The Taylor Sheridan series will end with season five, which is slated to return for its final run in November.
Ever since the series first premiered in 2018, fans have debated and speculated how it will end. Who will win? Can the Duttons cling to their land forever or will more sinister forces steal it from them?
The answer is that what was likely planned years ago won’t be the ending fans get once the show returns. Sheridan must now condense several more seasons of action into a rushed ending. He must also keep some characters alive for the sequel coming in December. Matthew McConaughey is believed to be the lead, but nothing has officially been announced.
So, who will still be alive once the credits roll for the last time? Let’s break it down.
Prepare for “Yellowstone” to end with plenty of blood.
Now, I do want to hedge here. These predictions are based on what I know now. It’s been reported Kevin Costner might be holding up shooting the rest of season five until he signs off on an ending he likes.
I fully reserve the right to adjust my opinions as more information rolls in. It’s also important to make it clear I have no inside information. Shockingly, Taylor Sheridan doesn’t call me before making “Yellowstone” script decisions. Now, let’s dive in.
Guaranteed to die: John Dutton, Jamie Dutton, Thomas Rainwater.
John, Jamie and Rainwater are my mortal locks to not survive the finale. The entire premise of “Yellowstone” since the beginning has been a battle between John and Rainwater at its core.
Every season usually gets a new villain inserted, but since the beginning, this is Native Americans vs. the Duttons. It’s a story pretty much as old as America.
We know John Dutton is going to die. There’s no way he doesn’t. That means Thomas Rainwater has to also go down. There’s simply no way in hell Taylor Sheridan ends the series with John Dutton in the ground and Rainwater the winner. It just can’t happen. It would go against everything we’ve seen so far. I truly believe the ending was always guaranteed to see Rainwater and John Dutton die. It might not go down the way Taylor Sheridan planned but it’s going to happen. Bank on it.
As for Jamie, fans were left at the midseason break with him openly plotting to have his sister and possibly father murdered. His family was thinking about the same for him.
Jamie’s luck will run out before it’s all said and done, and the adopted son of John Dutton will not survive to the sequel series.
John Dutton made it clear what would happen if Jamie crossed him again. That rubicon was crossed a long time ago. Fans have waited a long time to watch Jamie, Beth or both die. Jamie is as good as gone.
“Yellowstone” characters whose fates might be a coin flip: Beth, Lloyd, Walker and Summer.
The biggest name here is Beth. Let’s start with that one. If I was writing this a year ago, Beth would be just as big of a lock as her father to die. However, there’s a sequel series coming, and some big names have to survive.
Would fans like to see Beth and Matthew McConaughey’s character on screen together? Without a doubt. For that reason alone, it’s possible Beth survives the ending of “Yellowstone.” That’s definitely not something I would have predicted until all the carnage and chaos consumed the show.
As for Lloyd, Walker and Summer, all three don’t seem necessary for the sequel. Tragic endings for all three make sense.
Lloyd has been John Dutton’s faithful servant and with John Dutton dead, you can safely assume he’ll go down firing. Walker finally has some happiness with Laramie. If there’s one thing we know about Taylor Sheridan, he doesn’t let happiness linger long. Bank on Walker going down.
As for Summer Higgins, why would she live if John Dutton does not? Are we seeing a theme here? The closer you are to John Dutton, the better the chances you have of not making it! Any one of those three could definitely make it to the sequel. It’s not a guarantee, but I don’t love the odds. None other than Beth are better than a coin flip.
Characters who are definitely safe: Monica, Kayce, Tate, Rip. Jimmy and Mo.
Okay, so I’ll share some information I was given from a Viacom executive years ago back in 2018. Take it worth a grain of salt because it’s five years old and a lot has changed since then.
The executive, who I won’t name, told me there was serious belief behind the scenes everyone but Monica, Kayce and Tate would die. Kayce would take over the ranch with Monica and with Tate as the heir, it would represent the Native Americans and Duttons both holding onto the land. It would perfectly tie everything up.
I still believe that could be a significant part of the finale. It just makes too much sense for Sheridan to completely disregard. Plus, what would be the purpose of killing Tate and leaving his parents alive? Or, what would the point be of killing Monica and Kayce and leaving Tate alive? I see all their fates tied together, and that means survival.
Rip’s fate could be worse than dying.
As for Rip, I similarly would have guessed he would have been a lock to die if we wrote this a year ago, but a lot has changed.
Now, survival could be more painful for John Dutton’s right hand man than death. Rip had to overcome an incredible amount of pain, death and tragedy to get to where he is in the present timeline. For the first time in his life, everything is on the right path.
Losing John Dutton and Beth (if that’s what happens to her) but surviving himself would be the most poetic ending for Rip. It would be a brutal reminder that no matter how hard Rip tries, he just can’t be the life he’s been cursed with.
Mo staying alive is just me being overly optimistic and Jimmy can’t die. There’s a “6666” spin-off with him as the lead on the way. Can’t kill him just yet!
Fans need to squeeze a little more content out of Jimmy and his new love interest before things could go sideways with him on “6666.” To be clear, I’m not even sure how much he’ll be in the rest of season five, but if he does appear, he’s not dying.
What will I get right? What will I get wrong? We’ll find out in several months once the show returns. Again, I reserve the right to tweak as I get new information, but for now, this is what I’m rolling with!