1883's Season 1 Finale Secretly Spoils Yellowstone Season 5's Ending
Warning: the following contains SPOILERS for 1883.
1883's season 1 finale might have spoiled the highly anticipated conclusion to Yellowstone season 5. In the ending, it's revealed that the Duttons owe a lot more to the Indigenous Americans than initially revealed in Yellowstone. Indeed, there's a chance that Yellowstone season 5 will end with the Duttons giving their land back to the Broken Rock Indian Reservation.
The scene that points to this conclusion is the conversation between James and the old Indigenous man who points him in the direction of Paradise Valley. After James tells the man that he's looking for a place where his family can settle and bury Elsa, the man shows him the way to the future site of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, followed with a warning that “in seven generations, my people will rise up and take it back from you.” James answers that “In seven generations, you can have it.” Apart from setting the stage for 1883 season 2, this conversation connects to a line that Governor Lynelle Perry said in an earlier episode of Yellowstone. While referring John Dutton and the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, Governor Perry says, “That's a seven-generation ranch. He'll never sell.”
However, 1883's finale might have just revealed that even though John Dutton won't sell the ranch, his half-white, half-Indigenous grandson Tate Dutton could just return the land to its original stewards. Currently, based on the characters that have been revealed both in Yellowstone and 1883, Tate would be the 6th generation to own the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Yellowstone's Kayce and John Dutton respectively come from the 5th and 4th generations, while John's dad, who briefly appears in flashbacks in Yellowstone, comes from the 3rd. Meanwhile, 1883's John and James Dutton respectively represent the 2nd and the 1st-generation Duttons. This implies that either in 1883 season 2 or in the first season of the Yellowstone spinoff 1932, another generation could be introduced to fill the gap, making Tate the future 7th generation patriarch of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch – the one who would fulfill James' promise to return the Duttons' lands to the Indigenous Americans after they've owned it for seven generations.
Even if another generation isn't retconned into existence in order to justify the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch being called a “seven-generation” property, the Duttons could still end up giving back their land. Kayce Dutton, through undergoing the Hanbleceya (han-bi-lech-ia), has been accepted as a full member of his wife Monica's tribe, while Kayce's son Tate is being raised as a member of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. Kayce and Tate could begin the process of returning the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch to the Indigenous Americans, and Tate's sons or daughters, the actual 7th generation Duttons, could be the ones to complete the process.
Considering how Yellowstone season 5 will not only be the longest season, but will also be split into two parts, there's a lot of room for Yellowstone to flesh out what is likely to be the show's finale. 1883 not only reveals the story of how the Duttons found Paradise Valley and started the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, the series finally could have also spoiled the ending of Yellowstone season 5. In 1883 season 2 and in 1932, the Duttons will be laying the foundations of their ranching empire. Meanwhile, Yellowstone season 5 could finally reveal how this empire falls.
1883 is streaming on Paramount+.