Victoria Grayson (Madeleine Stowe, left) exacted her final act of revenge against Emily/Amanda (Emily VanCamp) when she blew herself up inside Emily's house. "Make no mistake about it; this woman was completely ready to go. She has been at various points in the show … [such as] when she [was ready to give] her life for Emily with Malcolm Black. There is a death wish she's always had," Stowe told THR of Victoria's shocking move.
In season four's midseason finale, Daniel (Joshua Bowman) had a revelation in which he realized he wanted to distance himself from his family's evildoings and to be a good father to the baby Margaux (Karine Vanisse) is carrying. But he tragically died after jumping to Emily's defense during a physical altercation with Kate (Courtney Ford), the FBI agent who was secretly working for the mysterious Malcolm Black.
Mike Weston (Shawn Ashmore) avenges his father's murder by killing Lily Gray (Connie Nielsen) in "The Reaping." "I know this won't fix anything, but it will fix you," Mike said before shooting Lily three times — killing her.
It wasn't a happy wedding for King Joffrey (Jack Gleeson) after all. Thrones made a series-changing move, with Joffrey getting poisoned at his own wedding feast. The identity of the poisoner is not known, but Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) could get the blame.
On Once Upon a Time, Neal (Michael Raymond-James) sacrificed himself for his family — with one of his last wishes to Emma (Jennifer Morrison) to tell his son Henry (Jared Gilmore), still without his original memories, that his father was a "good" man.
STORY: 'Once Upon a Time' Bosses Break Down Major Death, Call It a 'Noble' Ending
In The Good Wife's "Dramatics, Your Honor," Lockhart Gardner attorney Will Gardner (Josh Charles) was shot in the courtroom by his unhinged client and was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
VIDEO: 'Good Wife' Star on Surprising Twist: It Was Like My Husband Leaving
As one character once eloquently pointed out, Brody (Damian Lewis) was something of a cockroach — until, of course, the Showtime series killed off half of its central duo by hanging him in front of an angry mob at the end of the third season. Brody technically died a hero, though after his rocky three years as a terrorist-turned-informant, his motivations were still a little muddy.
Vivien (Connie Britton), Ben (Dylan McDermott) and Violet Harmon (Taissa Farmiga) didn't make out of the creepy Los Angeles abode on FX's American Horror Story. But while everyone perished inside the house, they were trapped there for eternity — together. We're not sure about the dog's fate, though.
STORY: 'American Horror Story' Finale: Burning Questions Answered
Michael Pitt's Jimmy Darmody learned the hard way what happens when you cross Atlantic City's dirty golden boy, Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi) in the Season 2 finale of HBO's Boardwalk Empire. It made the tortured character's mother issues seem tame by comparison.
Giancarlo Esposito had to face hard facts for the Season 4 finale of AMC's Breaking Bad when creator Vince Gilligan told him his character, drug kingpin Gus, would have his face blown off in the final episode of the year. "He gave me a full heads up. I said, 'Well, OK, as long as it's fantastic!' He said, 'It will be! We want to to blow your face off!' We both thought it would be like Gus to survive an explosion for a few seconds — that he would button his jacket, straighten his tie — then just keel over and die," the actor told THR. "Vince came up with this brilliant way for me to leave — I give him full credit."
STORY: 'Breaking Bad' Star Giancarlo Esposito Discusses the Shocking Season Finale
Sweet William (Thomas Howes), the Crawleys' dutiful footman, was gravely injured fighting in the war in the second season of PBS' period drama. With his lungs failing, he proposed to Daisy the maid (Sophie McShera), and she accepted — despite not really loving him. William expired in his sleep with Daisy at his side, casting a dark pall over that afternoon's tea service.
Renly Baratheon (Gethin Anthony) didn't quite make it long enough to challenge his power-hungry nephew, Joffrey, for the Iron Throne on HBO's Game of Thrones. His death may have been one of the coolest — and most bizarre — of the 2011-12 TV season when Melisandre gave birth to a Lost-like smoke monster shadow assassin that ended his life.
Nobody messes with Don Draper. Mad Men's Lane Pryce's (Jared Harris) office door will never be the same. The character opted to take his own life rather than resign his position after Jon Hamm's Draper found out that Lane forged a company check in Don's name. "That’s a bad time when someone says, ‘Come on up to my office,’" Harris told THR. "There was some inane chit and chat on the way up the lift, but as we got to the door, [showrunner Matt Weiner] said, ‘So, I’ve got something I want to tell you.’ I went, ‘Uh-oh.’ He said, ‘Yeah, I’m sorry.’ And then he offered me some very good brandy."
STORY: 'Mad Men's' Jared Harris on Lane Pryce's Shocking Episode: 'I Shed a Little Tear' (Q&A)
Starz wrapped Spartacus: Vengeance with a bloodbath, offing six characters including fan favorite Lucy Lawless' Lucretia, who with Ilithyia's newborn in her arms, heads into the ever-after when she falls peacefully off a cliff.
STORY: 'Spartacus: Vengeance' Finale Postmortem: Creator Addresses its Bloody Death Toll
After a bitter — and public — dismissal from CBS' Two and a Half Men, creator Chuck Lorre wrote embattled star Charlie Sheen's exit into the series when his character, Charlie Harper, was hit by a speeding subway train, opening the door for Ashton Kutcher's Internet billionaire to arrive.
The Mystic Falls High history teacher (Matt Davis) saw his untimely death in the Season 3 finale, after completing his transition into an Original (against his will) a few episodes earlier. With his life tied to Elena's (Nina Dobrev), Alaric dies a final time after the Gilbert drowns in the same river her parents lost their lives, but later appears to Jeremy (Steven R. McQueen) as a ghost. Don't worry, Davis will be back on the CW soon — starring in freshman drama Cult.
STORY: 'Vampire Diaries': Elena Makes Her Choice, a Big Death and Game-Changing Twists
AMC's The Walking Dead spent the first half of Season 2 looking for poor Sophia (Madison Lintz), only to learn in the midseason finale that she had been turned into a walker and humanely kept in Hershel's barn the entire time. In the back half of the zombie drama's sophomore year, Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) learned the hard way what happens when you go out alone, at night in a world filled with the undead. Shane, meanwhile, finally pushed Rick (Andrew Lincoln) too far and, after being shot, in the stomach, confirmed Jenner's whisper: everyone's infected.
STORY: 'The Walking Dead' Dissection: Glen Mazzara and Robert Kirkman Spill on the Bloody Finale
Three seasons into its run on CBS, the crime drama gets away with a shocker and kills lead Detective Carter (Taraji P. Henson). The creators had hinted that counterpart Fusco (Kevin Chapman) was exiting the series — but it was Carter who ultimately took the bullet.
Deaths are commonplace on the zombie drama but Laurie Holden's Andrea and Sarah Wayne Callies' Lori were among the most surprising. Andrea, a character that (spoiler alert!) is still alive and well in Robert Kirkman's comics on which the series is based, was killed off in the season three finale. It came as a shock to diehard fans who waited patiently for the former attorney to see The Governor (David Morrissey) for the villain he was. Lori's death, meanwhile, came during childbirth when she perished delivering baby Judith — whose paternity still remains unclear. In another shocking twist, her son Carl (Chandler Riggs) has to be the one to prevent his mother from reanimating as a zombie. Talk about mommy issues.
For Game of Thrones fans who weren't familiar with the George R.R. Martin books, watching Ned Stark's (Sean Bean) beheading in season one was quite the surprise as the HBO fantasy drama whacked its leading man.
After believing that Maggie Siff's Tara ratted on Jax (Charlie Hunnam), Katey Segal's Gemma attacked her, slamming Tara's head into a sink and stabbing her to death in the season six finale. It came after Ron Perlman's Clay was executed by Jax in a move to bury SAMCRO's past.
After so many years of reluctantly playing informant to the FBI, Adriana (Drea de Matteo) finally came clean in the fifth season of The Sopranos only to have boyfriend Christopher (Michael Imperioli) sell her out to the family. Paulie Walnuts (Tony Sirico) did the dirty work, taking her out into the woods, never to be seen from again.
Dominic Monaghan's Charlie Pace made the ultimate sacrifice for his fellow castaways in season three. After Desmond (Henry Ian Cusick) begins to foresee Charlie's demise in dreams and visions, the ex-junkie one-time rock star sacrifices himself by drowning to save the other survivors. His character later appeared in flashbacks and as a guide to his friend Hurley (Jorge Garcia) as well as in the season finale.
Nicollette Sheridan's Edie Britt died in an accident involving an downed power line after discovering her new husband's plan for revenge. But behind the scenes, there was just as much drama over her departure: The actress sued ABC and Desperate Housewives creator and executive producer Marc Cherry, claiming she was dropped after she told the network that Cherry had been abusive to her and other cast and crew and had struck her while they were on the set. In October 2013, a judge denied her effort to revive the trial.
Two of the long-running medical drama's most heart-wrenching deaths, Kellie Martin's Dr. Lucy Knight was killed by a patient suffering from schizophrenia who stabbed her — and Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) — as the latter spots his friend (and love interest) bleeding out on the floor across from him. Anthony Edwards' fan favorite Dr. Mark Greene was written out in 2008 after he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. It was an emotional send-off to the character that came a year after he was first diagnosed that allowed the character to marry Dr. Elizabeth Corday (Alex Kingston) and see the birth of their daughter.
A big twist for fans waiting to see if Nancy (Patricia Wettig) had gone into remission, the good news at the hospital was followed by word that lead Peter Horton's character Gary had died in a car crash.
Lt. Col. Henry Blake, M.D. (McLean Stevenson) suffered one of the more tragic, heartbreaking deaths in TV history. After Stevenson announced his intention to leave the show at the end of season three, it was decided to "use the departure of the character in some meaningful way," creator Larry Gelbart said. "M*A*S*H was not about everybody having a good time. M*A*S*H was not about happy endings." So Blake, after finally getting his discharge, says his goodbyes and departs by helicopter. In the final scene of the episode, Radar (Gary Burghoff) announces that Blake was killed when his plane was shot down over the Sea of Japan. The character's fate shocked the nation — and most of the cast and crew.
"Oh my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards!" became one of South Park's catchphrases for its weekly offing of Kenny McCormick in various ways — from getting his head bitten off by Ozzy Osbourne to getting beaten by spastic monkeys — over the course of nearly 80 episodes. But in 2001, co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker killed the hooded fourth-grader for good with a slow, painful death related to a muscular disease. Stone said at the time it was an "easy decision." "I think a lot of people probably haven't noticed," Stone said at the time. "I couldn't care less. I am so sick of that character." He was soon replaced by Stan's new friend Butters.
Mischa Barton's Marissa Cooper was headed to Greece to live with her father at the end of The O.C.'s season three. As boyfriend Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) drove her to the airport, her vengeful, drunken ex Kevin Volchok (Cam Gigandet) drove them off the road, causing the car to flip several times and leading to her death. Series creator Josh Schwartz later said the decision to kill Marissa was purely a creative one: "It had as much to do with creatively feeling like this was always in the cards for this character and she was an inherently tragic heroine, and part of the Ryan/Marissa story was him trying to save her from a fate that she couldn't be rescued from."
Prue Halliwell (Shannen Doherty), one of three sisters who were witches, was murdered in season three by Shax, the personal assassin of the dangerous Source of All Evil. Doherty's departure came amid reports of a feud with co-star Alyssa Milano. While Doherty denied any discord with her co-stars, Milano has admitted to some "rough days" on set. Following her departure, Rose McGowan was brought in as a long-lost Halliwell sister to fill the void.
Julie Benz's Rita Morgan was — until the series finale claimed Deb (Jennifer Carpenter) — the biggest victim in life of serial killer with a code Dexter Morgan. After going head-to-head with John Lithgow's Emmy-winning Trinity Killer, Dexter's (Michael C. Hall) discovered his wife dead in a bathtub filled with blood — with their young son Harrison sitting nearby in a scene reminiscent of Dex's childhood.
One of the most iconic TV deaths of all time, L.A. Law parodied the quintessential soap opera kill-off by having attorney Rosalind Shays (Diana Muldaur) turn into an empty elevator shaft — never to be seen again.
George, in no rush to tie the knot with Susan (Heidi Swedberg), opts to skimp on their wedding and selects insanely old wedding invitations with glue that not only requires "a lot of moisture" but winds up being deadly and claiming the life of his fiancé.
In a clear move to show that no one was safe on the Fox drama, Teri Bauer (Leslie Hope) is shot in the stomach at the end of the first season — carrying the unborn child of hero Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland). The loss sets off changes felt through the rest of the series.
Whose heart didn't sink when T.R. Knight's George O'Malley, unable to speak after being struck by a bus, identified himself by writing "007" in the hand of one of his best friends on the ABC medical drama. His exit came after Knight asked to be released from his Grey's Anatomy contract after behind-the-scenes clashes about reduced screen time.
Eric Dane's Mark "McSteamy" Sloan was reunited with Lexie (Chyler Leigh) after the doc succumbed to injuries sustained in the deadly plane crash that claimed his beloved "person." Following the season eight finale in which Mark professed his love as Lexie died, the doc was on life support for 30 days before experiencing a last flourish before passing in the season nine premiere.
Buffy (Sarah Michelle Gellar) discovered her mother, Joyce (Kristine Sutherland) died suddenly from a brain aneurism in one of the Joss Whedon series' most heartbreaking episodes as the Scooby gang all deal with a human death.
The beloved personal secretary to President Bartlet (Martin Sheen), Dolores Landingham (Katherine Joosten) was an anchor on The West Wing until she was suddenly killed off in a car crash at the end of the second season. Joosten later made a mortal exit on Desperate Housewives, shortly before her 2012 death from lung cancer.
