The namesake of Yellowstone season 5, episode 12, “Counting Coup,” supports a prophecy embedded in Taylor Sheridan’s neo-Western epic that predicts the end of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) has struggled with his fate throughout Yellowstone‘s five seasons, with one foot in each of his worlds. However, John Dutton III’s (Kevin Costner) youngest son is determined to protect his own family, informed by Kayce’s four visions in Yellowstone season 4 that set up his story in season 5.
Kayce’s visions urge him to choose between the ranch and his family, and as Yellowstone season 5, part 2 progresses, Kayce clarifies his stance on the Dutton Ranch. Kayce will prioritize Tate (Brecken Merrill) and Monica (Kelsey Asbille) and choose the Yellowstone characters over the well-being of his family’s legacy. At the end of Yellowstone season 5, episode 12, Kayce makes a chilling threat to Grant (Matt Gerald), the man responsible for his father’s murder, bashing him in the head with a gun to “count coup.” The development bolsters an inspiring Yellowstone prophecy.
1883’s Yellowstone Ending Prophecy Explained
Taylor Sheridan Reveals Yellowstone’s Ending In Its Prequel
Over a century before John, Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Kayce lived at the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, their ancestors made a northwestern journey from Texas to Montana in search of a better life. Unfortunately, the Dutton family’s journey and other Easterners’ settlement of lands in the West displaced prosperous Native American communities, prevalent in 1883 when James Dutton (Tim McGraw) settled in Paradise Valley. As James passes through Big Sky Country searching for land to bury his daughter, Elsa (Isabel May), a Crow elder named Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) tells James about the valley with a catch.
Spotted Eagle (Graham Greene) tells James how to get to the valley so he can put his daughter to rest. However, the Crow elder warns James that in seven generations, his people will rise and take it back from him. James Dutton agrees that in seven generations, they can have it. The development effectively predicts the end of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch when looking closely at the Yellowstone Dutton family tree. Tate, of Native American ancestry, is the seventh generation of Dutton ranchers who have occupied stolen land, and Kayce’s comment in Yellowstone season 5, episode 12 signifies Spotted Eagle’s prophecy is coming true.
Kayce ‘Counting Coup’ Threat Means He Acknowledges Being An Unofficial Member Of The Broken Rock Tribe
Kayce Lives Between Two Worlds
Kayce has had a foot in two different worlds since Yellowstone began. In Yellowstone‘s series premiere, Kayce is estranged from his family and lives on the Broken Rock reservation with his Native American wife and son. However, as a battle breaks out between the Duttons and its neighboring Indigenous population, Monica’s grandfather, Felix Long (Rudy Ramos), tells Kayce to return to his family, signifying he needs to rejoin his people for the impending fight and his place isn’t on the reservation. Kayce reluctantly returns to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch but has been waging an internal war about his loyalties.
As Yellowstone‘s story comes to a head, Kayce’s loyalties are cemented, with the character set on protecting his family. To do that, Kayce has leaned into Native American traditions and customs to guide him, appropriately engaging with the culture through guides like Mo Brings Plenty (Moses Brings Plenty) and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), who invite him to participate. His unofficial place in the Broken Rock tribe is solidified by Kayce’s ‘counting coup’ threat in Yellowstone season 5, episode 12, signifying his allegiance to Mo and Montana’s Native people. The threat foreshadows a potential ending for Yellowstone, aligning with Spotted Eagle’s 1883 prophecy.
How Kayce’s Association With The Natives Ties To 1883’s Yellowstone Ending Prophecy
Who Will Control The Paradise Valley?
As Kayce earns the acceptance of Mo and the Broken Rock tribe, the development ties back to Yellowstone‘s possible ending, as told by Greene’s Spotted Eagle. The Crow elder foretold that his people would rise and take the land back in seven generations, and Kayce building his family’s connection to Mo and Thomas Rainwater opens the door for that to happen. As it stands, there are two ways that Yellowstone season 5 could fulfill the prophecy. Either would be an inspiring ending to Taylor Sheridan’s Western within a genre that has traditionally underserved the Native American populations it includes in its stories.
Thomas, Mo, and Q’orianka Kilcher’s Angela Blue Thunders’ stories are progressing subtly in Yellowstone season 5, potentially setting up a massive story arc.
If Kayce and Beth save the ranch so that Tate can inherit his family’s legacy, the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch would be in the hands of a Broken Rock tribe member. The development would effectively return the land to Montana’s Indigenous lineage, but it doesn’t fulfill the prophecy. It would be even more fitting if the people of the Broken Rock tribe somehow brokered ownership of the conservation easement, returning the land to the entire Broken Rock Tribe. Thomas, Mo, and Q’orianka Kilcher’s Angela Blue Thunders’ stories are progressing subtly in Yellowstone season 5, potentially setting up a massive story arc.
