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Admiral Ackbar actor isn't happy with how he was killed off in 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

Admiral Ackbar (Credit: Lucasfilm)
Admiral Ackbar (Credit: Lucasfilm)

Some found the demise of Admiral Ackbar in The Last Jedi just too much to take.

Having first met the rebel commander in Return of the Jedi, during which he delivered the immortal line ‘it’s a trap!’, the prawn/squid-like military genius became a firm fan favourite.

Rejoining the Rebel Alliance, to battle the First Order with Princess Leia, he participated in the salvo to destroy the Star Killer base in The Last Jedi.

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That was until he was rather unceremoniously dispatched after the First Order pummelled the Raddus, the star cruiser built by Ackbar’s people, the Mon Calamari, in an attack that put Leia in a coma.

Though Erik Bauersfeld was the original Ackbar in Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, he was voiced by Tom Kane in The Last Jedi.

Laura Dern as Amilyn Holdo (Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)
Laura Dern as Amilyn Holdo (Credit: Lucasfilm/Disney)

And he’s got a few things to say about how it all went down, and particularly about Laura Dern’s character Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, who ended up saving the day, by ramming her ship into Snoke’s flagship at lightspeed.

Appearing at the Star Wars Live show, as part of the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, he groused: “I was not really thrilled with how they blew him out the side of the ship.

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“I’m like, ‘Who is this Holdo woman? Nobody knows her, no one’s invested in her — who is she?’

“Why is she saving the fleet? If anyone was gonna save the fleet it’d be Ackbar.”

A fair point. Choosing an unknown to deliver a vital victory to the Rebels over a seasoned commander, does seems a bit off.

One critic at the time of the movie’s release called the way Ackbar was dispatched, confirmed with a single line of dialogue, ‘unfathomably rude’.

Plus Holdo’s role in the movie has been widely criticised, many fans thinking precisely the same thing – that had Ackbar been the one to sacrifice himself, it would have been a far more fitting send off for a beloved character.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker – minus Admiral Ackbar – takes off in December.