Outer Range Season 2 Ending Explained: A Deepening Mystery of Time, Family, and the Unknown​

The second season of Outer Range, the western science fiction show on Prime Video, made its return on May 16. It picks up the story of a Wyoming ranch family whose lives are complicated by a strange, massive hole on their land.

If Yellowstone ever decided to mix time travel into its story and plant a mysterious void in the middle of the Dutton Ranch, you’d have something close to what Outer Range looks like. Let’s go back to the beginning with a quick breakdown of what’s been going on in Outer Range.

The show centres on Royal Abbott, the head of the Abbott Ranch. Early on, we discover there’s a strange hole on his property. When anyone jumps into it, they are transported to a different point in time, though the logic behind it isn’t clear. Royal reveals during season 1 that he first entered the hole in 1886 and came out in 1968.

No clear system explains how this time-jumping works, but there’s a strong urge to understand it. In season 2, several characters also find themselves thrown into different periods. You could almost say it’s like mixing the Yellowstone spinoffs 1883 and 1923 into one single timeline.

There’s even the idea that one day, Royal Abbott could cross paths with John Dutton. Until then, plenty of things are happening in the timelines that need close attention.

Autumn = Amy

Autumn, played by Imogen Poots, remains one of the most baffling characters introduced in the first season. She arrives unannounced on Royal’s land and starts studying the area, particularly showing keen interest in the hole.

After pushing Royal into it and causing him to witness a troubling future event, she becomes a major presence in the series, either as a villain or a morally grey character, depending on how you interpret her. By the end of the first season, it’s revealed that Autumn might be the older version of Royal’s granddaughter, Amy.

At the start of season 2, Autumn pretends she has no connection to Amy. However, as we move through the first five episodes, it’s revealed that Autumn was adopted by a wealthy family, though they’ve either rejected her or might not have existed in the first place.

She eventually connects the dots after consuming what fans are now calling the Hole Rocks—a substance from the void that triggers deep visions and clarity.

Young Royal

At the end of season 1, Royal’s son Perry, played by Tom Pelphrey, dives into the hole and finds himself back in time on the family ranch—this time, in the 1980s. There, he sees his father as a young man.

Perry initially hides who he is, pretending to be a new ranch hand, but eventually tells the truth: he’s Royal’s son from the future. Yes, that line is real—he says, “I came from the same hole you did.” The time travel antics feel a bit like combining Back to the Future Part II and Part III.

During his time in the past, Perry learns that his mother, Cecilia, once dated Wayne Tillerson, the rival rancher. He even witnesses Wayne cheating on her at a bar. Although they later fight, Perry chooses not to kill him, which is a big step forward for someone who’s been wrestling with anger and regret.

After accidentally killing Trevor Tillerson in season 1, losing his wife, and learning unsettling truths from his father, Perry’s emotional burden has only grown. The finale of season 2 takes a wild turn. Royal pushes Perry back into the hole, and he ends up just before his confrontation with Trevor in the very first episode.

This time, Perry stops his younger self from committing the murder, but the younger Perry slips, hits his head, and dies. Older Perry then drags the body into the hole and essentially replaces his past self.

Back in the present, Royal seems to notice something has changed when he gives Perry a strange look, possibly realising this is the version he met years ago.

This moment calls for Outer Range to provide more clarity around how the time travel system functions. Such an event should logically cause major ripple effects in the future, but answers won’t come until the next season.

1883

By the end of the first season, acting sheriff Joy Hawk (Tamara Podemski) ends up in 1882 by accident. During season 2, she meets another Shoshone woman from 1972 who’s also stuck in that past era. One full episode focuses entirely on Joy’s experience in the Old West.

She spends four years living with the Shoshone tribe, until the hole reappears in 1886. That year matters a lot because it’s when Royal, as a boy, enters the hole after a hunting accident in which he kills his father. Episode 4 of season 2 shows Joy interfering with that timeline.

At that point, Royal and his father are out in the woods hunting Joy. She gets into trouble with a dangerous man while investigating a Shoshone woman’s murder. Just before Royal’s father can shoot her, Royal intervenes, kills his father, and runs into the hole.

He lands in 1968, while Joy reappears in the present shortly after the moment she vanished. The hole doesn’t follow any ordinary time travel rules. The shooting also causes changes in Royal’s present-day memory.

While he still remembers killing his father during a hunting trip, his recollection now includes visions of Joy being involved. This suggests that any alterations in the past may change how memories appear in the present, blending old and new timelines.

Yet, the show hasn’t shown what actual impact these changes might have. That’s something else season 3 must address.

Outer Range 2: Back in the Hole

During the final episode of the second season, Autumn becomes determined to send Amy into the hole. She believes her journey won’t continue unless Amy’s timeline begins. Based on various premonitions, Autumn is likely to become the leader of a strange time cult in the future.

To make sure that prophecy comes true, she snatches Amy away from her mother, Rebecca, who had only just reunited with her daughter after her disappearance in season 1. Autumn doesn’t act alone this time. Luke Tillerson (Shaun Sipos) joins her. At this stage, it makes sense to talk about the Tillerson family chaos.

Throughout the season, Wayne Tillerson continues trying to gain control of Royal’s west pasture, where the hole is.