This article discusses suicide.

This article contains spoilers for Yellowstone season 5.There are a few convincing reasons that Yellowstone season 5, episode 10, "The Apocalypse of Change." As such, the war between Beth and Jamie is in full swing.

After John Dutton III's Yellowstone fate, the father isn't around to pick whether he will be Team Beth or Team Jamie in the war for the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Costner took a step back from the series because of several factors: scheduling conflicts due to the writer's strikes and Montana's winter, pay negotiations, and Costner's involvement in his ion project, Horizon: An American Saga, all contributed to him not returning to cap off Taylor Sheridan's neo-Western. That said, with more spotlight for characters like Beth, Kayce, and Rip (Cole Ha), John's early death may have been the best thing.

8 John Dutton's Death Allows Beth & Jamie's Feud To Finally Happen

Beth & Jamie Are Fighting To The Death

Beth and Jamie have been at odds since the dawn of Yellowstone, and John's absence from the Yellowstone season 5, part 2 story enables the siblings to fully engage in their rivalry. While John knew for a while that he couldn't fully trust Jamie, he gave his adopted sound countless chances to redeem himself and work for the family while earning his trust. It makes sense that John wanted to give Jamie another chance a few times since he raised him as a son. Still, John's Yellowstone fate makes it clear that John trusted him too much.

With John out of the picture and Kayce officially taking Beth's side, choosing to work together with his sister to fight for the ranch, none of the Duttons will get in Beth's way of taking Jamie down now. Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) is the only person who remains on Team Jamie in Yellowstone season 5. With no one to protect him, Jamie and Beth's war will lead to monumental moments in season 5. While Jamie's Yellowstone season 5B fate is unclear a few episodes into the installment, the character is headed for demise after betraying his roots.

7 Kevin Costner's Exit Makes It Easier To Do Yellowstone Season 6

Yellowstone May Continue

With Costner out of the picture, it is easier for Yellowstone season 6 to happen. Due to significant production delays, the characters and narrative shifted dramatically when Yellowstone finally returned for season 5, part 1. That is all the more true in part 2, and while the story is the same, a feeling exists like Yellowstone is entering a new era. While Yellowstone season 5, part 2, was discussed as the end of the series, it looks like the story will continue with Yellowstone season 6, possibly starring fan-favorite Dutton Ranch love birds Beth and Rip.

For Beth and Rip to truly step into the spotlight and bring the Yellowstone franchise into the future, it's best with John out of the picture. While the series isn't the same without Costner, ultimately, that change has established a new generation of the series. Now that Yellowstone has done John Dutton's divisive death, characters like Beth, Rip, and Kayce can move on in Yellowstone season 5, allowing them all to process John's death before season 6. The transition time enables the characters to tackle new, exciting narratives.

6 John's Death Paves The Way For The New Generation Of Duttons

Beth, Kayce, & Rip Get More Screen Time

John's fate forces Beth, Kayce, and Rip to run the ranch. As we've witnessed from stories that unfold in the Yellowstone prequel series 1883 and 1924, the Yellowstone Dutton ranch has been ed down from generation to generation. John's death and the ing of his legacy are not a tragedy for the series. It's the natural order of Sheridan's Yellowstone universe and the stories of its characters. Just as James leaves the ranch to Jacob in 1924, who will leave it to Jack or Spencer, John leaves his ranch to the next generation.

Beth, Kayce, and Rip actors Reilly, Grimes, and Ha have all said they want to reprise their Yellowstone characters in a continuation of Sheridan's story. John's children and his top ranch hand always had compelling narratives in Yellowstone leading up to season 5, and his death allows their stories to take center stage. While Costner was a perfect protagonist for the series, the ranch had to change hands eventually. John's death officially paved the way for that, not leaving any question about whether John would ever step aside and let the next generation take over.

5 Beth & Kayce Are Closer After John's Death

Beth & Kayce Work Together In Yellowstone Season 5

John's death makes way for several key developments, including a closer relationship between Beth and Kayce. The siblings are never close in the first five seasons of Yellowstone, but after their father's death, Beth and Kayce lean on each other. After discovering John's alleged suicide, Kayce puts his arm around his sister and comforts her. Before John's death, Beth and Kayce's interactions concern the sister's issues with her brother about the best way to run the ranch and how he factors into that. Initially, Beth believes Kayce is bad for the ranch, but now she needs his help.

Beth and Kayce are able to avoid each other in Yellowstone mostly because they both have close relationships with their father, and that takes priority over their communication with each other. Now that Jamie has betrayed their family, Beth and Kayce are the only remaining sixth-generation Duttons, and they have to work together to save the ranch from their brother and the state of Montana. Beth's growing alliance with her brother is good news for the possibility of Yellowstone season 6, which would center one or both of the siblings as the next protagonist running the ranch.

4 Kayce Can Decide What He Wants Without His Father's Influence

John Dutton III Has A Strong Influence

Another bright side to John's absence is that Kayce can finally decide what he wants to do with his life without his father's input. Ever since Kayce returned to the ranch in Yellowstone, his father has spoken for his time, shaping the course of Kayce's life regarding what is best for the ranch. While Kayce is set to inherit the land and benefit from his father's constant pressure, John's expectations have weighed on him. The youngest Dutton has sought answers about how to move forward, including Kayce's visions in season 4 that set up Yellowstone season 5.

Kayce takes over John's position as Livestock Commissioner.

Despite struggles with his father, Kayce makes sure that he does things differently, proving that the next generation of Duttons makes up for John's worst failure. In Yellowstone season 5, episode 10, Kayce converses with Tate about John's death. The father and son discuss John's legacy, with Kayce probing the seventh-generation Dutton about whether he wants to continue his grandfather's work, saying that he will ensure that it happens if so. Kayce allows Tate to choose to run the ranch while equally ing his dreams. By doing things differently, Kayce redeems his frustrations and brings clarity to his own future.

3 Rip Is Officially The Best Person To Run Montana’s Dutton Ranch

Rip Is Now The Most Capable

With John out of the race, it's hard to dispute that Rip is the best person to run the ranch. Rip has been working there most of his life, executing John's bidding without question for decades. When Kayce left to start his life with Monica (Kelsey Asbille), Rip was there to the fifth-generation Dutton rancher, and he has been a constant for the ranch. Rip knows the land as well as any Dutton, and now that he's part of the family as of the Yellowstone season 4 finale, there's a good chance he will run it.

Beth knows better than anyone how Rip has dedicated his life to the ranch, and she calls it to John's attention while there's still time for the Dutton patriarch to acknowledge this. After Kayce moves home and takes over the ranch foreman's house, Rip moves back into the bunkhouse, and Beth is devastated for her partner. Beth knows that Rip deserves more, having given more to the ranch than anyone else, and she sticks up for the man she loves. During one of Yellowstone, she reads Rip a letter from John acknowledging all his hard work.

2 Kevin Costner's Yellowstone Exit Was Planned

John Dutton III's Death Isn't That Different

After backlash from fans who felt cheated by his death, the Yellowstone star responded to the adverse reaction to John's season 5 fate, saying: "It was always the plan." Grimes, who plays Kayce, explained in an interview with People that to ramp up the story, John dying and leaving his children to run the ranch was always in the cards. Five seasons of Yellowstone and Sheridan's writing reflect the decision, with John constantly preparing his children for what's to come. The fall of John Dutton was impending despite surviving cancer and brutal gunshot wounds.

Knowing that John's exit was always in the works may give frustrated viewers peace of mind. It wasn't just Costner's Yellowstone exit that booted his iconic character out of the series. Sheridan always intended to write Costner's Dutton out because it would make the series better to introduce him and his legacy and then show his children grappling with how to preserve it after his death. It makes sense to look at Yellowstone's landscape from that perspective. Sheridan chose strong leads in Reilly's Beth and Ha's Rip to replace Costner's protagonist.

1 John Dutton III Doesn't Have To Lose Another Child

John Dutton Lost Lee Dutton

With John out of the picture, if Beth follows through with her threat to personally kill Jamie, John Dutton III doesn't have to experience losing another child. John made it increasingly clear that he didn't trust Jamie, but he gave his adopted son second chances when he should have turned his back on him and listened to Beth. As such, with Sarah Atwood's help, John is now dead. John trusted his son too much, but it speaks volumes about his true feelings that he allowed Jamie to stay close enough to him to hurt him.

John lost his son Lee in the Yellowstone series premiere, so it feels appropriate that he won't be there to witness or condone the death of another son.

A part of John, however small, still cared for Jamie. As such, it's good that John didn't live to watch another son die. While John could have understood that Jamie needed to die for the sake of the ranch and his family's legacy, it would be a stretch to say that he would enjoy it the way that Beth would. John lost his son Lee in the Yellowstone series premiere, so it feels appropriate that he won't be there to witness or condone the death of another son, giving Costner's Yellowstone exit a morbid silver lining.