Warning: SPOILERS for 1923 Season 2's Finale - "A Dream and a Memory"Spencer and Alexandra Dutton (Julia Schlaepfer) reminiscent of Titanic.
Spencer Dutton's long-awaited 1923 homecoming rescued the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch as his aunt Jacob (Harrison Ford) and Aunt Cara (Helen Mirren) hoped. Spencer also reunited with Alex after her own arduous journey to Montana left 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.
1923 concluded 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, 1923 also created a series of questions that weren't resolved by the end of "A Dream and a Memory," leaving the possibility of answers to come in 1944.
7 When Do The Duttons Learn About The Train Station?
1923 Season 2 Revealed The Train Station's Origin
1923 season 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 was a 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 'enger'.
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.
When Jack Dutton was killed by Whitfield's hired guns in 1923 season 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 time 1923 is 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 Ha) send several victims to the Train Station in Yellowstone.
6 Who Is Spencer Dutton’s Other Son?
There's Another Dutton Born After John II
1923 season 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 in Yellowstone. 's ending also includes a remarkable time jump, flash-forwarding to Spencer 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 March 29, 1924. 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 ed 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 wrinkle to the Dutton family tree, as does the identity of the mysterious widow Spencer "took the comfort of" but never married.
5 Who 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 in 1923 season 1, but Jack and Elizabeth got pregnant again in 1923 season 2. Even if Jack had lived, however, Elizabeth was committed to leaving the Yellowstone and returning to Boston after 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 means Jack and Elizabeth's baby has a claim to the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch and their family's legacy. It's possible that Elizabeth's child could return in 1944, the next Yellowstone prequel, when they are about 20 years old, to learn more about Jack and the Dutton family.
4 How 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 of 1923, Jacob Dutton decides it's time to retire. As Jacob complained throughout 1923, he's 80 years old, and well past his prime of running the Yellowstone. Jacob and Cara settle into their new life together, raising baby John Dutton II and 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 by 1944, 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 since 1923's ending establishes he lives until he's 80, too.
3 How Does Spencer Lose His Leg?
John Dutton III Reveals His Grandfather Has One Leg In Yellowstone
Spencer Dutton is not only revealed to be John Dutton III's grandfather in 1923, but Yellowstone establishes that Spencer will also somehow lose one of his legs. In Yellowstone season 4, John tells Jimmy Hurdstrom (Jefferson White) that his grandfather suffered from "phantom pain" after losing his leg. When Jack Dutton was killed in 1923, 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 the 1923 finale'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 in 1944, which will include Spencer Dutton at 55 years old.
2 What Happens To Teonna & How Does She Connect To Thomas Rainwater?
Teonna Never Meets The Duttons In 1923
The ballad of Teonna Rainwater (Aminah Nieves) throughout 1923's 2 seasons was a show-within-the-show. Teonna escaped the cruelty of Father Renaud's (Sebastian Roche) school in North Dakota in 1923 season 1, and she was pursued throughout Texas and Oklahoma in 1923 season 2 by Renaud and the sadistic Marshal Nathan Kent (Jamie McShane). After Renaud killed the Marshal and Teonna 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 of 1923 season 2, and she was given a horse and advised to go to California. Yet at no point in 1923's 2 seasons does Teonna's story intersect with the Duttons in Montana, and 1923 left it unclear how, exactly, Teonna is related to Yellowstone's Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham). Perhaps 1944 will pick up Teonna's story 20 years later and finally bring her or her descendants to the Yellowstone to meet the Duttons.
1 Will 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 next Yellowstone prequel, 1944. However, given the popularity of 1923's cast, and how Spencer Dutton and Elizabeth Strafford survive 1923's ending as parents, audiences (and actors Brandon Sklenar and Michelle Randolph) wonder whether they will get to play their characters in 1944. Sheridan usually recasts his characters as they get older, but makeup and prosthetics could potentially age Sklenar and Randolph to 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 of 1923's ending. Schlaepfer and Brandon Sklenar have floated the idea of Alex returning as a ghost in 1944, which may not be as absurd as it sounds. While it's more likely that new actors will play the older Spencer and Elizabeth in 1944, hopes are high that Taylor Sheridan's continuation of the Duttons pre-Yellowstone saga will solve the mysteries 1923 left behind.
1923
- Release Date
- 2022 - 2025-00-00
- Network
- Paramount+
- Showrunner
- Taylor Sheridan
Cast
Jacob Dutton
Cara Dutton
WHERE TO WATCH
- Directors
- Guy Ferland
- Writers
- Taylor Sheridan
- Franchise(s)
- Yellowstone
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