Sumith Prasad
The series finale of Paramount Network’s Western drama ‘Yellowstone,’ titled ‘Life Is A Promise,’ reveals the fate of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch after a long period of contention over the establishment’s existence and future. Kayce and Beth Dutton make a sacrifice to save their “home” from ending up in the hands of Market Equities. The highly painful decision leads them to Chief Thomas Rainwater, who joins hands with the Dutton siblings to preserve the land. The family and the cowboys at the ranch bid adieu to John Dutton, who is laid to rest among his loved ones and ancestors. After he is lowered to the ground, Beth sets out to exact her vengeance on the killer of her father! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Yellowstone Season 5 Episode 14 Recap
‘Life Is A Promise’ begins with Mo and several Native American men destroying the pipes placed across the reservation for an oil distribution project. The group ensures that the people behind the so-called developmental project won’t be able to find them or use them if they are somehow discovered. Beth Dutton decides to open a new chapter of her life with Rip Wheeler away from the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. She buys a property near Dillon, away from the nuisances of city life, for their lives ahead. As they prepare to leave their home, the cowboys at the place find their next workplaces.
Teeter decides to work for Travis Wheatley despite Jimmy’s warnings. Ethan and Jake decide to work in a bar while Walker prepares to return to Texas with Laramie. Ryan tracks down Abby and gets back together with her. Rip asks Lloyd to join him at the new ranch, but the latter does not want to work as a cowboy if he cannot do it on the Dutton Ranch, which has been his home for around half a century. Chief Thomas Rainwater meets Kayce Dutton with Mo. The livestock commissioner clarifies that his family does not have enough money to pay the inheritance tax to secure the ranch. Similarly, Rainwater does not have adequate funds to compete with multi-billion-dollar companies to buy the property.
Thus, Kayce offers the Dutton Ranch to Rainwater for just $1.1 million or $1.25 for an acre in return for fulfilling two conditions. First of all, there shouldn’t be any developmental projects on the ranch, and the property shouldn’t be sold in the future. Secondly, the East Camp section of the land will become Kayce and his family’s home forever. The Native American leader accepts the conditions and becomes the new owner of the Dutton Ranch. After discussing the sale, they join Beth and the cowboys at the place for John’s funeral. Senator Lynelle Perry also attends the ceremony wearing the tightest skirt she could find.
While John’s funeral progresses, his adoptive son, Jamie Dutton, addresses the State of Montana to safeguard his reputation and future. He claims that he never had any sexual relationship with Sarah Atwood and that any reports alleging the same would be seen as defamation and obstruction of justice. The attorney general further lauds John as a fallen hero who died protecting the state, irrespective of the differences of opinions they had in the past. His passionate, confident address boosts his reputation, but it is too late for him to enjoy it.
Yellowstone Ending: Is Jamie Dead? Will Beth and Rip Get Arrested?
Beth Dutton realizes that she must kill Jamie when he turns against his family to join Market Equities and Sarah Atwood. The realization becomes a promise when her father, John, gets murdered. She lays the Dutton patriarch to rest after reassuring him that she will avenge his murder, only for her to fulfill the promise. Right after the funeral concludes, she rushes to Jamie’s residence and reminds him of her wish to kill him as he killed her father. The attorney general fights back and badly injures Beth, but Rip arrives at the place in no time to stop him.
Beth takes advantage of Rip’s intervention and stabs Jamie with a knife, killing him. Even if the stab hasn’t killed him right away, his body is taken to the infamous “train station” in Idaho. The long journey without any medical intervention guarantees the attorney general’s demise without a shadow of a doubt. After confirming her adoptive brother’s death, she turns her attention towards escaping from the scrutiny of the law. She presents a convincing explanation to the detective to save her and Rip from an arrest. Beth again takes advantage of the turn of events, this time using the wounds she sustained while fighting with Jamie.
Beth shows her injuries to the officers and presents herself as the victim in the case. She adds that Jamie hurt him severely when she confronted him about his involvement in John’s murder, which is believable since the detectives in charge already had suspicions concerning the attorney general’s behavior. She makes it appear as if the attack resulted in a concussion, which stops her from doing any harm to her brother. Beth must have hit her head somewhere or used Rip’s assistance to display the symptoms of a concussion. Since it is not her first rodeo, she may have even convinced the medical officer with sheer practice, as she tells them.
Rip burning down Jamie’s car is another part of Beth’s plan to save themselves. She makes it appear as her brother’s attempt to flee from Montana after being accused of killing John and not attending the latter’s funeral. The press and media fall for this trap as they report the burnt-down car as the attorney general’s efforts to eliminate evidence against him. Furthermore, Jamie does not have a single friend in the Montana State Capitol to raise their voice for him. Since he is a rival of Governor Steven, the latter has no reason to be enthusiastic about finding the attorney general, whose reputation crashes again for the public to care for him.
Beth and Rip may only need to fear the possibility of their arrest if Jamie’s remains are discovered. Considering the reliability of the train station, the couple may not have anything to worry about as they start a new chapter of their lives on the newly bought ranch. Beth succeeds in presenting Jamie as a vicious figure who killed the one man who fought for the best interests of Montana, which is more than enough to kill any public sentiment that can demand a full-fledged investigation into the attorney general’s disappearance. Until something similar materializes, the world may believe that Jamie vanished to save himself from a high-profile murder case.
Why Does Chief Rainwater Demolish the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch?
After Beth and Rip move to their new home, Chief Thomas Rainwater arrives at the Dutton Ranch as its owner with a group of people from the reservation to demolish the property. The Native American leader leads this endeavor to fulfill a promise. He always wanted to make the Duttons leave the ranch so that he could retrieve the land of his ancestors from the family. As ‘1883,’ a prequel to ‘Yellowstone’ that traces the roots of the Duttons, reveals, the family established their home on the land of the Native Americans, which is nothing but trespassing.
When Rainwater becomes the property’s owner, he returns to that promise. His wish had always been to turn the land back into what it was when the Duttons made it theirs more than a century ago. To achieve this feat, he has to demolish every man-made structure on the ranch, including the log house, bunkhouse, stable, etc. His promise to Kayce and Dutton concerning preserving their land includes “cleaning” the place clear without any blemishes, which is one way to look at the buildings on the ranch. Even though the endeavor may seem harsh, Rainwater’s priority is doing justice to his ancestors, and he does it with the permission of the Duttons.
Although Rainwater demolishes the buildings, he does not invalidate the existence and significance of the Duttons. That’s why he preserves the graves of the deceased family members. He and Mo acknowledge the Duttons as the saviors of the land who protected the property from vicious beings such as Market Equities and other similar companies who turned Manhattan into a concrete jungle. To honor what John and his ancestors sacrificed to respect the sanctity of the place, Rainwater decides to protect their resting grounds with utmost care. In a way, he reaches a middle ground with the Duttons, as they both can be proud that their land didn’t end up in the hands of any outsiders.
Why Do Beth and Rip Leave for Dillon? Do They Adopt Carter?
When Beth and Kayce discuss the sale of the Dutton Ranch, the former could have considered inheriting a small piece of land for her family as her brother does with the East Camp. Instead, she moves to the ranch near Dillon for a fresh start. Even though her decision may seem impulsive, it aligns with her attachment to her father, John. Beth may not want to live in her “home” without the presence of her loved one. The constant reminders of John can be too much for her and may even stop her from leading a life of her own.
Furthermore, a small part of the Dutton Ranch may always represent Beth’s inability to protect it as it was in John’s lifetime. She must have wanted to avoid remaining stuck in the past, which is not the case after she moves to a new place. In addition, it must be unbearable for Beth to live under a new owner who is not a Dutton. Even though she makes amends with Rainwater, the latter is not part of her family. Her pride may not want her to live under the care of an outsider. Considering these factors, the new ranch seems like an ideal home for her.
Kayce has tried to be away from the Dutton Ranch throughout his life. He does not cherish an intense emotional connection with the property as Beth does, which makes it easier for him to be satisfied with the East Camp. Beth starts her new life with Rip and Carter, who has become her son in every way. Even though they may not have legally finalized the adoption, she knows that she has become his mother. Beth has always hidden her maternal instincts since she was sterilized after an abortion. The same instincts return to the surface after Carter becomes part of her life. As he starts living with Rip and Beth in their home rather than in a stable, we can conclude that he has become their son.
Who is the Narrator of the Monologue? What is its Significance?
The narrator of the final monologue is Elsa Dutton, the daughter of James Dillard Dutton and Margaret Dutton, who established the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch on the Native American land. When James, the great-grandfather of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton III, garnered the land from the Native Americans, he promised them to return it. A prophecy clarifies that it will happen after the Duttons lived on the property for seven generations. The prophecy fulfills with the life of Tate Dutton, Kayce’s son, on the ranch, and the land gets returned to Chief Thomas Rainwater, one of the descendants of the same Native Americans.
Elsa’s monologue reminds the world that the wildland cannot be owned and utilized without “raping” it. Manhattan became a concrete jungle because companies did it without any shame in the eyes of the late Dutton child. Since her family didn’t do it, the sanctity of the place remained the same, which now enables Rainwater to protect it easily. She further describes her family as the “stewards” of the land rather than the owners since the property only belongs to nature rather than humans. Elsa’s words clarify why Beth and Kayce decide to sell the land for a mere sum. They know that they are not the owners of the place to make the sale. The transaction they approve of is only a deal between stewards to protect the land rather than a change of ownership.
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