Shonda Rhimes explains why McDreamy had to go

As far as major TV character deaths go, it's been a rough year. Perhaps the only death that hurt us as much as a certain Game of Thrones character was that of Patrick Dempsey's Derek "McDreamy" Shepherd on Grey's Anatomy.

Showrunner Shonda Rhimes explained at the Television Critics Association press tour Tuesday why McDreamy had to die. As Paste BN's Robert Bianco reported:
"Meredith and Derek's love had to remain Meredith and Derek's love, so in order to preserve that, as painful as it was for me as a storyteller, Derek was going to have to die."
Well that's that, then.

But don't worry, Grey's fans, Rhimes also said that we can look forward to a lighter tone this upcoming season, as Meredith adjusts to her life as a single-woman. So there's that.