Marshals fans stunned as beloved character is killed off in Yellowstone spin-off's season 2 premiere

Marshals kicked off its second season in devastating form as a beloved character was killed off in the premiere episode.

Dolly Weaver, who is a major character portrayed by Ellyn Jameson, had a brutal on-screen death which shocked many fans of the show.

The character - who had appeared in five episodes of season one - met her demise as the car that she was in rolled down the side of the mountain.  

Marshals is led by Luke Grimes who portrays Kayce Dutton whom he portrayed throughout the hugely successful five-season run of Yellowstone as he is one of the family of ranchers at the center of the story and was Dolly's love-interest on the show.

The latest episode - which was titled All Hat No Cattle - saw Dolly at East Camp with Kayce when they were ambushed by a few men including the attorney of her dad Tom Weaver.

It has been well-documented that Tom has wanted the Dutton's land and was even willing to kill the US Marshal and Kayce's son Tate Dutton (portrayed by Brecken Merill) whom he had kidnapped for it. 

Kayce then says that he is willing to give East Camp up in order for his son to be returned. 

However, Kayce confronted love-interest Dolly as he pressed her on if she knew about the kidnapping all along but she denies any involvement.

Dolly directed Kayce to Wyoming where his son Tate was being held and along the way the protagonist threatened the life of Tom's daughter if he tried to do anything other than give him his son back in exchange for the land to be signed over.

Upon arrival at the Wyoming property, Kayce was ambushed by several armed men and Kayce was ultimately able to rescue Tate.

Dolly then turned on Kayce and joined her dad Tom's side as they tried to escape in a truck and as the protagonist offered Tom a chance to surrender, the vehicle rolled down the hill killing Dolly in brutal fashion. 

'Living with Dolly’s death is the punishment you deserve,' Kayce told Tom before adding that his former romantic interest's 'only sin was not being able to break away from family.'

Meanwhile, Kevin Costner famously left the original show after filming only the first half of season five, prompting his character, John Dutton, to be killed off in a murder-for-hire plot. 

His departure came under a cloud of rumors that he feuded with Taylor Sheridan, though he evidently ultimately left the show over scheduling conflicts with his own four-part Western movie Horizon, which he directed, starred in and co-wrote.

Horizon, a decades-long passion project that Costner poured over $38 million of his own money into, debuted its first part in 2024 to dismal box office results.

Meanwhile, Yellowstone aired the last half of season five in 2024, dividing fans - and shortly thereafter, Grimes gave a telling interview about Costner's exit.

'Hopefully everyone can see that it was time,' Grimes said of John Dutton being killed off, in an interview with Men's Health. 'To be really honest, there was a part of Kevin being gone that meant some of the conflict was gone.' 

He shared: 'Obviously, it didn’t make it super fun to be around... Not pointing any fingers, but it was actually the easiest season we’ve filmed.'

Grimes revealed he had not spoken to Costner since the Oscar-winner left the show, explaining with a laugh: 'It's not a case of any hard feelings or anything; it's just, he's Kevin Costner. He's a big deal.'

He clarified: 'I do have his phone number - I just don't feel like it's my place to reach out. He can reach out to me if he wants.' 

In footage obtained by the Daily Mail, Costner shut down a question about rumors of a feud with Grimes but confirmed they had not spoken since the finale aired.