Why did Warrior bring back Father Jun just to kill him off?

Caution: There are major spoilers for Warrior if you haven’t watched it all just yet.

At the end of Warrior Season 2, we see Father Jun depart Chinatown. It comes after he’s almost killed in the battle between the Chinese and the Irish. However, he reappears in Warrior Season 3.

Just as Young Jun is picked for deportation, he comes across his father. It looks like the two are going to be forced onto a ship, but Ah Sahm manages to get Mai Ling to make a deal for Young Jun. The son gets the father out as well.

That leads to the two Juns and Ah Sahm to head out to a mining town. Father Jun believes making a deal with German miners is the way to go. However, things don’t quite go to plan.

Why bring a character back just to kill him in Warrior?

It can seem a little anticlimactic to bring a character back to the show just to kill him off a few episodes later. However, this reappearance was so important in multiple ways. We got to understand Father Jun more, and we also got to see that love he does actually have for his on.

It is rare that we see these father-son moments on TV, with characters of all races. It’s particular rare when it comes to Asian characters. So, to have these moments where Father Jun protects his son and then Young Jun refuses to leave without his father are so important to have on our screens. They wouldn’t have been possible had Jonathan Tropper not decided to bring Father Jun back.

Even the death scene was something rare for TV. Perry Yung called it a “mercy killing” in my interview with him. That’s what it was. Father Jun wanted a dignified death, and Young Jun was able to offer that. Nobody else could have, and nobody else should have.

It’s a huge moment for Young Jun as well. He saw a side to his father that he’d never seen before, and it was ripped from him. That puts him in a vulnerable place, especially emotionally, and then he learns that Ah Sahm has betrayed him. The one guy he needed by his side isn’t there for him.

Warrior is available to stream on Netflix and Max.