When Empire season 5 first premiered, we were all left in awe of Lucious standing in front of a black coffin. This sends a signal that this season, someone will die. Someone big and important that we can't bear to watch it happen and can end the series.
Many fans naturally speculated it to be Jamal, played by controversial actor Jussie Smollett who is set to be let go from Empire because of his suspected criminal activities outside the series. However, he wasn't that important to Lucious Lyon in the series. The last episode revealed it was Lucious first-born son outside of his marriage to Cookie.
This season was quite a roller coaster ride. Aside from Jamal due to his actor's controversies, Andre Lyon also faced off certain possible death. He fell in love with someone new, but he was diagnosed with cancer. The grip of death was so tight with Andre; his heart was giving out due to the cancer treatments.
However, it was Kingsley Lyon who would be in that coffin. By the last episode, he would commit suicide in front of Lucious. The reason: his mother told him she should have had an abortion rather than raise him. Kingsley's death left Andre off the death hook; he received Kingsley's healthy heart, which allowed him a major chance at fighting back cancer.
On the other hand, Jamal's character is essentially killed off behind the scenes since episode 16. According to Brett Howard, the showrunner of Empire season 5, Jamal's honeymoon after his wedding in episode 16 laid the foundation to write out Jussie Smollett from the show. He removed the character's involvement in Episode 17 and 18.
If you haven't watched Empire yet, it is about a family thriving on the success of the Lyon family record label. It's every hip-hop artist's dream to create a record label and create hits. What follows is the drama behind a family's success and failures. The success comes after Cookie's character sacrificed herself to make sure Lucious records his hit single financed with cocaine-peddled money.
In turn, all the conflicts sprout from Cookie's release in prison and meeting Lucious new wife while rekindling her relationship with her two sons who grew up without her. By the next season, we have yet to know if Andre will survive his cancer treatment and if Cookie and Lucious will still get back together now that the FBI is on Lucious' tail.
