Sarah Atwood’s Ruthless Rise

Introduced in Yellowstone Season 4, Sarah Atwood (Dawn Olivieri) quickly became one of the show’s most formidable antagonists. A ruthless corporate executive with her eyes set on the Dutton Ranch, Sarah used seduction and manipulation to pull Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) away from his family. Together, they plotted John Dutton’s downfall. But in true Yellowstone fashion, betrayal came with a price Sarah didn’t see coming.

Who Ordered Sarah Atwood’s Death?

In Season 5, it’s revealed that Sarah orchestrated the assassination of John Dutton after he refused to sell his land. She secretly hired a network of ex–black ops mercenaries, tasking them with eliminating the governor while staging the scene to look like suicide.

The plan worked—at least for a while. But when word spread that the Dutton children were closing in on the truth, the mercenary leader grew fearful that Sarah might expose their organization. In a cold twist of irony, the group turned on her. The same assassins she had unleashed on John Dutton ultimately silenced her, ensuring she couldn’t reveal their existence.

Sarah’s story ended with a bullet, not in triumph, but in betrayal—the mirror image of the fate she had engineered for her greatest rival.

Why Fans Were Disappointed

Sarah’s abrupt death frustrated many Yellowstone viewers. After all, she had emerged as one of the show’s sharpest villains, only to be dispatched by forces outside the main Dutton family conflict. While thematically fitting—her ruthless tactics catching up with her—the anticlimactic exit left fans longing for a more personal showdown.

Jamie Dutton’s Villain Arc and Final Fate

Sarah’s death cleared the path for Jamie’s final downfall. In the season’s climax, Jamie faced off against his sister Beth (Kelly Reilly) in a brutal confrontation. Though Jamie briefly overpowered her, Rip Wheeler intervened, giving Beth the upper hand. With cold precision, she drove a knife into Jamie’s chest, making sure her brother’s last sight was her unflinching gaze.

Jamie’s arc, however, felt muted compared to Sarah’s electrifying presence earlier in the season. Many fans argued that he never reached the villainous heights she had set before her demise.

The Ironic Legacy of Sarah Atwood

Sarah Atwood’s death may not have satisfied every viewer, but it underscored a key Yellowstone theme: in the brutal world of power and land wars, betrayal is always repaid in kind. Sarah carved her own downfall the moment she ordered John Dutton’s murder. In the end, she didn’t just lose the ranch—she lost her life to the very killers she trusted to secure it.

Yellowstone streams on Peacock. Prequel series 1883 and 1923 are available on Paramount+.