiffer) who relocates to central Montana with her family. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Yellowstone executive producer Christina Voros confirmed this. ‘The team that I’ve been working with has moved from Yellowstone into The Madison,’ Voros said. ‘So I know that new show is happening and Taylor is excited about writing it.’ Filming reportedly commenced in August 2024 in Montana. Intriguingly, no rumoured characters from The Madison appeared in the Yellowstone finale, so no hints from Sheridan and co as to what might happen.

Harrison Ford as Jacob Dutton and Helen Mirren as Cara Dutton in 1923 streaming on Paramount+ 2022. © James Minchin III/Paramount+

Any More Prequels?

Yes, a second season of the beloved prequel 1923 is set to air in 2025 – beginning on 23 February 2025, to be precise. Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren will reprise their roles as Jacob and Cara respectively, returning to a Montana plagued by drought, pandemics and the Prohibition. Before you get ahead of yourself: this will be the second and final season of 1923.

Which leads us to the next rumour: 1944 – another prequel reportedly delving into the lives of Jacob and Cara’s children and their lives on the Yellowstone ranch. No confirmations just yet as to whether this one is going ahead, but if it gets the greenlight it will be backdropped by World War II as Spencer and Alexandra and Jack and Elizabeth raise the next generation of Duttons.