A Look at Who Patience Dutton Is and How She Connected to the Overall ‘Yellowstone’ Universe

A Look at Who Patience Dutton Is and How She Connected to the Overall ‘Yellowstone’ Universe

Patience could very well be one of the focal points in the new prequel, ‘1944’

Season 5 of Yellowstone quickly gave viewers a mystery: Patience Dutton, a name etched onto a gravestone with little explanation.,Following the explosive 1923 series finale, fans of the show are more determined than ever to figure out who she is and how she connects to the never-ending Dutton family tree. Below, we dive deep into who Patience could be and when you could expect to see her on your television screens.

During the brief glimpse of Patience’s grave—along with her name—viewers were also offered a year: 1931. However, it is unclear if that is when the Dutton girl was born or when she died, opening up a realm of possibilities for who exactly she could be related to.

Darren Mann as Jack Dutton and Michelle Randolph as Elizabeth Dutton of the Paramount+ series '1923'.
Darren Mann as Jack Dutton and Michelle Randolph as Elizabeth Dutton of the Paramount+ series ‘1923’.Emerson Miller/Paramount+ © 2022

One of the most obvious answers, according to fans, is the notion that Patience is the daughter of 1923’s Elizabeth (Michelle Randolph) and Jack Dutton (Darren Mann). At the end of Season 2, Elizabeth not only reveals that she is still pregnant following the death of her husband but that she is also going to be moving back East—most likely to Boston, Massachusetts—to raise her child. This all transpired in 1924, leading some fans to believe that if Patience is Elizabeth and Jack’s kid, she died around the age of 7, prompting her mother to return to Montana and bury her on the same land as her father.

This theory satisfies some fans, as Elizabeth did tell her great aunt-in-law, Cara Dutton (Helen Mirren), before her departure that she would love Jack forever and would continue to keep in touch with the Dutton clan to help her and her child remember him.

Another possibility is that Patience Dutton could be Spencer’s (Brandon Sklenar) second child. During his sister Elsa’s (Isabel May) voiceover at the end, viewers learned that following the death of his wife Alexandra (Julia Schlaepfer), he welcomed a second child with a widow. Details surrounding that love affair, however, are slim. Granted, since Elsa also revealed that Spencer’s second child was a boy, it is unlikely that it’s Patience, but who knows? Maybe Patience is a boy and not a girl like most fans suspect!

Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton in season 2, episode 1 of '1923' streaming on Paramount+.
Brandon Sklenar as Spencer Dutton in season 2, episode 1 of ‘1923’ streaming on Paramount+.Lauren Smith/Paramount+

The last possible theory is that Patience was someone that the Dutton family adopted. As seen with both Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) and Carter (Finn Little) in Yellowstone, viewers know the Duttons do love to adopt, so maybe sometime between 1924 and 1931, they took in a little girl and taught her the ways of the ranch.

A potential explanation to the adoption theory, according to some fans, hinges on Patience possibly being the daughter of the widow Spencer befriends. According to this explanation, he decides to take her under his wing and teach her how to be a Dutton. Patience then falls in love with the last name and takes it as her own.

Speaking of the widow, many people online are speculating that it’s Elizabeth, and at some point after her departure, she reunites with Spencer. They fall in love but refuse to marry because of Jack and Alexandra. Only time will tell if that’s true, though.

How will Patience Dutton connect to the ‘Yellowstone’ universe?

One of the most obvious ways that Patience could appear on screen would be in the new prequel show, 1944. For this to happen, though, she would either have to have been born in 1931 or appear in flashbacks if that just so happens to be the year she died.

Currently, a lot of details surrounding 1944 do remain a mystery, but the show will most likely follow Spencer and Alexandra’s son John Dutton II—who will be about 20 at the time.

Also, around in 1944? Spencer himself! During Elsa’s voiceover, it is revealed that Spencer died 45 years after the events of 1923, meaning that up until 1969, Spencer was alive and most likely living on the Montana ranch.

Could 1944 center around him teaching John II and Patience how Dutton Yellowstone Ranch works, or will they go in an entirely new direction without him? Either way, it will definitely be a one wild western ride.

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Patience could very well be one of the focal points in the new prequel, ‘1944’ Season 5 of Yellowstone quickly gave viewers a mystery: Patience Dutton, a name etched onto a gravestone with little explanation.,Following the explosive 1923 series finale, fans of the show are more determined than ever to figure out who she is and how she connects…