Ah, the death scene. Don't ever let your villainous NPCs just be killed instantly. Give them a good dying speech. Who cares if they're missing any means of breathing or vocalising by that point?

But what if they fall into a pit of lava, I hear you ask, while simultaneously being riddled with holes from a terawatt laser and eaten by a bear? Surely they don't get last words then? They wouldn't have time!

Okay, fair enough. But in that case they're probably not actually dead, are they? They'll be back for more when the PCs least expect it. At least they should be if you're doing your job right.

---

If you don't get the joke in the last panel, whatever you do, do not do an Internet search on the word "Rosebud". It will certainly explain the reference to you, but it will also seriously spoil a classic movie for you - a movie that you may want to watch at some time in the future without having the ending ruined. If you want to understand the reference without being spoiled, then follow the link at the bottom of this annotation.

If you get the reference, you don't need our explanation - it's only going to tell you stuff you already know. So if you hate it when people explain the joke that you already got, spend the next five minutes at Don't Explain The Joke in TV Tropes instead. Seriously. Don't say we didn't warn you.

If you don't get the reference, but still hate it when people explain the joke, that's fair enough. Don't follow the link below. Just promise us that you won't Google "Rosebud". Presumably that will be easy, because you don't want the joke explained to you. Right?

Explanation of "Rosebud" reference without spoiling the movie it refers to.

Transcript

[SFX]: Pow!
[SFX]: Pow!
General Grievous: {on fire} Ooh! How mildly annoying.
Padmé: Good work!
Obi-Wan: Grievous's last words inspired me.
Padmé: Revenge for him cutting my tongue out! Excellent.
Obi-Wan: No, I thought about what Qui-Gon would do, rather than some clever way out.
[SFX]: Pow!
General Grievous: {consumed by fire} Zam... If only you could see what I've seen with your eyes!
General Grievous: I've seen things your people wouldn't believe.
General Grievous: Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
General Grievous: I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser gate.
General Grievous: All those moments will be lost in time...
General Grievous: like tears in rain...
General Grievous: Time to die.
[SFX]: crunch {Grievous collapses}
General Grievous: {faintly} Rosebud...