1923 season 2 ending explained: Which Duttons survive the Yellowstone prequel?

It’s the second finale to a Yellowstone series in a handful of months, with the main show having concluded back in December.

The penultimate episode was a shockingly bloody affair that cleared the way for a fraught finale as events in Montana finally reach boiling point. But what happened at the end of it all?

1923 ending explained

With all roads leading to the Dutton house, here’s a rundown of the 1923 season 2 ending, and what it means for the future of Yellowstone.

Alex and Spencer reunite

After the two helpful Brits froze to death in episode 6, Alex is left stranded in their car, herself battling the ice. She starts a fire to try and find some reprieve from the bitter cold, warming herself by burning anything she can find.

A train comes past the car - which Alex has now set ablaze to try and flag the train down - and lo and behold, it’s carrying Spencer (they were both headed in the same direction, after all).

He catches a glimpse of her from the carriage, and leaps from the train to meet her.

Finally reunited, they embrace and Alex tells her husband that she’s carrying their baby - and has been now for six months.

The train stops to let them back aboard, and Alex is rushed to a doctor who immediately tries to treat her exhausted body, attempting to bring some semblance of life back to it as she clings to survival.

Spencer looks on as the doctor undresses her, revealing extensive, deep frostbite spreading across her limbs, causing her extremities to turn necrotic.

Thankfully, the train isn’t far from their destination: Livingston. But even there, the couple is far from safety.

The Livingston shootout

Waiting at the Livingston station is Jacob Dutton and his crew, with support from Sheriff McDowell, awaiting the arrival of Spencer - all armed to the teeth. But why?

Donald Whitfield’s goons also know that Spencer is due to arrive, and they aren’t planning to let him out of the station alive. A huge crew of them amasses at the station, ready to kill Spencer - and anyone else who gets in their way.

Banner, too, is in the crowd, with his family. But he’s not there for the fighting; he’s decided that he’s had more than enough of working for Whitfield, and he intends to escape to Portland with his family.

The train pulls in, and before Spencer’s even stepped onto the platform, the shooting begins.

It’s utter chaos, and seemingly no one escapes without wounds. Whitfield’s henchman fall one by one, including Banner, who - in a fleeting moment of bravery - defends Jacob and takes a bullet himself.

Crucially, Spencer - after a brief reunion with his uncle Jacob (also bloodied) - manages to disembark the train, and then makes his way onward to the Dutton ranch.

What of his wife, Alex? She continues on her way, through Livingston, toward the hospital at Boseman. But she’s not alone: Jacob, himself wounded, accompanies her on the onward journey.

The Dutton house under siege

Duttons’ cohort of cowboys speed from Livingston station to the Dutton ranch, knowing that more of Whitfield’s men will also be attacking the house and its inhabitants.

And they’re right. The house has been subject to a siege for hours.

Cara is holed up in a high window with a rifle, taking precise headshots at the assailants. Meanwhile, it’s the trusty Zane who’s leading the defence on the ground, while the house is encircled by aggressors who continue to arrive in waves.

Cara and Zane have held them off for the most part, but as night arrives, the attackers smash their way into the house.

Thankfully, not far behind is Spencer, who cuts through Whitfield’s mob with ease. He takes them out one by one, in rapid succession, proving why his return to the ranch was so anticipated by Jacob and Cara in the first place.

The cacophony of gunfire ends, and the Dutton house settles into quiet stillness again. Spencer reunites with Cara (who makes for one of the most impressive snipers TV has ever seen, frankly), and in the gloom of the house, Liz calls out for Jack - who, having left the house to join the shootout at the station, should have returned with Spencer.

But, of course, Jack never made it to the station, having been accosted and murdered en route, in the episode previous. Cara (clearly cognisant of Jack’s death) sends out a search party, who find his body in the woods.

Tragedy at Boseman hospital

While Spencer was busy blasting his way through Whitfield’s men, Alex and Jacob made it to the hospital in Boseman.

Jacob was fine (his bleeding torso was simply due to the reopening of an old wound) and goes in search of Alex, who he finds in labour.

She’s giving birth to her son - albeit prematurely. The baby is born and (somehow) is healthy enough to survive, despite all that Alex has been through on her journey to Montana.

The newborn is John Dutton Jr, the father of Yellowstone’s John Dutton - that makes Alex and Spencer the grandparents to John.

But while the baby survives the ordeal, Alex has simply been through too much to hold on. Having now had the satisfaction of reuniting with her husband - however briefly - she’s utterly sapped of life.

Refusing to be operated on (the surgeons want to amputate her necrotic limbs) she holds her baby and accepts death. Spencer arrives at the hospital and sleeps by her side.

When he wakes up, she’s dead. Yes, after all that: Alex dies in the finale of 1923.

It’s a grim end to a grim story, which has been nothing but unflinchingly brutal to Alex ever since she was separated from her husband. And it’s another taste of Sheridan’s penchant for absolute nihilism.

There’s no such thing as a purely happy ending in Sheridan’s Yellowstone, and Alex is just the latest example of that. If his writing has a central thesis, it’s that life, really, isn’t fair.

Jacob and Spencer get their revenge

Spencer passes his newborn son onto Cara for safekeeping, and with his uncle Jacob at his side, they go to exact their long overdue revenge on Whitfield.

The duo arrive at Whifield’s doorstep and force entry. They find Whitfield having his breakfast and, without any hesitation, Spencer shoots him dead with a bullet through the head.

Jacob notes that Whitfield’s demise will be an example for any of the vulture-like businessmen who come looking to take the Duttons’ land.

1923’s closing moments

In the aftermath of all the violence, Liz finally leaves the ranch to rebuild her life elsewhere: she's had nothing but hellish experiences since her arrival.

It makes for an interesting comparison to Alex, who has similarly journeyed through despair since coming into the Duttons’ orbit, but had the constitution to endure it (until the very end).

The remaining Duttons bury Jack and Alex in the family graveyard. And, from then on, Spencer takes on the ranch as his own, allowing Jacob to begin his overdue retirement; he and Cara will look after Spencer’s son while Spencer looks after the Yellowstone ranch.

And what of Teonah? Having killed the priest, she’s captured, finally, by Marshall Fossett. Fossett takes her to trial, but the prosecution has no witnesses, and the case is dismissed. Teonah can now walk free.

She makes her way West, toward California, seeking a new life, and a break from the brutality she’s been forced to live through for the past year.

Elsa Dutton narrates the closing moments, recounting how Spencer dies of old age, with Alex always on his mind, preserved by his memory.

The final scene is of Spencer and Alex, in one of those memories of his, dancing at a ball - reunited in death.

Where does the Yellowstone story go after 1923?

1923 ends conclusively, and there won’t be a season 3. Like 1883 and the main Yellowstone series before it, it’s done for good.

However, the Yellowstone story more broadly is far from over.

Like 1883 was followed by 1923, 1923 is due to be succeeded by 1944, which is supposedly being developed by Sheridan. In theory, that could tell the story of an older Spencer and his son, John Dutton Jr.

Meanwhile, a slew of sequels (rather than prequels) to the main series is also in the works: The Madison, 6666, a Beth and Rip show, and a Kayce show, are all in various stages of development (Sheridan is a very busy man) and even with 1923 now done, there’s plenty more Yellowstone coming down the tracks.

Hopefully, at least one of them will give us characters as good as Jacob, Cara, Spencer, and Alex, and stories to match.

Read more:

• 1923's Brandon Sklenar teases season 2 finale: 'One of the best things I’ve ever read'
• 1923 star responds to character's demise: "It's a tough one"

1923 seasons 1-2 are available to watch on Paramount Plus. Get a seven day free Paramount Plus trial at Amazon Prime Video.

Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.