Prison Break: Michael Scofield’s Death Explained (& How He Survived)

Michael Scofield (Wentworth Miller) returned for Prison Break season 5 after his supposed death, leading many to question Michael’s death in Prison Break and how he returned. Season 5 saw Michael reunite with Lincoln (Dominic Purcell), Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies), T-Bag (Robert Knepper), C-Note (Rockmond Dunbar), and Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) for another breakout scheme. The premiere of Prison Break season 5 started with Miller’s distinctive voice, saying, “I died seven years ago,” followed by a speech about freedom before the episode sees Lincoln discover his brother may still be alive and stuck in a Yemen prison.

The Prison Break universe has no fantasy elements. It is grounded in reality, so the question of how Prison Break season 5 could see a character return from the dead in a Middle Eastern jail after seven years created questions. Prison Break features plenty of daring escapes, many orchestrated by Scofield himself. Thus, if anyone were to make a miraculous comeback after a carefully planned fake death, it would be Michael Scofield. However, the fact his death seemed so definite before season 5 means there’s still confusion about whether Michael Scofield died in Prison Break.

Michael’s Illness: What Kills Him In Prison Break

Michael Was Dying From A Brain Tumor

Michael Scofield spent Prison Break seasons 1-3 in seemingly perfect health. Michael’s health was even a plot point in Prison Break season 1 when he had to trick Sara into believing that he was diabetic to gain regular access to the infirmary. However, Prison Break season 4 threw Michael Scofield a nasty twist, as it was discovered that Michael was dying. Michael started getting nosebleeds and severe headaches, even passing out from the pain. At first, Michael hid his deteriorating health from Lincoln and Sara, but eventually, they found out, and Lincoln was appalled.

Lincoln mentioned Michael’s teen years and their mother’s health issues, revealing that their mother had similar problems before dying at 31 from an aneurysm. Michael, now at the same age, is taken to a hospital and diagnosed with hypothalamic hamartoma; a brain tumor requiring immediate surgery. However, he refuses to get the surgery, as he is too busy dealing with the Prison Break antagonist, The Company, and the conspiracy that he, Lincoln, and Sara are attempting to uncover.

Michael Goes Into Remission In Prison Break Season 4

Sara’s Treatment Of Michael Explained

For a while during Prison Break season 4, Michael gets Sara to treat him to ensure he’s able to continue their work. However, he collapses while attempting to take Scylla (the information that everyone wants), and The Company kidnaps him and takes him to their facility. There, they explain to Lincoln and Sara that they can treat him, and their medical research is far more advanced than that available to the public. The Company promises to operate and save Michael, but only if Lincoln retrieves Scylla for them.

The Company operates on Michael, using an experimental procedure that has worked in the past, but that is still largely untested. As Sara watches, Michael starts to flatline, before a mysterious serum is injected into his brain, allowing him to recover. The procedure actually helps Michael, as it allows him to understand elements of Prison Break‘s original central conspiracy that he didn’t before. The Michael Scofield death in Prison Break appeared to be averted, as he seems to be cured by the time he and Sara eventually escape the company.

Michael’s Sacrifice In Prison Break: The Final Break

How Michael Scofield Died In The Prison Break Movie

It is only in The Final Break, a TV movie special that wrapped up Prison Break seasons 1-4, that the long-teased Michael Scofield death in Prison Break happened. In The Final Break, it is Sara who ends up in prison, arrested on her wedding day for a murder she committed to save Michael. Once again, Michael Scofield has to come up with a plan to break someone he loves out of prison.

The plan involved Michael first sneaking into the prison and then leading Sara out through underground tunnels to freedom. At the end of the tunnel, however, there is a locked door, trapping them both inside. This is what ultimately kills Michael and ends his Prison Break odyssey. Michael reveals that he knew this was a possibility, and that he could open the door by creating a power surge to override the mechanism.

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It’s not a perfect solution though, as the surge will electrocute and kill Michael. In an emotional goodbye, Michael brings two wires together, opens the door and goes down in a shower of sparks. During Prison Break‘s finale, Sara learns Michael would have died anyway, as The Company didn’t actually cure him, just delayed his death. He said that he has no regrets and that now they are all, finally, “free.”

Why Prison Break Killed Off Michael

The Reason Wentworth Miller Died In Prison Break Explained

Michael Scofield’s tragic death in Prison Break season 4’s finale movie was a blow to the show’s characters and viewers alike, but it wasn’t without reason. Although 2017 saw Prison Break‘s revival series come to fruition, this possibility wasn’t a foregone conclusion back in 2009. Thus, Prison Break‘s writers would naturally have been looking for a way to give the show a fitting conclusion and finally end the cycle of imprisonment and prison-breaking that Michael Scofield and company had fallen into.

While the Michael Scofield death in Prison Break was a brutal means of offering closure, it does feel like a natural conclusion to Michael’s character arc. Having been through so much, offering Michael the opportunity to make a grand gesture of love for his family is a cathartic release. Likewise, while Michael Scofield himself rarely pulled the trigger in Prison Break seasons 1-4, he did commit crimes and indirectly led to others getting hurt, thus making his death an atonement of sorts, too.

How Michael Survived In Prison Break’s Sequel Series

Why Wentworth Miller Returned In Prison Break Season 5

Naturally, the mystery of how Michael Scofield survived in Prison Break season 5 arose as soon as the revival series announced Wentworth Miller would return as the main character. Likewise, Prison Break season 5’s opening narration and the revelation that Michael was stuck in a Yemen prison prompted the question of how he survived. In true Prison Break fashion, the answer comes back to conspiracy and espionage. It’s revealed in Prison Break season 5, episode 5 that the Michael Scofield death in Prison Break was staged.

Shortly before his and Sara’s wedding, Michael is approached by a rogue CIA agent, Poseidon, who asks Michael to fake his death and come work for him in exchange for his family’s freedom. Michael’s initial refusal is what led to Sara being arrested in The Final Break, which motivated him to accept Poseidon’s offer and go off the grid. This explanation for Michael Scofield’s death-defying return in Prison Break season 5 thus neatly supplies the reasoning for both his death being faked and his seven-year absence.

Even If Prison Break Returns, Michael Scofield Won’t (Dead Or Alive)

Wentworth Miller Is Done With Prison Break

While the Michael Scofield death in Prison Break turned out to be faked, there isn’t a chance he will return to the franchise now. The reasoning for this is that Wentworth wants to play a different kind of character from now on. Back in 2020, Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn said there was a chance for a revival (via Deadline) after Prison Break was canceled. However, while fans might want to see Miller return as Michael Scofield again, that won’t happen.

Miller heard about the rumors and let the fans know that he wouldn’t be back, writing, “I’m out. Of PB. Officially.” The reason that Miller is finished with Prison Break is because criminals like Michael Scofield aren’t a character type he’s interested in playing anymore. He was clear that realizes this is disappointing for the fans he gained from Prison Break, but was also clear what he sees for his future — Miller no longer wants to play straight characters in movies or on TV anymore.

“If you’re hot and bothered you fell in love with a fictional straight man played by a real gay one…That’s your work,” Miller wrote. Dominic Purcell backed up his friend, saying it was a good decision for his “health and your truth.”

How Prison Break Fans Took Michael’s Return

Michael Got The Happy Ending The Fans Wanted

Given that audiences knew that Prison Break season 4 was the series’ final, viewers were prepared for some major character deaths. That had already been happening throughout the fourth season, as even the antagonist Brad Bellick (Wade Williams) had a redemption arc when he sacrificed himself for Michael and the rest of the crew. However, nobody expected Michael to die, especially given that Michael and Sara’s ending where they live happily ever after was totally in sight.

Every viewer wanted to see that happy ending that had been teased for four years, and Michael’s death was something of an upset. As a result, Michael’s return in Prison Break season 5 was seen as a positive one. The way Michael’s death was retconned might not have been the most plausible, but Prison Break was never very realistic in the first place, especially as Sara already returned from the dead in Prison Break.

In that respect, Michael’s return was more than welcome. Michael is such a beloved character that it would have been impossible to bring back the spirit of the show without him. Additionally, as Michael returned, the genius architect was finally able to get the ending audiences wanted for him, and he, Sara, and their son lived happily ever after.

Other Shows That Controversially Brought A Character Back From The Dead

Angel, Dallas, & Roseanne

The most likely TV shows to feature characters returning from the dead are supernatural fantasy shows. Buffy Summers died on Buffy the Vampire Slayer to save the world, but fans knew she would return. Dean and Sam Winchester died countless times on Supernatural and kept returning. However, one return was controversial, even for fantasy shows. Angel brought Spike back from the dead in its final season. The reason was simple — the network wouldn’t let Joss Whedon finish it until he promised them Spike.

Arguably, the most controversial and mocked resurrections of all time came on the nighttime soap opera Dallas. The show was one of the most popular on television during its run, but it jumped the shark when it reversed the death of Bobby Ewing. J.R.’s brother, the good seed of the siblings, died in the final episode of season 8. However, after the next season, the show moved on without him. Pamela woke up one morning and saw Bobby in the shower. Pamela dreamed the entire season after his death, something still ridiculed to this day.

This exact same scenario was done on another TV show, but this time, it was done in a way that played out as a joke. On Roseanne, Dan Connor (John Goodman) has a heart attack in season 8. The ninth season then took a bizarre take, as season 9 revealed Dan cheated on Roseanne. However, the season ended up revealing that not only did Dan not cheat on Roseanne, but he died after his heart attack. That was retconned in the reboot when Dan was still alive and jokingly asked why people thought he was dead.