Let's calm down about The Simpsons season finale

Hit the back button this second if you haven't already seen The Simpsons 36th season finale. Have you done it? Gone? Good.

For everyone else, let me try to console you at this difficult time. Like many fans, you may be mourning the latest death of a much-loved character in the long-running animation. And this time, it's a major figure. But, let's remember that this is the Simpsons; things aren't always final (see our guides to the best animation software and the best laptops for animation if you want to make your own tribute).

First Edna Krabappel, then Maude Flanders... now Marge Simpson? Will there be any characters left in The Simpsons? In Estranger Things, the last episode of The Simpsons season 36, Marge's death wasn't shown, but there's a tombstone, a video message, and Lisa refers to her “late mother.” In a moment of typical The Simpsons surrealism, a brief scene shows Marge in Heaven remarried to The Beatles' drummer Ringo Starr.

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However, I don't think we need to worry. The episode was set 35 years in the future, and it's a different situation to previous major departures. Edna Krabappel was retired from the show in 2013 as a tribute following the death of her voice actress, Marcia Wallace. When Maude Flanders was killed off in 2020 it was apparently because of a pay dispute with the actress Maggie Roswell. There have been no reports that Julie Kavner, who provides the voice for Marge Simpson as well as Patty and Selma Bouvier, is leaving the show

Over the years, The Simpsons has taken place in as many universes and dimensions as the Marvel multiverse, and anything is possible. There is no Simpsons canon, and there have been several episodes set in speculative futures. This surrealism is part of what makes the show so great – and one of the reasons it's managed to continue to find new story ideas after so many years. The Simpsons has already been confirmed to continue up to at least Season 40, and I'm confident that Marge will be back with us.

For more animation news, see the first glimpse of the Rogue Trooper movie, a film that could change the future of cinema.

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