Evelyn Dutton’s ‘Yellowstone’ death, explained

Taylor Sheridan brings Yellowstone to life with compelling storylines, easy-to-root-for characters, and relationships that completely mesmerize you from the moment two characters lock eyes. There’s something otherworldly about the pull that characters in the Yellowverse have to one another; it’s almost magic to watch them tiptoe around the space between them, trying to break through it to simply brush up against one another.

While we see that kind of passion within couples in the Dutton family, they’d all be impossible if not for the love between John and Evelyn Dutton, patriarch and matriarch of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, and while we’ve only had a lengthy bond with one of them, the other was still a sacred space in time. Evelyn Dutton is all but a memory to the family who loved her. While her method of motherhood might not have been ideal in all situations, the bonds she had with her family shaped them into the people they are today, for better or for worse.

Evelyn’s memory stings each of the Dutton family members in a different way, but one thing is for sure: her loss is felt in a significant way by everyone she left behind, and her premature death advanced a storyline that changed no one more than Beth and John Dutton. So how exactly did she pass away, and why is one Dutton left shouldering the weight of her absence more than everyone else? Let’s take a look.

How does Evelyn Dutton Die in Yellowstone?

Evelyn’s death in Yellowstone is something very on-brand for a ranch death, and Sheridan likely did that for a reason. Authenticity is the name of the game in the Yellowverse. While not every ranch operates with a train station that only goes one way, or a devoted slew of branded ranch hands, the day-to-day workings and the rough-and-tumble aspects of their lives are very realistic.

When Evelyn is out on horseback with her kids, she has an accident that many have likely had on a ranch or farm before; she falls off a horse, and takes quite a tumble. The terrible thing about this accident is that it’s the kind that proves to be fatal, as she falls “just right” and as her horse got spooked and the pair crashed down together, it crushed her — but her death wasn’t immediate.

No, in the hours after the fall, Evelyn was still alive but paralyzed, and all she could do was lie there waiting for John to come find her, hopefully before her time ran out. As we said above, Kayce and Beth were with her on the ride that took her life, and Evelyn thought that someone was to blame for her death, and it wasn’t the horse.

Why does Beth feel responsible for Evelyn’s death?

Evelyn blamed Beth for her passing, saying that if she knew how to ride a horse properly, her own horse wouldn’t have been spooked and fallen over on her. In fact, she tells both Beth and Kayce as much:

“She did this. Let her undo it.”

Evelyn knew there was no way to undo it, but she wanted Beth to feel the responsibility of her passing. It wasn’t the only time fans thought she made a questionable parenting decision. Almost all of the scenes we ever saw between Beth and Evelyn made us feel icky. It was evident that she loved her daughter, but Evelyn’s way of showing it wasn’t anything we’d have ever wished for on a shooting star or prayed for in our nightly chats with God. Evelyn wanted Beth to be something specific, and Beth didn’t want the same things. While this is normal in mother-and-daughter relationships, Evelyn took it a step further.

She wanted Beth to be tough and brave enough to step up in a way she felt men wouldn’t be strong enough for. She wanted Beth to know how quickly life changes, and how often it would be unfair; some might call it tough love, and others would call it borderline emotionally abusive, but whatever it was — it didn’t serve either of them well.

Understanding the dynamic between Beth and Evelyn is essential in understanding who Beth is and why, so when you consider the heartache and pain she felt growing up, never being good enough for her own mom, it makes sense — to a degree — why her heart is so hard. When Rip helps her to break her walls down, it’s so important, because it’s the one time in Beth’s life when she is able to feel safe without wondering what she owes someone because of it.

In all the ways Beth deserved love growing up, Rip gives it to her now, and that’s just one of the many reasons we love them so much. Beth carries so much weight, and it breaks our hearts in so many ways, but Rip helping her to heal is the beauty in the breakdown, and while Evelyn also deserved more, it wasn’t fair of her to make Beth carry that pain forever.