Death scenes are emotionally affecting moments, perhaps more so in TV than in any other medium. In TV, the audience has typically had many hours with a character, watching them at their highest and lowest. They've seen them overcome their problems and typically develop as a person, and come to form something of an emotional tie with them.
As such, seeing that come to a sudden end with their death, and seeing the effect that has on other characters, can be an impactful moment. Whether it's a triumphant end to a long-term villain or the devastating experience of watching a hero be cut down, some TV death scenes rise above the others.
10 Dr. Ford Dies After Enacting His Master Plan
The line between 'hero' and 'villain' is non-existent in Westworld, and few characters demonstrate that as much as Dr. Robert Ford. Throughout the first season, Ford works to give the android hosts true sentience and free will as penance for building them to be tortured and tormented, but along the way is happy to manipulate and kill people, leaving a trail of devastation.
In his final minutes, Dr. Ford speaks to guests at the park, hinting at the terrible fate that awaits them once the hosts awaken. He then likens himself to great composers becoming music upon their deaths, and allows the host Dolores to move behind him with a gun. Ford puts his life in Dolores' hands, and for the first time, she makes a true choice – killing him. Ford dies satisfied in a shocking scene that ends one of the show's best characters, and closes a gripping season of television.
9 Chidi Anagonye Returns To The Ocean
The characters in The Good Place begin dead, given the show's setting of the afterlife, but its final two episodes follow them as they construct a way to permanently 'exit' existence and end their eternal time in the Good Place. From there, one by one, the protagonists prepare to use this exit, beginning with Chidi Anagonye.
After protagonist Eleanor Shellstrop makes her peace with him leaving, they spend one last evening together. Chidi comforts her with a piece of Buddhist philosophy about life's end being like a wave returning to the sea – with the water still being there, just in a different form. His death isn't seen, but his final words are considered to be some of the most moving in the entire show.
8 Fred Burkle Loses Herself Completely
Fred Burkle is the last main character in Angel to be introduced, but one who quickly worms her way into the audience's hearts. She's funny, compelling, and even one of the team's more moral members, brightening every scene she's in. As such, her tragic and shocking death lingers on far after she's gone.
A whole episode is dedicated to Fred falling ill due to the possession of an ancient demon, as the team tries to cure her. It's all in vain, and Fred dies in her childhood room, sobbing as her memories fall away one by one and she's stripped away piece by piece for a demon to use. With agonized performances from actors Amy Acker and Alexis Denisof, it's considered one of the saddest deaths in the Buffyverse.
7 Marvin Eriksen Sr. Dies Offscreen
Sometimes a character's death isn't tragic for the loss of a character themselves, but for the impact it has on the others around them. This is the case for Marvin Eriksen Sr. in How I Met Your Mother, Marshall's father and a fairly minor character who is nonetheless demonstrated to be important to both Marshall and Lily.
The episode 'Bad News' ends with Lily telling Marshall of his death, with deathly silence falling as the two hold each other and cry in one of the series' saddest endings. What makes it truly effective is emotional whiplash – the episode until that point is a mostly light-hearted and even triumphant affair dealing with fertility testing, creating a truly shocking juxtaposition.
6 Gus Fring Loses His Face-Off With Walter
Of all of Breaking Bad's many villains, none are as beloved or as compelling as Gustavo Fring, the polite, efficient, and ruthless drug lord whom Walter and Jesse fall in with from seasons 2-4. Although he eventually shifts firmly to an antagonist, the audience nonetheless comes to both fear and respect Gus over time.
His death is a hugely shocking moment for the show, and one of Walter White's finest hours. Manipulating Gus into personally killing his hated enemy Hector Salamanca, Walter enlists Salamanca to take down Fring with a bomb in his wheelchair. It's a stunning plot twist, and one accompanied by glorious visuals as Gus steps away, only for his death to be revealed in sickening detail.
5 Charlie Pace Drowns Himself To Save Others
A death in TV can be tragic because it brings the end of a character whom audiences have seen develop and grow, but sometimes it also serves as the perfect capstone to their development, being the moment that demonstrates how much they've changed. For these sorts of death, few are better than Charlie Pace in Lost.
Pace begins the show as a selfish, self-destructive addict jaded by his years as a rock star. Throughout his time on the island, he becomes a much more selfless and healthy person. This comes to a head as he drowns, sealing the door instead of saving himself to protect others, even using his final moments to write a warning.
4 Joyce Summers Is Already Cold When Buffy Finds Her
A death that happens offscreen can still have plenty of impact on a viewer, as demonstrated by Joyce Summers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. A constant and sympathetic presence, Joyce is a likable character essential for the happiness of characters like Buffy. As such, Buffy finding her corpse is one of the show's hardest moments to watch.
At the end of 'I Was Made to Love You', Buffy returns home, talking to her mom. There's a subtle indication that something is wrong, however, with the camera not focusing on a static Joyce. The episode ends focusing on her staring, unmoving, up at the ceiling, in a stunning moment that leads into 'The Body', one of the show's most tragic episodes.
3 Ragnar Lothbrok Dies Truly Triumphant
For four seasons, the main character of Vikings is Ragnar Lothbrok. He straddles the line between hero and villain, a corrupt and deceitful raider king who nonetheless wants what is best for his people and with a great many admirable attributes in a world where those are rare. His death emphasizes this, highlighting his best and worst qualities.
Ragnar is dragged before King Aelle to be brutalized and humiliated, before being thrown in a snakepit to die. However, his death is the culmination of a gambit to raise the entire Norse people to devastate England in vengeance, and his final moments have him making a triumphant speech about reaching Valhalla in some of the show's best writing.
2 Joffrey Baratheon Dies An Unimaginable Death
Of all villains in any television show, there are few more hated than Joffrey Baratheon in Game of Thrones. Nearly every one of his acts is something contemptible, creating a character almost ideally-designed to be despised by every viewer.
As such, his death is one of the show's signature moments. Beginning to choke as he drinks from a goblet of wine, it quickly becomes clear something is afoot, and he dies a horrific death from poisoning. The moment is shocking, beautifully staged, and undeniably triumphant for many fans. Despite this, there is a sad edge as he dies in the arms of his panicking parents.
1 Shane Walsh Dies When He Betrays Rick
In the first two seasons of The Walking Dead, few characters are more complex than Shane Walsh. A man determined to get himself and those around him through the apocalypse, his protective instincts clash violently with his coveting of Rick's respect from the group, and his wife and child.
The latter half of season 2 deals with their confrontation, creating a climactic scene where Shane, having isolated Rick, tries to kill him. Rick exploits Shane's anger to get him close enough to stab, before yelling in a truly emotional fashion about how the situation is Shane's fault, not his. It's one of the most tense and gripping deaths in a show full of them.