Like every year, 2024 was full of highs and lows. Some of the worst (well, nerdiest) lows came from the fictional losses we endured: a TV show coming to an end, or a dead character or three. Join us in looking back on those who wont be joining us in 2025 and beyondand prepare for some spoilers ahead, but you already knew that. Scavengers Reign Green Street/Netflix Scavengers Reign is a show that Ill forever be mad about not getting another season. Not only is it one of the most refreshing animated stories Ive experienced this year, its also one that truly lived up to its alien premise. There was a lot of copium on my and many fans behalf assuming the show would receive a second chance at life on Netflix. But I think we all forgot that streamer has a knack for being the place where season two hopes go to die. *Shakes fist in the sky at David Zaslav* Isaiah Colbert Outer Range Prime Videos sci-fi Western about a rancher (Josh Brolin) hiding a time-travel portal in one of his pastures was almost too weird when it premiered in 2022but its mish-mash of genres still managed to fascinate, using a cosmic mystery to examine rival families sharing an intertwined crisis. That Outer Range got a second season at all was a TV miracle, and were grateful we got to spend a little more time exploring its oddities. Cheryl EddyStar Trek: Lower Decks One of the crown jewels ofStar Treks streaming age just wrapped up with a brilliant season, reflecting how far its young heroes had come while still earnestly celebrating the joy ofStar Trek, whether that joy was found in the connective history of the franchise or simply in a show about geeks who just love to be a part of that history themselves. Funny and charming to the last, its finale may have left an open-ended promise of more adventures to come for these characters, but were still going to miss seeing them on the regular. James Whitbrook Sonys Spider-Man Universe On one hand, Sonys very weird approach to its Spider-Man-free Marvel movies led to some charmingly weird work like Venom and Madame Web (debatable). On the other hand, it was really clear Sony didnt know what it was doing other than filling release slots. After watching Venom 3 or Kraven, it wont be any mystery as to why audiences got sick of that runaround. Ah well, at least theres Spider-Verse 3, eventually. Justin Carter The Acolyte Lucasfilm Say what you want about The Acolyte, and many, many Star Wars fans have. But we thought it was a dynamite show that both acted as a great entry point to Star Wars, while also enriching the lore for longtime fans. So to see the show get canceled after its first season, with so many fascinating stories left untold, was one of the biggest bummers of the year. Germain LussierEvil Evil premiered in 2019 on CBS, then after one season shifted to Paramount+. Streaming made more sense for the series adventurous toneit could be terrifying and funny all in one scene, let alone one episode, not to mention provocative, heartfelt, timely, and deeply insightful. Not bad for a show about a team of investigators hired by the Catholic Church to look into possessions and other weird phenomena, while also uncovering corruption and giving us characters we genuinely loved (or loved to hate) along the way. We wish it had gotten 666 more seasons. Cheryl Eddy Attack on Titan Whether or not you watched Attack on Titan, you probably knew it lasted for quite a while, particularly toward the end. Its final season famously concluded in four parts, and then concluded again with a film version of the second half. With luck, that was the series true end, and Mappa isnt cooking up some remake or enhanced edition to put out in a few years. Justin Carter The Umbrella Academy Umbrella Academys shortened fourth season wasnt the most triumphant way to end the Netflix show based (very loosely) on the Dark Horse Comics series, but well always have the first three seasonspacked with all the apocalyptic drama its pack of misfit superhero siblings could bring to the table, not to mention quirky comedy, clever plot twists, killer fight scenes, and even a few dance numbers. Cheryl Eddy Chucky USA/Syfy While therell be no more seasons of Don Mancinis Syfy/USA TV seriesa delightful expansion of theChilds Play world, equal parts gory and campy, as the killer doll sets his sights variously on world domination and revengefear not. Chuckys been around since 1988, and hewillslay again, hopefully in a new feature film. Still, well miss the shows chaotic yet heartfelt spirit, which made equal time for queer teens in love, Jennifer Tillys multi-layered but always deranged take on Tiffany Valentine, and some very creative Chucky kills. Cheryl Eddy DC/CW Universe Part of why superheroes have been so popular on screen in the past 20 years has to be owed to the CW. From Smallville all the way back in the day to Arrow, Legends of Tomorrow, and the recently ended Superman & Lois, the network kept DCs heroes around in the public eye through show after show of fluctuating quality. They werent all perfect, and some of them ran a bit too long, but they made many strides and kept the genre alive, and that aint nothing. Justin CarterWhat We Do in the Shadows We refuse to believe this outrageously funny comedy about Staten Islands most adorably inept vampire roommates is really over. We refuse! But even if no new episodes are coming (sigh), well always have the cultural impact its wonders left behind, including Jackie Daytona, Bat!, New York Citaaaay! and those are just the Matt Berry contributions. What We Do in the Shadows will never be dead to us, but itll always be out of this world. Cheryl Eddy Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII Rebirth) Square Enix The death of Aerith is one of the most famous of all in video games, andRebirth, the middle-chapter of Square Enixs ambitious re-imagining ofFinal Fantasy VIIs legendary legacy, is very keenly aware of the expectation players have around that moment for all of its vast runtime. Not content with simply recreating that fateful climax, Rebirthcarries on inRemakes footsteps of being a story about what itmeansto remakeFinal Fantasy VIIby constantly playing with this meta-awareness around Aerith, as it centers her more and more in the games twinned stories of echoing the original game while also preparing to subvert it. So when existence splits on the steps of the City of the Ancients inRebirths final hoursone timeline where Aerith dies at Sephiroths hands, another where she lives on and helps push him back, simultaneously co-existing in the mind of CloudRebirth has its cake and eats it too, giving us the hope of a rebirth that players have longed for for almost 30 years while also still getting to sit in the tragedy of her passing all over again. Well be waiting a few more years just to see what really happens, but theres still a sense of loss in this limbo Rebirth leaves us and Aerith alike in. James Whitbrook Victor Aguilar (The Penguin) Vic was Oswalds last redeeming tether before the future crime lord sold his soul so nothing could stand in his way. A part of me hopes Vic isnt dead, just left very near-death for Batman to find and take under his (night) wing. He was the heart of the marginalized people of Gothamsquashed before our eyes, hoping hell be the hope for their revenge too. Sabina Graves Claudia de Lioncourt (Interview With the Vampire) Delainey Hayles should be nominated for awards for her tour-de-force performance as Claudia de Lioncourt. The agency and tenacity with which she was written in Interview with the Vampires TV adaptation should be studied, because it gave the books doll-like child characters multitudes. Aging her up a bit gave us a girl trapped forever on the verge of womanhood. As a fan, I knew she was destined to die, but Hayles performance made me wish that if creative liberty was allowed, then maybe, just maybe, she wouldnt burn. My heart broke in the scene where Armand sold her out completely. She was the best of Louis and the worse of Lestat all rolled into one, but that combination gave her a power that that shone right until her very last moment. I want her to have haunted every face in that theater that let her die. Sabina GravesVarric Tethras(Dragon Age: The Veilguard) The Veilguardtakes Varric out of the action pretty early, but youre set up to spend most of the game with him recuperating in your home base as a trusted advisor for Rook to turn to whenever they falter in their belief theyre worthy of saving the world. That would be sad enough, that one of the franchises best characters is left to sit on the sidelines, butVeilguards final act twistthat Varric was actually dead, and what Rook was seeing for much of the game was a magical, manipulative deception by Solashits you like a ton of bricks, even if you started getting the feeling something was off earlier than that moment of revelation. RIP to Thedas finest storyteller-slash-crossbow- James Whitbrook Gambit (X-Men 97) There comes a time when every A-list X-Man has to take one for the team and die. For X-Men 97, that duty fell to ol Remy LeBeau, who proceeded to do the damn thing and take out the Master Mold that made an already crummy night even worse. He may be gone (for now), but that sacrifice is a reminder of how much of a hero Gambit is. Justin Carter Arthur Fleck (Joker: Folie Deux) Warner Bros Like most of us, I didnt love Joker 2. I didnt really even love Joker. But I did love the huge swing for the fences Joaquin Phoenix took with the DC character, earning him an Oscar the first time around. So to see the character kind of give up on his struggle, and then be killed, was really disappointing. You wanted more for this character. You wanted to see him really impact some change. Heck, maybe you even wanted to see him on screen with Batman. Alas, now none of that will happen. Germain Lussier Delia Deetz (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) One ofBeetlejuice Beetlejuices biggest strengths was the Deetz women being centered in the film. Catherine OHara, the woman she is, slipped so comfortably back into her eccentric vain kooky stepmother character without missing a beat. Barbara may have been more of a mother in the first film, but Delia became the best friend Lydia needed when Astrid became a rebellious teen. Delia and Astrids team up to call out the men in Lydias life and even sync up for a new poltergeist party song moment made me want more of them in future movies. Alas, dear Delia got got by some asps. In the Netherworld, she rejoins with her headless husband, but they dont board the soul train, so heres hoping if a Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice gets greenlit, well see her running the place. Sabina Graves Kwon (Cobra Kai) One of the issues with recent seasons of Cobra Kai is there hasnt been a good young villain. That changed recently with Kwon, played by Brandon H. Lee. The evil Cobra Kai captain was not just incredibly intimidating, he looked incredibly cool doing it. The kind of bad guy you love to hate. You probably wouldve watched a whole Kwon showbut alas, because he was so beloved, the character had to die at the end of the second series of episodes. His death, while brutal and sad, really raised the stakes going into the final episodes. Germain LussierAgathas Coven (Agatha All Along) We kind of knew coming into Marvels witchy seasons that not all of Agathas ragtag new coven would make it down, down the Witches Road alive, but the show did such a good job of connecting us to these characters it still stung to lose them (yes, even Sharon Davis, dragged along for the ride). Both Alice and Lilias deaths were bittersweet for different reasonsAlices coming from an act of kindness and so soon after the emotional catharsis of her own standout episode of the season, and Lilias at the climax of what remains one of the best episodes of TV Marvels ever made. But all that goodness just made the knife twist a little deeper in our hearts. James Whitbrook Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.