What Happens in the End of "Yellowstone" Season 5, Episode 5? : Where Are the Dutton Cowboys Going?

Let's dissect Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 5's grand finale, which is directly related to the episode's opening flashback. A lot happens in this episode.

Many elements are highlighted in Season 5, Episode 5, including Beth Dutton's tendency toward violence and the cattle that provide for her family. But in "Watch 'Em Ride Away," it is the latter that eventually commands attention.

It is indeed time to brand the calves from this year. As we saw in Episode 4, the Dutton cowboys have been assisting each ranch in the valley in creating their own brand. Now it's the Yellowstone's turn to start the branding process.

 John (Kevin Costner) makes the decision to accomplish two important goals at once in this way. John prepares every Dutton ranch employee and hired day laborer he has to head far out to pasture in cowboy fashion in order to complete the first "bird." Tents will be provided for everyone, and Gator (Gabriel "Gator" Guilbeau) is tasked with retrieving the wagon. 

Yellowstone is about to experience a true 1883 because, after 140 years, branding cattle hasn't altered much at all. "Nobody now longer has any idea what the hell we do. We need to remind them now. Gator should move the wagon.

 John makes the decision, "I'm going to invite the whole damn county. And that second "bird" will be accomplished in this way. John wants to show the public what ranchers like his family and all of them do for a living. To demonstrate how vibrant this way of life is still, he will organize a media and political circus.

What does Yellowstone's "The Gathering" entail?

The "gathering," which is exactly what it sounds like: the collecting of cattle via herding, had generated a lot of discussion by the episode's conclusion. Once gathered, the calves of this year will be marked with the infamous "Y" brand so they may be distinguished from the rest of the valley's cattle.

It is a significant undertaking, which the episode makes clear. The Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, which is larger than the state of Rhode Island, is home to thousands of head of cattle that can be dispersed over thousands of acres while they graze.

Many people will be needed to pick them all up, which explains the additional day employees and paid help we seen in Yellowstone Season 5, Episode 5. The cowboys anticipate being away for at least a week because it will take time as well.

When morning arrives, everyone lines up in front of John. The moment has come to leave. Here, Yellowstone shows how long this grandfather has been doing what comes naturally to him: driving livestock.

Source: Outsider.com