"I think originally he was supposed to die much earlier," the actor tells PEOPLE of Kevin Costner's character John Dutton’s tragic fate in Yellowstone was predetermined, according to star Luke Grimes.

John Dutton is a goner! For some fans, it’s far from ideal, but Luke Grimes thinks he’s lucky to have got to Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2.

Kevin Costner and Kelly Reilly in "Yellowstone." There’s a John Dutton-sized hole at the center of the story. After Kevin Costner, 69, left “Yellowstone” amid rumors of a feud with creator Taylor Sheridan,

“Yellowstone” follows the Dutton family, owners of the largest ranch in Montana, including patriarch John (Costner), who had become the Governor of Montana before his death, and his adult children, quiet Kayce (Luke Grimes), villainous Jamie (Wes Bentley), headstrong Beth (Kelly Reilly) and Beth’s cowboy husband, Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser).

Yes, it appears that John Dutton really is dead. At the start of the ninth episode, John Dutton is found dead in the bathroom of the Montana governor’s mansion, with a gunshot wound to the head. As Kevin Costner’s face wasn't shown directly, fans not wanting to believe he could be dead thought this could be a misdirection.

Some fans have been speculating about what happened to John Dutton and whether he is still alive, and one even purports to have proof. Is John Dutton alive, and what is the ‘pro

John Dutton appears to have died by suicide in the opening scene of Yellowstone, season 5 part 2. But is that what really happened?

Paramount Network's Yellowstone returned last Sunday with the first new episode in nearly two years, and it was quite the explosive one.