When good characters die

***********SPOLER ALERT*************

DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN LOOPER, GAME OF THRONES OR LES MISERABLE. 

A lot of people hate it when in movies/books/tv shows, a protagonist dies. They hate endings where the main character, through all of their struggles, perishes in the end, even if it was a good cause. I, on the other hand, am not one of those people. Not gonna lie, you may find me crying my face off if it’s a depressing enough death, but it doesn’t make it not a good ending.

For example, Looper. In the end of Looper, you find our protagonist Joe, at a crossroads. He realizes that future Joe is about to kill Syd’s mother, which in turn, makes Syd a villain in the future. So in order to save Syd and his mother Sarah, Joe kills himself, which in turn kills future Joe. It sucks right? The main character dies, without getting to be with Sarah, or become a father to Syd, etc. BUT, Joe saves their lives. If it wasn’t for Joe, Sarah would die, turning Syd into a psychopath in the future. So even though the main character dies, he doesn’t die in vain. Which in my opinion is a FABULOUS ending. Not everybody wins, but that’s a tad more realistic. Because in real life, not everyone wins in the end; someone always has to lose, and not always just the bad guy.

You want another example? Okay! In Game of Thrones, in the first book/season, the main character, Ned Stark dies (though he’s not the ONLY main character, he’s still one of the leads). Let me start by saying I DIDN’T KNOW THAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. So I was upset! And very, VERY shocked. Dismayed even. As we were ramping up to the end of the season, I kind of had a feeling he was going to die, but I still didn’t think they’d actually kill him! But they did! And even though I didn’t like it, it was so good for the story! So as the second season progressed, I understood why his death needed to happen in order for the show/books to continue. So I was okay with it….. even if I was still very sad at the same time. Definitely didn’t make me hate the show.

One last example and then I’ll wrap this up.

Les Miserable. FABULOUS film. Loved that movie SO MUCH it was ridiculous. But two main characters die! Jean Val Jean and Fantine, both whom I adored. But in the long run, it was okay. Fantine’s death sparked the rest of the movie, and Jean Val Jean’s sort of wrapped it up. I hated that they both died, but it made the movie incredible.

So what you can take away from this, is that it’s in my opinion that protagonists dying isn’t a bad thing. In fact sometimes it’s a good thing, and don’t judge a movie by your favorite character dying. Look at the bigger picture.

Stay classy internet.