‘Yellowstone’ fans decode Kevin Costner’s John Dutton ‘tragic’ fate as iconic series nears its end

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Fans are more certain than ever that Kevin Costner’s character John Dutton will eventually die in ‘Yellowstone’ Season 5, and it’s possible that his death may have been hinted earlier. The core series of the Paramount Network drama is scheduled to end in the coming year, and viewers have been wondering how Costner’s final moments might transpire. After four seasons on Paramount Network, ‘Yellowstone’ has grown to be the most-viewed cable drama on television.

The enormously well-liked television series follows a family of Montana ranchers as they protect their property from attackers. Despite speculations that ‘Yellowstone’ has been canceled and that Season 5 will be Costner’s last, unverified rumors claimed that Costner had one major condition for returning to the Paramount franchise. Now, a fresh theory involving his adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley) and daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly) has some fans already certain of John’s death before the release of the remaining episodes of season five, as reported by Daily Express.

What is the new theory fans have suggested?

In a flashback from ‘Yellowstone’s first season, it was revealed that John’s wife Evelyn (Gretchen Mol) died while horseback riding with her daughter. Since then, Beth has blamed herself for the devastating loss, and fans now anticipate the story might complete a circle when John gets killed off. Due to a startling discovery made when they were teenagers, Beth and Jamie have been at odds for the entire series.

Jamie is currently collaborating with Sarah Atwood of Market Equities (Dawn Olivieri) to take control of the ranch, but their plan might fail if John finds out what they’re up to. According to this theory, Beth will be the target of Jamie’s final effort for retribution, leaving John with little choice but to choose between his biological daughter and his adopted son.

Despite the widespread media coverage of Costner’s departure, Paramount has not yet confirmed if the ‘Yellowstone’ series would continue with the Dutton family survivors. A spin-off featuring Matthew McConaughey is rumored to be in the works as well. The upcoming season finale might witness the downfall of the entire Dutton family in a blaze of glory, but fans will have to wait a while to learn what will happen to John in the end.

‘Do you think John Dutton will be killed off?’

Fans immediately took to social media and posted their speculative assumptions surrounding John Dutton’s death. One fan posted the question on Reddit asking, “Do you think John Dutton will be killed off?” Other Reddit users and ‘Yellowstone’ fans jumped in to answer the question. One fan commented, “He will die saving Beth from Jamie’s plot.” A second user wrote, “The only things that could separate John from the ranch is death or prison. It’ll have to be one of those.” A third fan added, “Yes im sure he’ll go out ‘in true cowboy fashion’ maybe the cancer comes back or something and he dies out in the field. I doubt they’ll take him out by a shooting, car crash or anything like that. He’s made too many statements about dying peacefully is the cowboys way.”

Someone else speculated, “Either his cancer will come back (there will be a time jump from last season – which is what it is at this stage) OR he’ll die in a car wreck facilitated by one of Jamie/ME’s assassins. Remember, Sheridan said long ago if you watch the first five minuets of the pilot, you know how it ends. There, John survives a car accident. Maybe this time he doesn’t.” Another one wrote, “Sheridan’s probably trying to figure out a way for Travis to kill John. (Actually I suspect Travis/Sheridan and Costner won’t have any scenes together in the final episodes).”

Kevin Costner’s alleged demands to return to ‘Yellowstone’

Puck News reported that the 68-year-old ‘Yellowstone’ actor won’t return to work until he is satisfied with how his character, John Dutton, is written off the hit Western series. He seemed to be trying to prevent showrunner Taylor Sheridan from executing a Shonda Rhimes sting and disparaging the writer in a questionable manner. Given Sheridan’s prominence in television, it seems unlikely that Costner would have any influence over the plotlines of Sheridan’s shows.

Kevin Costner ‘still trying to save his marriage’

According to insiders, Kevin Costner is “deeply saddened” by the incident and is having a difficult time adjusting to his separation from his wife Christine Baumgartner. After nearly 19 years of marriage, Baumgartner, 49, filed for divorce from the ‘Yellowstone’ actor on May 1 citing “irreconcilable differences.” The pair got married in 2004 and have three kids: boys Cayden (16) and Hayes (14) and daughter Grace (12).

The 68-year-old Academy Award winner “is apparently still trying to save his marriage,” a source said to Us Weekly. The insider added, “Kevin loves his wife and children so this has been very hard on him. He is saying that this is his worst nightmare and he would do anything for his family.”