WARNING! This article contains SPOILERS for Yellowjackets' season 3 finale!Following the reveal of a rescue call finally being received in the season 3 finale, it looks like a bloodbath could be coming in the wilderness in eight present-day Yellowjackets survivors have been confirmed, it was established early on that the majority of those who lived through the plane crash wouldn’t make it back home. Following the crash, Laura Lee, Jackie, Crystal, Javi, Coach Ben, and Mari have all already died over the course of three seasons, but there are still several more deaths to go before Shauna and the others return home.

After 19 months in the wilderness, it looks like rescue is finally coming after the very end of Yellowjackets season 3. During the “pit girl” hunt for Mari, Natalie secretly treks through the mountains with a satellite phone, which she uses to successfully make a call to an unknown man who responds to her cries for help and rescue. While it’ll still take some time for the authorities to accurately locate the teens, the fallout of Natalie’s actions and the impending arrival of rescue crews will mean speeding along some inevitable tragedies at the start of Yellowjackets season 4.

Yellowjackets' Season 4 Premiere Seemingly Has To Kill Off Several Characters In The Wilderness

It Won't Be Long Until The Teens Are Rescued

Considering only eight teens were seen in Yellowjackets season 2’s post-rescue scenes, it’s looking like there won’t be any more surprise survivors after Melissa. As such, everyone else who is still alive in the wilderness after Yellowjackets’ season 3 finale will seemingly die before the rescue crews arrive. There’s always the slim possibility that someone was accidentally left behind and survived in the wilderness all these years, but it’s far more likely that the eight survivors who have been introduced in Yellowjackets’ present timeline are the only ones who lived to the time of rescue.

Therefore, a bloodbath will likely be coming in Yellowjackets season 4 premiere, as it shouldn’t take long for the rescue crews to pin Natalie’s location from the satellite phone call. We know that Shauna, Tai, Natalie, Misty, Lottie, Van, Travis, and Melissa were rescued and brought back home, but several other characters are still alive in Yellowjackets’ past timeline. As far as we’re aware in Yellowjackets season 3’s final scene, Hannah, Gen, Akilah, Britt, and Robin are still alive heading into season 4, but it’s not expected that any are alive in the present day.

Considering all five of those characters seemingly have to die before Yellowjackets’ teens are rescued, they’ll all likely be killed off within the first two episodes of season 4. There’s a theory that Lottie already killed Akilah in the season 3 finale, but even so, her death wouldn’t be shown until season 4. That would be a huge body count in just two episodes for Yellowjackets, and would be the biggest number of deaths since Yellowjackets season 1, episode 2, when it was revealed that five people perished in the initial plane crash.

How Long Will It Take For The Teens To Be Rescued After Natalie's Yellowjackets Season 3 Finale Call?

It Shouldn't Take More Than A Few Days

While Natalie’s phone call worked, it will still take time for the person on the other line to pinpoint her location, and gather the resources to go help the survivors. Additionally, rescue crews will likely have to coordinate between Canada and the United States, and they will have to carefully navigate the snow-covered mountainous terrain. It won’t just be a few hours from the time Natalie’s call is heard to the time the authorities finally show up – the teens will have a dangerous gap before being faced with the full reality of returning home.

Yellowjackets’ plane crash and brutal survival tactics were partially inspired by the real-life 1972 Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 disaster in the Andes. If using the timeline of the Andes flight disaster’s rescue, then a helicopter could arrive to find the Yellowjackets about a day or two after the call is made. Of course, that depends on how soon the helicopter is actually able to find the teens’ wrecked plane and “village,” how many people can fit in the rescue helicopters, and how long the flights would take to get from the crash location back to civilization.

Yellowjackets Season 4's Present Timeline Can't Be Nearly As Deadly As Season 3

Yellowjackets Can't Afford To Kill Off That Many More Survivors

While it looks like Shauna may go on a rampage to kill Hannah, Gen, Akilah, Britt, and Robin before the rescue crews arrive, that same level of carnage can’t be mirrored in the present timeline. Yellowjackets’ past timeline at least has that many people it can kill off and still work narratively, but that’s not the case for the present timeline. Yellowjackets has now killed off half of the confirmed present-day survivors over the first three seasons, with only four remaining.

Yellowjackets season 4 still has not officially been renewed by Showtime.

Season 3 already killed off Lottie and Van, so there’s little story to work with in season 4 if multiple characters die. Though Shauna has dark plans to become the Antler Queen again and likely kill Tai, Misty, and Melissa to be “the only one left,” it’s unlikely she’ll accomplish that. While Melissa or just one character could reasonably be killed off in season 4, they need more than two survivors still alive to keep that present-day conflict interesting. Moreover, they can’t kill two or more survivors in season 4 if Yellowjackets still wants to proceed with its five-season plan.