"Castle" has been renewed for season 9 but Stana Katic has already announced that she will not reprise her role as Kate Beckett. This leaves fans wondering whether or not Kate will die in the season finale or not.

The synopsis for the season finale episode of "Castle" reveals that Kate and her husband Rick (Nathan Fillion) will go head-to-head with the mysterious LokSat. However, there is also a twist that will change their lives forever.

With that information, there are speculations that Kate will die in order to tie all loose ends together before season 8 ends. Kate's death, according to speculations, will also set the stage for season 9. However, there is still no confirmation regarding this.

If Kate will indeed die in season 8, it might be Rick's driving force in season 9 to really pursue LokSat.

There were earlier speculations that Katic was let go because ABC is on a tight budget. However, the network did not make any comments about it. Instead, they issued a statement, thanking Katic for her "talent and dedication to the series."

For her part, Katic also thanked the network for giving her the opportunity to become part of the show. She describer her stint with "Castle" as an "amazing experience" for which she is grateful for.

Aside from Katic, Tamala Jones also confirmed that she won't be returning for season 9 to reprise her role as Lanie Parish. Meanwhile, Susan Sullivan (Martha Rodgers), Molly Quinn (Alexis Castle), and Toks Olagundoye (Hayley Shipton) are in the final stages of their talks whether they will be part of the next season or not.

On the other hand, Seamus Dever and Jon Huertas have confirmed to reprise their roles as Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito respectively in season 9.

"Castle" airs every Monday at 10 p.m. EST on ABC.