‘Yellowstone’ reveals the fate of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton after the actor’s departure

“Yellowstone” wasted no time in revealing the fate of Kevin Costner’s character, John Dutton, as Season 5 continued Sunday night.

SPOILER WARNING: This story contains major plot revelations for “Yellowstone.”

During the premiere episode for the second half of the show’s fifth season — the first new episode in nearly two years — it was confirmed early on that Costner’s John Dutton, the show’s central patriarch, was dead.

How did John die? A gun was found next to his blood-spattered body at the governor’s mansion. Although it was initially believed to be a suicide, it was later revealed through a flashback that John had been murdered.

Turns out Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) has orchestrated a hit on John and it has to be staged as a suicide, a plan she and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) had previously hatched.

Jamie – who had fought hard against his father in the first half of season 5 – was in tears over John’s death before Sarah told him it was her fault, and he seemed shocked that she went through with it.

John’s death and the way it happened have drawn a line in the sand between Jamie and his siblings, Kayce Dutton (Lucas Grimes) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), who have their sights set on him moving forward.

Some follow drama behind the scenes about the series, Costner revealed on a social media post media report in June that he would not return to “Yellowstone” for “season 5B or in the future.”

“It was something that really changed me. I loved it and I know you loved it,” the “Horizon” director said of the show. “I just want you to know that I’m not coming back.” I love the relationship we’ve been able to develop, and I’ll see you in the movies.”