They weren’t dead all this time - only in the purgatory sideways in season 6, which was a nod to the idea that they were in purgatory.

I wish someone would ask Abrams - or anyone at Lucasfilm - why they went out of their way to avoid including any Star Wars alien species in the film (unless the species had the proper name of Chewbacca, Ackbar or Nien Nunb).