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Eternals Writers Reveal Reason Why [SPOILERS] Were Chosen to Die


Warning! This article contains spoilers for Eternals! Read at your own risk!

With ten titular heroes introduced to make their debut in Marvel’s most recent release, Eternals, the writers of the movie reveal the reason why not all of them make it to the end. It was nothing random as Ajak and Gilgamesh were really chosen to die and their deaths hold more weight for the whole story. Seemingly, it implies that another character is not yet dead: Ikaris.

Eternals Writers Reveal Reason Why [Spoilers] Were Chosen to Die
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Credit: Marvel Studios
Eternals Writers Reveal Reason Why [Spoilers] Were Chosen to Die

It was a shocker that in the first half of Eternals, two of them were already dead: Ajak and Gilgamesh. As early as the first scenes, it was a surprise to see Ajak dead in her ranch and while Ikaris, Sprite, and Sersi were gathering the others, they were startled with the news as well. She’s the leader of the team, the Prime Eternal, and while Ikaris thought he was next in line, she gave Sersi the leadership.

In pursuit of convincing Druig to join the fray, they were ambushed by the Deviants in the Amazon and while Thena got the worst time to have an episode of Mahd Wy’ry in the middle of a fight, Gilgamesh did everything in his power to keep her safe and everyone else, but the cost was his own life. They even had a funeral for him.

In an interview with ScreenRant, the writers of Eternals, Kaz, and Ryan Firpo revealed the reason why they chose Ajak and Gilgamesh to die. “The Gilgamesh death... we wanted to make sure that you really cared about the people we were losing, that was really important to us. It wasn't like we just went and reached into the Eternals cap and said, “Sorry, Gil, it's your turn.””

Related: Is Marvel's Eternals Worth Watching?

They added, “I really knew that for Thena's journey, for her arc to really mean something, that she had to lose someone. And we also needed to make sure that the stakes were high. That, yes, you are... you're immortal, but you're not invincible, and I think that was an important thing. If you can't kill them, then why are we watching this movie?”

As for the death of Ajak, Ryan Firpo said that her death was “absolutely essential” and that it had the effect of a “power vaccum” to the others. As the motherly figure to each of them, her death literally moved everyone and they came together because of her.

While they confirmed the reason for the death of Ajak and Gilgamesh, they were silent as to what happened to Ikaris. Does that mean he is still alive? At the end of the movie, Ikaris flew to the sun because he couldn’t kill Sersi who stopped the birth of a Celestial, Tiamut. Will he be back for another movie or show?

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