Yellowstone is the hit Western racking up some major pop culture points after its mind-blowing Season 3 finale. It has also led to its healthy share of comparisons to HBO’s behemoth, Game of Thrones. Wes Bentley, who plays John Dutton’s eldest living son, Jamie Dutton, is now touching on all of those fan connections.
It turns out that Wes Bentley is a Game of Thrones fan, and he is not the first one to bring up the iconic show in the same breath as Yellowstone. The series’ co-creator himself, Taylor Sheridan, mentioned Game of Thrones when describing how Season 3 would address Jamie and Beth’s complicated relationship previously. More recently, when asked if he sees a connection between the shows, Bentley said:
Yes, there definitely is [a connection]. The way the family dynamic works and the goals that kind of all fit together in some weird ways.
As a Game of Thrones fan, I could not help noticing the parallels that Wes Bentley mentioned to EW following the show's huge finale. Family politics take center stage on Yellowstone as members within the Dutton family, and those on the outside attempt to take their “kingdom.” Before Jamie killed her, Sarah (the reporter) told Jamie his father is not a king. However, Yellowstone has leaned into that analogy quite profoundly.
Spoilers for Yellowstone’s Season 3 finale get discussed beyond this point.
For example, Jamie is the only Dutton to undoubtedly survive the Season 3 finale, but not before sharing an ominous conversation with his biological father, Garrett Randall. In it, Garrett talked about killing kings and taking empires. Hence, there is a reason I have talked about Yellowstone and Game of Thrones sharing things in common. As Garrett pointed out, the ranch is, in fact, an “empire.”
He just failed to mention the empire at the center of Yellowstone bears a strong likeness to the one that George R.R. Martin’s characters fought over for eight seasons. The ranch equals the Seven Kingdoms, and as was the case on Game of Thrones, Yellowstone’s battle for it continues to be a violent one. I am not the only one who has spotted the connection online.
Over on Reddit, one user asked if Yellowstone hired the writers from Game of Thrones for its Season 3 finale. The comment has been 87% upvoted. There is talk around various corners of the internet, discussing the similarities between the shows. Some Yellowstone fans have urged others to watch Game of Thrones and some were not as positive about this season's finale, but all the comparisons do seem to indicate the shows are at least somewhat similar.
Personally speaking, the similarities between the shows is one of the many reasons that I love Yellowstone so much. It is the show that this Game of Thrones fan needed even more after saying an emotional goodbye to the HBO Dram. To me, Jon Snow is basically Kayce, Beth is Cersei, and John Dutton is Tywin Lannister, with Jamie acting as an assorted array of Game of Thrones characters.
I have not quite figured out who Rip's parallel may be in the Game of Thrones universe. Cole Hauser, who plays him, clearly has some knowledge about the show. Hauser also evoked it while teasing Season 3 with a social media post, last year. Fans drawing parallels between Yellowstone and Game of Thrones is a welcome thing to me and hopefully others within the fanbase.
This Yellowstone fan hopes the show can reach Game of Thrones’ saturation level in pop culture. It has proven itself worthy with its jaw-dropping conclusion. On Game of Thrones, every character endangered in the Season 3 finale of Yellowstone would be dead. Time will tell if the Paramount Network series is as cutthroat. It has shown a propensity for jaw-droppers in the past.
Yellowstone Season 4 is currently filming, so stay tuned to see if there are more Game of Thrones connections. In the meantime, enjoy this fall’s premieres. You can watch the first two seasons of Yellowstone again on NBCUniversal’s new streamer, Peacock, and Game of Thrones on HBO Max.
