The fourth season of Paramount’s hit series Yellowstone packs plenty of dramatic punch. While that isn’t necessarily surprising to fans of the show, what is surprising is the lengths the characters are willing to go to fight, protect, and exact revenge upon those who have threatened the Dutton’s Yellowstone Ranch as well as the family itself.

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If you’ve watched Yellowstone since season one, then you might wonder why that extreme dedication to the family and the ranch is surprising, since nothing means more to the Duttons than their name and their land, but season four is kicking things up a notch.

Warning: Spoilers for season four of Yellowstone follow. You may want to stop reading now if you’re not yet caught up on the show.

Season three of Yellowstone ended with several of our most beloved characters teetering on the brink of life and death. Luckily, none of them suffered an irreversible fate, but their scars and the wounds they carry physically and emotionally took a toll on each of them. The way they’ve progressed or regressed as characters over the course of the last several episodes is tied to those attacks.

John and Kayce were shot after being attacked and Beth’s office exploded due to a bomb. Jimmy was also knocking at death’s door due to a fall off of a horse and as season four picked up, Monica and Tate were also attacked. It seemed like the punches kept rolling and no one was safe from them.

Who planned the attack on the Dutton family?

So just who planned the attacks on the Dutton family, and why? Those questions are still in the process of being answered, but things have become more clear as the series continues to progress. The Dutton family itself had different ideas about who might have attacked them. Beth was convinced it was her recently estranged brother, Jamie, which wasn’t an impossible assumption. Jamie discovered that he wasn’t biologically a Dutton in season three and his relationship with his family has been on the rocks ever since.

While Beth continued to blame Jamie, John held his cards close to his chest. Early in the season, he was given a “gift” of sorts by Chief Rainwater and Mo. The gift was a man who drunkenly bragged about the Dutton’s attack at the casino and ended up revealing who was behind the vicious onslaught.

His name was Terrell Riggins.

Who is Terrell Riggins?

Terrell Riggins is in jail, but he kept an eye on his affairs from behind bars. So just who is Riggins? He previously served in the Army as a Green Beret before being honorably discharged from the service. He moved to Montana soon after and became the leader of the Montana Free Militia. You can read more about Riggins here. 

It’s also been discovered over the course of season four that Riggins was a cellmate of Jamie’s biological father, Garrett Randall. That’s right — Riggins has ties to the Duttons on a closer scale than we initially imagined.

Why did Riggins want to attack the Duttons?

Riggins’ ties to the Duttons involve their family killing some of the men in his militia, which of course would have angered him and been enough of a reason for retaliation on its own. However, the stakes are higher now that fans know about the extra connection to the Duttons.

Randall was mad at John Dutton for not defending his actions in court. What did Randall do? He killed Jamie’s biological mother and his wife after coming home one day and seeing Jamie with drug paraphernalia in his hand. He wanted to “save” Jamie from that life, and he expected John to defend his actions.

Sharing a cell with someone who also hated the Dutton family would be enough to throw extra gasoline on the fire for Riggins. While there are still discussions to be had and fingers to be pointed, the connections are coming together, and with only one episode left in season four, fans are scared of what comes next.

Paramount Network is hosting a New Year’s marathon of Yellowstone on Thursday, Dec. 30 for fans who want to re-watch their favorite series or for curious soon-to-be fans to see what all the hype is about. After that, don’t forget to tune in for the final episode of Yellowstone’s fourth season on Sunday, Jan. 2. You won’t want to miss it!