The Yellowstone Season 3 Detail That Could Hint At John's Fate

Given the sequence of events that occurred on Yellowstone season 3, episode 10 — and Roarke Morris' essentially infinite supply of resources and money — we're certainly led to believe that he's the one behind the coordinated hit on the Duttons. Some viewers on Reddit, however, are pointing to a subtle detail in John's assassination scene that they say suggests a different culprit.

The community over at Yellowstone: 3x10 "The World is Purple" – Official Discussion Thread pointed out that both the woman that John stopped to help and the van that pulled up to shoot him were from California. The woman was a Californian by her own admission, whereas the van gave its origins away via a quick shot of its out-of-state plates. The fans think that this suggests two potential facts about John's shooting. First, perhaps the damsel in distress was set there as bait. (That seems a bit unlikely, though, since she had her child with her and ended up getting a few bullets in the back herself to cover up the crime.) Second, it's possible that Roarke wasn't behind the shooting at all, and that maybe John took all that lead in his chest as a result of an altercation earlier in season 3.

At the beginning of the season, John dealt with a few Californian bikers trespassing on his land. He taught them a harsh lesson about respect for property rights by forcing them to dig their own graves at gunpoint. He eventually turned them loose in exchange for a promise never to return. The symmetry between the biker gang's state of origin and the plates on the assassination van is a little too coincidental for some fans.

Still, it's certainly an interesting theory. Hopefully, we'll find out the truth as soon as Yellowstone season 4 airs its first episode.