Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler on Yellowstone

‘Yellowstone’ Stars Explain Everything to Know About the Rip Wheeler Branding Scene

A lot took place during Yellowstone Season 5’s midseason finale. One of the highlights is the battle lines that became officially crossed between Wes Bentley‘s Jamie Dutton and Kelly Reilly‘s Beth Dutton. On opposite sides of the same fight, they vow to put a permanent end to their long-lasting feud. However, at the beginning of the episode, fans also finally learned how Rip (Cole Hauser) came to earn the “Y” brand so many of our favorite characters, including Lloyd, Kayce, and Jimmy now wear.

During a Stories From the Bunkhouse episode, featuring Yellowstone‘s Jefferson White, Ian Bohen, and Denim Richards, the actors spoke about the brand’s origin story.

White pointed out similarities between how Rip earned the brand as a teen versus how Ryan and Colby did.

“At the time that Rip is branded, he’s already been working on the Dutton Ranch,” White began. “He has a sort of relationship to it, and that maybe mirrors you guys and your characters’ branding a little bit more, because, by the time you’re branded, you’re intimately familiar with the workings of the Dutton Ranch.”

Rip Versus Ryan and Colby’s Branding

During the episode, Bohen shared another important point. Ryan and Colby’s branding within the context of Yellowstone is actually starkly different from Rip’s.

The flashback scene to Rip’s branding suggests that he maybe has a choice whether or not to wear the brand. Rip, confused, says to Lloyd that he didn’t think he had a choice. Young Lloyd tells him that you always have a choice. However, one will score you a one-way ticket to the train station.

Bohen said, “I don’t know that any set of characters has waited so long or been so positively seeking the brand. And usually, it’s a result of something and it’s like…the choices are very dire.”

Meanwhile, Ryan and Colby actively seek out the brand. Perhaps it’s as a way to further solidify their connection to the ranch and the cowboys that became their family.

‘Yellowstone’ Stars Ponder the Root Origins of Wearing the Ranch Brand

During the short clip, the trio of actors brought up another point. When Lloyd and Rip return together after the branding, the former proudly reveals the scar on Rip’s chest. The rest of the cowboys don’t condemn Rip in the way Jimmy was almost condemned by the day workers back in Season 1. Instead, they cheer for him and promise to “fill him in” on things.

Bohen pointed out, “It’s presumed that when they brand young Rip that Lloyd’s got it at that point…How far back does it go?”

The Yellowstone stars reflected on the lineage of the brand. We first saw the brand on Jimmy’s chest in the series premiere. We then saw it on Lloyd’s not long after, as well as Kayce Dutton’s during a scene on the reservation.

Clearly, as Bohen points out, the “Y” brand originates with the Yellowstone Ranch sometime following the series prequel, 1883. But what remains a mystery is when the Duttons’ ancestors originally began branding their own cowboys.

Perhaps creator Taylor Sheridan will clue us in when the second half of season five debuts this summer.