Of the Star Wars universe's many creative influences, one of the most prominent is the epic storytelling of old; it's not a coincidence that Luke Skywalker's life bears many similarities to the legend of King Arthur.
Death is a recurring thing in these legends, so its no surprise that all nine films that make up the three Star Wars trilogies, collectively dubbed "The Skywalker Saga," have their fair share of death scenes. Let's look at some, counting down the most poignant and most underwhelming.
10 Best: Luke Skywalker
After pulling off one of the greatest and most heroic feats ever witnessed in a Star Wars film by projecting an illusion of himself halfway across the galaxy to distract the First Order and help the Resistance escape, Luke Skywalker passes on in The Last Jedi's closing minutes.
His journey ends the same way it began, with him looking out into the horizon at a binary sunset and John Williams' "The Force Theme" swelling like it did in the first Star Wars 40 years prior. One of the most purely beautiful scenes in a film filled with them, Luke's life could not have come to a more fitting end.
9 Worst: Leia
Unfortunately, in the saga's ninth chapter, The Rise Of Skywalker, Luke's twin Leia would not be nearly as lucky. Part of this was unavoidable - Carrie Fisher's real-life passing meant Leia would never get the ending she truly deserved - but even s0, her passing in The Rise Of Skywalker underwhelms.
Sensing a duel between her apprentice and her son, Leia reaches out to Kylo Ren with the Force, then somewhat mysteriously passes away. She is kept in shadow (a byproduct of Fisher's passing) and mostly out-of-frame for the scene, contributing to the overall anti-climactic feel.
8 Best: Han Solo
Harrison Ford had been pushing to kill Han Solo since The Empire Strikes Back, believing the Millennium Falcon's captain had completed his character arc in the original film and the only way for the character's journey to end was with a heroic sacrifice. So, when Han returned in The Force Awakens, it wasn't surprising that he perished, though when the moment came, it was still heartbreaking.
Attempting to pull his son Ben, now the dark warrior Kylo Ren, back to the light, Han seems to succeed for a moment but ultimately all he receives for his efforts is a Lightsaber through his chest. Han's last act is one of affection and forgiveness, placing his hand across his son's cheek before his body falls into an abyss.
7 Worst: Ben Solo
Kylo Ren wanted so much to be his grandfather, and sure enough, he dies in much the same way; turning back to the light and then giving up his own life to save someone he loves. Unfortunately, this time around, it didn't work nearly as well as the original.
By killing Ben, the scene takes the coward's way out, not just by recycling a beat from Return Of The Jedi, but ensuring that Ben doesn't have to live with the consequences of or guilt for his actions as Kylo Ren, thereby avoiding any moral quandaries whatsoever.
6 Best: Darth Vader
The revelation that Darth Vader was Luke's father, and the resultant drama between two family members finding themselves on opposite sides of conflicts between freedom and fascism, between the Light Side and the Dark, is what elevated Star Wars above pulp storytelling; it gave the original trilogy an emotional core. The scenes between Luke and Vader remain easily the best in Return Of The Jedi, if not the entire original trilogy.
Vader's last moments are the most touching of all. Unmasked, the audience finally sees the sad, regretful old man who'd been buried inside the monster from the previous films, and as Vader looks upon his son for the last time, the glimmer in his eyes gives away contentment that for all his mistakes, he'd managed to bring some good into the world.
5 Worst: Padmé
Sadly, Padmé gets the short end of the stick in Revenge Of The Sith, lacking any of her independence from the previous two films and becoming an accessory to Anakin's arc. Fittingly but unfortunately, her ending winds up just as underwhelming as everything preceding it. She "loses the will to live" and passes after giving birth, apparently out of her depression at Anakin's fall.
Aside from Padmé's unwillingness to live life without her husband sending some retrograde messages about women's equality, her death itself comes off as an afterthought, with Lucas conveniently tying up her story since she wasn't around in the original trilogy.
4 Best: Snoke
The Last Jedi's second act climaxes with a scene between Rey, Kylo Ren, and Snoke in the latter's throne room. Rian Johnson masterfully employs the Hitchcock-coined "show a bomb under a table fifteen minutes before it explodes" method of suspense when Ren uses the Force to surreptitiously activate Rey's lightsaber, which ignites through his master's torso.
Here, Snoke's true purpose in this story is unveiled to the audience and characters alike. He has never been the true villain, but merely a stepping stone on Kylo Ren's journey.
3 Worst: Darth Maul
Built up throughout The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul gets only a single chance to show off his combat prowess before being bisected by Obi-Wan Kenobi, without the audience learning much of anything about who he is. This was a death scene so underwhelming, and which wasted so much potential, that it was eventually retconned that Maul had actually survived.
It paved the way for him to return in The Clone Wars, where he evolved into a true fan-favorite after having his character fleshed out before eventually meeting a more somber, fitting end in Star Wars Rebels.
2 Best: Palpatine (Return Of The Jedi)
While this may be Palpatine's death scene, the emotional focus of the scene is squarely on Luke and Vader, both victims of the Emperor in their own way, and that focus is what makes this scene so satisfying.
After the past six films have shown Palpatine's mastery at strategy time-and-time-again, here he finally slips up by failing to account for two variables; that Luke would prove stronger than his father had been, and that said father still had some good left in him.
1 Worst: Palpatine (The Rise Of Skywalker)
Unlike his demise 35 years earlier, Palpatine's second, and presumably final, death in The Rise Of Skywalker proves rather underwhelming.
As he has no history with Rey, his clash with her is akin to a video game final boss battle more than anything else, and the whole affair winds up feeling like a less effective retread of his end in Return Of The Jedi.