For All Mankind: every major death across the series, explained

Each season jumps roughly ten years forward, and with each jump, the roster thins. Here's every major character death across the show's five seasons so far. Obviously: spoilers for all of them.

Season 1 (set in the late 1960s–1970s)

Shane Baldwin — Ed and Karen's young son is killed after being hit by a car while riding his bike. The death occurs while Ed is away on a mission and becomes the defining wound of his character for the rest of the series. Karen never fully forgives the circumstances, and the tragedy permanently reshapes their marriage.

Deke Slayton — The real-life astronaut (played by Chris Bauer) dies toward the end of the season. Deke's death marks the first farewell to a member of the show's original ensemble and signals that For All Mankind will not spare its cast for nostalgia's sake.

Season 2 (set in the early 1980s)

Gordo and Tracy Stevens — The most iconic deaths in the entire series. The divorced couple reunite on the moon to repair a critical system failure at Jamestown Base. The only way to complete the repair is to go outside without full suits, exposing themselves to the vacuum. They finish the job and save the base, but die from exposure on the lunar surface — together, holding hands. Michael Dorman and Sarah Jones deliver two of the show's finest performances in their final episode.

Season 3 (set in the early 1990s)

Karen Baldwin — Ed's ex-wife, now running her own career, is killed in a terrorist bombing at the Johnson Space Center. She's an innocent bystander. Ed is 140 million miles away, on Mars.

Molly Cobb — The fearless pilot and former astronaut (Sonya Walger) also dies in the JSC bombing. By this point, Molly had transitioned into an administrative role at NASA, having lost her vision due to radiation exposure in an earlier season.

Danny Stevens — Gordo and Tracy's son, whose life spiralled after his parents' deaths. His obsession with Karen Baldwin, his drug addiction, and his reckless actions on Mars culminate in him being banished from Happy Valley. He later takes his own life.

Season 4 (set in the early 2000s)

Season 4 focuses on asteroid mining, political tensions on Mars, and the introduction of new characters. No major legacy character from the original cast dies during this season, though multiple supporting characters are killed in an asteroid-related disaster.

Season 5 (set in the early 2010s)

Ed Baldwin — The show's most enduring character finally dies in episode 3, of cancer, at age 81. He defies his doctors one last time to help break an ally out of custody, then refuses to die in a hospital. His final moments are at a bar, surrounded by family. A vision of Karen and Gordo appears with him as he goes — a farewell to three of the show's founding characters at once. Joel Kinnaman's final scene is devastating.

Kelly Baldwin — Ed's adopted daughter, an astronaut and biologist, dies in the season 5 finale on Titan (Saturn's moon). After discovering evidence of methane-based microbial life — a discovery proving life can exist throughout the solar system — Kelly sacrifices herself when the team's rover fails and there isn't enough oxygen for everyone to walk back to the spacecraft.

The show has been renewed for a sixth and final season, set in 2020 in the show's alternate timeline.