Rebel Moon 2’s Big Death Explained By Zack Snyder (Including Whether They’ll Come Back)

Warning: Major spoilers for Netflix’s Rebel Moon – Part Two below!

Summary

• Gunnar’s death at the end of
  Rebel Moon: Part Two — The Scargiver
  was designed to compliment Kora’s relationship with him.
• Gunnar was meant to provide a sense of freedom for Kora, and their relationship will receive further detail in the upcoming R-rated version of the movie.
• Snyder confirmed that Gunnar will not be coming back to life in any future content.

The tragic ending of Rebel Moon: Part Two — The Scargiver saw a key character die, and director Zack Snyder has not been shy about the character’s fate. Coming just four months after Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire was released, Netflix released the sequel, which continues Kora’s fight against the Motherworld. As the Imperium prepares to strike a Veldt colony, Kora and her new allies lead a rebellion against Atticus Noble and the rest of the Imperium. In the process, she loses Gunnar, a farmer who falls in love with her.

Gunnar’s tragic death during Rebel Moon 2‘s ending has a strong effect on Kora’s future. Zack Snyder detailed its purpose during an interview with Collider. Gunnar existed to “liberate” Kora, and his death will forever influence her direction as a warrior and as a person. Snyder also emphasized that Gunnar is permanently dead and will not be returning in future Rebel Moon content. Check out his full quote below:

Actually, from early on, because I knew what his job was as far as Kora’s character is concerned, he really represents in a lot of ways the first love that she’s had, made purely from choice and from her own sort of free will being in a place of independence for the first time, really, in her life. So,
I think that was his job was to kind of liberate her emotionally
, and I think that he was able to pull that off. And Michiel is so great at that. And again, we were talking about in the R-rated version, [in] their love scene,
he really is teaching her intimacy and teaching her all these things.
She knows what she’s doing, I feel like, in that physical relationship, but I think that he’s really bringing her into a place where it’s a little bit more sensitive… The PG-13 of it all prevented me from showing — which you’ll see — that he really is [dead]. We got him this time.

The Tragic Deaths In Rebel Moon: Part Two — The Scargiver

Gunnar And Nemesis Gave Their Lives To Fight The Imperium

Gunnar’s death marks the end of an important time in Kora’s life. While her fight is not over, given Princess Issa’s miraculous survival, the liberating relationship with Gunnar is over. After spending so much time as a soldier for the Imperium, Kora learned about humanity with Gunnar’s help. As a farmer, he was an inexperienced fighter and was completely unprepared to live as a rebel. Gunnar represented humanity and stood alongside Kora to remind her of everything that she was fighting for.

Doona Bae’s Nemesis was another major loss for the rebels. The assassin made an enemy of the Imperium after watching her children and her planet die under the Motherworld’s orders. She and Gunnar were the only major losses on the rebel side, and both were given closure before their deaths. Gunnar was assured that Veldt was safe and Nemesis finally achieved peace when a little boy comforted her in her final moments. Kora was also given the opportunity to say goodbye to him, which will give the new motivation to keep fighting after Noble’s death.

Princess Issa’s survival indicates that the rebels will have something new to fight for in any future Rebel Moon movies. Noble is finally dead, the King’s Gaze is destroyed, and Kora has the opportunity to finally redeem herself in Issa’s eyes. Just as Gunnar represented an opportunity to connect to humanity, Issa is the Realm’s perfect leader and can usher in a better age. Gunnar and Nemesis gave their lives to protect Veldt in Rebel Moon: Part Two — The Scargiver, and their deaths changed Kora and gave the rebels and the Realm a true fighting chance.

Source: Collider