We know why Jack and Victor’s war on The Young and the Restless is far from over

On The Young and the Restless, Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) has spent months going after Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman). Okay, so it’s been decades, but over the last few months, Victor had a specific plan to break Jack’s heart and destroy his family.

Just as viewers saw both men reach new heights (and astonishing lows) in their lifetime rivalry, they recently came to a head. But just as viewers thought this battle was over, we caught wind that it was only the beginning.

The Longest War on The Young and the Restless

The war between Victor Newman and Jack Abbott on The Young and the Restless is perhaps one of the longest on daytime TV — long enough that the two of them might be hard-pressed to remember its origin.

Luckily, some characters’ histories come full circle, and others repeat themselves. In this case, it’s a mixture of the two. It all began a long time ago when Victor met Ashley while she had memory loss from a trauma. Long story short (about 40 years worth of tales), Victor and Nikki (Melody Thomas Scott) took in Ashley (Eileen Davidson) at the ranch, and Victor ended up having an affair with her. This made Nikki have an affair with Jack and voilå! A rivalry was forever embedded between the two men.

Since then, much has happened. Victor has taken over plenty of companies throughout the decades, including that time when Jack convinced his dad, John Abbott (Jerry Douglas), to take Jabot from a private company to a public one. Sure, the shares sold the moment the stock market opened, but Victor was the one who bought them up. Oops, guess who bought Jabot?

Of course, Victor then fired Jack, and Jack married Nikki. To get him away from Nikki (and out of the ranch house), Victor offered Jack to have the family company back. It worked, but it didn’t end the rivalry.

Victor has never forgiven anything, ever. One thing that really gets under Victor’s skin is that Jack and Nikki have remained friends. When Nikki was recovering from Jordan (Colleen Zenk) and Claire (Hayley Erin) instigating her drinking again, Jack went to extreme measures to help his friend. While Jack’s sole goal was sobriety for Nikki, Victor is convinced something…intimate…happened in their hotel room, and Victor has sworn revenge just in case.

And here we are. Victor went after Jack via Kyle (Michael Mealor), and Jack and Diane (Susan Walters) devised a master plan to get their son back. It all blew up in fantastic fashion on the historic 13,000th episode of The Young and the Restless. While one could think that was the end of it, once and for all, we believe it’s just getting started. Why? Because Victor didn’t win. And since Jack one-upped him, the war remains.

What’s still to come

Recently, Y&R’s executive producer head writer, Josh Griffith, gave his two cents on the matter to Soap Opera Digest. Griffith noted that the ranch house had been rebuilt in an almost replica of the original, and having that set for the amped-up war between Jack and Victor added nostalgia to the contention.

Jack recently visited Nikki at the ranch and noted that he had his own fair share of memories from living in the original home many years ago. And the pivotal moment when Jack told Victor that he outsmarted him was done in Victor’s living room — as if Victor was embroiled enough after finding Jack in his home.

Griffith added that we shouldn’t count out Jack’s ability to come out on top. “It’s always one chess move and then another chess move. Victor may think he’s gotten the last move, but he hasn’t captured the king. Jack still has a few cards up his sleeve,” Griffith shared in the interview.

On Wednesday, Victor is going to get the upper hand on Jack. With Jack’s brother Billy (Jason Thompson) plotting with Phyllis (Michelle Stafford) to get revenge on Victor and Billy conspiring with Diane as well, Victor might need to keep an eye on more chess pieces than he realized.

Maybe Jack won’t have to do much at all to the Moustache, with everyone around him fulfilling vengeful plots of their own.

Stay tuned to find out! The Young and the Restless airs weekdays on CBS or stream on Paramount Plus.