Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone saga is about to plunge into its bleakest era yet with 1944, the next prequel poised to unravel the Dutton family’s trials during World War II.

Following the gut-wrenching 1923 Season 2 finale on April 6, 2025, Paramount+ is saddling up for a wartime tale that promises sacrifice, loss, and the unrelenting grit that defines the Dutton legacy.

With production slated for later this year and a 2026 premiere on the horizon, here’s how 1944 might shape up as the darkest chapter yet—spoilers ahead for 1923 and what’s to come!

Setting the Stage: A Ranch Under Siege

1944 leaps 21 years from 1923, landing us in Montana’s Bitterroot Valley amidst WWII’s peak. The 1923 finale left Spencer Dutton (Brandon Sklenar) shattered, cradling his newborn son John II after Alexandra’s (Julia Schlaepfer) frostbite-induced de@th.

Cara (Helen Mirren) took the premature baby under her wing, while Spencer—haunted by yet another loss to the cold—faced an uncertain future.

Fast forward to 1944: Spencer’s 54, a weathered WWI vet running the Yellowstone Ranch, and John II’s 21, ripe for the draft. WWII’s shadow looms large—rationing squeezes the ranch, able-bodied hands are scarce, and the Duttons’ isolation clashes with a world at war. Sheridan’s knack for weaving history into his tales (think WWI in 1923) suggests D-Day or the war’s end could frame this grim chapter.

Spoiler #1: John II Goes to War—and Doesn’t Come Back Whole

John Dutton II, born in 1923’s finale, is the linchpin tying Spencer to Yellowstone’s John III (Kevin Costner). At 21, he’s the perfect age to be drafted into WWII’s meat grinder—maybe storming Normandy or fighting in the Pacific. 1944 could thrust him into combat, echoing Spencer’s WWI trauma, but with a darker twist. Spoiler speculation:

John II returns alive but broken—physically scarred or shell-shocked—shaping him into the stoic, distant father we glimpse in Yellowstone flashbacks (played by Dabney Coleman). His sacrifice secures the ranch’s future but costs his soul, a price Sheridan loves to exact.

Alternatively, he might dodge the draft to defend the ranch from profiteers, only to lose something (or someone) else dear. Either way, expect a gut punch.