Power Book III: Raising Kanan delivered one of its most heartbreaking moments yet as the fifth and final season opened with the sudden death of a fan-favourite character.

The season premiere revealed that Uncle Lou played by Malcolm Mays was killed after becoming caught in the middle of a tense confrontation between Kanan and his mother Raq.

The shocking moment came just minutes into the episode and resolved the dramatic cliffhanger from season 4 which saw Kanan holding Raq at gunpoint before the screen cut to black.

While many viewers feared Raq would be the one to die the series took an unexpected turn when Lou intervened during the confrontation.

The chaos caused Kanan to fire his weapon accidentally shooting and killing his uncle.

Creator Sascha Penn believes the devastating loss will leave a lasting impact on fans.

“I think people are going to have a big, big reaction,” Penn said. “It’s going to be tough.”

Penn revealed that the writers seriously considered killing off Raq before ultimately deciding there was still more of her story left to tell.

Once that decision was made Lou’s fate quickly became central to the final season’s direction.

“Lou is the heart and conscience of the family,” Penn explained. “Once he’s gone, there’s no one to check everybody.”

The death also came as a surprise to star Patina Miller who admitted she was devastated when she learned Malcolm Mays’ character would not survive.

“It was devastating. It was so sad,” Miller said.

The actress described filming Lou’s final scenes as emotionally difficult especially because of her close friendship with Mays off-screen.

“He’s like my brother in real life,” she shared. “I mourned that in real time.”

Meanwhile Mekai Curtis who plays Kanan said the tragedy will weigh heavily on his character throughout the final season.