Does Ajak Die In Eternals? (& Can She Come Back)
As the Eternals film became available on Disney+, more and more people around the world gained access to it. Of course, while learning more about each of the Eternals, they also got to know more about Salma Hayek’s character named Ajak, who was given the task of being the Prime Eternal or the leader of the Eternals on Earth. But while the movie focuses heavily on Sersi and Ikaris, what happens to Ajak? Does Ajak die in Eternals, and can she come back?
Ajak is the first Eternal to die in the movie, as it was initially revealed that a Deviant attacked her in her home, but it was actually Ikaris who led her to her death. And while Ajak has the power to heal, she is not capable of coming back to life, especially because a Deviant stole her powers.
It was an interesting choice to kill Ajak early on in the movie, but we did see her in flashbacks throughout the entire film. We got to know how she was serious about her leadership role and how she cared about all of the Eternals working under her. That is why Ajak’s death was such as shame to fans who loved her character.
Is Ajak Really Dead?
Marvel’s Eternals movie was one of the most anticipated films in the MCU because of the fact that it opened up Phase Four of the cinematic universe. That is why, before we even got to see the movie, we got to learn more about some of the characters and what they could do. And we also learned beforehand that Salma Hayek’s character named Ajak was the leader of the Eternals.
As we saw the movie in the theaters or through Disney+, we got to learn that Ajak, called the Prime Eternal, was a true leader in every sense of the word because she cared about all of the people under her. This did not only include the other Eternals on Earth but the humans under her care and protection as well. In that sense, choosing her as the leader was the right choice for the Celestial Arishen, who was responsible for sending them to Earth.
While we did get to see a glimpse of the Eternals’ past in many different eras through the long history of humankind as they have been on Earth for 7,000 years, we learned early on in the film that one of the Eternals died in the present day. And yes, the Eternal that was the first to die was Ajak, who was never a combat-oriented Eternal.
Ajak’s death came as a shock to a lot of fans because of how beloved Salma Hayek’s character is. Out of all of the Eternals, she was the most mature and was always calm and level-headed. She legitimately cared about all of her teammates. And even after the Eternals went their separate ways, Ajak made it a point to visit them whenever she could.
Who Killed Ajak?
Early on in the film, we learn that there was a Deviant that attacked Sersi and Sprite in London, while Ikaris swoops in to quickly save them from the amazingly strong Deviant. They also learned from that attack that the Deviant was capable of healing itself, something that they had only seen from Ajak.
After their encounter with that Deviant, Sersi, Ikaris, and Sprite decided that they needed to meet up with Ajak, who was still the team leader and the one who knew what to do about the Deviants, who they thought were all defeated 500 years ago.
However, upon arriving at Ajak’s home in the countryside of South Dakota, the trio of Eternals discovered that their leader was dead. At first, they concluded that Ajak’s death was the result of an attack from a Deviant, especially the one they encountered in London. They theorized that the Deviant stole Ajak’s power.
Meanwhile, after Ajak’s death, Sersi was the one who was chosen to become the new leader of the Eternals, as she went on to learn more about Arishem’s plan. Sersi learned from the Celestial that the Eternals are synthetic beings sent to Earth to destroy all of the Deviants to allow humans to grow in population.
The reason why Arishem needed the human population to grow was the fact that Earth was one of the planets with a “seed” of a Celestial. For a Celestial to emerge, it needs to feed on the lifeforce of the intelligent life on the planet. And when the Celestial emerges in what is called the Emergence, the entire planet will get destroyed.
But, as the movie continued to unfold, we saw that Ajak’s death was not the result of a Deviant attacking her in her home. Instead, it was Ikaris who decided to betray his leader.
When the Eternals learned about the Emergence, Sersi resolved to find a way to stop it. This led to Ikaris reliving what had happened a few days prior to the Eternals reuniting.
The truth is that Ikaris knew about the Emergence all along because Ajak told him the truth before they went their separate ways centuries earlier. However, Ajak, who grew to love the human race, wanted to go against Arishem’s plan. This angered Ikaris, who was loyal to Arishem.
Ikaris brought Ajak to what seemed to be a frozen lake with a few Deviants on it. He said that the Deviants must have gotten themselves trapped in the ice but eventually emerged when the planet started heating up due to the Emergence. And after telling Ajak that he wanted to stick with Arishem’s plan, Ikaris pushes his leader to the frozen lake.
Because Ajak is not combat-oriented, she lacks the ability to fight off the Deviants. Her healing powers are often used for support and for healing herself, but she proved no match for the Deviants. Even though she could have easily healed herself and tried to escape, a Deviant stabbed her with tentacles and began to absorb her powers, all while killing Ajak in the process. This was the very same Deviant that attacked Sersi in London.
So, even though it was still a Deviant that killed Ajak, the one that put her death into motion was Ikaris, who carried the body back to her South Dakota home.
Can Ajak Come Back To Life?
While Ajak did have the power to heal, she could not come back because her powers were stolen from her. Then again, her synthetic body is still very much intact. We don’t know what the Eternals can do with her body, but it might be possible for the Celestials to be able to bring dead Eternals back, considering that they were the ones who created them.
Then again, this is merely a possibility. But this possibility is bolstered by the fact that Salma Hayek signed a multi-movie deal with Marvel. This means that she may come back as Ajak in one of the future movies, depending on how the writers decide how she comes back. She could make an appearance in a flashback, but it is possible for her to return, especially if the Celestial Arishem can actually bring dead Eternals back to life.
