The second season of 1923 ended with a lot of loose threads. [Spoiler Alert] We still don’t know what’s going to happen to Jack and Elizabeth’s kid. Will they return to Paradise Valley or build a totally different life in Boston? And the second most talked about question is, is Spencer and Alex’s son really the father of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton? Well, it’s all a blur right now, and one could try to connect the dots with theories and assumptions, but I believe we are going to get more clarity in the upcoming sequel to 1923, i.e., 1944, which, as the title suggests, will focus on the Second World War and its effect on the Yellowstone ranch and the Dutton family.
The finale of 1923 season 2 took place on March 29, 1924, when Alex was finally laid to rest. Soon after her death, Spencer busied himself with the ranch, while it was Jacob and Cara who looked after his son, John Dutton II, until their own death. The season 2 ending didn’t reveal when exactly the old couple passed away, though it could be safe to assume that they wouldn’t have lived much longer considering they both were around 80 years old. Now, the sequel series, 1944, as the name suggests, will take place in the early 1940s, with the world already dealing with the most destructive war man has ever waged. At this time, Spencer, who was born in 1889, would be around 55 years old, which means he wouldn’t have been drafted, and most likely stayed on the ranch to protect it from the new enemies, the next wealthy businessman that would set its gaze on the Yellowstone ranch. However, John II, who would be around 20, would have to enlist in the army and would be drafted just like his old man, who had served during the First World War. And we don’t know if he’s going to make it back home alive or be lost on the battlefield. I know many of you believe that John II is the father of Costner’s John Dutton; however, as per the show’s timeline, that would make Kayce’s son, Tate, the sixth generation in the Dutton family, and as per the prophecy in the prequel, 1883, the land would return to their original owners, the Native Americans, after seven generations. So, this means either the makers of the show have made a blunder with the family tree, or there’s more to unravel in the sequel series, where we can expect the return of Jack’s son or daughter to the ranch, who would likely take over the family business after Spencer and his son’s deaths. If the family line continues from Jack’s kid, then it will make Tate the seventh generation, thereby fixing the timeline; however, how it is going to happen and whether Elizabeth will let it happen is something we may have to check out in the sequel.
In season 2’s ending, Elizabeth left the ranch, as she didn’t want to live in the wilderness anymore. She’d only stuck around for Jack, but with him gone forever, Elizabeth didn’t have anything holding her back and decided to leave. During her departure, Cara further suggested that she might fall in love again and start a new life in the city, though Elizabeth wasn’t sure if she would be able to do so. One of the glaring issues here is that neither Cara nor Elizabeth really talked about what was going to happen to the kid in her belly. Will Cara and Jacob ever be informed of Elizabeth’s child? And will she tell her kid who their father really was? And will Elizabeth remarry and start a new life in the city? In that case, her kid won’t bear the Dutton name but will take the surname of her new husband, no? I guess the makers of the show refused to address these questions and skipped the topic completely, mostly because they didn’t want to make any promises to the audience, not until they had planned the storyline for the sequel series.
I believe both Spencer and Jack’s kid (if Elizabeth gives birth to a son) are going to fight in WW2, and if neither of them dies on the frontline, then it is possible that they will return to the ranch, where there will be a new rival who will likely play a role in the death of Spencer’s son, which is going to break him beyond repair. Their son is the only physical memory Spencer has of Alex, and with his son gone, he will lose all his will to look after the ranch, which is possibly when Jack’s son is going to step in and run the family ranch and raise a kid named John Dutton III. As per the Yellowstone timeline, Spencer dies somewhere in 1969, which means whatever crisis is coming their way, Spencer will likely survive, though we are not sure what he’ll end up losing in the next battle. He lost Alex in the first one, and might lose his son in the next.
There’s also the curious case of Spencer’s illegitimate son. In the season 2 finale, Elsa’s ending voiceover revealed that after Alex’s death, Spencer took comfort in a widow and had a son with her. The woman left sometime later, possibly with her son, but it could be possible that this son might return in the 1944 series, claiming his right to the land. I know legally he doesn’t have any claim, but he could turn out to be the next or one of the antagonists of the show trying to kill the family heirs so he could own the land, something every villain of the show’s universe had been trying to do. And he might actually be the one who will kill Spencer’s legitimate son, making the drama more intense than it already is. Well, two sons trying to kill each other over a piece of land isn’t something we haven’t seen before, but it hits the right chords if you ask me.
With all that said, I believe we can expect the 1944 series to mostly center around these 3 Dutton kids and a family feud between them over the Yellowstone ranch amidst the Second World War. And I know there’s also a Yellowstone spin-off titled The Madison in the works, but with so little known about its plot, it’s hard to speculate how it can connect with Spencer or Elizabeth’s storyline. However, 1944, being a direct sequel to 1923, is a safe bet to base our assumptions on and expect the return of the aforementioned characters. So, these are my 2 cents, but I would love to hear what you people have to say and what you expect in the upcoming sequel series.
