Spoiler Warning: Yellowstone Seasons 1-4

The fourth season of Yellowstone has set the stage for what might be a final fifth season. Taylor Sheridan's neo-Western sees the Dutton family dealing with the aftermath of the assassination attempts against them in season three. The fight for Yellowstone switches from a hot to a Cold War after the Dutton's retribution against the assassins, as Beth (Kelly Reilly) attempts to destroy Market Equities from within and John (Kevin Costner) attempts to discover the orchestrator of the attacks against them.

Beth and Rip adopt a "stray kid" named Carter (Fin Little), who Beth met outside John's hospital while his dad was dying from a heroin overdose. With no family left, Carter is taken in by Beth and Rip (Cole Hauser) on the condition he works for the ranch, much in the same way Rip had once done for John after taking Rip in as a kid. By the season's end, Beth has her own family, as she finally ties the knot with Rip after kidnapping a Catholic Priest. Kayce (Luke Grimes) decides to participate in initiation rites for Monica's (Kelsey Asbille) tribe, going on a vision quest to witness his future and discover what path he must take.

Season five of Yellowstone is sure to be a full-scale war, as many of the fires lit are about to spread beyond control. While John and Kayce may be about to make dramatic life choices, Beth might have declared war on too many people, and Jaime (Wes Bentley) is sure to strike back.

Jaime Snaps

Jaime Dutton in Yellowstone
Paramount Network

Whenever Jaime gets too high, the Dutton family always brings him back down. This past season, Jaime had really started to live up to his true potential at the behest of his biological father, Garrett Randell (Will Patton). Jaime got his own piece of land in the country and gained the forgiveness of his ex-girlfriend/campaign manager, Christina (Katherine Cunningham), getting to meet their new child. With Jaime nearing the pinnacle of his rise by running for governor, John decides to do this same to stop him from rising any higher. Beth discovers Jaime knew who put the hit out on their family, and Jaime is forced to kill his biological father, the orchestrator of the attacks. Beth photographs Jaime dumping Garrett's body, and It would appear that, at least for now, Jaime is in the Dutton's pocket for the foreseeable future.

Jaime's first act in the fifth season will most likely be stepping aside in the race for governor, but this may not stop him from derailing John. In season two, Jaime kills journalist Sarah Nguyen (Michaela Conlin), who he told of his family's corruption at the end of the first season. It may not be surprising if Sarah's girlfriend, Paige Nutter (Ambyr M. Reyes), still has Sarah's writing. For a snake like Jaime, he might see this as a weird way of making up to Paige for his deed and pinning the blame for Sarah's death on the Duttons to save him. To succeed, Jaime will have to kill Beth and erase the photo she took of his nocturnal body disposal. The audience knows Jaime is capable of murder and is very emotional and impulsive, so it wouldn't be shocking to see Jaime attack Beth after she pushes him too far in one of their toxic conversations. If Jaime is really calculating, he'll tie in the two, killing Beth and finding Sarah's writings, because the result will likely land him the governorship and be the end of the Duttons.

Beth Picks Too Many FightsBeth Dutton

Beth is currently at war with Market Equities. After trying to sabotage them throughout the season, she was fired by CEO Caroline Warner (Jacki Weaver) in the season finale. Caroline Warner promises revenge against Beth, which is specifically worrying, considering the audience has yet to see the full scope of Warner's abilities. Warner hates Yellowstone and looks forward to destroying the ranch's land simply for the sake of it. While Warner might not try to kill Beth, Warner will likely try to tarnish Beth's career, so she's never hired again. Caroline will shower the already suffering ranch with lawsuits and bleed them into oblivion, as any deal for the land may now be out the door.

A constant throughout Yellowstone has been Beth tormenting Jaime, and season four put the cherry on top. Beth has proof Jaime is a murderer now and can use it to leverage him to do whatever she wants. While Jaime might fall in line at first, his history shows that it only takes a little convincing for him to switch sides. Now that Beth is out at Market Equities, Jaime could team up with Warner to take down Beth and the ranch. The problem with creating multiple enemies is that they start to befriend one another, and Jaime is certainly capable of doing the one thing Warner may not, cold-blooded murder.

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While it is great to see Beth at a sort of peak in her personal life with Rip and Carter, it is also worrisome, as Beth sees it as a peak as well. Beth married Rip before going after the orchestrator of the Dutton assassinations because she wasn't certain she would survive, wanting to secure all she ever wanted before going out with a bang. While season five might not see the demise of the Dutton Ranch itself, there's a good chance it could be the end of Beth.

John Runs for GovernorDutton Sr

John Dutton opened the fourth season recovering from the assassination attempt. As he's getting back on his feet, John discovers that Governor Lynelle Perry (Wendy Moniz) plans to step aside and endorse Jaime for governor. Due to his lack of faith in Jaime and concern about his character, John declares that he'll run if she'll endorse him. John runs against change, and while his poll numbers are low at first, they skyrocket after he foils a robbery at a diner. The poll numbers came at a cost, though, as the Sheriff, Donnie Haskell (Hugh Dillon), was killed in the robbery. The new Sheriff, Bill Ramsey (Rob Kirkland), tells John that the corruption Donnie warranted within the department will not stand anymore. John no longer has sway in the Sheriff's department, and this will prove to be a new obstacle for the Duttons in season five.

John is on course to win the governorship in season five, but reckless actions on the part of Beth or calculating revenge on the part of Jaime may lead to his impeachment. While Sheriff Bill Ramsey is against corruption, there's the question of if he'll go after the Dutton family to make a point. John may not have only lost control of the Sheriff's department. Still, the new Sheriff may also make it his mission to bring the Dutton family to justice, possibly looking to early crimes such as the autopsy explosion in season one as evidence of their criminal activities.

Kayce Makes a Choice

Kayce and Monica in Yellowstone
Paramount Network 

The fourth season saw Kayce fighting for the Duttons in his role as Livestock Commissioner. Kayce killed all the militia members involved with the assassination attempt on the Duttons but began to lose his own family at the same time. Monica and Tate (Brecken Merill) were still suffering from PTSD from the violence at the end of season three, where Tate had to shoot a man to save his mother. Kayce decides it's best to move off the ranch and into a nice house on the reservation. While it seems that his family is as strong as ever, with Monica being pregnant with their second child, Kayce begins seeing a wolf, which Chairman Rainwater (Gil Birmingham) tells him represents the balance between man and nature, wolves and humans keeping each other in check. Kayce decides to take part in the initiation rites of Monica's tribe to find the meaning of the wolf through a four-day vision quest atop the mountain. Kayce sees a tribal woman in place of the wolf during his quest, who tells him that the wolf is his protector. The tribal woman shows Kayce two paths and states that no matter the verdict, he'll have the wolf's protection.

What is concerning about this choice is it sounds like Kayce will survive no matter the outcome. However, his heart may be pierced and his darker side given into. The choice could represent choosing between John and the ranch or Monica and his growing family. Kayce might be able to save the ranch, but doing so may mean losing his family and becoming the very person he's been running from the entire series, a cold killer. Perhaps choosing Monica doesn't mean that Kayce will have to lose the ranch. If Kayce were to join forces with Rainwater in season five to take the ranch, the ranch would still be in the Dutton family as Kayce and his children would be a part of Broken Rock. It's a peaceful vision of Kayce and his family all enjoying the Yellowstone together with other reservation members who respect it certainly more than Market Equities does. The Yellowstone will still remain wild and in the Dutton family if Broken Rock takes over.

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Season five may finally answer the question of if John will be able to hold onto the Yellowstone, and perhaps he was never meant to. The land was always meant to be taken back from the Duttons, as mentioned in the prequel series, 1883. But if Kayce chooses his new tribal family over the Duttons, then perhaps the only thing that will be true will be that John was never meant to hold onto the land personally. Kayce's new generations of Duttons will own the land for eternity, free under the wing of Broken Rock's tribal protections. Jaime and Beth may tear each other apart, and John may fall, but Kayce can decide if he falls with them or goes another way better than John's.