Death

Death is inevitable and a natural part of existence. While some species have longer lifespans than others, such as Yoda's species, all living beings exist for a limited amount of time before dying and becoming one with the Cosmic Force, the source of the Living Force. As beings age, they become weaker and more susceptible to illness, eventually succumbing to these changes, resulting in natural death. Severe physical trauma can also lead to death if the injuries are too severe or left untreated, causing the body to shut down. Living beings may also be killed by others in conflicts and wars, or by themselves through suicide, the intentional act of ending one's own life. Torture can also cause death. Exposure to radiation, diseases, starvation, dehydration, or certain chemical substances can also be fatal. In some instances, however, there is no medical explanation for death. For example, the GH-7 series medical assistance droid on Polis Massa could not determine why Padmé Amidala was dying during childbirth, stating that "She's lost the will to live."

According to the Jedi Code, "there is no death, there is the Force." The Jedi believed that life does not end at death but transforms within the Force. They understood that life and death are part of a cycle that sustains the Force. Knowing that all living things eventually become one with the Cosmic Force, the source of the Living Force, the Jedi viewed death as a natural return to the Cosmic Force. A Jedi Knight had to overcome the fear of loss, as attachment to the living is a path to the dark side of the Force. While saddened by death, they were encouraged to remember that all beings pass on eventually and to celebrate those who have become one with the Force, rather than grieving their absence.

Although the Jedi believed it was impossible for an individual to retain their identity after death and did not believe in ghosts or reincarnation, there were ways to manifest one's consciousness as a Force spirit. Qui-Gon Jinn began to uncover the secrets of manifesting his consciousness, traveling to a planet strong with the Force, a world that was the origin of life and midi-chlorians. He learned from five Force Priestesses who had maintained their consciousness after death. This knowledge was passed on to a select few. As the Clone Wars neared its end, Jinn reached out to Grand Master Yoda, knowing that it was Yoda's destiny to complete the training he had started. Yoda completed the trials and was deemed worthy to learn the secret of eternal consciousness.

After the Clone Wars and the fall of the Jedi Order, Yoda revealed to Obi-Wan Kenobi that Jinn had returned from the netherworld of the Force and could guide his former Padawan in learning the secret. Although Anakin Skywalker, a fallen Jedi Knight and the Chosen One of the Force, never received the training to become a Force spirit, his redemption and sacrifice allowed Kenobi and Yoda to preserve his consciousness after death, similar to how his grandson became a spirit in 35 ABY. In 34 ABY and 35 ABY respectively, Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa, Anakin's children, achieved immortality like their father.

While the Sith knew that life transforms within the Force, they feared mortality and viewed it as a limitation of the physical world. They could not see themselves as part of a continuum, believing that death meant becoming nothing. Therefore, they sought to prevent their life from passing from the Living Force to the Cosmic Force, desiring to live forever and prevent the death of loved ones. The Sith Order's devotion to the dark side stemmed from their desire for immortality.

Sidious described the dark side of the Force as a path to unnatural abilities, including the power to "cheat death." According to a "Sith legend", the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis gained unique abilities, such as creating life through the manipulation of midi-chlorians, and preventing the death of loved ones. In an effort to turn Anakin Skywalker to the dark side, Sidious offered to reveal the secrets of immortality to Skywalker, knowing that the Jedi Knight feared losing his wife, Padmé Amidala. Haunted by premonitions of the future about his pregnant wife's impending death, Skywalker came to believe that the dark side could ensure Amidala's survival through Sidious' influence.

Although Sidious claimed that only one Sith had achieved such power, he stated that together they could unlock the secret. Skywalker joined the Sith, gaining new powers as Darth Vader, but Amidala died regardless. Despite claiming to be able to save her, Sidious later told Vader that the dark side could not restore Amidala to life. Through his master's teachings, Sidious managed to transfer his essence to an imperfect clone vessel modeled after his original body. However, his dream of eternal rule was ultimately thwarted when his granddaughter, Rey, called upon the strength of past Jedi to defeat him by turning his own power against him, destroying Sidious and his Sith Eternal cultists.

The Sith enhanced their powers through trials designed to strengthen their connection to the dark side of the Force. One such trial required the sacrificial death of a loved one. This tradition was not exclusive to members of the Sith Order; Kylo Ren, though not a Sith, was trained to be just as powerful. During the Battle of Starkiller Base, Ren unknowingly completed his Sith trial of ascendancy when he killed his father, Han Solo. However, patricide did not grant greater strength with the dark side as Ren had believed. The death of his father fueled his internal conflict, weakening him.

Legend has it that the Knights of Ren were a wandering group of dark side users that originated in the Unknown Regions. In addition to Force-sensitivity, prospective recruits had to willingly kill someone to join the Knights. Darth Sidious described the Knights' initiation process as selecting a "worthy target" and giving them "a good death." This requirement applied to all potential initiates, regardless of whether they had killed before.

Once, the Knights attempted to recruit Karrst, who was being hunted by Sector Security for killing at least a hundred people. He was killed by his younger brother, Filin, when Ren, the leader of the Knights, instructed Karrst to commit fratricide to join the group. However, Filin lacked his brother's connection to the Force and was subsequently executed by Ren.

Although the Knights' connection to the dark side was limited by their lack of training, their philosophy appealed to the Jedi apprentice Ben Solo, who struggled to meet the expectations as a member of the Skywalker family. After his involvement in the destruction of the Jedi Temple of Luke Skywalker, Solo left the Jedi Order and tracked the Knights to Varnak. However, he was confronted by the Jedi apprentices Hennix, Tai, and Voe in an abandoned Jedi outpost on Elphrona. Although Hennix was killed by Solo, the Knights deemed his death insufficient and suspected that Solo had not wanted his former ally to die.

After Hennix's death, the Jedi tracked Solo and the Knights during a mission to the Minemoon. Tai was killed by Ren, who was then killed by Solo. Ren's death secured Solo's place among the Knights and his position as Ren's successor. In addition to adopting the name Kylo Ren, the former Jedi assumed the title of master of the Knights of Ren.

The Kran were monks whose religion was centered on the veneration of death, which they practiced by causing destruction at night. During the Clone Wars, Jedi Master Mace Windu resettled the Kran on a hospitable planet that never experienced night due to its location in a binary star system.

It was normal for people to cry when someone died. Ceremonies to commemorate the end of life were also common. Burial and cremation are examples of funeral customs. On Ferrix, they would make funerary stones from the remains of important Ferrixians, like the Daughters of Ferrix. A funerary stone was made by mixing the ashes of the dead with mortar and local dust, creating a brick with the citizen's name and their birth and death dates, according to the Coruscant reckoning calendar. Another Ferrix death ritual was for the dead to create a prerecorded holographic speech to be played at their funeral. Maarva Carassi Andor, a former president of the Daughters of Ferrix, used her funeral to start a local uprising against the Imperial occupation of Ferrix.

On the planet E'ronoh, the dead were placed within the tombs of the Rook to show that all were equal in death, instead of being buried or cremated. Even members of the E'ronoh royal family were placed in the Rook after death. The family or friends of the dead wrote a byline for the coffin, but visitor Axel Greylark wondered who would write the line if no friends or family could be found. A robed priest gave a final blessing before the coffin was put into its resting place. A grand funeral was held for Captain Jerrod Segaru to honor him as a war hero, welcoming many mourners. However, another dead soldier, Braxen, did not get the same honor. At Segaru's funeral, Axel Greylark asked Jedi Knight Gella Nattai if she thought the display was morbid, and she said that death was morbid for most people. Nattai was also shocked at how glib Greylark was about the funeral.

Burial and cremation were done on the desert planet Tatooine. Shmi Skywalker Lars was buried in a grave on the homestead of the Lars family. Her funeral was attended by her son, Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker, her husband, Cliegg Lars, her stepson, Owen Lars, as well as Amidala and Beru Whitesun. During the Imperial Era, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and the droid C-3PO used a pyre to get rid of the bodies of Jawa scavengers who were killed by Imperial stormtroopers.

A state funeral was held for Senator Padmé Amidala, a former monarch of Naboo, on her homeworld of Naboo in 19 BBY. Thousands of Naboo citizens, both humans and Gungans, attended the ceremony to honor the late senator, who was regarded as a "beloved representative" by her people. After her death on Polis Massa, Amidala's funeral procession included family members and other important people, like Queen Apailana, Rugor Nass, and Junior Representative Jar Jar Binks. The Tomb of Padmé Amidala was her final resting place. During the Imperial Era, Amidala's remains were almost dug up by her widower, Darth Vader, despite the Amidalans' efforts to prevent what they saw as the desecration of her grave. While he almost opened her casket, Vader couldn't go through with it, and his droid companion ZED-6-7 assumed he didn't want to damage any evidence. Despite only slightly opening her casket, Zed-6-7 was able to trace a med implant on her body to Polis Massa.

The Jedi Order cremated all Jedi in their funeral rituals. During the Republic Era, when the Order was at its strongest, the remains of dead Jedi, either in a sarcophagus or on an altar covered by a burial shroud, were lowered into a chamber under the consecrated ground of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. After being lowered, a beam of light rose from the ground, and the Jedi was cremated. Upon death, a Jedi's Kyber crystal was taken from their lightsaber and put in the Kyber Arch.

Although the Jedi Order usually retrieved the remains of their fallen members for funeral services in the Coruscant temple, as they did with the body of Jedi Master Katri who was killed on Raxus Secundus, sometimes the ceremony was done off-world. In 32 BBY, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn was cremated in Theed, the capital city of Naboo, after his death during the battle that ended the Trade Federation's Invasion of Naboo. The body of Jedi General Even Piell, who was killed during the Battle of Lola Sayu, was wrapped in a shroud, and, with not enough time and a priority to leave from Lola Sayu, was lowered into a river of lava by Jedi Generals Kenobi and Skywalker.

Jedi funeral rites were not exclusive to Jedi Order members. High-ranking officers from the Republic Military during the Clone Wars, and Government figures of the Galactic Republic, like the Supreme Chancellor and members of the Galactic Senate, might attend to honor deceased Jedi. Jinn's funeral was attended by Boss Rugor Nass of the Gungan High Council, Queen Padmé Amidala, Governor Sio Bibble of the Royal House of Naboo, the newly elected Supreme Chancellor Sheev Palpatine, the Jedi High Council, Anakin Skywalker, his Padawan, and Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former apprentice and Jedi Knight. When Obi-Wan Kenobi feigned his own demise to expose an impending Separatist scheme to abduct Chancellor Palpatine, his memorial service was witnessed by various Order members, including Duchess Satine, Senator Amidala, and the Jedi High Council.

Skywalker and Kenobi performed Even Piell's cremation, which was observed by Captain Wilhuff Tarkin, Jedi Padawan Ahsoka Tano, their clone troopers like Clone Captain Rex, the Advanced Recon Commando Fives, and Clone Commander Cody, and the astromech droid R2-D2. Later in the conflict, a terrorist attack on the Jedi Order bombed one of the Jedi Temple's starship hangars, resulting in the deaths of clone troopers, Temple staff, and several Jedi. A service was conducted for the Jedi who perished in the assault, with Yoda delivering a eulogy before a gathering of Republic dignitaries and Jedi. The Funeral of Tu-Anh took place on the world of Utapau, where she was discovered dead, and was attended by Kenobi, Skywalker, and several Pau’ans.

Following the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY during the Galactic Civil War, Anakin Skywalker was honored with a Jedi funeral by his son, Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker. The ceremony was held on the forested moon of Endor, and only Luke was present. The newly appointed Jedi Knight constructed a funeral pyre to incinerate the armor of Darth Vader that his father wore while he was a Sith. Despite Anakin's actions as Vader, including his involvement in the near-extinction of the Jedi Order, Luke chose to remember his father as the Jedi he once was, as well as the Chosen One who brought balance back to the Force.

Lords of the Sith who had passed away were interred on their ancient home planet, Moraband, in the Valley of the Dark Lords, which housed crypts and monuments dedicated to the ancient Sith "of millennia past." The largest structure in the Valley held the tomb of Darth Bane, an ancient Sith Lord who established the modern Sith Order through the Rule of Two. The stone sarcophagus containing his remains was situated at the foot of a massive Bane statue. He was the last Dark Lord of the Sith to be buried on Moraband before the Sith abandoned it.

The spirits of the Sith entombed on Moraband remained linked to their Order's home world. They lived on eternally after death, according to their successor, Darth Sidious, with whom they communicated. In his book, The Secrets of the Sith, Sidious expressed his intention to visit Moraband and uncover the "dark secrets" of his Sith predecessors.

The E'roni people of the planet E'ronoh practiced a remembrance for the recently deceased, in which the family of the deceased would gather to celebrate their fallen loved one, although maintaining the tradition was difficult due to the ongoing Forever War. In rural areas, these Remembrances were observed by the entire town. Stories of the deceased were shared, and their favorite foods and songs were enjoyed during the celebration. The Eirami people of E'ronoh's rival world, Eiram, held a similar celebration centered around a single day of the year, when the entire planet came together to remember the deceased. The Eirami also believed in reincarnation.

The legal concept of a presumption of death arises when an individual is considered deceased, even without conclusive proof of their death. During the High Republic Era, the Galactic Republic had a long-standing automated protocol that stipulated that missing individuals who were presumed dead would be officially declared deceased. As a result, Jedi Padawan Lula Talisola was officially declared dead one year after the Destruction of Starlight Beacon.

Sevran Tarkin was present on Starlight Beacon when it fell, and her subsequent disappearance led to her being legally pronounced dead. Her uncle, Tragkul Tarkin, took advantage of her death to further his anti-Republic agenda. After Sevran reappeared alive and well, she discovered that proving her living status was far more complicated than she had anticipated. The bureaucratic obstacles proved to be a significant challenge, and she remained "technically dead." She lost favor with her uncle, who believed that dying in battle was not a noble death, as it signified defeat.

Death sticks were a highly addictive and illegal substance favored by thrill-seekers and addicts in the underworld of Coruscant and throughout the galaxy.

The Galactic Empire's first and second moon-sized battle stations were known as "Death Stars." Elite soldiers known as death troopers, whose name was inspired by the Undead Troopers of Project Blackwing, were tasked with protecting high-ranking officials and members of the Imperial Security Bureau.

The clone trooper Fives said goodbye to AZI-345211896246498721347 by telling him that they would meet again "on the other side," but the droid did not understand the meaning of this phrase. Han Solo told deck officer Tigran Jamiro that he would "see him in Hell" when the officer warned him about the dangerous conditions of the planet Hoth.

The Force, a mystical energy field created by all living beings, is made up of two elements: the Living Force and the Cosmic Force, which coexist in a state of balance and symbiosis. According to Qui-Gon Jinn, the Living Force, which is produced by living things, fuels the Cosmic Force's wellspring. When a life ends, its spirit ascends to a different plane of existence and merges with the Cosmic Force.

Mass death caused disturbances in the Force that could be felt galaxy-wide by those sensitive to the Force. Yoda sensed the deaths of Jedi throughout the galaxy during the final days of the Clone Wars as a result of the Jedi Order's systematic extermination under Order 66. When Kenobi sensed the destruction of the planet Alderaan, he described it as a terrible feeling in which "millions of voices cried out in terror and were then silenced."

Extinction is the widespread death of an entire species. Despite their advanced technology, the Zeffonians became an endangered species as the dark side gained more influence over the Zeffo Sages. As their race neared extinction, the surviving Zeffo retreated into uncharted space, abandoning their homeworld and its system. The deadly Blue Shadow Virus was intentionally driven to extinction, but Doctor Nuvo Vindi, a Separatist, reintroduced it to the galaxy. The Galactic Empire nearly drove the Lasat species to extinction. The Geonosian species was driven to extinction by the Empire.

Genocide is the deliberate mass killing of a species or culture, which leads to the group's extinction. The Separatist attack on the planet Mahranee in 19 BBY was regarded as a genocide against the indigenous Mahran people.

According to the legend of the ancient Sith Lord Darth Noctyss, there was a long-forgotten Sith ritual, thoroughly recorded in an abandoned citadel at the heart of Exegol, that could grant immortality. The ritual involved three days of incantations and the sacrifice of a willing victim, whose essence would be absorbed and used to reshape the performer's soul. However, even though the ritual granted eternal life, it transformed the performer into a twisted, grotesque version of their former self, cursed to exist as a feral creature, barely clinging to existence: to live an undying life, yet unable to truly live.

Ignoring the price, the Sith Darth Sanguis, who craved eternal life, researched and completed the ritual. After ages, Darth Noctyss, searching for a way to make herself immortal, traveled to Exegol and discovered the laboratory and research of Sanguis and her forebear himself, although she believed, the miserable creature was a slave of the Sith. Sanguis assisted Noctyss in recreating the ritual, allowing himself to be sacrificially killed by her in order to be freed from his tormented existence. The ritual ultimately transformed Noctyss into a deformed, broken creature, like Sanguis before her, haunting the depths of Exegol.

Sith masks were designed to instill fear in the wearer's opponents, but they could also serve as vessels for the spirits of the Sith Lords who created them. The Mask of Lord Momin, an ancient Sith artifact created by the unconventional Sith Lord Darth Momin, was one such mask. After his death, Momin's spirit moved to his mask and became trapped within it. As a result, he gained the ability to control any living being who wore it. The Jedi kept Momin's mask in the vaults of the Temple on Coruscant; the Sith reclaimed it after the siege of the Jedi Temple and Sidious' rise to power as Galactic Emperor.

Momin initially attempted to possess Sidious' Sith apprentice, Darth Vader, before agreeing to serve as the architect of Fortress Vader on Mustafar. During its time in Vader's possession, the mask possessed several hosts, beginning with Lieutenant Roggo, who murdered Colonel Alva Brenne while under Momin's control. After the Fortress was finished, Momin opened a portal through which he regained his original body. His resurrection was short-lived, as Vader killed him during the Battle of Fortress Vader.

The mask of Viceroy Exim Panshard was a Sith artifact made of meteoritic metal that was strongly attuned to the dark side of the Force. The screams of a hundred people, who had been killed for the pleasure of Viceroy Exim Panshard, a Sith Lord who ruled over a forgotten planet, were imprinted on the mask. Panshard's spirit lived on through the mask and its connection to the dark side. The Emperor's adviser Yupe Tashu gave the mask to Kiza, a member of the Sith cult known as the Acolytes of the Beyond. Kiza was able to hear Panshard's voice in her head after acquiring the mask, which led the Pantoran acolyte to succumb to the dark side's influence. Kiza's bloodlust was amplified by the dark side to the point where she murdered her fellow acolyte, Remi, in a fit of rage when he attempted to take Kiza's lightsaber during their attack on the New Republic's Devaron outpost.

Kiza continued to communicate with Panshard's spirit through the mask, and he promised her greater power if they could find the Sith world of Exegol. Kiza, acting on Panshard's instructions, established her domain on a large asteroid close to the Red Honeycomb Zone and formed an army of battle droids that she obtained from an old Separatist core ship. When Kiza fought Jedi Master Luke Skywalker on Taw Provode's solitary moon in 21 ABY, the mask was destroyed. Panshard lost his connection to the physical world without the mask.

According to a "Sith legend", the Sith Lord Darth Plagueis acquired unique abilities, such as the power to create life by manipulating midi-chlorians. Darth Sidious, who had trained as Plagueis' Sith apprentice, testified to the accomplishments of his Sith Master, the first in their Order's history to discover the Force's ability to prevent the deaths of living beings. Sidious attributed the discovery of this power—a technique known as transference—to his mentor's extensive knowledge of the dark side of the Force, but despite this knowledge, Plagueis failed to survive his apprentice's betrayal.

Sidious studied his late Master's methods after Plagueis' death until he learned how to transfer his essence to a new body. As a result, Sidious was resurrected in a clone of his original body following his initial death. However, the cloning techniques used by the Sith Eternal cultists failed to produce a viable specimen from his genetic template, and the process was flawed. The resulting clone was genetically unstable and susceptible to the dark side's effects, which prevented Sidious from leaving the Sith Citadel on Exegol due to the deformities of his cloned body.

According to Sidious, who was at risk of dying again because his new vessel was genetically compromised, the transference ability allowed the Force-user to send their consciousness "from one mortal vessel to another." As a result, the immortality he desired remained elusive.

The Nightsisters of Dathomir kept their dead close by, suspended in pods near their village, so that no sister ever truly left the clan. They believed that the dead could share in the emotions of the living, and with a magical chant could temporarily be reanimated in the form of undead warriors. The Nightsisters resurrected their dead to fight in the Battle of Dathomir, but General Grievous and the Separatist Droid Army ultimately destroyed them.

When the body of the Nightsister Asajj Ventress was laid to rest in the pools of the village, a green mist arose as the voices of her sisters welcomed her home. After death, the spirits of the Nightsisters were tethered to the altar in the Nightsister lair. During the Rise of the Empire, several years later, Merrin, the sole survivor of Grievous's attack, used the undead Nightsisters to attack the Jedi Cal Kestis. She believed that the Jedi had orchestrated the attack because of the lies of the former Jedi Master Taron Malicos.

Ezra Bridger and Maul awakened the Nightsisters' spirits. In an effort to return to the physical world and rebuild their clan, and as a price for their aid to Maul and Bridger, two Nightsister spirits possessed two of Bridger's friends, Sabine Wren and Kanan Jarrus. However, Bridger destroyed the altar, and as a result, the spirits vanished.

Sith scientists working for the Imperial Military Department of Advanced Weapons Research carried out Project Blackwing. The project's ultimate goal was to achieve immortality through science and Sith alchemy. The scientists inadvertently created a virus capable of reanimating infected hosts in their efforts to revive necrotic tissue. In addition to reanimation, other side effects of the virus included aggression and cannibalism. An outbreak at the Blackwing research facility on Dandoran resulted in the infection of numerous stormtroopers, who experienced a painful death before being reanimated as "Undead Troopers."

It was possible for certain individuals, through dedicated training, to maintain their individual consciousness even after death. Jedi who achieved this preservation of consciousness became part of the Force itself, attaining a form of immortality as Force spirits after their physical bodies ceased to exist upon death.

Qui-Gon Jinn was the first to master this ability to retain his consciousness post-mortem, but due to incomplete training, he was initially unable to manifest before the living. Because of this, he could only communicate with Yoda as a disembodied voice. Eventually, Jinn gained the power to appear as a spirit, doing so once his former Padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi was deemed "ready" to perceive him. Jinn then imparted his knowledge to both Yoda and Kenobi. Following his death in 0 BBY, Kenobi continued to guide Luke Skywalker throughout his Jedi training. Luke Skywalker, along with his twin sister, Leia Skywalker Organa Solo, also transitioned into Force spirits after their own deaths.

Anakin Skywalker's transformation into a Force spirit was a direct result of his redemption; by giving his life to protect his son, Luke Skywalker, Yoda and Kenobi were able to preserve Anakin's consciousness after he died. After turning to the light side and subsequently death on Exegol, the physical form of Ben Solo, Anakin's grandson and the last of the Skywalker lineage, vanished.

Certain Jedi discovered the capability to bring a deceased being back to life. During the mission taking place on Mortis, Anakin Skywalker brought his Padawan Ahsoka Tano back to life by channeling the life force of the Daughter into Tano after she was fatally wounded by the Son. After Rey died while destroying Darth Sidious, Ben Solo healed her, transferring his energy through their bond as a Force dyad. This resulted in Rey's revival, but cost Solo his own life.

Life support systems could be used to keep a dying individual alive. Darth Vader was forced to rely on life support following his near immolation on the [volcanic](/article/volcano] planet of Mustafar, where he was defeated by Obi-Wan Kenobi. In addition to the loss of his limbs, Vader's body sustained severe burns, and his lungs were irreversibly damaged. Imperial shock troopers loyal to Darth Sidious used a medical capsule to safely transport the Emperor's severely injured apprentice to the Grand Republic Medical Facility on Coruscant. There, medical droids reconstructed Vader surgically as an armored cyborg.

Cybernetics replaced his missing organic limbs and facilitated his breathing of oxygen using mechanical lungs. Doctor Cylo and other Imperial scientists specially designed a suit of armor for the Dark Lord. The suit included a masked helmet that worked in conjunction with the rest of the armor to regulate Vader's artificial respiratory system. The armor's intimidating appearance concealed its true purpose, and few beings in the galaxy knew that Vader was unable to breathe without his mask.

Lee-Char, the King of Mon Cala, was put on life support sometime after the Galactic Empire invaded and occupied the planet Mon Cala. During the Galactic Civil War, Princess Leia Organa of the Alliance to Restore the Republic found the imprisoned king in an Imperial base located on Strokill Prime. Organa observed that machines were the only thing keeping the king alive.