'Yellowstone' reveals fate of Kevin Costner's John Dutton after actor's exit

"Yellowstone" wasted no time revealing the fate of Kevin Costner's character, John Dutton, as season 5 continued Sunday night.

SPOILER WARNING: This story contains major plot reveals for "Yellowstone."

During the premiere episode for the back half of the show's fifth season -- the first new episode in nearly two years -- it was confirmed early on that Costner's John Dutton, the central patriarch figure of the show, was dead.

How did John die? A gun was found next to his blood-splattered body at the governor's mansion. While initially believed to have been a suicide, it was later revealed via a flashback that John was murdered.

Turns out Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) orchestrated a hit on John and for it to be staged as a suicide, a plan she and Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) had previously cooked up.

Jamie -- who had been going hard against his father in the first half of season 5 -- was tearful about John's death before Sarah told him it was her doing, and he seemed shocked that she'd gone through with it.

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John's death and the manner of how it happened have drawn a line in the sand between Jamie and his siblings, Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes) and Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), who have their sights set on him moving forward.

Following some behind-the-scenes drama on the series, Costner revealed in a social media post in June that he wouldn't be returning to "Yellowstone" for "season 5B or into the future."

"It was something that really changed me. I loved it and I know you loved it," the "Horizon" director said of the show. "I just want to let you know that I won't be returning. I love the relationship we've been able to develop, and I'll see you at the movies."