Note: The following story contains spoilers from Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 9

“Yellowstone” is finally back. And with that comes a new mystery: How exactly did the Taylor Sheridan juggernaut (the most popular show on television) write off its biggest star?

If you’ve been following since the last episode of “Yellowstone” aired on January 1, 2023), you know that Kevin Costner, who played patriarch John Dutton on the series, was at odds with Sheridan. This had to do with the amount of time the show took from Costner, who was trying to launch his own franchise with the ‘Horizon’ films. (Two were shot, one was actually released theatrically. He’s still hoping to find financing for parts two and three.) When the two reached an impasse, it was announced that Costner had left the show. He said his work would be shown in theaters anyway.

With Costner alive and well in the final batch of episodes, which we’ll call 5A, and early marketing material featuring the star heavily, you might be wondering: How exactly will “Yellowstone” handle his departure? Well, we’re ready to tell you.

Did they kill “Yellowstone” John Dutton?

Yes.

Is he really dead? No funny business? No return from behind the veil?

No.

How did they kill him?

In the episode’s cold open, John’s body is discovered. It’s a bloody scene, guts splattering the walls, all that. You don’t see Costner’s face, but you see it’s John. And it is soon announced that “the 26th governor of Montana” (remember, John was elected governor in 5A) is no more. He dies at the governor’s mansion, not at the Dutton ranch. Plenty of terrible things have happened there.

Did they even say what happened to him?

Before the cold passes, two stories emerge: the official story is that John committed suicide. Beth (Kelly Reilly) naturally thinks Jamie (Wes Bentley) set it up. It’s easy to see why the two disagreed and by the end of 5A it seemed like he was going to take the next step and leave his father. Sweet, trusting Kayce (Luke Grimes) doesn’t know what to believe. He’s always trying to keep the peace, and he’s torn. Beth urges Rip (Cole Hauser), who is at ranch 6666 in Texas, to come back. And yes, we briefly see our favorite Jimmy (Jefferson White), still waiting for that spin-off that was announced years ago. Anyway…

Did Jamie actually order his father’s murder?

No. Instead, it was the evil, sexy Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) who ordered the hit. She meets Jamie and says, “Isn’t this what you wanted?” And he says, “No.” And starts to cry. She tells him that lions do not die of old age, but in the jaws of younger lions.

What’s next?

Beth and Kayce are back at the Dutton Ranch. Neither believes that John committed suicide. And while Beth insists that Jamie had something to do with it, she also acknowledges that he can’t do anything on his own. They decide they have to look Jamie in the eye to decide if he had anything to do with John’s murder, because he was just an innocent rube.

Then, Beth says, they can decide how to kill Jamie. Rip then joins them. End of episode. Things are going to happen ugly.

“Yellowstone airs Sundays at 8pm ET/PT on Paramount Network.