The Fate Of Lee Dutton In Yellowstone Explained

Spoilers for "Yellowstone" follow.

The Paramount+ series "Yellowstone" has been a juggernaut of a television show. The Taylor Sheridan-created series is halfway through its fifth and final season, with the remaining six episodes waiting on a release date, but the lore has widely expanded. The series "1883" told the tale of the Dutton ancestors and how they ended up in Montana, and "1923" was the continuation of the struggles of one family to hold an immense amount of land. "Lawman: Bass Reeves," set in the same universe, will debut this fall and tell the story of the legendary old West Black lawman. 

One thing fans of the Sheridan cowboy-verse know is that no one is safe in these series. Characters die all the time. The show isn't about a comfy life in an office. This is cattle ranching, and it's not the easiest profession. The Duttons have lost many lives, and come close to losing many more. It's just what happens to this family, as is clear from the (no spoilers here) incredible amount of deaths in "1883" and "1923." 

Let's take a look at the fate of one of John Dutton III's (Kevin Costner) children, Lee Dutton, played by Dave Annable ("Brothers & Sisters," "666 Park Avenue," "Special Ops: Lioness").

Lee Dutton was the eldest son of John Dutton III. A Livestock Agent, he worked on the ranch with his dad. In fact, he's so devoted to the Yellowstone ranch and to his family that his younger brother Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) gives him a hard time about it as they sit outside having lunch in the very first episode, "Daybreak." 

In the episode, some of the Yellowstone cattle wander onto land adjacent to the ranch. This land, however, is part of the Broken Rock Indian Reservation. The Duttons come back to the border at night to get the cattle back, but the people on the reservation already knew they were coming. The Broken Rock police show up and try to calm things down, but during those moments, Lee Dutton is shot by Reservation resident Robert Long (Jeremiah Bitsui).

Kayce shows up to try to keep the situation from getting worse, but things get complicated very quickly. Robert Long just happens to be the brother of Kayce's Native American wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille). Poor Lee Dutton lies dying on the ground while Robert pulls the gun again. Kayce jumps in and shoots his brother-in-law Robert dead. Despite his efforts to save his brother, Lee doesn't make it, and Kayce has to bring his body back and tell their father.

It was a sad and quick end for Lee Dutton, not even making it to the second episode. That said, he does show up in photographs in season 2, and the character is played in flashbacks from the 1990s by Kip Denton. Annable also returns to give Kayce a message in a vision quest in the season 4 episode "Gray on the Streets and Weeds on the Rooftops."

"Yellowstone" is currently streaming on Paramount+.