Warning: SPOILERS for 1923 Season 2’s Finale - “A Dream and a Memory"1923season 2’s action-packed and tragic finale saw Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) save the Yellowstone from Thomas Whitfield (Timothy Dalton), but not every question was answered by the time the final credits rolled. 1923season 2’s ending, “A Dream and a Memory,” was an epic, two-hour conclusion filled with violence, death, and heartbreak that also ended on a romantic note betweenSpencer and Alexandra Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer) reminiscent ofTitanic.
Spencer Dutton’s long-awaited1923homecoming rescued the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch as his aunt Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Aunt Cara (Helen Mirren) hoped. Spencer also reunited withAlex after her own arduous journey to Montanaleft her stranded and dying of hypothermia.Before Alex’s tragic death, she gave birth to her son with Spencer, whom she named John Dutton. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Stratton (Michelle Randolph), who is also pregnant, learns that her husband, Jack Dutton (Darren Mann), was killed by Whitfield’s men.
1923concluded with Spencer Dutton inheriting control of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch. The Duttons' enemies, Thomas Whitfield and Banner Creighton (Jerome Flynn), are no more, and the Yellowstone enters a period of relative peace for however long. However,1923also created a series of questions that weren’t resolvedby the end of “A Dream and a Memory,” leaving the possibility of answers to come inTaylor Sheridan’s nextYellowstoneprequel,1944.
7When Do The Duttons Learn About The Train Station?
1923 Season 2 Revealed The Train Station’s Origin
1923season 2 revealed the origin of the Train Station,Yellowstone’s most infamous locale. As Thomas Whitfield mused over his plans to build ski resorts in Paradise Valley, the British millionaire realized there wasa lawless area between Wyoming and Montana with no population. Whitfield decided it was the perfect location to dispose of his enemies and victims, including a sex worker named Christy (Cailin Rice), who was the Train Station’s first ‘passenger’.
1923 Season 2 Finale Ending Explained: Spencer’s Yellowstone Homecoming Leads To War, Tragedy & Hope For The Duttons
1923 season 2 concludes with an epic 2-hour finale as Spencer Dutton leads the war for Yellowstone. We break down every triumph and tragedy.
WhenJack Dutton was killedby Whitfield’s hired guns in1923season 2’s penultimate episode, it seemed he would be the first Dutton sent to the Train Station. However, Jack’s body was recovered and buried in the Duttons' family cemetery. By the time1923is over, none of the Duttons learned of the Train Station, and it’s unclear how they eventually found out about it. Decades later, however, John Dutton III (Kevin Costner) and Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser) send several victims to the Train Station inYellowstone.
6Who Is Spencer Dutton’s Other Son?
There’s Another Dutton Born After John II
1923season 2’s finale features the birth of John Dutton II, the father of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton, who was played as an old man by Dabney Coleman inYellowstone.1923’s ending also includes a remarkable time jump, flash-forwarding toSpencer Dutton’s death in 1969 at the age of 80. As the elderly Spencer breathes his last at Alex’s gravesite, Elsa Dutton’s (Isabel May) narration reveals some of what happened in the 45 years after Alex died:
Spencer never remarried.Took the comfort of a widow and made another boy, refused to marry her. And one day, the widow was gone. For Spencer, her memory didn’t fade, didn’t fray at the edges, and didn’t dull. Not one. Alexandra Dutton was born on April Fool’s Day, 1901, in Oxfordshire, England, and laid to rest June 27, 2025. When old age robbed him of his memories, he simply closed his eyes and dreamed up new ones. And 45 years later, my young brother joined her.
Spencer Dutton had another son out of wedlock, but who is this mystery Dutton? Was he also raised by Spencer, Jacob, and Cara alongside John II at the Yellowstone ranch?An illegitimate Dutton male sired by Spencer adds an interesting new wrinkleto the Dutton family tree, as does the identity of the mysterious widow Spencer"took the comfort of"but never married.
5Who Is Elizabeth Strafford’s Child WIth Jack Dutton?
Is Elizabeth Carrying A Boy Or A Girl?
Jack Dutton’s death left Elizabeth Stafford a young widow. Elizabeth lost her first baby with Jack in1923season 1, butJack and Elizabeth got pregnant again in1923season 2. Even if Jack had lived, however,Elizabeth was committed to leaving the Yellowstone and returning to Bostonafter her horrible experience of barely surviving Montana’s brutal winter.
Every Terrible Thing That’s Happened To Elizabeth Strafford In 1923
Michelle Randolph’s 1923 character, Elizabeth Strafford, has a history of bad luck when it comes to life on the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch.
It’s unclear whether Elizabeth is carrying Jack’s son or daughter, but their child is a Dutton. This meansJack and Elizabeth’s baby has a claim to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranchand their family’s legacy. It’s possible that Elizabeth’s child could return in1944, the nextYellowstoneprequel, when they are about 20 years old, to learn more about Jack and the Dutton family.
4How Long Do Jacob & Cara Dutton Live After 1923?
Jacob Is Already 80 Years Old
With Spencer,“The Great Hope,“installed as the new head of the Yellowstone Ranch at the end of1923,Jacob Dutton decides it’s time to retire.As Jacob complained throughout1923, he’s 80 years old, and well past his prime of running the Yellowstone. Jacob and Cara settle into their new life together, raisingbaby John Dutton IIand advising Spencer. How long Jacob and Cara live, however, isn’t clear.
Following Margaret Dutton’s (Faith Hill), Jacob and Cara Dutton came to Montana in 1894, which means they ran the Yellowstone for 30 years until Spencer took over in 1924.
Jacob and Cara Dutton will be dead by1944,unless they become the Duttons' first known centenarians. Jacob is already remarkably long-lived for a Dutton male, as most of them die violently. Jacob and Cara’s longevity seems to have inspired Spencer since1923’s ending establishes he lives until he’s 80, too.
3How Does Spencer Lose His Leg?
John Dutton III Reveals His Grandfather Has One Leg In Yellowstone
Spencer Dutton is not only revealed to beJohn Dutton III’s grandfather in1923, butYellowstoneestablishes that Spencer will also somehow lose one of his legs. InYellowstoneseason 4, John tells Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White) that his grandfather suffered from"phantom pain"after losing his leg. When Jack Dutton was killed in1923, by process of elimination, that left Spencer as John III’s grandfather, which was confirmed by Spencer being John II’s father.
1923’s Finale Debunks A Jack Dutton Yellowstone Fan Theory & I’m Grateful
Jack Dutton’s fate in 1923 season 2 led to fears that he would be a victim of Yellowstone’s most infamous destination, and I’m glad it didn’t happen.
During the1923finale’s time jump, the elderly Spencer is seen talking with a subtle limp towards Alex’s tombstone. There are also close-ups of old Spencer’s legs as he lies down at Alex’s grave,hinting at how one of them is prosthetic. How and when Spencer loses his leg isn’t known, but it could be revealed in1944, which will include Spencer Dutton at 55 years old.
2What Happens To Teonna & How Does She Connect To Thomas Rainwater?
Teonna Never Meets The Duttons In 1923
The ballad of Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) throughout1923’s 2 seasons wasa show-within-the-show. Teonna escaped the cruelty of Father Renaud’s (Sebastian Roche) school in North Dakota in1923season 1, and she was pursued throughout Texas and Oklahoma in1923season 2 by Renaud and the sadistic Marshal Nathan Kent (Jamie McShane). After Renaud killed the Marshal andTeonna killed the priest, the Rainwater girl was finally captured by the kindly Marshal Mamie Fossett (Jennifer Carpenter).
1923 left it unclear how, exactly, Teonna is related to Yellowstone’s Thomas Rainwater.
Teonna Rainwater was acquitted of murder charges and set free at the end of1923season 2, and she was given a horse and advised to go to California. Yetat no point in1923’s 2 seasons does Teonna’s story intersect with the Duttonsin Montana, and1923left it unclear how, exactly,Teonna is related toYellowstone’s Thomas Rainwater(Gil Birmingham). Perhaps1944will pick up Teonna’s story 20 years later and finally bring her or her descendants to the Yellowstone to meet the Duttons.
1Will 1923’s Actors Return In Taylor Sheridan’s Next Yellowstone Prequel?
1944 Could Recast Spencer & Elizabeth - But Should It?
It’s no secret that the Duttons' saga will continue in Taylor Sheridan’s nextYellowstoneprequel,1944.However, given the popularity of1923’s cast, and how Spencer Dutton and Elizabeth Strafford survive1923’s ending as parents, audiences (and actors Brandon Sklenar and Michelle Randolph) wonder whether they will get to play their characters in1944. Sheridan usually recasts his characters as they get older, butmakeup and prosthetics could potentially age Sklenar and Randolphto convincingly portray Spencer at 55 and Elizabeth in her 40s.
1923 Actors’ Alex Dutton Comeback Idea Could Actually Work In Taylor Sheridan’s Next Yellowstone Prequel - Here’s How
After her tragic and awful 1923 fate, Alex Dutton could return with Julia Schlaepfer reprising her role, and Brandon Sklenar knows how.
Julia Schlaepfer also won audiences' hearts as Alexandra Dutton, and her death was perhaps the most heartbreaking moment of1923’s ending. Schlaepfer and Brandon Sklenar have floated the idea of Alex returning as a ghost in1944, which may not be as absurd as it sounds. While it’s more likely that new actors will play the older Spencer and Elizabeth in1944, hopes are high that Taylor Sheridan’s continuation of the Duttons pre-Yellowstonesaga will solve the mysteries1923left behind.
