Every Death In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Warning: This post contains MAJOR SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Here’s every character who dies in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The final installment of the Disney relaunch that began with Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015, the J.J. Abrams-directed sequel has more to do than just wrap up this trilogy. The main story revolves around Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) once again, but Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker also serves as the final chapter in the nine-film Skywalker Saga.

Picking up a year after the divisive Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the galaxy far, far away has drastically changed since Kylo and Rey last saw one another. The biggest reason for this is the return of Sheev Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Kylo is quickly able to find the former Emperor, and it isn’t long before Rey – with the help of Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) – is searching for him too. With the fate of the galaxy hanging in the balance, though, the Resistance gathers supporters from across the galaxy to take on Palpatine’s new and incredibly powerful fleet.

With the stakes this high and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker wrapping up the saga, the movie is filled with characters dying to serve their causes. The spectrum ranges from brand new members of the franchise to leading members of the current trilogy and ones of the past. So who all dies in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker? Here are the biggest ones.

Boolio

The first casualty of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is Boolio. The new alien character who fans first saw during Force Friday enters the movie early on to help the Resistance. It is thanks to him that they learn of a mole that is in the First Order. The data transfer is fast enough so Finn, Poe, Chewbacca, and more escape with their lives. But, Boolio’s fate is revealed when Kylo slams his severed head down on a table.

General Hux

Speaking of the mole within the First Order, this turn by General Hux (Domnhall Gleeson) is what results in his death. After years of serving Supreme Leader Snoke, Hux has not adjusted well to Kylo’s reign or found himself in favor with the new Supreme Leader. His interest in Kylo failing is why he turns his back on him and the First Order to a degree. Hux helps Finn, Poe, and Chewbacca escape captivity and death, with Finn shooting him in the leg to try and cover up what really happened. But, Allegiant General Pryde (Richard E. Grant) figures out what Hux has done and shoots him in the chest with a blaster.

Snap Wexley

As a close friend of Abrams in real life, Greg Grunberg returns as Snap Wexley in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. But, his relationship with the film’s director was not enough to keep his character alive. Snap is back in action as a pilot in the movie and is part of the initial Resistance attack on Palpatine’s fleet. Overwhelmed by the power of the Final Order, he is not able to shake enemy pilots in the final battle. Wexley is shot down by the Final Order just before the help the Resistance was waiting for arrives.

Allegiant General Pryde

A newcomer for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Allegiant General Pryde can’t escape death. After he gets rid of Hux, the First Order is essentially Pryde’s for the taking, as Kylo leaves the darkness behind shortly after. But, Pryde has been serving Palpatine all along, as he states they worked together in the past. He and the First Order travel to the Unknown Regions, where Palpatine’s fleet waits in Exegol. They appear to have the upper hand at first when the Resistance arrives, but the combination of reinforcements arriving and Palpatine’s demise gives Finn and Jannah (Naomie Ackie) the time to blow up the Star Destroyer that Pryde is in. He’s encompassed by the explosion and perishes.

The Knights of Ren

The six mysterious followers of Kylo Ren known as the Knights of Ren do not survive their return to the franchise. Only briefly glimpsed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, these background characters became the subjects of speculation over who they were. Fans were excited to see learn they’d return in The Rise of Skywalker after sitting out the last film, but there is no future for them. They fight Kylo – and not for the first time – after he turns to the light side and, with an assist from Rey, he kills all six members.

Emperor Palpatine

Palpatine is barely more than a corpse in his first in-canon appearance after Darth Vader threw him down a shaft of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi. Although he is back, Palpatine’s true goal is to be killed by Rey so his granddaughter can be the new vessel for the Sith. He comes close to Rey giving in to his demands as the Resistance army is picked apart, but the arrival of Kylo gives her an ally in this difficult time. Their combined strength is nearly their undoing, though, as the bond they share gives Palpatine enough power to drain their life forces to restore his own.

Back at full strength, Palpatine tosses Kylo aside and then has to deal with Rey. He attempts to use his lightning to defeat her, but Rey is able to block it with a lightsaber. Using Luke’s repaired lightsaber and Leia’s secret lightsaber, Rey then begins to redirect the lightning back at Palpatine and it destroys his body layer by layer. This time, his death should be permanent.

Rey (For Five Minutes)

Rey does survive The Rise of Skywalker, but there is a period of time where she was no longer alive. After defeating Palpatine, Rey collapses onto the ground of Exegol. Her life force was already low after Palpatine took some of hers to heal himself. When combined with the physical toll, Rey literally gave everything she had to defeat her grandfather. This would’ve seen her go out in a similar fashion as Luke Skywalker – sacrificing her life for the betterment of the galaxy – but, thankfully, Rey’s life force is restored so she can live. Unfortunately for Rey, it does come at a cost.

Kylo Ren/Ben Solo

In order for Rey to live, Kylo sacrifices his life force. This action is part of Kylo’s redemptive arc in The Rise of Skywalker, but it is also Kylo repaying a debt. During his fight with Rey on the wreckage of the second Death Star, Rey uses his lightsaber to stab him in the chest. It would’ve been a fatal blow to Kylo, but Rey is able to heal his wounds so he survives. Even though she leaves him immediately after, Kylo is then determined to help Rey defeat Palpatine and not turn to the dark side. He is able to be there for Rey at first, but is tossed aside by Palpatine.

When Kylo resurfaces, it is only after the dark lord has been defeated. He crawls back to the ground of Exegol to find Rey dead on the ground. He wraps her in his arms and gives his life force to Rey to bring her back. Everything appears to be fine at first as Rey calls him Ben and they share a kiss, but that’s the last thing they do. Kylo used what was left of his life force to heal Rey, with his passing cemented as his body fades away.

Leia Organa

At the same time that Kylo’s body fades away, so does Leia Organa’s (Carrie Fisher) across the galaxy. Even though she may have had lingering health concerns after The Last Jedi, that was not the reason why she died in The Rise of Skywalker. Leia used her Force abilities to communicate with Kylo one more time and help turn him back to the light side. She no longer appears to be alive from that point on, but some part of her or her life force is connected to Kylo from that point on. That’s why her physical body vanishes at the same moment her son’s body does. This may be the end of Leia’s normal life, but the very end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker confirms she lives on as a Force ghost.

About The Author

Cooper Hood
(5624 Articles Published)

Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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