'Marshals' Finally Explains How 'Yellowstone's Deadly Train Station Impacts Kayce 2 Years After the Finale

4 weeks ago 20

Wes Bentley and Luke Grimes standing outside in Yellowstone

Published Mar 9, 2026, 4:12 PM EDT

Michael John Petty is a Senior Author for Collider who spends his days writing, in fellowship with his local church, and enjoying each new day with his wife and daughters. At Collider, he writes features and reviews, and has interviewed the cast and crew of Dark Winds. In addition to writing about stories, Michael has told a few of his own. His first work of self-published fiction – The Beast of Bear-tooth Mountain – became a #1 Best Seller in "Religious Fiction Short Stories" on Amazon in 2023. His Western short story, The Devil's Left Hand, received the Spur Award for "Best Western Short Fiction" from the Western Writers of America in 2025. Michael currently resides in North Idaho with his growing family.

Editor's Note: The following contains spoilers for Marshals Episode 2.

The "Zone of Death" Was Called the "Train Station" in 'Yellowstone'

Although Marshals refers to this location exclusively as the "Zone of Death," Yellowstone once called it the "Train Station," a dumping ground where the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch hid the bodies of those they wanted to be disposed of quietly and without fuss. With the Dutton Ranch gone after the Yellowstone series finale, it's likely the "Train Station" has been largely abandoned — but that doesn't mean the Dutton's past sins are forgotten.

As the Marshals unit unpacks before heading across the border to take out the Aryan Brethren of Idaho and the 406 Royals, there are no citizens or law enforcement in the "Zone of Death," nor are there judges, juries, or any real legal way to prosecute criminal activity. Thus, the small plot of land just across the Wyoming border is called so because one could get away with murder there — and no one would be the wiser. It's why Kayce is willing to take out the Aryan gang member at the very end, and why he was so nervous about his new team finding the bodies that the Duttons buried there years earlier.

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Yes, the "Zone of Death" on 'Marshals' Is Real, but It's Not in Wyoming

So, is the "Zone of Death" a real place? Well, as it turns out, yes. According to a Michigan-based law firm, Fausone & Grysko, PLC, the real-life "Zone of Death" is a 50-square-mile stretch in Yellowstone National Park. However, unlike the "Train Station/Zone of Death" seen in the Yellowstone Universe, the real-world version exists on the opposite end of the park in Idaho rather than in Wyoming. While Yellowstone is primarily in Wyoming, America's First National Park also stretches to Montana and Idaho, if just barely. Strangely, as Marshals notes, the Vicinage Clause in the U.S. Constitution's Sixth Amendment provides a potential legal loophole where any murders committed in the area could theoretically not be charged.

This is exactly what the Duttons were counting on when they were dumping bodies at the "Train Station" for decades (a legal loophole discovered in 1923 in the Yellowstone Universe, but in 2005 in our world). While Marshals follows the Yellowstone continuity by making the "Zone of Death" a Montana-Wyoming border staple, in reality, it's an Idaho section of Yellowstone that has been the legal speculation of many since it was first discovered.

'Marshals' Continues To Lean on This 'Yellowstone' Twist in Season 1

Although it was typically Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), John Dutton (Kevin Costner), or one of the other members of the Dutton Ranch who most often visited the "Train Station," Kayce did in Season 2's "Blood the Boy." Back then, he drove Walker (Ryan Bingham) to the "long black train" after Rip orders him to get rid of the troublemaking cowboy. But instead of sending him down the ledge, Kayce gives Walker another chance and a fresh start, hoping to atone for his family's sins. Despite his best efforts to be a better man than his father, those family sins have followed him onto Marshals as well.

It's unclear if Kayce ever personally sent someone to their death while working for his father — he later notes in Season 3 that he's "not a murderer and never will be," despite having killed his brother-in-law in the very first Yellowstone episode — but we also have no idea how involved he was in hiding Jamie's (Wes Bentley) body. After all, Marshals has already confirmed that, to the public, the former Attorney General is simply missing. With far too many skeletons in his family closet than he can possibly keep there long-term, Marshals will likely continue to delve into the sketchy nature of Kayce's past — especially with Marshal Harry Gifford (Brett Cullen) on his tail.

Marshals airs Sundays on CBS and is available for streaming the next day on Paramount+.