Article written by Samuel Burnett.
Death. In fiction and reality, it is an inescapable part of life, and can often have a different meaning and impact depending on who you ask.
Obviously, this article will contain spoilers.
So, be warned.
“Would you like me to lie to you now?” Wesley Wyndam-Pryce in Angel
When Wesley Wyndam-Pryce first showed up on the cult classic Buffy the Vampire Slayer, he was no-one’s pick for their favourite character. He was stuffy, irritating and kind of a twit, and definitely not in an endearing way.
However, the character was given a second chance to impress the viewers in the more adult orientated spin-off show Angel, and, boy, was that a good decision.
Wesley built a terrific rapport with the rest of the class and, over the course of five seasons, developed and evolved until a point where the character at the end of the show was practically unrecognisable compared to the one at the beginning.
He even fell in love.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Winifred “Fred” Burkle.
Joss Whedon is an evil bastard that makes us sad, but this might have been the most vicious thing that he has yet to do. After three years of taunting us with “will they, won’t they?” the two crazy kids get together, only for Fred to die literally one episode later.
Adding insult to injury, her corpse was then possessed by the thing that killed her, an Old One named Illyria.
After that, it was almost a mercy that he died in the series finale. As Illyria holds him in her arms as he dies, the most heartbreaking exchange takes place:
ILLYRIA You'll be dead within moments.
WESLEY I know.
ILLYRIA Would you like me to lie to you now?
WESLEY Yes. Thank you. Yes.
Wesley closes his eyes, and when he opens them, Illyria is gone with Fred in her place.
Hello there.
FRED (trying to smile through her tears) Oh, Wesley. My Wesley.
WESLEY Fred. (whispering) I've missed you.
FRED (kisses his lips twice gently, sniffles, kisses his forehead) It's gonna be OK. It won't hurt much longer, and then you'll be where I am. (crying) We'll be together.
WESLEY I—I love you.
And, with that, he dies.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Winifred Burkle might be the only couple in television that dies in each other’s arms on separate occasions.
“Take her to the moon.” Bing-Bong in Inside Out
I had originally planned on having Mufasa from The Lion King in this spot but, honestly, this one hit me even harder than Simba’s Dad hitting the ground.
Sorry, that was too mean.
Anyway, Bing-Bong had honestly been kind of irritating for me throughout the film, kind of a one-note, unfunny comic relief character, but that death… Oh, after that death, I just feel.
Throughout the movie Bing-Bong, the imaginary friend of Riley, had expressed a desire to go with Riley to the moon in his rocket ship, and had been depressed with the knowledge that Riley had outgrown him.
After he and Joy fall into a ravine representing Riley’s forgotten memories, the purple marshmallow man sacrifices himself to save Joy.
Just before fading away, he whispers, “Take her to the moon.”
Good god, that damn near broke my heart.
Like Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, we were sorry to see him arrive, but we were even sadder to see him leave.
"God... it feels like it's been years since I just... sat down...." David Anderson in Mass Effect 3
In science-fiction, death is almost always dramatic.
Not so in Mass Effect 3. In the conclusion to the epic space opera trilogy, there is this ever-increasing sense of exhaustion after such intense series of events.
Instead of dying heroically, giving his life to save the innocent, Captain David Anderson simply ebbs away. While he and his protégé Commander Sheppard sit, both dying of their wounds, Anderson quietly says, “God... it feels like it's been years since I just... sat down....”
After a few more seconds, he quietly expires, his passing so silent that Shepard doesn’t even notice it immediately.
After everything that he had endured throughout the entire trilogy, there is this overwhelming sense of unfairness to it all.
He had stayed behind in a war zone because he thought he was of more use there than anywhere else, he gave up his ambitions because he knew that there were more important things to be done, and he had finally started making up with his long-lost love, only to die at the end of it all.
Anderson didn’t deserve this, but that was the point.
Sometimes, life isn’t fair, and not everyone gets the ending that they deserve.
“They took the little ones.” Boromir of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a character played by Sean Bean must die at the end of the motion picture.
However, his death in The Lord of the Rings is easily the best of them all. Unlike the one-note character of the book, the Boromir of the screen is a complicated figure of depth and nuance. Whilst eternally stubborn, he possesses an innate sense of nobility, which makes his fall all the more tragic.
There is this overwhelming sense of melancholy to the character. Here is a man who wants to be the hero, but has spent an entire lifetime being grounded down by the harsh reality of war. You can tell that he just wants the fighting to end, which was summed up best in an exchange with Aragorn as he wistfully reminisces about home.
“Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The white tower of Ecthelion... glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze? Have you ever been called home... by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?”
Driven mad by the allure of the One Ring, Boromir attempts the kill Frodo for it, only to come to his senses. Full of grief, he desperately tries to call out to Frodo, but it is too late, the ringbearer has fled.
Desperate to make things right, he defends Frodo’s companions, Merry and Pippin, leaping into the fray without a single thought for his own safety. Despite the forces against him, he actually seems invincible, hacking at orcs to the left and right without pause.
Thwack!
And then he is struck by a black feathered arrow.
He falls to his knees, locks eyes with Merry and Pippin and, with a mighty roar, rises and charges back into the horde, only to be brought down by yet another arrow.
Undaunted, he rises again, but his movements are sluggish and the third arrow brings him down for a final time.
Now undefended, Merry and Pippen are quickly scooped up by the orcs and carted away as he can only watch impotently, powerless and dying.
As Aragorn reaches him, Boromir gasps, “They took the little ones.” After failing the test presented by the One Ring, he has failed yet again, and it is absolutely heartbreaking to watch.
Despite his best efforts and his sacrifices, he dies in absolute despair, and Sean Bean absolutely nailed the performance.
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