Fans Missed It: This Thomas Rainwater Line From Yellowstone Season 1 Spoiled Almost Everything About the Ending

One of the greatest aspects of Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone Universe is how everything interconnects. Not one line of dialogue feels unintentional, and every scene holds purpose — not only regarding the episode it belongs to, but, more importantly, to the overarching story. Sheridan has mastered the art of ensuring that Yellowstone has echoes across its seasons because, at its core, it is a generational story about a family struggling with the weight of the past. Every season builds on the season that came before, and every episode is a building block that ultimately leads to the epic conclusion of the series.

Chief Thomas Rainwater’s Vow & Why It Matters: Breaking Down Rainwater’s Line of Dialogue in Context of the Episode

Chief Thomas Rainwater and John Dutton were the main rivalry at the center of Taylor Sheridan’s Neo-Western drama when the series began in 2018. Their feud was the main catalyst for many of the events that occurred during Yellowstone Season 1. In fact, it was Chief Thomas Rainwater’s act of stealing the cattle belonging to the Duttons that led to Lee Dutton, the eldest son, to die at the hands of his brother-in-law. That initial clash was an avalanche that ignited the war for the Dutton Ranch.

Chief Thomas Rainwater’s line, when broken down, ends up almost spoiling the entire series, even if fans didn’t pick up on it the first time around. Rainwater’s threat comes after being mistreated by the police officers and John. Rainwater’s goals and ambitions are all built on the dream of reclaiming the land that was stolen from his ancestors. The tragic and devastating legacy of America’s colonization. Having studied at Harvard and with his professional experience, Rainwater’s vow is cemented in facts and the reality that John is trying desperately to avoid.

It’s within these threats, and the tension between John and Chief Thomas Rainwater, that Sheridan lays the seeds for the eventual conclusion to his series. Whether it was always meant to echo back to this moment or not is unclear. However, the fact that it does only makes the series, and more importantly, the scene between John and Rainwater, that much more meaningful.

Chief Thomas Rainwater’s Threat Becomes a Reality (Almost): Everything Rainwater Says Happens Except for 1 Crucial Element

What makes Chief Thomas Rainwater’s threatening vow to John Dutton a brilliant piece of foreshadowing is that it all occurs except for one very key aspect. After John Dutton dies halfway through Yellowstone Season 5, Kayce and Beth struggle with saving the ranch because of the massively high inheritance tax. Across the 5 seasons, the Yellowstone ranch continued to face economic challenges, and those all got way worse after John’s death, leaving Kayce and Beth to deal with the repercussions of John’s decisions.

In Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 13, “Give the World Away,” Kayce comes up with a brilliant idea to sell the land back to the Broken Rock Reservation at the price that the first Dutton’s bought it. That way, the sales tax on the land would be based on the price that the Broken Rock Reservation paid for it. At the end of Episode 13, Kayce and Beth both realize that the only way to save everything their family has been fighting for is to give it away, and by doing so ignite the fulfillment of Thomas Rainwater’s threat to John. I made a promise to your father once that I would one day have this land. And I would return it to the state that man found it. I would remove any evidence that he had been here. I’m sure he took it as a threat. And at the time, that’s how I meant it. But your people are buried in that land and so are mine. It is sacred. And that’s how we will treat it.

Sheridan’s deeply moving story reaches a very meaningful conclusion as the seeds that he laid at the beginning of his tale, even down to hearing Elsa’s voice for the first time in Yellowstone, finally come to fruition. A threat made from one rival to the other slowly evolved as these two powerful men changed with the times and came to understand and respect one another. Chief Thomas Rainwater’s threat in Yellowstone Season 1 wasn’t a threat. Despite its original context and intention, it was a promise to the audience that this is where the story would inevitably end. It was staring all the fans in the face all along, and all we had to do was listen.