Spoiler Alert for 1883, 1923, & Yellowstone
Only one member of the Dutton family appears in every series of Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western Yellowstone franchise, which makes it all the more fascinating that his story is incomplete. There are three Yellowstone series about the Dutton family heading into 2025. The Yellowstone franchise will add a modern-day spinoff of the flagship, The Madison, but it will focus on another family led by Michelle Pfeiffer. It will be a change of pace for the universe, which has focused on the Dutton family so far and has plenty of unfinished stories to tell within the Dutton family tree.
The opportunity to fill in the family tree’s missing gaps on the flagship series has passed, following the Yellowstone season 5 finale that closed Sheridan’s main series as we know it. Still, with more Yellowstone stories on the horizon, Sheridan will likely solve the biggest mystery of the family yet. We likely won’t have to wait until 1944 comes out if the World War II-era saga is still in the cards. Sheridan previously announced the spinoff, but there are no promising updates. Instead, 1923 season 2, the final installment of the Depression-era saga, could fill in the blanks.
John Dutton Has Appeared In All Of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Shows
John Dutton Appeared In 1883, 1923, And Yellowstone
Kevin Costner’s character’s great-great-grandfather, John Dutton, appears in every Yellowstone series. Sheridan first incorporated the character into his 1883 story, a Yellowstone prequel about the Dutton family’s journey on the Oregon Trail that led to their settling in Montana. While John Dutton was just a 5-year-old boy in the 1883 spinoff cast, he is a key player in the story. Audie Rick’s John makes it to Montana at the end of 1883 and survives. Therefore, James Badge Dale would appear as John 40 years later in 1923 as a grown man, married to Emma Dutton with a child named Jack.
Despite the character’s extensive presence in the franchise, it’s easy to forget John’s overarching narrative because he’s never in a starring role, and intentionally vague details make it tricky to connect his story.
John Dutton even creatively factors into Yellowstone season 4, which flashed back to Beth and Kayce’s earliest recorded ancestors after they settled in Montana. John Dutton is a teenager in the scenes, appearing alongside his father, James, his mother, Margaret, and his brother, Spencer. John develops considerably before his adolescent years, with Jack Michael Doke embodying John as a well-mannered teenager in 1893. Despite the character’s extensive presence in the franchise, it’s easy to forget John’s overarching narrative because he’s never in a starring role, and intentionally vague details make it tricky to connect his story.
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John Dutton’s Yellowstone Appearances |
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|---|---|---|
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Series |
Actor |
Year |
|
Yellowstone |
Jack Michael Doke |
2021 |
|
1883 |
Audie Rick |
2021-2022 |
|
1923 |
James Badge Dale |
2022 |
Yellowstone Still Hasn’t Revealed What John Dutton’s Connection Is To Kevin Costner’s Character
Either John Dutton I’s Grandson Or Nephew Relates To John Dutton III
Perhaps the most notable reason that the second-generation Dutton is an easily overlooked character is that we have no idea how John Dutton connects to Costner’s John Dutton III, despite being his namesake. While it’s true for many characters that their direct connection to the modern Yellowstone season 5 characters is vague, John Dutton forms part of the missing link that will explain everything. The ties at the beginning and end of the Dutton family tree are clear but muddled somewhere in the middle, right around where John Dutton I and his son factor into the Yellowstone timeline.
Related
Yellowstone’s Dutton Family Tree Explained (Including 1883 & 1923)
The Dutton Family Tree in Yellowstone comprises characters from 1883, 1923, and Yellowstone, growing with Taylor Sheridan’s Neo-Western universe.
John Dutton II is the father of Costner’s character. Despite knowing how the family started, Yellowstone hasn’t revealed John Dutton II’s father, which is the key to understanding exactly how John Dutton III relates to his ancestors. Whoever birthed John Dutton II can claim to be the direct ancestor of the family’s surviving bloodline, which led to Beth and Kayce. It makes sense that John Dutton II is the son of Jack or Spencer, making him the original John Dutton’s grandson or nephew and the right age to appear as an old man in the Yellowstone flashback where he died.
1923 Will Likely Solve The Mystery Of John Dutton
1923 Season 2 Wraps Up In February
Jack and Spencer Dutton star in the 1923 cast, each a significant facet of the family tree in their own right. Spencer, a World War I veteran and professional hunter, is James and Margaret’s child, making him part of the second generation of the Dutton family to inhabit Montana. Jack is the son of John Dutton I, making Jack a third-generation Dutton. We know that one of the men will continue the family with their children since it continues with John Dutton II in roughly the 1920s, and there’s no other surviving Dutton that John II’s father could be.
Jack potentially makes the most sense as John Dutton II’s father due to how the generations panned out. We know that Montana’s former governor was a fifth-generation rancher, making his father, John Dutton II, part of the fourth generation. Therefore, John II’s father must have been part of the third generation, which doesn’t add up for Spencer as far as we know.
1923 will likely fill the gaps. The first season of the series, led by Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren, premiered in 2022, setting up exciting conclusions for both Spencer and Jack Dutton, who started their lives with their wife and fiancé, respectively, in the next outing. There isn’t long to wait for 1923 season 2 as we head into the near year since it will be available to stream in February. The second 1923 chapter is slated to be the missing link in the Dutton family tree, filling in the timeline between 1923 and Yellowstone, completing John Dutton I’s story.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone is a neo-Western drama series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, centered on the Dutton family and their fight to protect the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch from various adversaries, including land developers and nearby reservations. Premiering in 2018 on Paramount Network, the show has been praised for its depiction of power struggles, family loyalty, and rural conflicts. It has expanded into a franchise with spin-offs such as 1883 and 1923, and an upcoming sequel series is in development.
- Created by
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Taylor Sheridan
- First Episode Air Date
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June 20, 2018
- Cast
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Kevin Costner
, Luke Grimes
, Kelly Reilly
, Wes Bentley
, Cole Hauser
, Kelsey Asbille
, Gil Birmingham
, Brecken Merrill
, Jefferson White
, Danny Huston - Character(s)
-
John Dutton
, Kayce Dutton
, Beth Dutton
, Jamie Dutton
, Rip Wheeler
, Monica Dutton
, Tate Dutton
, Thomas Rainwater
, Jimmy Hurdstrom
Summary
Yellowstone is a neo-Western drama series created by Taylor Sheridan and John Linson, centered on the Dutton family and their fight to protect the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch from various adversaries, including land developers and nearby reservations. Premiering in 2018 on Paramount Network, the show has been praised for its depiction of power struggles, family loyalty, and rural conflicts. It has expanded into a franchise with spin-offs such as 1883 and 1923, and an upcoming sequel series is in development.
