With only the back half of Season 5 to go, the Paramount Network’s Yellowstone is about to come to an end. As Kevin Costner’s impending exit looms over the final batch of episodes (which have yet to be released), Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western world is primed to continue on without its patriarch. With a sequel series in development, and multiple prequels still underway, the Yellowstone Universe isn’t ending any time soon, and it continues to look back at the past before pressing on to the future. Naturally, Season 5 isn’t any different.
With prequels such as 1883 and 1923 setting the stage for the end of the flagship series, the stories of the early Duttons can teach us a lot about where this not-so-merry band of ranchers comes from. Sometimes frustratingly, Season 4 often flashed back to the early years of the Dutton’s time on the land, while Season 5 continues the tradition of looking to the past, albeit a bit differently. Instead of direct flashbacks to the 1883 band of Duttons, the show has taken a more subtle approach, highlighting the sacrifices made by John’s ancestors.
That Small Detail You Missed in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5
In the sixth episode of Season 5, titled “Cigarettes, Whiskey, a Meadow and You,” John Dutton’s latest squeeze Summer Higgins (Piper Perabo) finds herself exploring the Dutton Ranch. While wandering off, she stumbles upon the Dutton family cemetery, which houses all the Duttons of times past. Here, she kneels down beside a “J. Dutton,” whose name can’t be clearly made out. But upon Monica’s (Kelsey Asbille) arrival, we see that the three graves she kneels beside are for James (Tim McGraw), Margaret (Faith Hill), and Elsa Dutton (Isabel May).
Unsure who these people were, Summer asks Monica about the Dutton’s family history. “I don’t know, the first one, I think,” she replies, reiterating that her people were there long before the Duttons ever set foot in Montana. But the Duttons do have a rich history with the land, one that expands at least seven generations and over the course of 140 years. The present-day Duttons only reap the benefits of the harvest first initiated by their forefathers, and Yellowstone doesn’t let you forget it.
The scene doesn’t go on much longer after that. Summer explains that she’s not even sure why she wandered there after accidentally bringing up the memory of Monica’s dead infant son John Dutton IV, who is also buried there. Monica relays to her that, if she wants to get to know John Dutton (Costner’s version, obviously) better, then she’s standing exactly where she should be. John, of course, cares deeply about his family history and the legacy that he’ll leave upon his death, which only further proves Monica’s point.
Who are James, Margaret, and Elsa Dutton in ‘Yellowstone: 1883’?
But to understand where the Duttons are now, one must first understand where their family has been. As shown in the prequel series 1883, James, Margaret, and their children travel from Fort Worth, Texas all the way to Montana to start a new life. It’s not hard to see why, after all these years, their graves have been damaged by the elements and time, but the fact that they still stand speaks to their legacy. James and Margaret (the original patriarch and matriarch of the Montana brand of Duttons) attempted to make a better life for themselves and their children, but there was much pain along the way.
Their eldest child and only daughter Elsa was, unfortunately, one of these casualties. After braving the Western landscape, learning to become a woman, and falling in love twice — she eventually married the Comanche warrior Sam (Martin Sensmeier) — Elsa was mortally wounded in battle. After trying to defend the Wagon Train, she is hit by a Lakota arrow, which ultimately kills her. But before she dies, James takes his daughter to pass peacefully under a tree on the land that would one day belong to their descendants.
After Elsa’s de ath, James and Margaret vow to start their life there, leaving the Wagon Train behind and settling for the Last Best Place. Turns out, it was the right call, and their family would remain there for over a century. Interestingly, the series ends with the spirits of Elsa and Sam reuniting as they run off together in the plains. It’s a beautiful moment that speaks to something deeper underlying the Yellowstone Universe.
How Does ‘1883’ Connect to ‘Yellowstone’?
As mentioned before, Yellowstone connects to the events of 1883 in a variety of ways, and not just because we’re following the same bloodline of hardened cowboys. First off, the show is a prequel, set over 100 years before the events of the flagship series. But even before 1883 aired, its stars showed up on Yellowstone, at least in flashbacks. During the show’s fourth season, Yellowstone often flashed back to the year 1893, set 10 years after the events of Elsa’s death at the end of 1883. Here, we see an older James work alongside his two sons, John (Jack Michael Doke) and Spencer (Charlie Stover), as they prepare for winter.
In “Half The Money,” they make a deal with the local Native American tribe that they may bury one of their own on their ancestral land, something that also seems to foreshadow how this story may end. Later that season, in the flashback seen during the episode “No Kindness For The Coward,” James is killed by horse thieves, dying on his doorstep upon returning home. As revealed in the sequel prequel series 1923, Margaret died only a year later in 1894 of hypothermia. Their sons, John and Spencer, were only saved by James’ brother Jacob (Harrison Ford) and his wife Cara (Helen Mirren), who raised them as if they were their own.
Whether there will be more connections between Yellowstone and its various prequels remain to be seen, but one thing’s for certain, this powerful moment from Yellowstone Season 5 also sheds light on the ending to Sheridan’s 10-episode prequel series, just not the way you might think.
Does This ‘1883’ Scene Foreshadow How ‘Yellowstone’ Could End?
One interesting tidbit that connects back to Monica’s side comment about the land once belonged to her ancestors, is that at the end of 1883, James Dutton makes a pact with the Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene), a Crow elder who prophesies that, after seven generations, the Natives would return to take back the land. “You can have it,” James replies after making the deal, giving the Crow people permission to oppose his own kin. But how might this actually play out on the show?
There are many theories about how this might occur. Some think that Kayce’s (Luke Grimes) marriage to Monica may have something to do with it as their son, Tate (Brecken Merrill), is half-Native, while others hypothesize that the ranch may be one day be split, given partially to the National Park Service, partially to the Broken Rock Indian Reservation, and partially to the surviving Duttons after John’s possible (and likely) death. However that turns out, we’ll just have to wait and see. The land has taken the likes of James, Margaret, and Elsa before him, so it’s likely it’ll take John too, “just like a cowboy should.”
With a Yellowstone sequel series on the rise, it’s unlikely that the Dutton Ranch itself will go anywhere any time soon. Yet, it still seems like creator Taylor Sheridan is giving us hints at how this will all end. Even the scene between Summer and Monica at the graveyard seems to imply that this is the only way that Costner’s John Dutton’s story could end. After all, visiting the cemetery is what Monica thinks will help Summer get to know John best, which may be a darker hint to the Dutton patriarch’s fate (the same episode also features the death of an elderly cowboy, which John notes is the best way for a cowboy to go).
Where Can I Watch The ‘Yellowstone’ Universe?
Fans of Taylor Sheridan’s television empire can catch Yellowstone on Peacock, which is currently the only way to stream the Paramount Network series. Apart from that, the show airs regularly on the Paramount Network, often airing multi-season marathons during holidays such as Independence Day and Thanksgiving. There’s still no update on when the fifth and final season will air its back-half of episodes, but with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA Strikes rocking Hollywood, it’s unlikely we’ll get any updates any time soon.
To watch the other Yellowstone Universe shows, 1883 and 1923, you can stream them in full on Paramount+, which is also home to a plethora of other Taylor Sheridan projects such as Special Ops: Lioness, Mayor of Kingstown, Tulsa King, and his penned feature Sicario. Additionally, Sheridan’s Hell or High Water and Sicario: Day of the Soldado can be streamed on Hulu, Wind River can be streamed on Freevee and PlutoTV, Those Who Wish Me Dead can be found on Max, and Without Remorse can be watched exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.
While not all of these projects connect to the Yellowstone Universe, there are common threads between them that make it feel as if they are. It’s certainly not hard to imagine as Sheridan’s stamp finds its way onto everything he touches. Here’s hoping that the cowboy-turned-filmmaker continues to wow us with even more Westerns that challenge our perceptions.