A popular theory for how Yellowstone will end involves two characters who never appeared on the show.

In fact, these two died more than 100 Yellowstone years ago, but are essential to what’s about to happen IF you believe Taylor Sheridan has really known what he’s doing all along. Try to follow along — some math is required, but it may add up.

• Yellowstone Season 5 ends on Dec. 15 on Paramount Network.
• There are two remaining season-long questions involving what happens to Jamie and what happens to the ranch.
• Kevin Costner’s character John Dutton was killed during the Season 5 Part 2 premiere, leaving the estate in legal and financial turmoil.

Fans of Yellowstone prequel 1883 may think they know where I’m headed, but you may not recall the exact conversation that James Dutton (played by Tim McGraw) had with Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene).

The Yellowstone / 1883 Seven Generations Theory:

During the finale of 1883, James Dutton is desperately in need of a place to settle. The circumstances around why will spoil one of the all-time great television endings, and even though it’s been several years, I don’t care to do that.

That detail isn’t essential to understanding this conversation. After gifting James Dutton a plot of land, Spotted Eagle says, “In seven generations, my people will rise up and take it back from you.”

Dutton responds with, “In seven generations you can have it.”

The key points here are:

Despite some tensions — like that time John Dutton landed Chief Rainwater in jail — there has been a cautious respect between the Native Americans and modern-day Duttons. Beth tells Rainwater as much during a porch convo from Ep. 11.

The same kind of cautious respect is shown between the parties during 1883 and Season 1 of 1923. They’re not enemies, even if they’re sometime adversaries.

Some back story if you didn’t watch 1883 or forgot how it all went down. James and Margaret Dutton are the original Dutton settlers in Montana. They would be John Dutton’s (Costner) great-great or great-great-great grandparents.

So now let’s count seven generations. I’m going to count James as Gen. 1, although one could argue the first generation would be his kids. I’ll explain that shortly. Here is a visual for the next six.

The seventh generation is Tate Dutton! That he happens to have a mother who grew up on the very reservation Rainwater runs makes the theory even more believable. Chief Rainwater’s people acquiring the Yellowstone after all of this would be very fitting, and at this point, it seems like Beth and Kayce agree with James Dutton that, “In seven generations you can have it.” (See Kayce’s comment to Tate that the ranch is not their home from Ep. 12).

Beth wants to leave with Rip. Kayce is choosing his nuclear family over the ranch. Jamie is gonna get killed or go to jail. The only ones who want it are the state — but with Market Equities gone there’s no airport to build any longer — and Rainwater.

The seven generations theory only works if you count James as Gen. 1, however. This is a matter of semantics. Did Spotted Eagle mean in seven “more” generations, or would James’ kids be second generation Montana Duttons?

However — and this is getting in the weeds of Dutton Family Tree business — for Dabney Coleman’s John Dutton to be generation four as illustrated above, he’d have had to have lived to be about 100 years old and he just didn’t look that old. What if there is another generation between Jack and Spencer Dutton — Gen. 3 — and Coleman’s John Dutton?

A new Yellowstone prequel called 1944 is likely to explain this, but we’ve not heard anything about that show since it was rumored to be coming a year ago.