The Lyon family member in the coffin will be revealed during the epic ‘Empire’ season 5 finale. So, which character will most likely to die? Let’s break down what we know. One Lyon family member is not making it out of the Empire season 5 finale alive. The show has been teasing a major character’s death all season, and now we’re finally going to find out which character has sadly passed away. While we know Lucious and Cookie are safe, other Lyon family members are in jeopardy. When it comes to Empire, anything can happen. The show is not afraid to kill off a major character as we’ve seen with Rhonda, Anika, and more. The finale promo teases that one Lyon will “take his last breath.” The Lyon family member in the most jeopardy is definitely Andre. The penultimate episode followed Andre on what was supposed to be his last day before he took his own life. He found out he had stage 4 cancer earlier in the season and the chemo caused heart failure. Andre didn’t think he would be alive long enough to get a new heart. Before he could take the pills that would have killed him, Cookie rushed in and stopped him. She started screaming at Lucious for allowing Andre to do this and Andre collapsed on the floor. Andre is rushed to the hospital and it doesn’t look good for him. Andre could very well take his last breaths in the finale. Kingsley is another Lyon who could possibly die in the finale. The promo features Kingsley pointing a gun at Lucious. Kingsley is extremely distraught. “Look at me!” Kingsley screams at his father. “Am I acting like a Lyon now?” Lucious yells “no” in the final moments of the promo. Lucious has been trying to get to know his long lost son over the past couple of episodes, but something has definitely shifted between the father and son that has pushed Kingsley off the deep end. Jamal is a possibility but it’s not likely. Jamal was recently written off the last 2 episodes after he got married to Kai. One of the biggest indicators that Jamal survives the season is a recent statement about Jussie Smollett in the wake of the actor alleging he was the victim of a hate crime and the police later accusing him of staging the attack. When the show was renewed for season 6, Fox Entertainment and 20th Century Fox TV released the following statement: “By mutual agreement, the studio has negotiated an extension to Jussie Smollett’s option for season 6, but at this time there are no plans for the character of Jamal to return to Empire.” While Jamal could die in a tragic accident while away with Kai, he’s most likely safe given this statement. Hakeem is the Lyon family member least likely to die in the finale. At the end of season 4, Hakeem was shot and nearly lost his life. The beginning of season 5 showed Hakeem trying to get back on his feet 2 years after the shooting. Hakeem has gotten his life together and matured so much over the course of season 5. He could get caught in the crosshairs of something really dangerous in the finale, but the youngest Lyon son is almost definitely going to make it to season 6. The Empire season 5 finale will air May 8 at 8 p.m. on FOX.<doc-sep>Watch an exclusive clip from Empire's deadly season finale Empire type TV Show network Fox It doesn’t look like Cookie will be forgiving Lucious anytime soon. In an exclusive clip from the Empire season 5 finale, the Lyons are still reeling from Andre collapsing due to his failing heart. While gathered in the hospital, Lucious and Cookie get into it, with Lucious defending himself for agreeing to help Andre end his life. “He was suffering,” declares Lucious. “He didn’t want you to know, he talked to me… I was trying to do the right thing.” That doesn’t sit well with Cookie, who responds, “You wouldn’t know the right thing if it was staring you in the face.” With Andre’s fate still unknown, it’s possible that he’ll be the character in that mysterious coffin whose identity will finally be revealed in the season finale, which airs Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET on Fox. Watch the clip above. Related content:<doc-sep>What to Watch on Wednesday: The season finale of Empire, plus Single Parents and Lucifer Empire type TV Show network Fox We know TV has a lot to offer, be it network, cable, premium channels, or streaming platforms including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Apple, Facebook Watch, and elsewhere. So EW is here to help, guiding you every single day to the things that should be on your radar. Check out our recommendations below, and click here to learn how you can stream our picks via your own voice-controlled smart-speaker (Alexa, Google Home) or podcast app (Spotify, iTunes, Google Play). Empire HOW/WHEN & WHERE TO WATCH: 9 p.m. on Fox Season finale Season 5 has been a roller coaster on screen and off, and that continues with the "emotional" conclusion. The finale features Andre (Trai Byers) clinging to life, while a confrontation between Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie (Taraji P. Henson) could end their marriage and her loyalty. And we still have that mysterious flash-forward death to solve. "We finally learn who's in the coffin, and it sends shockwaves through the Lyon clan that will reverberate through next season and beyond," teases showrunner Brett Mahoney. "Have your hankies ready. You will need them." —Derek Lawrence Related content: What Else to Watch: Streaming Lucifer (season premiere; watch the trailer above) — Netflix *times are ET and subject to change<doc-sep>SPOILER ALERT: Do not read if you have not yet watched “The Roughest Day,” the fifth season finale of “Empire.” It’s been quite a year for “Empire.” The fifth season kicked off by teasing that before the end of the season someone important to Lucious Lyon (Terrence Howard) would die. Over the course of the 18 episodes, it was revealed that the music number-cruncher originally hell-bent on destroying the Lyons had a personal vendetta: He was actually Lucious’ first-born son. Additionally, Lucious and Cookie’s (Taraji P. Henson) relationship continued to be strained, resulting in her getting too close to Damon Cross (Wood Harris), who had a relationship with the law enforcement agents investigating the Lyons, and Andre (Trai Byers) fell in love with someone new, was diagnosed with cancer and was later told his heart was giving out due to the cancer treatment he underwent. By the end of the season finale, the body in the coffin Lucious was grieving over was revealed to be his son Kingsley (A.Z. Kelsey), who killed himself in front of his father after his mother told him she should have had an abortion rather than raised him; Andre got married in his hospital bed and received a heart transplant (from Kingsley); and Lucious was ready to flee the feds, but Cookie decided to put herself first and not go with him. Meanwhile, Jamal (Jussie Smollett) was off-screen throughout all the turmoil, having been written out of the last few episodes after Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist, homophobic and racially motivated attack earlier this year, but was then accused of hiring the men who attacked him and indicted for filing false police statements. The criminal charges against Smollett have since been dropped (he has maintained his innocence throughout), and the city of Chicago filed a lawsuit against him. “We have such a terrific ensemble that when first you’re told you have to take one chess piece out, it’s ‘What the hell am I going to do?’ But then it opens up space and room to tell the other important stories that you want to tell. So there are pluses and minuses,” showrunner Brett Mahoney tells Variety. “There was definitely stuff I wanted to do with Jamal in [Episodes] 17 and 18 that I just had to express a different way, but it did open up the focus a little bit more on the Andre storyline.” Here, Mahoney talks with Variety about his decision to keep Jamal off-screen for such pivotal Lyon family moments and what Smollett’s status is for Season 6, as well as the evolution of Andre’s medical drama and why this was the time to separate Lucious and Cookie. How did it feel to write such an emotional finale for the Lyon family and not have Jamal be a part of it? Had the wedding episode hit in a different place, it would have been much, much, much more difficult. Right before we were headed into production of [Episode] 17 was when the decision was made to take the character out of the last two episodes, but luckily, it was almost a completion of the Jamal arc in [Episode] 16. There were elements I wanted to express in [Episodes] 17, 18, and I had to take those out, but it was lucky in the sense that it happened [then], so the wedding was a natural way to move on — to send him on his honeymoon. The stories in the news were unfolding before episodes such as the 16th were on-air, though, so did you go back and minimize his storyline in those or ease him out, so to speak? We had to tweak some stuff because of his availability, but not in a sense to limit him or cut him out. What were some of the pieces with Jamal you repurposed in the finale? Season 5 was a test of Cookie and Lucious’ relationship, their marriage, but at the same time it was an expression of the boys becoming men and growing up and establishing families of their own and loved ones outside of the Lyon family. So I had more of a physical expression of that for Jamal to be stepping up and stepping into his manhood for the finale, but instead it had to be just a line expressed between Thirsty and Lucious at the end. When Lucious says, “I built this empire for my boys, make sure you help protect them,” and Thirsty says, “They’re not boys anymore; they’re men.” I would have liked to see more of that with Jamal, but instead it had to be reduced in that way. How do you plan to handle his absence next season? I haven’t convened with the writers yet — we haven’t started breaking what Season 6 will be — but it will require an adjustment in terms of him not being there in the first episodes. There used to be more Lyons to carry the burden of the family drama, but now Jamal is off-screen and Lucious and Cookie are split apart. How much does that play into the adjustment? Season 6 will have to be somewhat of a reset, and we’re going to find some exciting, bombastic way in. And we may discover that it takes more than just blood to be a Lyon, and we might see some other characters step up and step into the fold. And for a minute it seemed like there would be even fewer Lyons, given that Andre’s heart was failing and he wanted to die with dignity. We literally wanted to walk the audience down the road where they could see it would have been Andre in the casket. And the way the story broke in different iterations and different times, it was Andre. We were telling that story, and we wanted to give that character as much respect as possible. At what point, then, did you decide it would be Kingsley in the coffin? I think we made that decision as we began breaking the back nine episodes.<doc-sep>
The ‘Empire’ season 5 finale featured a shocking death, a major departure, and so much more. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY to EP Brett Mahoney about season 6, as well as the possibility of Jussie Smollett returning. The season 5 finale of Empire was a roller coaster from start to finish. The person in the coffin was finally revealed and it was Kingsley, Lucious’s first-born he only recently found out about. Kingsley hit rock bottom and shot himself in front of Lucious. Meanwhile, Andre was in desperate need of a new heart. The chemotherapy he underwent for cancer caused heart failure. Andre intended on killing himself because he felt there was no hope for a new heart before it was too late, but Cookie stopped him from doing so in the penultimate episode. The Lyons rallied around Andre in his time of need as they waited for a heart. Kingsley’s death gave Andre a second chance. Tracy blamed Lucious and Cookie for her son’s death, but Cookie’s pleas as a mother convinced Tracy to allow the heart transplant surgery. Lucious also learned that Damon Cross was working with Conway to take him down, so Lucious decided to leave town. Cookie refused to go with him and told him that she’d slept with Damon Cross. She said “ride or die” is over, leaving their future in jeopardy. Lucious fled town in a helicopter while Cookie drove away. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with executive producer Brett Mahoney about how the show will move forward in season 6. When did you decide that you were going to kill Kingsley? Brett Mahoney: The whole idea behind the casket was that the Lyons lead such high stakes, high-risk lives. We wanted mortality to reach close and really touch them viscerally. We wanted it to be a Lyon or someone close to the Lyons. So we had different candidates towards the beginning of the season and then we sort of just narrowed it down. I think it was as we were breaking for the back 9 when the decision was made that it was going to be Kingsley. He was always a possibility but then we turned it definitively towards him as we wrote the back 9 episodes. Did you consider killing off Andre or did you always envision the person in the coffin saving Andre? Brett Mahoney: No, we had different candidates. Andre was definitely someone we considered, but as it turned out, we really loved a lot of the stuff we did with him this season. He became a character that we thought could be a story engine in season 6, so I didn’t think he should be in the coffin. Will the aspect of Andre getting his brother’s heart be a huge storyline for Andre in season 6? Brett Mahoney: I think Andre’s actually in a good place to some extent in that he has this heart, he’s got a wife, he has the possibility of a new baby. He’s sort of going to be on a new trajectory, but I do think that the fact that he’s been given life through Kingsley’s heart is going to impact him moving forward. Jussie Smollett’s contract has been extended through season 6 but a statement said there are “no plans” for him to return right now. Have you discussed how you will address his absence going forward? Brett Mahoney: The writers’ room will reconvene next week and I’m sure we’ll start tackling then, but no. Are you keeping possibilities for his return open? Brett Mahoney: Oh, absolutely. Yes. I think none of that has been firmly worked out yet, but it’s a possibility, sure. Even if you don’t bring Jussie back at least in the first 9 episodes, would you still keep bringing up the character like you did in the finale? Brett Mahoney: With Jamal not there, we’ll have to find some organic reason for why he’s not there when the family is in crisis because he’s an important part of the family. I don’t think you can just ignore his absence. There’s got to be some organic reason. How will Lucious witnessing Kingsley’s death change Lucious’s trajectory going forward? Brett Mahoney: Again, we haven’t fully tackled where we’re going to go in season 6. I think that, too, will have an impact on him. I think, in his mind, he’ll bear some responsibility for what happened. And so how he deals with that will be his issue. Is this the end of Cookie and Lucious?