The Dutton Household Tree, Defined

[This story contains major spoilers from 1883, 1923 and the Yellowstone season 5B finale.]

With every new collection within the megahit Yellowstone franchise, a brand new era of Duttons emerges. After launching in 2018 with Kevin Costner‘s central patriarch John Dutton III and his speedy household, co-creator Taylor Sheridan traveled again in time to develop the household and introduce elder generations of Duttons, first with the one season of 1883 after which with the collection 1923, which simply launched its second (and probably ultimate) season finale.

The Dutton household tree has branched out as Yellowstone has been airing, with the flagship collection having aired what could have been its ultimate episode with the season 5B finale in December 2024. (In case you’re sensing a sample, it’s as a result of Paramount and Sheridan haven’t confirmed if Yellowstone and/or 1923 have formally ended.)

In 1883, viewers adopted James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Religion Hill) on their household’s treacherous journey west via the Nice Plains on a trek that might finally result in what turns into the Yellowstone ranch of the flagship collection. A long time later, 1923 would then introduce the viewers to Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren), the Duttons who get the Yellowstone ranch up and working after the premature deaths of James and Margaret.

With each of those sequel collection happening a long time earlier than Yellowstone‘s John (Costner) was even born, it’s useful to know who’s who within the household saga, particularly since revisiting the previous helps to reframe the current. In spite of everything, it all circled again round in the long run with Yellowstone’s supersized finale, directed by Sheridan. And now the ending to 1923 has paved a path to the subsequent prequel collection that will probably be coming from Sheridan, 1944.

The most important lingering query within the household tree has been in regards to the id of Costner’s John’s grandparents. His father, John II (Dabney Coleman) was briefly launched in Yellowstone, however his grandfather has remained a thriller on the board. The ending of 1923 answered that query for some, although others stay unconvinced.

Yellowstone fan-favorites Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser are steering the Yellowstone-verse ship in the direction of a Rip and Beth spinoff collection that’s actively in growth, and Luke Grimes is reportedly in early talks for a Kayce spinoff over at CBS. Different spinoffs are already within the works, together with the current day-set collection The Madison, which is at the moment in manufacturing.

Beneath, The Hollywood Reporter breaks down every era of Duttons, together with what we’ve discovered by way of interviews with Sheridan and his sprawling solid. (Right here’s stream Yellowstone; 1883 and 1923 can be found to stream on Paramount+.)

James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Religion Hill); Claire nee Dutton (Daybreak Olivieri); Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren)

1883 launched on Paramount+ in 2021, three years into Yellowstone‘s run. The Western restricted collection, which is about within the 12 months 1883, was narrated by fundamental character Elsa Dutton (Isabel Could), the daughter to James (Tim McGraw) and Margaret Dutton (Religion Hill). The prequel collection traced the Dutton lineage again to James Dutton and his sister Claire nee Dutton (performed by Daybreak Olivieri; the actress who would additionally go on to play fixer Sarah Atwood in later seasons of Yellowstone), who died by suicide early on in 1883. Her daughter Mary Abel (Emma Malouff) additionally died; viewers by no means met Claire’s husband, named Henry Dutton. Viewers would later meet the brother to James and Claire in 1923: Jacob Dutton (Harrison Ford) and his spouse Cara (Helen Mirren), who get the Yellowstone up and working.

Elsa Dutton (Isabel Could); Spencer (Brandon Sklenar) and Alexandra Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer); John Sr. (James Badge Daly) and Emma Dutton (Marley Shelton)

The opening of 1883 set the tone for what would lie forward within the collection with a flash-forward: The scene that might convey in regards to the premature demise of heroine Elsa. Her spirit, nevertheless, would proceed on within the franchise, as Could narrates 1923 — and appeared in a shock voiceover cameo within the Yellowstone season 5B finale. Talking from the grave as Elsa to open 1923, she knowledgeable viewers that her dad and mom, James and Margaret, died after the occasions of 1883; first James, adopted by Margaret. However earlier than her demise, Margaret wrote a letter to her husband’s brother, Jacob, who then discovered and raised Elsa’s surviving brothers, John Sr. and Spencer. 1883 viewers met John Sr. as a younger boy, performed by Audie Rick. Spencer, nevertheless, hadn’t but been born.

“Upon my father’s demise, my mom wrote to his brother, begging that he convey his household to this wild land and save hers,” Elsa defined in voiceover in 1923. “A 12 months later, he arrived to search out my mom frozen in a snow drift, her two boys half-starved and barely capable of converse. He raised them as his personal and took my father’s dream and made it into an empire. Then the empire crumbled.”

Sheridan defined his resolution to leap the collection to the 12 months 1923: “I selected that second in time to peek again in since you’re seeing the kids that we’ve met in 1883 making an attempt to boost one other era of Dutton.” Yellowstone viewers will recall a flashback in season 4, which launched James and Margaret, in addition to a younger John and Spencer, when James was shot (that scene served as real-life couple McGraw and Hill’s audition, giving Sheridan the concept to heart them in 1883).

1923 then launched the boys as adults, with John Sr. performed by James Badge Dale and Spencer performed by Brandon Sklenar. John Sr., who didn’t have any youngsters with spouse Emma (Marley Shelton), suffers an premature demise early on in 1923, pivoting the collection to give attention to Spencer and setting him as much as be the Dutton to take over the Yellowstone ranch from an ailing Jacob. Season one ended with a Spencer-heavy cliffhanger, as he was separated from his new bride Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), and season two hinged on his Montana return to save lots of each the household and the Yellowstone ranch from exterior threats.

The second season ultimately introduced Spencer again to Montana to save lots of the ranch and Dutton legacy, however that celebratory second within the finale was overshadowed by the tragic demise of Alexandra who, after a harrowing voyage to get again to Spencer, dies shortly after childbirth. Their untimely child defies the percentages and survives, they usually title the boy John. Sklenar and Schlaepfer mentioned in post-finale interviews that they imagine their child is the John who carries on the legacy, however Michelle Randolph, whose character Elizabeth married Spencer’s nephew, Jack, isn’t so positive.

Jack (Darren Mann) and Elizabeth Dutton (Michelle Randolph)

After 5 seasons of Yellowstone and journeys again in time to 1883 and 1923, one over-arching query remained: Who’s John Dutton’s grandfather? Yellowstone viewers had been launched to John’s aged father, John (Coleman), in a season two flashback. John’s mom has but to look or be named. When the viewers met the generations that preceded him on 1923, a guessing recreation even among the many franchise solid started about which character Sheridan would disclose to be the Dutton son who begins the Yellowstone flagship’s household line.

Some viewers believed Spencer was John’s grandfather, and that he and Alex would have a baby quickly. Others thought John Sr.’s son, Jack (Darren Mann), who’s Spencer’s nephew, may serve that position. Later episodes of 1923 revealed that Jack’s pregnant spouse, Liz (Michelle Randolph), had a miscarriage, and he or she and Jack accepted they might not be capable to have a baby. In accordance with Sklenar, Sheridan hadn’t revealed who’s who, even to the solid, after filming season one. “It’s one thing that Taylor is holding very near the vest. I’ve my very own theories, nevertheless it’s to be advised, to be written, to be seen. He’s all the time transferring all that stuff round,” Sklenar advised THR in the course of the first season (and reiterated after the finale). “We prefer to debate what we predict,” echoed Randolph.

Yellowstone star Wes Bentley mentioned one thing comparable when requested about his onscreen father’s lineage. “I’ve seen the [Dutton family tree] movement charts on-line. However I’m ready for Taylor to actually reveal issues. I understand how he writes. So I’m going to wipe these away for now. Good first draft, however let’s see what’s coming down the road,” he advised THR after the season 5A midseason finale of Yellowstone.

It was even a thriller to the franchise’s all-knowing narrator final 12 months. “You can spend your time theorizing, all the ability to you. I’d reasonably simply be advised! Finally, all of us will,” Could advised THR in 2023.

Could, when returning for the Yellowstone finale’s shock voiceover, could have pieced this puzzle collectively. In her monologue (which you’ll be able to learn in full, under), she referred to the present Dutton household tree as having existed for seven generations. That might imply that Jack — not Spencer — would earn the title of John’s grandfather, primarily based on the identified lineage.

However then 1923’s season two finale put two Dutton infants on the board. There’s John, son of Spencer and Alex, after which there’s the infant Elizabeth is carrying of Jack’s when she leaves the ranch in the long run. Sklenar advised THR that he acquired his reply with the “profoundly stunning” ending for Spencer and Alex, however Randolph questioned if he’s proper and the position Elizabeth may nonetheless play sooner or later, particularly with the following prequel collection 1944 on the horizon.

“My interpretation is that we nonetheless don’t know [who the grandfather is]. (Laughs) It’s not verified,” she mentioned. “I assumed by the top of the season we’d know, and it’s humorous as a result of that’s clearly the query I all the time get. Everyone seems to be like, ‘Effectively absolutely what occurs by the top.’ If somebody says they do, they’re mendacity. I feel Taylor [Sheridan] is holding it secretive for a cause.”

There’s additionally one other unnamed Dutton on the market on this planet, because the 1923 epilogue from Elsa revealed that, after Alexandra’s demise, Spencer had one other son with a widow, who ultimately left him.

John (Kevin Costner) and Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol)

John Dutton III (Costner) brings viewers again round to the Yellowstone flagship collection, which adopted the starring Montana cattle rancher in control of the Yellowstone and its land, who made his transformation right into a politician by season 5, and his youngsters because the household desperately tried to carry onto their ranch amid evolving occasions. Following the demise of his younger spouse Evelyn Dutton (Gretchen Mol), the household suffered one other premature demise when oldest little one, Lee Dutton (Dave Annable), was killed within the collection premiere. Jamie Dutton (Bentley), Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) remained alive — and fiery — heading into the season 5B finale, as they sought to avenge the demise of their father (Costner departed the collection between seasons 5A and 5B; John was killed off within the season 5B premiere). John’s brother Peter, it has additionally been revealed, died shortly after childbirth.

Lee Dutton (Dave Annable); Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley); Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser); Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille)

The ghost of Lee returned in a key second of Yellowstone in season 4 to assist information Kayce throughout a imaginative and prescient quest that might change the arc of his story. With Kayce largely forming his personal path with spouse Monica Dutton (Kelsey Asbille) and their surviving son Tate (Brecken Merrill), the battle for the legacy of Yellowstone largely boiled right down to estranged siblings Jamie and Beth, who kicked off season 5B by waging a conflict in opposition to each other. On Beth’s facet of the battle was the now-departed John, in addition to husband Rip (Cole Hauser), who performs the devoted, Yellowstone head ranch hand. Season 5B, nevertheless, elevated Kayce to Beth’s facet, as they sought to show brother Jamie for his involvement of their father’s assassination. Additionally they went into the season finale with a plan as to save the ranch.

The season 5B finale (spoiler alert!) revealed the destiny of the ranch, bringing the collection again to the start with the 1883 collection promise made between James Dutton and then-Chief of the Crow Tribe, Noticed Eagle (performed by Graham Greene). Elsa Dutton defined in voiceover:

One-hundred-and-forty years in the past, my father was advised of this valley and right here’s had been we stayed, for seven generations. My father was advised they might come for this land, and he promised to return it. Nowhere was that promise written. It pale with my father’s demise, however one way or the other lived within the spirit of this place. Males can’t actually personal wild land. To personal land you could blanket it in concrete, cowl it with buildings. Stack it with homes so thick, folks can odor one another’s supper. You have to rape it to promote it. Uncooked land, wild land, free land can by no means be owned. However some males pay dearly for the privilege of stewardship. They are going to endure and sacrifice to stay off it and stay with it, and hopefully train the following era to do the identical. And in the event that they falter, discover one other keen to maintain the promise.

Yellowstone ended with Kayce and Beth promoting the ranch again to the reservation and Beth making good on one other promise: She kills brother Jamie, establishing an ideal homicide that may seemingly see him taking place for the demise of their father. The ultimate photographs of the season 5B finale captured the cascading Montana land, as each Kayce and Beth are seen settling into their new lives and contemporary begins, with Kayce within the former Yellowstone’s East Camp along with his household and Beth with Rip of their new ranch 40 miles away from Dillon, Montana. The ending completely teed up the Beth and Rip spinoff, in addition to the doable Kayce spinoff.

The Future Duttons

Teen Tate Dutton, son to Kayce and Monica, leads the youngest — and seventh — era of Duttons. After expressing curiosity in doing what his father requires of him on the subject of the ranch, Yellowstone ended with Kayce wanting to begin his personal model after promoting Yellowstone, a enterprise he begins with son Tate because the father-and-son are seen buying cattle.

The now deceased toddler son of Jamie’s with ex Christina (Katherine Cunningham) was lastly referenced within the penultimate episode of season 5B after being largely absent from the fifth season; however Jamie’s involvement as a father had remained unclear. (“This season will not be about Jamie as a father; this season is about Jamie as a son,” govt producer Christina Voros defined.) Beth and husband Rip, in the meantime, have all-but adopted teen cowboy Carter (Finn Little), nevertheless, he’s not within the Dutton bloodline and it’s unclear if he travels with them to their new Montana residence.

And now, new characters will probably be added to the longer term timeline with The Madison, the sequel collection that may happen after the occasions of Yellowstone and can star Michelle Pfeiffer. It stays to be seen what relation, if any, her character has to the Duttons, however the collection was initially described as one which would come with each new and acquainted faces and areas. Right here is the official synopsis: “The Madison is a heartfelt examine of grief and human connection following a New York Metropolis household in the Madison River valley of central Montana.” The Madison is at the moment in manufacturing.

This story first posted Sept. 25, 2023, and has been up to date after the Yellowstone season 5B ultimatee and 1923 season two finale.