‘Yellowstone': John Dutton’s Wife’s Tragedy Revealed [Dutton Rules]

Yellowstone fans learned what happened to John Dutton's wife during Sunday night's episodes. Actually — did we really find out what happened?

We'll save the spoiler until a little later in this article, but if nothing else, viewers saw what happened at the start of Ep. 3, "No Good Horses." A flashback sequence also leant an explanation for why Beth Dutton is the way she is.

Taste of Country's Adison Haager and Billy Dukes return to break it all down during a new episode of the Dutton Rules podcast.

What Happened to John Dutton's Wife? (Spoiler Alert)

John Dutton's wife Evelyn Dutton (played by Gretchen Mol) dies in a flashback scene in Ep. 3 of Season 1. Her exact cause of death is not revealed, but it appears a horse falls on her after being spooked.

She's riding with a young Beth and Kayce Dutton and has just scolded her daughter about being too afraid of horses. If we're being honest, this conversation sounds like an extension of a life-long lecture — Evelyn's not the softer of the two Dutton parents.

Beth opens a latch in the gate and her horse trots through, but a second later, Evelyn's horse gets scared, rears up and knocks off Evelyn before falling on her. She has time to utter a few dying words.

First, she makes it clear she blames Beth for what happened and then she tells Kayce that if his face is the last thing she ever sees, that's OK.

Ep. 2 and Ep. 3 of Yellowstone played back to back on CBS on Sunday (Sept. 24), with the first being something of a cleanup episode and the second advancing the story in significant ways. Kayce Dutton's loyalty to the Broken Rock Reservation is put to the test during Ep. 3, and the fallout is sure to be key to an upcoming episode.

This week's podcast also explores the complicated emotions of Beth and Jamie's fight and John's apparent resentment of Jamie.

Listen to Dutton Rules: A Yellowstone + 1923 Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you podcast. It's also now available on YouTube.