Which character had the saddest death episode?

Joshua

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Whose death episode was the saddest?

Jenny Calendar - Passion
Joyce Summers - The Body
Winifred Burkle - A Hole In The World
or
Cordelia Chase - You're Welcome
 
Were you saying you're welcome for Cordy dying? 😛


BTW - no Tara or Anya mention, eh? 😵
 
Wesley's!!! And Lilah's! How are they not on the list? 😛

Well, Passion isn't a sad episode and 'The Body' isn't sad due to Joyce. On Angel, Fred's death was the hardest, because the episode was a tear-jerker, not because of Fred herself. I prefer 'A Hole in The World' to 'You're Welcome', but I'll go with 'You're Welcome'. Cordelia had been a regular since Buffy S1 so her death was unfortunate, even though her character had been dead to me since early AtS S3. Angel season 5 was the last season and the only Buffyverse season Cordelia didn't get to be in, which I find incredibly sad. Also:

"We take what we can get, champ, and we do our best with it. I'll be seeing you." 🙁

In conclusion: You're Welcome (because I can't choose Not Fade Away or Calvary/Salvage).
 
Either Joyce, or Fred. No one else comes close.
 
I'm gonna go with Fred in "The Hole in the World." I mean, the whole set of scenes between her and Wesley are just amazingly acted. And him reading to her while she was going in and out of consciousness there. And that he read "A Little Princess" of all books. Ugh.

But worse, probably is the moment when Angel and Spike realize that they can't save her. You can see it on both their faces when they realize it. And it's hard for both of them to accept. It's hard for us to accept. It's hard to see your heroes fail.

So, overall, this may be the saddest.

Though, I can probably make a strong argument for "The Body" as well. . .
 
Technically, we don't see the deaths of Cordelia or Joyce. We are front row centre for the death of Fred / introduction of Illyria and for the death of Jenny.

Cordelia dies with the introduction of Jasmine, but the plot is so bad at this point that we are just ready to have her end and we can't really be sure if she is dead or alive. Even with no warning, I was quite prepared for the call from the hospital in "You're Welcome". The saddest thing at this point in Season 4 is the writing quality.

Jenny is dispatched quickly - there is a brief chase scene, Angelus catches up with her and snaps her neck. Although it was the first death of what was becoming a major character and Giles' love interest, she had not been there long enough and more importantly although she was useful to the scoobies, I felt no real connection. The shock of it and the redefinition of the basic premise - showing that anyone could die, even someone with some importance, made it more spectacular than it was. But I didn't feel it on a personal level so it wasn't sad.

The sadness about Joyce's death was not for her, only those left behind. The Body is a gripping story in that there is no magic resurrection, just a reasonably accurate depiction of what happens when you arrive home to find someone dead. There had been a foreshadowing in previous episodes that Joyce was not in good health. The change in Buffy is more important - she drops out of school to take care of Dawn and the precarious finances and the effect on her and the other scoobies is more important than Joyce.

But the death of Fred is unexpected - the first hint we get is when she starts singing in the presence of Lorne. We see a subsequent degradation that lasts for most of the episode and while we are hoping and expecting to see some kind of reversion to normal, the health problem continues to advance until there is nothing left. Fred is in the presence of Wesley, who loves her and is with her until the end. And we share his hope that this will reverse somehow, but Joss doesn't let it happen. This is the saddest death because we are forced to watch it happen and Fred is a well-loved character.
 
Joyce - it wasn't mystic, it was real. It was horrible and heartbreaking

Agreed. Also it's the most real of the deaths as some day everyone is going to lose their parents whereas friend being taken over by a god is highly unlikely. Also the fallout from Joyce is death was huge, it changed the Buffyverse forever, everyone just kid of adapted to Fred's new state.
 
I can't choose between Jenny and Joyce, because if you take away the mystical and the music, they are quite similar. The expressions of realisation and pure sudden grief is clear to see on both Giles and Buffy's face.
 
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