Director Krennic was going to die in every version of the Rogue One script, but the original saw him die at the hands of Star Wars’ most iconic villain.
As awesome as the Rogue One film was, Darth Vader’s appearances gave me mixed feelings. The Mustafar scene felt awkward and robotic, despite the magnificence of the location. Meanwhile, the last scene of the film went in the total opposite direction and instantly became one of his best scenes. The final scene took the advanced swordsmanship from the prequels and married it with the vintage look of the original trilogy in two minutes of hack and slash lightsaber action and fearless slaughter that led to Darth Vader staring out into space as his daughter escaped with the plans to the Death Star.
However, in an alternative version, where Jyn Erso and Cassian survived, Director Krennic survived as well. Or at least, Imperial soldiers rescued him from Scarif and brought him before Darth Vader.
According to Rogue One‘s original screenwriter, Gary Whitta:
"“He survived the blast and they pulled him up and brought him to the Star Destroyer to report to Vader. He’s all beat up, his cape’s all torn up and stuff, and he thinks he has survived.”"
Obviously, Darth Vader felt particularly peeved at this moment. Everything’s gone to crap and the Empire’s taken a serious hit. Right before Krennic’s about to open his mouth and say, “Bro, I’m so sorry,” (Say it with Ben Mendelsohn’s Australian accent, though) Vader beckons the Force.
Further, Whitta confirms:
"“Vader kills him for his failure.”"
Honestly, it wasn’t even Krennic’s fault. He put his faith in Galen Erso and legitimately tried to be his friend. He wanted them to rise together. But we all know that Vader doesn’t believe in bromances in a post ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi cut my legs off’ world. So I feel for both of them.
Related Story: Rogue One: How the Heroes Originally Survived in the Alternate Ending
Don’t forget: Rogue One will be available on Blu-ray/DVD on April 4.