Who Killed Sarah Atwood in Yellowstone? Full Breakdown & Suspects
One of the most memorable moments from Yellowstone‘s final season was also the most unexpected. Dawn Olivieri’s Sarah Atwood had a major effect on the series following her introduction in Season 4. A cutthroat corporate executive dead-set on obtaining the Dutton Ranch at any cost, Sarah seduced and manipulated Jamie Dutton into betraying his family. Just when it seemed that their plans were finally in place, an assassin’s bullet unceremoniously ended Sarah’s life. Who was behind Sarah Atwood’s assassination and why did they want her dead?
Earlier in the season, it is revealed that Sarah Atwood was behind the assassination of John Dutton. Finally fed up with the governor’s refusal to sell his land, Sarah went to her last resort. She met with a secret organization of former black ops soldiers who farm out their skills as mercenaries and assassins. On her order, several of these assassins broke into the Governor’s Mansion and murdered John Dutton in his sleep, framing it to look like a suicide. However, Sarah was under strict orders to do nothing that could potentially expose the organization she had hired to dispose of Dutton, under threat to her own life. In the fallout of John Dutton’s death, his children took the investigation into their own hands, eventually discovering that their father hadn’t committed suicide after all. When news of this broke, the leader of the mercenary group feared that Sarah would expose his organization. To make sure this wouldn’t happen, he sent assassins after her. In a strange twist of fate, Sarah paid the ultimate price for the murder of John Dutton, meeting the same fate that she had reserved for her greatest enemy.
Sarah Atwood’s Death Was Disappointing for Yellowstone Fans
Sarah’s Death Makes Room For the End of Jamie Dutton’s Villain Arc
Jamie Dutton meets his ultimate end at the hands of his sister Beth, just as she had spent the last several seasons promising him. Their decades-long rivalry comes to a head when she breaks into his house, goading him into a physical altercation. In a rare moment of legitimate strength, Jamie overpowers his sister and nearly kills her until the fight is interrupted by Rip Wheeler, who restrains his brother-in-law long enough for Beth to plunge a knife into his heart. Even the vengeful antihero, Beth forces her adoptive brother to look her in the eye as he dies, promising him that she will be the last thing he ever sees. As emotional and impactful as this moment is, Jamie’s villain arc is still a disappointment, especially after he failed to live up to the high bar that Sarah Atwood set earlier in the season.
Sarah Atwood’s death is a turning point in the final season of Yellowstone, and not in the right way. Nevertheless, she loses her life as a direct result of her own actions, at least making for an ironic and thematic end to one of the show’s wickedest characters.