TV character deathsare always difficult to get over, but this is especially true when it’s the main character that your favorite TV show has killed off. It’s rare for a series to kill off a central character midway through its run, as protagonists tend to anchor shows until the very end, allowing viewers to maintain their bearings and a sense of familiarity with what they’re watching. Those shows that do kill off their central characters early, on the other hand, are usually surprising, as they go against customary TV traditions.
Reasons for killing off the main player in a series can vary, and sometimes creators are forced into this choice through circumstances such as an actor’s death or their decision to leave the cast. In any case, a protagonist’s demise is ashocking character death that leaves viewers thinkinglong after it’s happened. And pulling this off requires the death to make sense within the context of the show.Getting rid of a protagonist before a series is over is a major risk, but provided that it makes sense in terms of plot, it sometimes proves to be a masterstroke.
7Nate Fisher In Six Feet Under
Killed In Season 5, Episode 9, “Ecotone”
Given thatSix Feet Underis a drama about a funeral home, death inevitably stalks the show wherever its story goes. What’s more, Nate Fisher, the next of kin inSix Feet Under’s Fisher familywhen his father dies in the first episode, is diagnosed with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) early in season 2, a serious health condition that makes him susceptible to strokes and brain hemorrhages.
We know that Nate’s life is in danger because of this condition, and this fact looms large over the show for more than three seasons. Even so, it’s a stunning turn of events when Nate finally succumbs to his condition after suffering a massive stroke, in the ninth episode ofSix Feet Underseason 5. The series is in the home stretch when the death of its chief protagonist occurs, and the remainder of its episodes focus on the immediate aftermath. It was a shock, nonetheless, to seeNate killed off four episodes before the end.
6Paul Hennessy In 8 Simple Rules
Killed In Season 2, Episode 4, “Goodbye: Part 1”
One particularlytragic character death that no one saw cominghappened in 2003, during the second season of family sitcom8 Simple Rules. Killing off the show’s main protagonist, Paul Hennessy, became an unexpected necessity whenthe actor playing him, John Ritter, suddenly diedof aortic dissection in between filming episodes.
8 Simple Rulesmanaged to soldier on for a further season and a half without Ritter, but it would never be the same again.
What followed was one of thesaddest sitcom moments of all time, a double episode entitled “Goodbye,” during which it’s revealed that Hennessy, a dependable husband and overbearing father to three children, has died off-screen during a routine grocery shop.8 Simple Rulesmanaged to soldier on for a further season and a halfwithout Ritter, but it would never be the same again.
5Ned Stark In Game of Thrones
Killed In Season 1, Episode 9, “Baelor”
In one of the most highly charged scenes in recent TV history,Game of Thronesput its biggest character to death before the end of season 1. Sean Bean’s Eddard “Ned” Stark was the heroic lord of Winterfell, a selfless warrior who’s on the right side of a conflict with Joffrey Lannister over the rule of the Seven Kingdoms. When fate turns against Ned, leaving him at Joffrey’s mercy, it looks as though his life may be spared (albeit in humiliating fashion).
Joffrey’s merciless killing of Ned Stark, despite his compromise with the new ruler of Westeros, remains the most tragically regrettable deaths in the entireGame of Thronesfranchise. Incurring the horror and wrath of audiences is precisely what George R.R. Martin and the makers of the series were going for when they wrote this climactic finale to the show’s first of eight seasons, and they certainly achieved it.
4Nicholas Brody In Homeland
Killed In Season 3, Episode 12, “The Star”
Two years afterGame of Throneshad put an end to Ned Stark, it was time for the acclaimed political thriller seriesHomelandto do the same with its own central character. WhileNicholas Brody is an enigmatic war heroin the show’s first season, the loyalties of Damian Lewis’ character are later called into question. In the end, though, it turns out that he’s even more committed to the American cause than it first appears, as he kills Iran’s chief of intelligence rather than reveal U.S. state secrets.
Homeland’s decision tokill off its main character so early— just three seasons into an eight-season run — is even more stunning in the aftermath of Brody’s showdown with Iranian general Danesh Akbari. Just as Brody openly pins his colors to the American past and looks to escape enemy territory,he’s forced to pay for his actions in an unexpectedly brutal and definitive way. The child he’s expecting with partner and colleague Carrie Mathison adds an extra dimension of pathos to his untimely demise.
3Logan Roy In Succession
Killed In Season 4, Episode 3, “Connor’s Wedding”
Succession’s Logan Roy was always supposed to die, as his death is the entire basis for the rivalry over who will succeed him in running his business empire. Still, no one sawRoy’s death coming in episode 3 ofSuccessionseason 4. Until then, it felt as though he was destined to be killed off in the show’s final episode, or else live on to fight another day.
Logan’s sudden death aboard his private jet seven episodes before the end ofSuccessionis typicalof the show’s tendency to subvert its audience’s expectations. The episode apparently caused such a shock that it kickstarted the family ofLogan Roy’s real-life inspiration, Rupert Murdoch,into planning their own succession process (viaThe Independent). It takes a truly great work of art to evoke such responses in viewers.
2John Dutton In Yellowstone
Killed In Season 5, Episode 9, “Desire Is All You Need”
Kevin Costner’s departure fromYellowstonesealed John Dutton’s fate, but it didn’t determine how and when the show’s central character would die.Yellowstone’s co-creator and lead writerTaylor Sheridan intentionally sprung a surprise by killing Dutton off moments into part 2 of the show’s fifth season. Viewers had barely taken their seats before the tragedy was revealed to Dutton’s daughter, Beth.
What followed were six episodes without Costner, as Beth’s rivalry with her adoptive brother, Jamie Dutton, reached a violent climax, with further deadly consequences for the family.Yellowstonecould never have carried on for very long without Costner, but it also took bravery to kill his character off so suddenly.
1Joel Miller In The Last Of Us
Killed In Season 2, Episode 2, “Through The Valley”
Joel Miller is the reason Ellie made it through her journey in the first season ofThe Last of Us. So forJoel’s death to have come so soonintoseason 2 was a stunning turn of events for anyone who only knows the character as depicted on televisionby Pedro Pascal, having never played the video game on which the show is based.
What’s more, the graphically violent nature of Joel’s death, at the hands of Abby Anderson, the daughter of one of Joel’s own victims, is especially disturbing for fans of Pascal’s characterization. Killing off this protagonist long before the series is over was always part of the plan forThe Last of Us. Nevertheless, the TV series may well find it harder to succeed without Joel than the video game has.
