Or, as he says, "My life.is not for any Earthling to give, or TAKE!" So, suicide vs the shame of a Earthling killing the mighty Ming.

I read somewhere in the comic ming has magical powers and there is a cave somewhere only his bloodline knows about with some type of coffin chamber that hiscessence goes to to be restored whenever he's killed.

The Legendary Max Von Sydow who, in his 80s, has just finished lending his considerable gravitas and distinction to Star Wars Episode 7: The Force Awakens.
I'm surprised you did not know him, he's been in everything!
A no-brainer they would have wanted him back for any sequel and the ring would have afforded a "rebirth" as Mongo is more technologically advanced than Earth and the Emperor's power is even further developed and a mystery to all, as he is a dictator and would not easily share this knowledge or that of secret passages and people and plans put in place for the possibility of his death/assassination.
Any form of technology that is sufficiently advanced would, in comparison to ours, be indistinguishable from magic.
If I was Barin, I would be prepared for a BAD TIME, as happened in the 30s shows.
"I don't recall dying - must have happened when I was too drunk to give a flying FU..

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Heck, I can't even find who played Ming in the actor list above.

BINGO! His plan was to use the ring to store his 'soul'(for lack of a better word) then possess whomever picked up the ring later on. In the meantime, everyone would think he was dead.
Basically, it was a sequel hook for a sequel that never happened.
It'll be like Luke Duke and the other guy.
Really?
Yeah.
NO!

I always thought he got sucked into the ring.

lmao I was thinking the same thing.

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that didn't look like his hand that picked up the ring as ming did not wear a gloved hand. maybe one of his servants? I dunno, but the fact you hear a laugh means he isn't quite as dead as we thought lol. they always do this! same thing with masters of the universe.
Realism, Remakes and Unnecessary Sequels are ruining movies!

He faked his own death. At the very end you hear him laugh and see his hand pick up the ring from the dust of his supposed corpse.

• I have a giant soap box and I intend to smash you with it.