Maybe you’ve “herd”: It is now as official as it gets that Kevin Costner will not be saddling up for the back half of Yellowstone’s fifth and final season. On June 20, the Golden Globe winner took to Instagram to announce that he’d hung up embattled rancher John Dutton’s Stetson for good.

Doing the Paramount Network Western “was something that really changed me. I loved it and I know you loved it,” he told his social-media followers, “and I just wanted to let you know that I won’t be returning.” (Season 5, Part 2, is now in production and slated to premiere on Sunday, Nov. 10, at 8/7c.)

Considering all of Yellowstone’s behind-the-scenes upsets, which were said to have included everything from scheduling conflicts to demands for script approval, Costner’s exit at this point isn’t exactly a shock. What may still come as a surprise, however, is how co-creator Taylor Sheridan chooses to write out the Dutton family’s mercurial patriarch.

Yellowstone Costner Sheridan

Back in June 2023, the writer told The Hollywood Reporter, “I don’t do f–k-you car crashes. Whether [what happens to John] inflates [his portrayer’s] ego or insults [it] is collateral damage that I don’t factor in with regard to storytelling.”

Jamie and Sarah Have John Murdered
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In Season 5A’s finale (recapped here), the black sheep of the Dutton family became so convinced that his twisted sister was going to have him killed that he and his Machiavellian girlfriend set in motion a plot to have Beth taken out first — and, with her, John. Jamie needn’t worry about being implicated, either, Sarah assured him. Thanks to the professionalism of the company whose services she’d retain, “it’ll look like a heart attack or car accident.”

Another Nemesis Takes a Shot at Whacking John
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Given John’s knack for making enemies, it’s safe to assume that for every ill-fated Malcolm Beck and Garrett Randall that’s been put down, there are another dozen opportunists and ne’er-do-wells who’d love nothing more than to give him a ride to the train station. Plus, with John laser-focused on the threat that Jamie represents, John has left himself unusually vulnerable to an attack out of left field.

It would be crazy tricky to pull off the back half of Season 5 with John still alive and well and simply never being seen. But it is conceivable. If he spent all his time politicking in Helena, Beth could do his dirty work back at the ranch. And while it seems unlikely that Costner would ever guest-star on the new Yellowstone spinoff, leaving the character with a pulse leaves us with that chance, however slim.

John’s Cancer Returns
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All the way back in Season 1, John and his family thought that he had beaten cancer when he had two feet cut out of his colon. But, although the operation bought him time, it didn’t necessarily buy him unlimited time. If the big C were to return, John might isolate himself from his nearest and dearest so as to keep them from being forced to bear witness to the toll the disease would take on him in his last days.

We might as well call Costner’s character “Calamity John,” considering how powerful a magnet he is for medical maladies. Remember back in Season 2 when he ruptured an ulcer (and had a handy veterinarian fix him up)? It wouldn’t exactly be unthinkable for the sum total of all of his shootings and beatings and whatnot to catch up to him and leave

Accidents happen — and on Yellowstone, they happen quite a bit. Hell, the whole series kicked off with a highway disaster that forced John to put down a horse. And no way will any of us forget the rare pickup truck/buffalo wreck that caused Monica to lose the baby that she and Kayce were expecting early in Season 5. One wolf or gopher in the wrong place at the wrong time, and the governor could become chauffeur-driven roadkill.

John Elopes With Summer

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We’ll grant you, John seems to have a pretty incredible tolerance for fighting. Since Season 1, Episode 1, the guy has been scrapping with somebody or other 24/7. But what if he realized that life is short? What if he finally said “legacy schmegacy,” popped the question to Summer, and the two of them took off to get married in a Vegas chapel? John could resign as governor, leave the ranch to Beth and Kayce, and be done with all of that needless stress.

John Joins Lynelle in D.C.

On second thought, if John was ever going to replace late wife Evelyn, we’d want it to be with his predecessor as governor. Though last we heard, Senator Perry was in a new relationship, we have a feeling she’d bail on it in a heartbeat if her old flame offered to put a ring on it and hang his hat next to hers in the Capitol. With Costner gone, we wouldn’t get to see the couple’s happy ending, but hey, at least they’d get one.

Nature Takes Its Course… Literally

Around every corner of the ranch, there’s something else that could kill John. So it could wind up being Mother Nature who takes out Beth and Kayce’s father. Supposing the bear that didn’t survive Season 1 had a honey, so to speak. The aggrieved mate could have been biding its time ever since until it found just the right moment to pounce on Rip’s father-in-law.

Lug-Nut Boy Finally Gets His Revenge

OK, we’re kidding about this one. But if we were the youngster that John sent in search of lost lug nuts just before shots rang out in Season 3’s finale, and nobody ever inquired whether we’d survived, we’d be pretty pissed. Maybe the boy has spent these last two seasons digging a grave for the good Samaritan whose long list of enemies wound up getting his mom caught in the crossfire of an assassination attempt.