Spoilers for the final episodes of Yellowstone Season 5, and specifically Episode 13, are ahead! If you aren’t caught up, you can watch the show on the Paramount Network and stream previous seasons with a Peacock subscription.
To be real, things are looking bleak for the Yellowstone. Following John Dutton’s death and in the midst of a stand-off with Market Equities, Beth and Kayce sold all their horses and a bunch of equipment in the latest episode to air on the 2024 TV schedule, and all signs are pointing toward them losing their land. However, in the final moments of Episode 13, Kayce proposed to Beth that they essentially give the ranch away, but he didn’t say who he’d give it to.
Now, while a name wasn’t specified, I think the potential recipient of the ranch is pretty obvious. So, let’s break down my theory about why I think Kayce is about to involve Thomas Rainwater in his plan.
The Plan Kayce Proposed To Beth
To Beth’s shock and mine, it would seem that Kayce Dutton is the man who came up with the plan to save the Yellowstone. During a conversation between the two, the youngest Dutton asked his sister a business question, using the hypothetical situation of how much you’d pay in taxes if you bought a car worth $300,000 for $1, here’s how what was said:
Kayce: Ok, so, I buy this car for one dollar, and then I take this $300,000 car that I bought for $1, and I register it. What do I pay in sales tax? Is it based off what I paid or the value of the car?
Beth: What are you cookin’?
Kayce: Just answer the question.
Beth: Tax is based on what you paid for it.
Kayce: That’s what I thought.
After that discussion, Kayce left his sister, and as she realized the plan he had cooking, she ran after him and asked who he had in mind for this deal. He said he needed a day to work it out. Then, he told Monica that this was:
The only way to save this place; you gotta give it away.
This begs the question: Who are they going to give the ranch to? Well, I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Why I Think Kayce Is Going To Involve Rainwater In His Plan
Mark my words, they’re going to give the land to Thomas Rainwater and the Broken Rock Reservation.
While Rip and Beth have been worrying about the ranch and doing work in Texas, Kayce has been keeping his plan close to his vest and getting closer and closer to Rainwater and Mo. That alone implies that they were who he was referring to when he told Beth he needed a day to get this deal done.
On top of that, Rainwater has a lot of respect for John Dutton, and ultimately, they both want to protect the land and keep it in its natural form. As Gil Birmingham’s character said to Beth in Episode 11:
What I want is what your father wanted, but I’m a realist. There’s no way this place stays whole. But how much of it can remain like it is, pristine, the way it was when my grandparents walked it?
During that same conversation, he said he’d help Beth flesh out solutions if she thought of any. However, she was stumped. But it would seem her little brother cracked the code, and in my mind (and probably his), the only person they can trust even a little bit is Thomas Rainwater.
Not to mention, in Yellowstone’s prequel series 1883, an Indigenous elder named Spotted Eagle told James Dutton that he could use the land they’d come to in Montana to bury his daughter and settle. However, in seven generations, his people would take it back. Well, based on the Dutton family tree, Kayce and Beth would mark the fifth or sixth generation of Duttons to live there.
So, even though we definitely aren’t at seven yet, it would make sense that this prophecy started to fulfill itself by Kayce and Beth selling this land to Rainwater for a very small amount of money.
Of course, for the time being, this is just a theory. However, we should find out who Kayce is going to make a deal with soon, because Yellowstone is almost over. So, be sure to tune in and find out when the final episode of Season 5 airs on Sunday, December 15 at 8 p.m. ET on the Paramount Network.