Did 1923 end by confirming how the Dutton lineage continues in Yellowstone, including who John Dutton III’s grandfather is? From the looks of the episode, well, sorta kinda. But judging by what the cast told Blavity’s Shadow and Act in a recent cast interview, we really shouldn’t make assumptions.

The 1923 Season 2 finale wraps up the story of 1923 (check out our explainer of the finale here), and the Yellowstone origin is set to pick up in the upcoming 1944 series. But what exactly does the Dutton family tree look like now, and who is John Dutton II’s father?

Alex and Spencer Dutton’s baby is born in the ‘1923’ Season 2 finale

Alex (Julia Schlaepfer) gives birth to her and Spencer’s (Brandon Sklenar) baby boy, who is premature and has some issues, but we do see that his birth is successful. One of the show’s last moments sees Cara taking care of the baby as Liz (Michelle Randolph) leaves Yellowstone, pregnant herself. Earlier in the episode, Alex told Jacob that she thought the baby’s name could be John, named after Spencer’s late brother (James Badge Dale) and Jacob’s other nephew. While we know that she wanted the baby to be called John, we don’t know if this ends up as the baby’s name, or if this is actually John Dutton II.

We can assume that it is him, but Sklenar, Schlaepfer and Randolph all told us that they don’t know if this is proven to be true, and that they wouldn’t believe it until Taylor Sheridan writes it.

“I think that Brandon and I would both absolutely love to believe that [their Alex and Spencer’s son is John II] and probably do deep down in our hearts, but there are many, many years between present day and back then. And a lot could happen. So until Taylor writes it, that’s what I’ll say.”

“Could be another John popping up now and again—it’s a strong name,” said Sklenar. “My brother was a strong man and I think that it’s certainly possible.”

“I want them [the fans] to know that we are there with them,” said Randolph. “I don’t know. I wish that we knew if people say there’s some people who are very confident in their theory, and I’m happy for them.”

Elizabeth Dutton leaves the ranch pregnant with Jack Dutton’s baby

Liz also leaves pregnant. So there may be a chance that this baby could end up being John Dutton II, seeing that the baby would literally be the son of the grandson of John Sr. But wouldn’t that mean a generation is skipped? Who knows—if we get into the specificities of these names, we’ll be really confused. Anyway, just know that Elizabeth’s and Jack’s baby could be John III’s grandfather, or even another future Dutton.

Spencer also has another Dutton son

The voiceover at the end of the finale, which tells the story of the rest of Spencer’s life, says Spencer had another son with a widow. Is this John II? Is this a sibling of John II we didn’t previously know about? Again, who knows!

Fan theories about the Dutton lineage and the upcoming ‘The Madison’ spinoff of ‘Yellowstone’

One fan theory about the Duttons has been persistent in the fandom, and it is tied to the upcoming present-day Yellowstone spinoff/sequel series, The Madison, which was once known as 2024.

The current logline for The Madison is: The Madison is a heartfelt study of grief and human connection following a New York City family in the Madison River valley of central Montana. The cast, led by Michelle Pfeiffer, also includes Patrick J. Adams, Elle Chapman, Beau Garrett and Amiah Miller.

Now, before it became The Madison and Pfeiffer was cast, the present-day Yellowstone spinoff was set to star Matthew McConaughey, but the actor’s attachment was never officially confirmed. But one fan theory was that this spinoff would focus on previously unmentioned Duttons, perhaps cousins of John III.

How Matthew McConaughey ties into it

Someone wrote on Reddit last year, before Yellowstone ended, 1923 Season 2 premiered and the news of McConaughey not being involved with 2024, “I predict that Spencer’s family line will turn up as Texas cousins that help the financially strapped Duttons. This will be Matthew McConaughey.”

So, while all of this is highly speculative, it is worth noting that many fans went from thinking that John Dutton II was the last Dutton of them all, and that his children are the ones carrying on the legacy in Yellowstone. But as 1923 ends, we don’t know for sure who John Dutton II’s father is, and there are two other Duttons aside from him that are unaccounted for. But one major throughline of 1883, 1923 and Yellowstone is that the family quite often falls victim to tragedy.

So, what does all of this mean?

We know that one of these three Dutton offspring is likely John Dutton II—Alex and Spencer’s child, Spencer’s child with the widow, or Liz and Jack’s child. And for the other two, they could have died at some point. But what if they didn’t? Are there other Duttons out there? Did Yellowstone just ignore them?

And will The Madison, a Yellowstone spinoff that, right now, has no Duttons on its canvas, really be a Yellowstone spinoff without Duttons? That would be hard to imagine. Is Michelle Pfeiffer or anyone else on the show a secret Dutton? We’ll have to wait to find out, but it is fun to imagine the characters on this show being descendants of one of the aforementioned offspring.

Now, the Duttons have definitely been shown to be unlucky. So its the simplest answer that only one of the offspring survived, and this is likely Alex and Spencer’s son, who is the father of John III? Possibly, but we don’t know for certain.

1923 is streaming in full on Paramount+.