The Yellowstone Season 3 Character That Fans Are Eyeing Suspiciously

For fans of Paramount Network's smash hit neo-Western drama Yellowstone, this off-season has undoubtedly been a little colder and drearier than most. That's largely because the beloved series' slow-burn of a third season pulled the rug out from under the whole of Yellowstone fandom with a pulse-pounding finale that left the mortal fates of almost every Dutton uncertain. Not that any red-blooded Yellowstone fan needs a reminder, but those fates are uncertain after the final moments of the episode found John (Kevin Costner), Beth (Kelly Reilly), and Kayce (Luke Grimes) facing assassination attempts at the hands of unknown assailants. 

Even as questions abound regarding which Duttons may or may not survive the carnage, even more are being raised about who hired the bombers and gunmen that enacted it. As John and the Yellowstone Ranch gang have made their share of enemies over the years, pretty much everyone not named Dutton is a prime suspect at this point. Heck, even one of the Duttons' own is believed by many to be the man behind the mayhem, as a pair of season 3 shockers pit Jamie (Wes Bentley) against the family.

The ambiguity surrounding the shocking finale violence has left Yellowstone fans free to spin theories aplenty about the who's and why's of those assassination attempts during the series' downtime. As you might expect, those theories span from the wild and implausible (Malcolm Beck is still alive and calling the shots!), to the head-noddingly on point (the Broken Rock Reservation crew is taking drastic measures to reclaim their lands). Some even believe the attacks may all be unrelated, though the conversation always seems to come around to a relatively new face to the Yellowstone landscape.

No, the character in question is surprisingly not Josh Holloway's bad boy businessman Roarke Morris. Well, not exactly. Rather, many Yellowstone fan believe his boss Willa Hays ultimately made the call to take the Duttons out of the equation, and there's one particularly lively Reddit thread out there that names her as a culprit.

There's good reason to suspect Willa, too, with Reddit user dogsanddundermifflin pointing to Beth and Willa's contentious encounters in season 3, and a conversation between Willa and Roarke about how they handled a similar situation a few years prior as proof: "I think Willa is involved somehow. Yes, a little extreme but Beth is attempting to ruin her career – people have killed for less. She also mentions it feels like an oil deal in Yemen, and said that's how it needs to be treated, which seemed ominous." 

User energy thief quickly agreed, "Roarke's boss expressly told him to treat it like an oil deal in Yemen. Obviously they coordinated the attacks."

Redditor SUPERDUDEGTA also backed the Willa-Roarke-Yemen theory, stating "Roarke and Willa are both in cahoots obviously since she mentioned that thing about Yemen to him." 

Whatever the case, wolfshadow1995 savvily pointed out whoever called in the hits may have made a fatal oversight in their planning, "To your point about it being a huge mistake leaving Rip unharmed I def agree. I can't wait to see what he does to the person/people who harmed his family." That last statement could not me more accurate, by the way, 'cause Rip (Cole Hauser) will no doubt bring the pain to whomever ordered the attacks. 

It should be fascinating to watch this puzzle unfold in season 4 of Yellowstone.