Yellowstone Finale: Gruesome Death, Final Fates of Ranch & Dutton Family, Hints at Franchise Future

Already, creator Taylor Sheridan has reached all the way back to 1883 to tell the origin story of the Dutton family and their iconic Yellowstone ranch, and this super-sized finale even managed a connection to that self-contained Western epic.

As the future of this multi-generational saga of cattle ranchers looks secure, at least one chapter came to a close of sorts, and it happened even after the shocking exit of series star Kevin Costner ahead of this second part of Season 5 -- though, let's be real, it's more like a Season 6 considering it was nearly 2 years between halves!

Nevertheless, while Sheridan has written every episode of the series since Season 3, he strapped on his director's cowboy hat for this final trip into Montana with heightened anticipation and nervousness. These last few episodes have been a bloodbath, y'all!

John Dutton's (Kevin Costner) main mission throughout the series was to hold onto the family's massive ranch and keep the future -- airports and tourist resorts -- from tearing it all apart and ruining that part of the world. Along the way, he's been in constant battle with the Native American tribespeople who used to live on that land.

Back on 1883 when James Dutton (Tim McGraw) first came to the land that would become the Yellowstone Ranch, because that's where his daughter Elsa (Isabel May) was going to die, he made a deal with the local indigenous people.

In that deal, the Crow elder Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) told him that his people would return to reclaim the land after seven generations. In the Season 5 finale of Yellowstone those words proved prophetic, but the reclaiming was done without bloodshed.

In the end, Kayce (Luke Grimes) sold the entirety of the property to Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) for the same price his ancestor bought it, $1.25 per acre. That still netted the family a cool $1.1 million, but more importantly, it meant that Rainwater's people could afford the taxes and be able to keep the land.

There were a few caveats with the sale, though. Kayce would get to keep the East Camp where he intended to start his own ranch, under a different name. He also stipulated that Rainwater could never develop or sell the land, leaving it as pristine as it was when the Duttons first saw it, and when Rainwater's ancestors hunted it long ago.

The deal was sealed with a blood oath, tying both Kayce and Rainwater to one another as brothers, and tying them to the land they'd both bled for. "Your people are buried in that land, and so are mine," Rainwater told Kayce. "It’s sacred, and that is how we will treat it."

The ranch was to be declared a wilderness area, meaning no development could happen, nor could motorized vehicles be used on it. The land could only be traveled by foot or on horseback, fulfilling Kayce's vision for his family's legacy.

In their deal, Rainwater assured Kayce that the Duttons would always have a home on the land that was the Yellowstone Ranch, and that he would treat it as sacred since both his people and the Duttons are buried there.

True to his word, after the deal, John Dutton's burial happened on the land, with the last patriarch of the Yellowstone Ranch being buried next to his wife Evelyn and eldest child Lee.

Speaking before the burial with her father's body, Beth told him, "There may not be cows on it, but there won't be condos either. We won. It breaks my heart that I had to lose you to do it. Gonna let you rest now, Daddy. Now you go be with Mama."

Kayce said "I forgive him," referring to his father, while Rip (Cole Hauser) completed the burial of the man with a promise about Beth, saying, "I'll try and love her the same way she loved you."

Beth's final words to her father had a darker tinge, though, as she told him, "I will avenge you."

As Rip completed the burial of his mentor and father-figure, Beth was off to fulfill her final words to her father. After discovering she'd already left the ranch, Rip seemed to quickly put together what she was up to and called her, demanding she pull over.

Instead, she told him that she had a plan she was ready to execute and he was a big part of it, so he'd better hurry and catch up so he shows up in time to do his part.

That plan was lying in ambush for Jamie to return home. As soon as he did, she attacked him with bear spray, but as the adoptive siblings went at it, Jamie got the upper hand and managed to knock Beth out.

Stupidly, though, he took the time to try and wash his eyes out, which is when she struck again. As they started fighting again, Jamie again thought he had the upper hand, gloating about his plans for the ranch and that he'd have her arrested.

But Beth quickly shattered that by telling him they'd already sold the land to Rainwater. Rip arrived as the fight got even more violent, with Jamie poised to choke her to death. And it certainly looked as if Rip held back to allow Beth the final moment of stabbing Jamie in the stomach with a knife.

"I'm gonna be the last thing you ever f--king see," she said as he bled out. And with that nagging piece of business finally resolved, Rip needed no instructions to know what the Dutton family does with broken bodies. Train station, anyone?

As expected, Jimmy (Jefferson White) heads back to the Four Sixes with his fiancée Emily (Kathryn Kelly) -- as the fans cry for another spinoff. Teeter (Jen Landon) asks Travis (Sheridan) if she can come work at Bosque Ranch, and he says she's welcome if she can learn to talk. When he returns, she's not much clearer, but it seems he took her on anyway.

Jake (Jake Ream) and Ethan (Ethan Lee) move on to N Bar Ranch, while after Lloyd (Forrie J. Smith) helps Rip finish up business -- ahem -- with the Yellowstone, he declares he's not sure he'd even want to ranch anywhere else.

Ryan (Ian Bohen) follows his heart to Texas where he tracks down Abby (Lainey Wilson) at a show to declare his love and hopefully get the happily ever after that the sad cowboy has been deserving of ever since he basically got tricked into joining the ranch hands at Yellowstone.

As the episode closed, the Broken Rock tribe began dismantling the iconic Dutton home, after the family took a final walkthrough, and a scene was shown of the indigenous children knocking over the Dutton family gravestones.

Mo stopped the children, though, telling them, "They protected this land, and this land is where they'll stay." As he righted the headstones, the voice of Elsa from 1883 again rang out in narration, talking of the high price paid by those who would choose to be stewards of wild land.

Finally, with all the bloodletting behind them, and local law enforcement seemingly perfectly content to leave Beth and Rip out of the aftermath, the fan-favorite couple set up at their own new ranch, purchased about 40 miles away from the Yellowstone.

They also took the iconic Yellowstone Dutton Ranch sign from the original property after Kayce didn't want it. Could they be preparing to reclaim the name on their new ranch for either a sixth season, or that rumored spinoff?

This was about as clean a break as one might expect to see for this chapter of the multi-generational Dutton saga. Fans have already explored their genesis in 1883 and will continue unfolding their story 40 years after that in the second season of 1923 with Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren.

Already confirmed and anticipated for 2025 is the series formerly titled 2024, now redubbed The Madison. Michelle Pfeiffer will take the lead with cast members Matthew Fox, Patrick J. Adams and more in the story of a new family relocating from New York City to the Madison River Valley, neighboring the remnants of the Dutton family and their former Yellowstone Ranch.

Additional series reportedly in development over the past few years include 1944, which would explore the Dutton family during World War II, as well as 6666, which will explore the history of the Four Sixes ranch in West Texas during the mythical time of the Old West.

As for a continuation for the Dutton family, all eyes appear to be on Beth and Rip for that, whether as a sixth season for Yellowstone, or a new series altogether. Multiple trades reported confirmed both actors had finalized deals to continue in their roles, with Deadline reporting a spinoff with Yellowstone in its title.

While Sheridan and company haven't confirmed or denied any direct continuation for the Duttons, the Yellowstone franchise continues with a first look revealed for Season 2 of 1923.