Disney
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the newest installment in the Star Wars saga. The movie premiered on December 15, 2017 to mostly positive reviews from critics and positive to mixed reviews from fans.
Warning: Major spoilers for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and other titles from the Star Wars universe are below. Read on with caution.
The Last Jedi follows numerous storylines, from Rey’s training with Luke Skywalker to Poe Dameron’s fight to destroy the First Order to Finn’s attempt to save the Resistance (rebellion?) alongside the newly introduced character, Rose to other subplots. While many characters survived the Rian Johnson-directed movie, some did not.
Read on for the details and deaths below.
Supreme Leader Snoke
Supreme Leader Snoke was introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a kind of Emperor Palpatine-like character and Kylo Ren’s mentor. The fans that have put together the parallels between the new trilogy and the original trilogy, Snoke’s death might not have experienced the leader’s death as a surprise.
In the new film, Snoke leads Rey to meet up with Kylo Ren by exploiting her good side and his conflicts. Eventually, Rey is brought into his chambers. Snoke first acts like he would like Rey to join him and then asks her to bring Luke Skywalker to him. When she doesn’t comply, he forces her to her knees in front of Kylo Ren and instructs his young apprentice to kill the girl.
Kylo, probably having too much of his grandfather in him, does not kill Rey and instead turns the tides by using the Force to use the lightsaber next to Snoke and cut the man in half. It’s an arguably anti-climatic end to a big baddie that we really don’t know much about at this point. We don’t learn anything about his backstory, and other than holigrams, Snoke does not get to leave his chambers for the whole movie. It’s a sad end for a master that uses Force Lightning like it’s no big deal.
A Slew of Elite Praetorian Guards
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Almost immediately following the death of Supreme Leader Snoke, Kylo Ren and Rey team up to fight a plethora of Snoke’s guards. The guards look like the Royal Guards that we’ve seen before as Palpatine’s guards, but seeing them in action, they seemed battle-ready. They were even equipped with various weapons that were useful against lightsabers.
This battle may be one of the highlights of the movie for some; 2 of the biggest characters in the new trilogy team up to take out a whole group of people. We see Kylo Ren single-handedly take on 4 guards while Rey takes on 4 of her own. When Kylo gets into a tough spot, Rey throws her lightsaber to him and he ends the guard’s life by putting a lightsaber through his face.
The fight is aesthetically pleasing and gives the narrative life; it feels as though the team up between light and dark can last for longer than just this one battle. When the battle is over, however, Kylo extends his hand to Rey and asks her to rule the galaxy with him. She not-so-politely declines and gets out of there.
Captain Phasma… Maybe
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The death of Captain Phasma may not have been as predictable, but it still feels important because of the impact that the character has had on this new trilogy. Phasma appears after the First Order takes Finn and Rose captive, threatening to behead the pair. When the star destroyer starts to get blown up, Finn and Phasma engage in a duel.
At one point in the fight, Finn knocks Phasma down and breaks off part of her mask. This feels like a nod to the episode of Star Wars: Rebels when Ahsoka, Anakin’s one-time Padawan, breaks off part of Darth Vader’s mask and Anakin’s eye is visible. The unmasking of a masked villain usually means that some sort of redemption is coming.
Phasma does not forgive Finn or denounce her dark side. Instead, she says that he will always be scum and proceeds to fall into space. Since her death happened offscreen, there is still a chance that she’ll be back for more in the next installment of the trilogy. Though it seems certain she dies, we’ve seen that before. (We’re looking at you, Darth Maul.) Don’t count out Phasma until we get confirmation that she’s actually gone for good.
Luke Skywalker
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Luke Skywalker dies in a way that is suitable for a Jedi. Much like Yoda, Luke goes out peacefully after accomplishing what he needed to accomplish. He reaches balance with the force after one-upping Kylo Ren in a major confrontation that effectively saves the remaining members of the Resistance. By projecting himself to Kylo Ren and showing up looking like he was really there, Luke shows that he is probably one of the strongest Jedi ever.
When all is said and done, Luke collapses on a rock and sees 2 suns in the sky, a throwback to the time he spent growing up on Tatooine. He then disappears while his cloak floats away in the wind. There is no body, much like there is no body left when Yoda dies.
It is very likely that Mark Hamill will be making an appearance in the next Star Wars movie as a Force ghost, much like Obi-Wan, Yoda and even Darth Vader before him.
Other Deaths
- Admiral Ackbar: Admiral Ackbar has been around since the original Star Wars trilogy, and he finally made his exit in The Last Jedi. Ackbar dies offscreen when the First Order blows up the bridge of the Resistance’s main ship and effectively kills all the leadership other than Leia herself.
- Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo: The new leader of the Resistance dies after sacrificing herself to save the resistance.
- Paige Tico: Rose’s sister is another sacrifice for the Resistance. She dies in a bomber after dropping all her bombs on a huge Star Destroyer-like ship.
- Many Stormtroopers: Many stormtroopers face their end after Holdo’s sacrifice.
- Most of the Resistance: Members of the Resistance are effectively picked off by the First Order, unfortunately. Left in cruisers with no shields or weapon systems, they are attacked as they launch their escape from the clutches of the First Order.
