The fate of fictional Montana Gov. John Dutton -- played by Kevin Costner -- has finally been disclosed in the Season 5B premiere of Yellowstone that aired on Paramount Sunday night.
The first half of the season of the contemporary western wrapped in January 2023.
It saw John's adopted son Jamie (Wes Bentley), the state attorney general, seeking to impeach him, incurring the wrath of his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) and putting in jeopardy the massive cattle ranch that generations of their family fought to build and protect.
Costner, who has been working on his own Horizon western movie series, announced last year that he would not return for the second half of the season because of scheduling conflicts caused by delays in filming Yellowstone.
Whether Costner changed his mind or show creator Taylor Sheridan used previously filmed footage of Costner to tie up John's story-line and finish out Season 5 was unclear until the show returned this past weekend.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
In the opening moments of Sunday's mid-season premiere, Beth and her brother Kayce (Luke Grimes) are seen entering the governor's mansion against the orders of police officers.
The siblings rush to John's quarters and find a dead body in the bathroom, a handgun on the floor and blood on a wall.
Jamie announces John's death during a press conference, which Beth is listening to on the radio of the truck Kayce is driving.
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She tells Kayce to let her out and starts screaming about how Jamie not only killed their father, but made it look like a suicide, destroying his legacy.
It is later revealed that Jamie's girlfriend Sarah (Dawn Olivieri) hired a professional killer to murder John after they discussed it.
The episode also flashes back six weeks to happier times when some of John's ranchers, including Beth's husband Rip (Cole Hauser) are transporting cattle to Texas and Beth is planning to visit him.
Separately, Kayce and his wife Monica (Kelsey Asbille) are settling into the new home John gifted them.
A new trailer released Sunday night and previewing the rest of the season shows the family vacillating between grief and anger with Beth plotting Jamie's demise and Kayce telling him: "You should be scared. I know everything."
Jamie is also seen telling authorities, "You're treating me like a suspect."