Yellowjackets Season 3 has wrapped and the Season 3 finale on Paramount+ with Showtime has solved more mysteries than the mystery box series has ever done as we get confirmations of several theories and character identities.
And this season finale didn’t just offer resolution—it completely reframed what we thought we knew about some scenes from the first season.
As the survivors grapple with their past and present selves, alliances fracture, secrets unravel, and these long-held fan theories are either confirmed or completely blown apart.
Here’s a breakdown of what went down in Yellowjackets Season 3’s explosive final episode:
Who is ‘Pit Girl’?
The Pit Girl reveal finally came in the finale. Theories as to who Pit Girl (a name created by the fandom) could be have run rampant since the sequence in the pilot where a dark-haired girl was running and seemed to be hunted by masked Yellowjackets before falling in a pit. As time went on, there were many theories as to who Pit Girl could be, from a theory that it was Callie (Sarah Desjardins) in the present day to a new Season 3 introduction, Hannah (Ashley Sutton). In the end, it turned out to be the person who most people thought was Pit Girl from the jump: Mari (Alexa Barajas).
Akilah’s animals, Lottie’s call for a hunt and Van/Tai’s plan
Things were set into motion as Akilah (Nia Sondaya), who was frustrated that their first escape plan was foiled, hatched a plan to kill her animals as a way to get out because they’d need food. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) says this means the wilderness wants them to leave, but this spurs Lottie (Courtney Eaton) to call for a hunt. She notes that it needs to be one of their own and not an outsider because the last few deaths have been “outsiders.” Van (Liv Hewson) and Tai (Jasmin Savoy Brown) then have a plan of their own to stack the cards so neither one of them gets the queen card. They then choose for it to be Hannah, since she is really an outsider and not a Yellowjacket. However, during the deal, Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) is skeptical and thinks something is going on, so the draw is done again. It results in Mari, her enemy, getting the queen card, and the hunt commences. She sheds her clothes to throw them off, and Gen (Vanessa Prasad) even tries to throw everyone off track to give her friend a fighting chance. However, she ends up falling in the pit that Travis (Kelvin Alves) initially constructed for Lottie, as he saw her as a roadblock to them getting home.
Who is the ‘Antler Queen’?
Just like Pit Girl, since the show’s early moments, “Antler Queen” (another fan-given name) theories have run rampant. Seen as the de facto “leader” of the group (which isn’t necessarily true as we see in this episode), everyone has thought that this role could be Lottie, Natalie or Shauna—each having led the group at one point in time. There was even a recent theory that it could be Hannah. However, it is confirmed in the finale that it was Shauna.
After Mari’s death, she makes the girls prepare the feast and someone even brings her Mari’s hair. As she puts on the Antler Queen garb, she dresses it with pieces of Mari’s hair and then puts on the headdress with the antlers.
Who killed Lottie in ‘Yellowjackets’ Season 3?
It is confirmed that Lottie in the present (Simone Kessell) was killed by Callie. We learn that Callie went to see Lottie the day she died, and Callie tells Lottie she had thoughts once that her mom didn’t love her. Lottie then goes off the deep end, talking about how Callie is the child of the wilderness that they were given after it took away Shauna’s first child. This scares Callie, and she pushes Lottie— not meaning to kill her— but she does die from the fall. Jeff (Warren Kole) then decides to leave their house with Callie to protect her and tells Shauna they need space.
A tease of Tai and Misty vs. Shauna in the present
After learning that Melissa (Hillary Swank) was telling the truth and did write her a note with the tape, Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) cries. While Shauna is journaling and admits that she liked what she did out there, writing, “The danger, the thrill, the person I was back then. Not a wife or a mother. I was a warrior. I was a f**king queen.” As her wilderness self and present-day self seem to continue to converge, Misty (Christina Ricci) and Tai (Tawny Cypress) meet up. With Van (Lauren Ambrose) gone, Tai doesn’t seem to blame Melissa (who, by the way, is MIA in the finale after killing Van), but she blames Shauna for everything—everything that happened to them in the past and in the present is her fault. Misty, who has had a tense relationship with Shauna, especially as of late, agrees, and they both state that something needs to be done.
Here’s how the episode ends: It’s a major hint as to how they escape
The hunt was a hunt, but it was also a smokescreen. After Natalie learned that Misty (Samantha Hanratty) had the transponder, she doesn’t tell it to the larger group—and she may not do so ever, which is why they had such a fraught, one-sided dynamic in the present. However, the hunt also allows a plan for Natalie to escape with the transponder and try to call for help. This plan includes Natalie confronting Hannah, who reveals she doesn’t want to be there and is just doing what she needs to do to survive. They then swap clothes so that Natalie can get away, and Shauna doesn’t find out until later that Natalie has escaped. Natalie travels up to the top of a cliff and is showing making contact with someone via the transponder.
The finale changes things about the original ‘Pit Girl’/’Antler Queen’ scene
The finale contextualized a lot of things about the OG Pit Girl and Antler Queen scenes. It seemed as if everyone was in for the hunt, when in reality, while they technically were, everyone had their own motives—and many didn’t want Mari to die. After all, Travis initially constructed the pit for Lottie. And when the character, who we now know was Van, seemed to be looking down at the pit with satisfaction, in reality, she blames herself and Tai for Mari’s death after Shauna caught them. Also, there’s the scene where Misty takes off her garb and has the broken glasses on. When it seems that she is smiling because everyone is in glee over what happened, we now know she is smiling because Natalie escaped to use the transponder. And while everyone was gathering around the Antler Queen for their feast, the group is fractured—and most people are against the Antler Queen, Shauna.
Yellowjackets Season 3 is streaming in its entirety on Paramount+ with Showtime. An official Season 4 order hasn’t come down, but should be expected soon.
