This column has spoilers for The Last Jedi, Battlefront II, and all of Star Wars Rebels.

Character deaths are never easy especially if a creator has done their job right and made you care. No one ever wakes up one day and goes “I really want to experience a story in which my favorite character dies today!” However, as a Jedi Master once said, “death is a natural part of life” and sometimes, a character’s story is best served with their death, no matter how much it may hurt those who love them. Ultimately, this is where Star Wars Rebels has failed some of its characters and where both The Last Jedi and Battlefront II have succeeded.

As many people know, Iden Versio went from being a character I’d never even heard of to one of my absolute favorites in all of Star Wars in mere months. She’s someone who I latched on to because she not only looked like me but I could relate to her on a personal level. The absolute last thing I ever wanted (or even expected) to see was her death in Battlefront II: Resurrection. It completely shocked me and left me making high-pitched sounds of grief before I finished the game, turned my PlayStation off, and cried for a bit. And then I went to see The Last Jedi the next day and saw that her death had counted for something: Poe Dameron never would have been able take down the First Order Dreadnought without the information she’d helped get. In Iden’s own words, “We fight so others can live and if we die, it better be for the same reason.” While I would have loved for her to have survive and go on to have a role within the Resistance, her death felt like a worthy end for both her story and character arc.

Of course, I wasn’t the only person to lose one of my favorite characters that week. Luke Skywalker’s life came to an end after exhausting himself confronting Kylo Ren “on” Crait to give the Resistance a chance to flee. Nanci wrote about Luke not long after the film was released and while his death may have made her cry, I found these lines to be particularly relevant here:  “Luke’s final feat of strength in the Force is not a cheat, or a weakness, or cowardice. He accomplishes something few Force users have done before, by projecting his spirit across the galaxy. His last stand on Crait is awe-inspiring and will be remembered forever, making him the legend he railed against becoming.” In other words, he made it count.

In contrast, we have both Ahsoka Tano and Ezra Bridger. Both Jedi made a final stand against a worthy adversary and sacrificed themselves so that their friends might live. Ahsoka faced off against her former master on Malachor to distract him while Ezra stayed on the Chimaera to make sure that Thrawn didn’t escape as the space whales jumped them into hyperspace to save Lothal. They were worthy and heroic ends for both characters. Except for one teensy, tiny thing: neither character died. Instead, they were merely taken off the chessboard for an unknown amount of time.

I’m not advocating for characters to die just for the heck of it. I’m not even advocating that characters like Ahsoka and Ezra had to die in Rebels just so the no-more-Jedi continuity in Empire Strikes Back can be maintained.  Deaths, when they serve both the story and the characters, can be incredibly powerful. Finding a loophole that lets a character live can retroactively detract from the power of a heroic sacrifice. In Ezra’s case, it takes away from the weight of his actions even further since he seemed to know that he would survive. Sure he was removed from his family for a number of years but that lacks the same emotional punch as something as final as death. Luke Skywalker’s actions on Crait wouldn’t have had the same emotional impact if using the Force in such a manner and he’d been able to effortlessly shake it off or be fine after a nap.

Consider also the contrast between Ahsoka and Iden. Both women could have easily had more stories to be told about them for years to come. We could’ve watched Ahsoka help the Rebel Alliance for seasons to come or seen Iden join the Resistance alongside Zay and Shriv. However, both of their journeys brought them face to face with men who’d once been trusted friends and who’d become enemies. In Resurrection, Iden and Hask brought about each other’s ends because apparently only a member of Inferno Squad can kill another Inferno. It felt right. In “Twilight of the Apprentice”, Ahsoka fought Darth Vader and finally truly let herself admit that he was once Anakin Skywalker. It’s hard to imagine a death that would have capped off either women’s storyline more beautifully and in truth, it brings up more questions as to why Ahsoka was alive yet absent during such a tumultuous war where her friends could have used her help.

The decision to kill a beloved character should never be taken lightly but neither should the decision to let a character continue to live. If done right, the death can be a powerful moment that reduces an audience or player to tears. If not done at all, it can detract from the emotion and oompfh of that character’s choices. Let sacrifices mean something. Star Wars must continue to let its characters become what they were meant to be… even when that’s one with the Force.