Caution: Spoilers ahead for El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie could be teasing a tragic ending for Better Call Saul. Following the phenomenal success of Breaking Bad, a spinoff was commissioned starring Bob Odenkirk's crooked lawyer, Saul Goodman. Set in the years prior to Walter White's excursion into the meth business, Better Call Saul provides backstory on many of the characters and events seen in Breaking Bad and has received critical acclaim virtually on par with its parent series. More recently, Better Call Saul has begun touching upon Saul's life after the events of Breaking Bad.

With Better Call Saul ably handling prequel duties, El Camino acts as an epilogue to the main Breaking Bad story, picking up in the immediate aftermath of Jesse's escape from Uncle Jack's Nazi gang and telling of his attempts to run from the law and start a brand new life in Alaska. El Camino features an array of appearances from familiar Breaking Bad characters, from Mike Ehrmantraut to Todd "Meth Damon" Alquist, but Odenkirk's Saul is nowhere to be seen. The lawyer's absence is perfectly logical, since he hired the services of Ed the vacuum cleaner salesman and disappeared to start a new life at the end of Breaking Bad, just as Jesse attempts to do in El Camino.

Related: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Ending Explained (In Detail)

Saul Goodman might not feature in El Camino, but he is at least given a passing mention, and the line could hint towards the character's ultimate fate. When Jesse first approaches Ed about getting out of town, he's rebuffed due to not having enough money to pay for both the new trip, and the missed escape seen in Breaking Bad's final season. Jesse brings out a sob story in an attempt to appeal to Ed's softer side, but the vacuum man doesn't buy it. Instead, the great Robert Forster utters the line, "From where I see it, you made your own luck. As did your former partner. As did your lawyer."

Bob Odenkirk as Gene in Better Call Saul

Viewed in isolation, this line could be quite innocuous, merely stating that each member of Walt's criminal enterprise is responsible for their own actions, but the context is considerably more sinister. Ed is trying to teach Jesse that the violent, illicit lifestyle of the drug business usually results in a sticky end. By "former partner," Ed is referring to Walt, who obviously died in the shootout at the compound, but why does he also use Saul as an example? As far as both Jesse and the audience know, the lawyer managed to successfully escape and start a new life thanks to Ed's side-business and, as the final scene of El Camino proves, this can be a very positive chance at a fresh start. Why then, does Ed paint Saul as someone who is now paying the price for their misdeeds?

Again, this line might not seem too foreboding were it not for events that have already transpired in Better Call Saul's flashforwards. In the spinoff's future timeline, Saul is paranoid to the point of collapse and for good reason, since it seems he's being followed by a mysterious stalker. It's not currently known whether this shadowy figure represents the authorities, a gangster looking for vengeance or someone else entirely, and answers will likely arrive in 2020's season 5. However, Vince Gilligan has refused to confirm exactly when in Breaking Bad's timeline these scenes occur and it's possible, therefore, that Better Call Saul's Gene story actually takes place prior to El Camino.

If Saul did come to harm in his solo series, it makes sense that Ed would find out, given how much effort the vacuum salesman goes to in ensuring his tracks are covered. This would explain why Ed uses Saul as a cautionary tale to Jesse in El Camino - he already knows the lawyer has met misfortune.

More: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie Cast & Character Guide

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie is currently streaming on Netflix.

Better Call Saul season 5 premieres in 2020 on Netflix and AMC.