Across Yellowstone and its spinoffs, there are plenty of Duttons to keep track of – but fans of the drama series can’t help but wonder about certain family members we’ve never even met.
Without the Dutton family, there would be no Yellowstone. Not just because they run the ranch on which the Western series lives, but because Yellowstone is obsessed with legacy. John Dutton’s driving force is how he can preserve his family name, and that goal comes at a price.
When Taylor Sheridan decided to expand the Yellowstone timeline with numerous spinoff shows, the Dutton family tree only grew bigger and more unwieldy. From James to Jacob to John, it’s a tricky task for newbies to wrap their heads around this family’s history.
It’s not surprising, then, that there should be a couple of spare Duttons floating around that fans have never even heard of. One such name is introduced in the very first episode, and never spoken of again.
Yellowstone fans want to know who Ned Dutton is
Fans of the series have pointed out that a character named Ned Dutton is established in Yellowstone’s pilot episode, with the name shown on a grave during Lee’s funeral. Ned, however, is never explained or mentioned again.
During his son’s funeral, John Dutton has visions of Dutton family gravestones in his head, one of which is the aforementioned Ned. It’s brief, shown in a slightly disorienting sweeping shot, but you can see it for yourself below:
As such, there’s one major thing fans are asking: Who the heck is Ned Dutton? What’s more, there’s even a second grave shown with the name ‘Chance Dutton’ engraved.
Naturally, over on the Yellowstone subreddit, theories are already flying around to solve the mystery of the missing Duttons.
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“I just rewatched the first episode for the eighteenth time, but have never noticed while at Lee’s funeral it shows two gravestones,” the original post wrote. “Ned Dutton and Chance Dutton. Who are these people and why have they never been mentioned past this scene?”
Some suggested that Ned and Chance were related closely to John himself, given the obscured date on the tombstone.
“It is possible the semi-obscured date on Ned’s was 1(9)86. The headstones did not look that old. Plus, why would John think of headstones of long-deceased ancestors when he was burying Lee, his son? What if Ned and Chance were two of John’s kids who died way before the series started?” one user responded.
On the other hand, other comments suggested that the tombstone does look closer to an 1800s date. This would mean that Ned and Chance would be more likely related to James and Margaret of the 1883 timeline. As one comment said: “I think Chance & Ned are the eldest boys of James and Margaret Dutton. They died prior and what could have initiated the move to Montana.”
“I just rechecked Lee’s funeral scene to look at the headstones frame-by-frame, but I could not see the date on Chance’s because the prairie grass obscured it,” another added. “On Ned’s I could make out ‘March 16, 186__’. Both headstones and the style and size of the font of the engravings were the same, as well was the age and wear of the stone. It made me wonder if they were buried at the same time.”
Other theories took a more classic Yellowstone route: this is just Sheridan nonsense. In all likelihood, these two characters were in the first episode to give the impression of a long-standing family history. At this point, development on 1883 and 1923 wasn’t in full swing, so there was no established timeline.
“I’m starting to believe that these two were names made up for tombstones in the early days of the series just to show that the family had been there awhile,” said one comment. “I don’t believe at that point Sheridan had the whole Yellowstone Universe and family lineage set.”
