Why is Dutton's family tree such a controversial topic? | Geek wealth (2023)

Taylor Sheridan threw a curve ball to his fans last year1923press Paramount+. His original seriesYellowstone, with five seasons under his belt, tells the story of the Yellowstone Dutton ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana, and the people who live and work there.YellowstoneW1883revealed various branches of the Dutton family tree, but1923then it got complicated.

Let's go back. Spoilers aheadYellowstone,1883, W1923.

The story of one Montana family spanning 140 years

The Dutton family is led by John Dutton III, played by Kevin Costner, and the main plot follows his life, challenges and relationships, as well as his three adult children.

Jamie (Wes Bentley), Wes Bentley, Beth (Kelley Reilly) and Kayce (Luke Grimes). Dutton's family tree was colorful but easy to understand.

1883was released onParamount+late 2021 and advertised asYellowstonehistory of origin.1883, a single, ten-episode season that follows the story of James and Margaret Dutton, played by Tim McGraw and Faith Hill (a married couple in real life), as they travel west as part of a train.

1883filled in the gaps in how the Duttons came to beMontana, and keen-eyed viewers recognized McGraw and Hill from flashbacksvan YellowstoneSeason four.

Check1883, we have more information about Dutton's family tree. Still easy to understand.

Sheridan's new show raises more questions than it answers

1923this is where things get complicated, and the main source of frustration is that we don't know who John Dutton Jr. is. (possibly John Dutton II).

John Dutton III is the current character played by Kevin Costner. We have a brief flashback of his father, aka John Dutton, during the Season 2 finale (Dabney Coleman). It is therefore reasonable to assume that John Dutton III's father is also named John Dutton.

But we find out what happened to James and Margaret

Check1883, we know that John Dutton Sr. is the son of James and Margaret, depicted as a little boy (Audie Rick). Opening episode1923filled in a few more gaps about what happened to the Duttons after they settled in Paradise Valley.

The family settled in Paradise Valley because James and Margaret's daughter Elsa (Isabel May) died there. When the family learned of her imminent death (she was shot in the torso by an arrow and developed an infection), they agreed to settle where Elsa breathed her last so that Margaret could visit her grave regularly.

We see a frying pan from the family graveyard in the season one premiere1923.The headstones reveal that James lived not long after they settled in Montana. The flash from Margaret's tombstone irritates us. Dates are not shown, but the narrator (Elsa who came back from the dead to provide an oral introduction to the first few episodes1923) fills in the gaps and we learn that Margaret froze to death trying to keep her sons warm during a winter storm in Montana.

That's right, two sons.

Who is John Dutton Jr. (and why do we want to know so much?)

James and Margaret had another child after settling in Montana. His name was Spencer, and though it may seem like a revelation,Yellowstonefans realize that they have seen Spencer in flashback episodes before.

When1923opens, John and Spencer Dutton are adults. John is married and has an adult son, Jack. Spencer, as far as we know, has no children. So who is John Dutton Jr.? The internet has questions, but the internet also has answers. Right?

Only time (and new episodes) will tell.

From1923Paramount+ blockbuster, several Dutton family trees are circulating on the Internet. People take these family trees very seriously, although none come from the show's creator, who has been silent about the Dutton family tree.

Of course, the silence continues to fuel speculation, so let's discuss some possibilities.

What we know for sure (mostly)

John Dutton III is then somewhere in his sixtiesYellowstonecreatures.

John Dutton Jr. he was elderly when he showed upYellowstonein 2019. His character's age was not stated, but he appeared to be around 85-90 years old.

According to these calculations, John Jr. 20-25, when John III was born, which would be reasonable in this period. Going backwards, that would be the birth year of John Jr. between 1925-1930, give or take.

Using this version of events, we infer that John Dutton Jr. was not born when season 11923closed, which we knew anyway, because no children had been born.

Will Spencer and Alex John Jr. are they parents

There is a suspicion that Alexandra Dutton, Spencer's fiancée, was pregnant at the end of the first season1923. Of course, this speculation is based solely on the fact that she was nauseous on the ship, but that seems reasonable given the amount of baby-making exercise these popular lovebirds were subjected to.

If Alex is pregnant, baby Dutton would have been born in 1924, so the above calculation holds, giving Alex and Spencer's parents John Jr.

But would Spencer and Alex name their son John Dutton II after Spencer's late brother? This seems wrong.

Will Jack and Elizabeth John Jr. are they parents?

Jack (John Sr.'s son) and his wife Elizabeth are not idle when it comes to childbearing and eventually become pregnant. Unfortunately, Elizabeth has a miscarriage, and the couple has many dubious dialogues about their lives when they can't have children.

This causes some fans to assume that Elizabeth will never have children, even though the doctor never said so. We can't assume that Jack and Elizabeth will never have little Duttons running around after one miscarriage. However, the “what if” conversation seems like a normal reaction to miscarriage in your first pregnancy.

Would Jack have his son John Jr. named after his father, John Sr.? Maybe. The dates would certainly fit, giving Elizabeth time to recover from her miscarriage and conceive again.

But what if Jack DuttonIsJohn Dutton II?

At first, we don't know exactly how old Jack Dutton is1923. He is a young man, but old enough to get married and grow a mustache. What if Jack is John's nickname and his family calls him Jack to distinguish him from his father?

The math is far fetched, but what if Jack had been 18 in 1923? This would mean that he was born in 1905. Had he lived to the ripe old age of 114, he would have died in 2019, whatever it was. It's quite old, breaking the world record for the oldest living person.

But when Taylor Sheridan began writing the saga of this family, did he anticipate the huge interest in Dutton's pedigree?

Are viewers supposed to dive that deep?

Even though Yellowstone first aired in 2018, and it felt like it was right in the present, could the story have started a bit earlier? Can we give a place?

Speculation is fun, if frustrating, for instant gratification seekers who want answers to yesterday. But should we explore the possible birth dates of fictional TV characters to this extent?

We expect the answer to be revealed in the second season of 1923, but Taylor Sheridan knows he has a legion of completely addicted fans. Will it lead him to solve the mystery where John Dutton, Jr. belongs to the Dutton family tree? Only Taylor Sheridan knows about it and has not said anything yet.

This article is produced and distributed byGeek wealth.