Who Died on the ‘Yellowstone’ Season 3 Finale?

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Tonight Yellowstone Season 3 Episode 10 aired, and the episode ended on a very dark note. The series is leaving us with a big cliffhanger, as fans wonder who lived and who died. Here’s a look at what we know so far.

This article has major spoilers for Season 3 Episode 10, which premiered on Sunday, August 23, 2020. 

Only Three Deaths Are Confirmed

While there were quite a few major cliffhangers regarding who lived and died tonight, only three deaths are confirmed. Of course, last week we saw Wade and his assistant die at the hands of the Dutton ranch wranglers. Roarke didn’t even know that Wade had died when the episode began. It seems that more people than that might have been killed, based on Rip’s conversation with Beth near the beginning of the episode, when he tells her that he definitely doesn’t know how many people were killed the night before.

Rip visits his mother’s grave and actually exhumes her body to get her ring so he can propose to Beth. That was a sweet-dark moment. But we already knew that Rip’s mother had died, killed by his father (who Rip then killed in self-defense when he was just a child.)

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During the episode, we see that the mother who was pulled over on the side of the road with her son is gunned down by the same man who shot and tried to kill John Dutton. It’s apparent that she’s dead and isn’t coming back around.

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There was also a heartbreaking scene with a horse. It wasn’t revealed why the horse was dying, but we had a close look at the horse in pain just before Rip was forced to shoot it to put it out of its misery. That scene left me wanting to cry.

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I also think it’s pretty easy to assume that Beth’s assistant died when she opened the package. The explosion was huge and there is just no way that she survived.

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Four Characters’ Fates Are Left Unrevealed

But despite knowing about three deaths, there are still four characters’ fates that we are left to debate. I feel like Rip seeing the buzzards circling in the air is a pretty good indication that someone died. But the question is who.

My guess is going to be Jimmy, only because he already fell off a horse and barely survived before. Buzzards are circling over an open field, possibly where Jimmy is lying. No one was around when he tried riding the horse. Also, despite how popular Jimmy is, he would be the “safest” character to kill off. We haven’t seen a major character die on the show since the pilot episode when one of John Dutton’s sons, Lee, was killed.

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So as tough as it is to say, Jimmy is the most likely to die. Either that or he will be left paralyzed, and his talk with Mia from earlier in the episode was foreshadowing his fate.

The next unanswered question is John Dutton’s fate. I have a hard time imagining Kevin Costner leaving the show for any reason. Also, we have good reason to believe he won’t bleed out on the highway.

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He’s been shot and he’s in pretty bad shape when we last see him. But the good news is that it looks like his phone protected his heart from being shot. But the bad news is he can’t call anyone for help.

But don’t forget, someone else is there with him and still alive. No, not the mother. But her son. Her son had gone into the field right before the shooting happened. I’m going to guess that he will get his mom’s phone and call for help. John is going to be OK.

But what about Kayce?

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The last time we saw Kayce, a man had broken into his office and was shooting. Quick to react, Kayce flipped over his desk and was using it as protection when the man came in. Kayce always has a gun on him, I’m sure. And with his quick reaction, he’s going to survive this. I have little doubt that Kayce is going to fire back and take the guy out when we return next season. However, of all three Dutton family members who are facing possible deaths, Kayce might be the most “expendable.” Rip can take his place as a “Dutton son” (at least symbolically) and Monica might step in to take over Kayce’s possible run for governor. And John would have to step up to help raise Tate. I can see a lot of plot possibilities that could arise from Kayce’s death, but they didn’t set it up in the finale scene for it to seem likely that he will die.

Besides Jimmy, the second most-doubtful character fate-wise is Beth, in my opinion.

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That explosion was huge. And of course, with Rip seeing buzzards circling and just retrieving his dead mother’s ring, they are playing this up for Rip to experience a pretty major tragedy with Beth’s death.

I am going to guess that Beth won’t die, but she might be seriously injured or possibly even end up in a coma. I have a hard time imagining the only female member of the Dutton family line (not including Monica, who’s related by marriage) getting killed off. She’s already survived so much. Also, she had an idea that the package was a bomb, so she might have had a moment to duck at the very last second.

Still, it was a pretty huge bomb. It did a lot of damage. It would take a bit of a miracle for Beth to live, which isn’t unheard of on this show. I think Beth’s fate could go either way, personally, but I’m leaning toward Beth surviving.

So far, the show hasn’t provided any hints about the characters’ fates. And if you look at Instagram accounts from actors who are filming (the show just started filming Season 4 a few days ago), they haven’t let any hints slip there either. So for now, the fate of these characters is not known.

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