The death of Melanie Cavill (Jennifer Connelly) could be retconned by Snowpiercer season 3 but how will TNT's post-apocalyptic series bring the Chief Engineer back? Snowpiercer season 2 ended with a pirate group led by Andre Layton (Daveed Diggs) and Melanie's daughter Alexandra (Rowan Blanchard) discovering that Melanie sacrificed her life in order to keep the data she gathered safe for Snowpiercer. Cavill proved that Earth is warming from the Freeze but by the time Layton's people reached Melanie's location, they found a suicide note indicating that Cavill, who was desperately out of resources, walked into the frozen world to end her life.

Jennifer Connelly's Melanie is one of Snowpiercer's lead characters, along with Daveed Digg's Layton and Sean Bean's Mr. Wilford, who joined the cast in Snowpiercer season 2. While Melanie was the center of Snowpiercer season 1, she only appeared a handful of times in season 2, although the remarkable episode 6, "Many Miles From Snowpiercer," was entirely about Cavill's ordeal alone at the Breslauer Research Station. Connelly's busy career starring in movies like Top Gun: Maverick may be the reason for her truncated role in Snowpiercer season 2, but the series ingeniously separated Melanie from the train while still keeping her as central to the story. Melanie's apparent death in Snowpiercer season 2's finale was a gut-punch for the audience hoping to see her reunite with Alex on the Great Ark Train, but it wasn't long before Snowpiercer season 3's cast announcement revealed Jennifer Connelly will return, which undercut the impact of Cavill's death and sacrifice.

Related: Snowpiercer Season 2's Biggest Unanswered Questions

Snowpiercer season 3's trailer briefly showed Melanie so her return is assured but will the show retcon Cavill's death? There are a few ways that Melanie could come back, and the simplest way is to stick to her being dead but have Cavill return in flashbacks. The shot of Melanie in Snowpiercer's season 3's trailer appears to be her on the train so it could be a glimpse of Cavill in the past. "Many Miles From Snowpiercer" effectively used flashbacks for the first time and showed the deteriorating relationship between Melanie and Wilford before Cavill stole Snowpiercer and left her boss to die. The drawback of flashbacks is Melanie would have no role in the ongoing Snowpiercer season 3 story although Cavill could still interact with key cast members in flashbacks. But if Melanie is actually still alive, she may have been saved by Snowpiercer season 3's new character, Asha (Archie Panjabi), who comes from New Eden, one of Earth's warm spots.

Snowpiercer Melanie Snow

There's actually a way Melanie could have survived the Freeze. The last glimpse audiences (and Alex) had of Melanie was her at the side of the tracks as Snowpiercer cruised by and purposely missed their rendezvous because of Mr. Wilford. At the start of "Many Miles From Snowpiercer," Cavill lost her supplies because of an avalanche, which is why Melanie had to subsist on eating rats to survive for a month at the research station. But after Melanie realized that Snowpiercer abandoned her and she left her data behind at the station, Cavill may have chanced upon her supplies somehow unearthed from the snow. Some good fortune could have smiled on Melanie and given her a shot at survival, and perhaps even finding New Eden herself.

It's certainly possible that Melanie's death will be retconned because Snowpiercer has a history of showing characters' deaths only to miraculously resurrect them. Melanie herself killed Josie Wellstead (Katie McGuinness) in Snowpiercer season 1, only for season 2 to walk it back and reveal that Josie was alive after all. Similarly, Mr. Wilford seemingly coaxed his acolyte, Kevin McMahon (Tom Lipinski), to commit suicide in Snowpiercer season 2 only for the billionaire messiah's Head of Hospitality to turn up alive, albeit with his mind broken and needing to be healed by Wilford's paramour, Miss Audrey (Lena Hall). Of course, Snowpiercer wouldn't be the same without Melanie Cavill and audiences will be happy to see her as part of season 3 in any capacity, but it would be better if Melanie rejoins the rest of the Great Ark Train alive and well.

Next: All 142 Characters Who Died In Snowpiercer Season 2

Snowpiercer Season 3 premieres January 24, 2022, on TNT.