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Star Wars: Episode IX marks the end of another Star Wars trilogy, and if we learned anything for the first nine-ish Star Wars films, there will be a lot of tears and deaths. Our Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker death predictions include sendoffs for several fan-favorite characters, but if we’ve learned anything else from the Star Wars cinematic universe, the dead don’t always stay dead, so don’t mourn the loss of these characters and actors too much.
Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, told the Associated Press that his character will appear as a ghost in Episode IX after his surprise death at the end of The Last Jedi. “I had closure in the last one [Star Wars: The Last Jedi],” Hamill said. “The fact that I’m involved in any capacity is only because of that peculiar aspect of the Star Wars mythology where if you’re a Jedi, you get to come back and make a curtain call as a Force ghost.”
As for who we think will survive, John Boyega, who plays Finn, hinted to Variety in December that’s the sequel’s trio, Finn, Rey and Poe, will survive the war. Boyega suggested that the treesome will survive when Variety asked if he would like to do another Star Wars film after Episode 9. “As long as Daisy and Oscar are down for it, then I’ll come back,” he said, suggesting that Finn, Rey and Poe live on after Episode IX and could theoretically star in another Star Wars movie.
But what about other characters in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? We collected clues on the internet to round up the characters with the highest chance of dying in Star Wars: Episode IX.
Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker hits theaters Dec. 20.
Princess Leia
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
It should come as no surprise that fans predict Princess Leia will die in Episode IX. The last of the original Star Wars trio, Leia’s death in the third sequel would follow the same pattern as her other OG members: Han Solo (who was murdered by Han Solo in the first sequel, The Force Awakens) and Luke Skywalker (who passes away in the second sequel, The Last Jedi). The actress who plays Leia, Carrie Fisher, also passed away of a heart attack in 2016. Fisher’s brother Todd told Yahoo in November that Episode IX will feature eight minutes of unseen footage of Leia from The Force Awakens. He told the site that the footage was “reverse engineered” for a “magical sendoff” where “Carrie is talking to us from the beyond.”
C-3P0
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
The beloved C-3P0 has been around since the first Star Wars film, but could Episode IX be his end? Anthony Daniel, the actor who voices C-3P0 told Vanity Fair in March that the character’s arc in Episode IX is unlike anything Star Wars fans have seen before. According to the magazine, Daniel said that the droid “does something in this movie that surprises everybody.” Sounds like something heroic that could lead to an equally heroic death. “He keeps his clothes on. It’s not like he suddenly does this thing, but…” Daniel joked about C-3P0’s action.
Emperor Palpatine
Image: 20th Century Fox.
The final trailer for Episode IX revealed that Emperor Palpatine is back and can communicate with Kylo Ren. (The trailer also revealed that Palpatine is the one who made Kylo think he was communicating with Darth Vader.) All signs point to Palpatine as the big bad of Episode IX who needs to be killed. (There are also theories that Rey is his granddaughter, which gives even more poetic reason for his death.) However, given that Palpatine was killed once before, how he will be sent off again (and permanently) remains a mystery.
Kylo Ren
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia and the protégée of Luke Skywalker, has been somewhat of an antihero since he was introduced in The Force Awakens. Out of the sequel’s four main characters—Kylo, Rey, Finn and Poe—Kylo has had the most significant arc, which means that if the film is to kill off one of them, it likely would be him. Given his antihero status, fans predict that he will die in a heroic way to protect the rest of the cast and defeat Palpatine for good.
Chewbacca
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
We don’t want to see sweet Chewie go, but given how long the character has been in the Star Wars cinematic universe, some fans think it’s his time. As Inverse points out, Chewbacca died in 1999 Star Wars novel Vector Prime. Of course, the character lived on in the movies, but it’s still relevant to know that the Star Wars creative heads have thought about Chewie’s death. The character, who is 800 years old, also lost his partner, Han Solo, in the first sequel, The Force Awakens. It would only be poetic for Chewie to join him in the sequel’s final movie.
General Hux
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
General Hux was a small (but annoying) villain in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. Fans expected him to be killed by Kylo Ren or Supreme Leader Snoke (or pretty much any other character) in the sequel’s first two movies, and yet, he survived to make it to the sequel’s third installment. Unlike Star Wars‘ other villains, Hux is pretty much a henchman and disposable, so we expect him to go early on in Episode IX to push Kylo’s plot forward.
R2-D2
Image: 20th Century Fox.
We don’t want to see R2-D2 go either, but signs point to the droid’s death. The original actor who voiced the character, Kenny Baker, passed away in 2016. The robot was then voiced by Jimmy Vee for The Last Jedi. Vee will return as the voice of R2-D2 for Episode IX, but we don’t predict for long. After Luke Skywalker’s death in The Last Jedi, we expect that R2-D2’s arc is complete. (However, given the theory that Rey will take on the Skywalker name, the character could live on to help another Skywalker.)
Lando
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
After his missing appearance in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, Lando will return for Episode IX. Inverse theorizes that the character will die by destroying the Death Star or through another dangerous act. Episode IX will also introduce Jannah, a new character played by Naomi Ackie, who fans suspect is Lando’s daughter. If this is true, the film may be setting up Jannah to take her father’s place in the Star Wars cinematic universe, which will end his arc and possibly his life.