The final season of Yellowstone is being kept under lock and key,

as one would expect, but we do know one thing: John Dutton will

not be a part of the Yellowstone Cinematic Yeehawniverse anymore.

At least, not physically. That’s a result of Kevin Costner’s ignominious departure from the series. What happens to John Dutton remains one of the tightly guarded secrets of Yellowstone’s upcoming episodes, along with the unresolved tension between Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Jamie (Wes Bentley). However, Reilly has revealed that John’s absence didn’t alter the ending series creator Taylor Sheridan had always envisioned, Reilly shared with Entertainment Weekly:“The absence was part of the ending. That’s not something that we had to pivot; it was already written into the tapestry of the story. It was always going to happen, it just unfolded a little differently.”

Reilly has known Sheridan’s planned conclusion since Season 1, when he first shared it with her. As she mentioned to EW previously, Sheridan originally mapped out five seasons for the show before it became a runaway success. “It was always going to be five seasons in [Sheridan’s] head, but because the show became so successful, the network and everyone wanted more,” Reilly explained. “So, in a way, fate took it, and we ended this part of Yellowstone in a way that he always envisioned it to end.”

What Can We Expect from ‘Yellowstone’s Final Season?