The Best of 2014: Character Exit

College student-turned-assassin Sara Lance stood by Oliver and his fellow heroes when they saved Starling City from Slade Wilson and his Mirakuru-enhanced army at the end of Arrow Season 2. So it shocked pretty much everyone when the Canary was abruptly and brutally murdered in the closing moments of the Season 3 premiere. Sara's death and the mystery of her killer's identity haunted the first half of Season 3, inspiring her sister Laurel's quest for justice "outside the courtroom" and leading up to Oliver's own apparent death during a duel with Ra's al-Ghul himself in Season 3 Episode 9, the mid-season finale.

The Good Wife shocked fans and critics when they suddenly killed off Will Gardner. Will was a brilliant lawyer and an on-again/off-again lover to Alicia Florrick. His death was both heartbreaking and intriguing all at once. Heartbreaking because his death meant the end of his romance with Alicia and the possibility of them ending up together. Intriguing because his death opened up a whole new chapter for the show.The characters closest to him had to learn how to move forward without him. His exit was beautifully crafted, but his presence is definitely missed.

The death of Allison Argent on Teen Wolf was not only completely unexpected, but beautifully written. She went out fighting to save her friends, in the arms of her first love, Scott McCall. Her exit changed things forever in Beacon Hills. She was an original member of Scott's pack even though she was a hunter, as well as Lydia's BFF. Her loss made her friends realized how easily they could go and many lost their way, including her father.

In shocking fashion, Zoe Barnes got in a little too deep with Francis Underwood and it cost her her life on a subway platform.

Honestly it's hard not to just choose all of Sons of Anarchy's season 7 deaths. I guess on that note I'll go with the matriarch- Gemma Teller. She knew it was coming, she deserved way worse, but it was still really well done. She said goodbye to everything and everyone and waited in her parents' home going through old photos and old music. Then she was allowed to die in a place that was peaceful for her: the rose garden.

It was said that a Once Upon A Time character would die and many predicted who it would be. But, to have Neal die with his longtime love and father nearby was heartbreaking, yet a perfect goodbye. Throughout the episode, he had closure with characters he was close to (minus his son, that still hurts), so it was obvious the end was near for the son of Rumplestiltskin. Even after he died, Michael Raymond-James' character said goodbye two more times in flashback scenes to help with find Emma, his first date with her and is now forever immortalized in Snow and Charming's son.

"Church Lady" Ruth was executed by hanging after shooting and killing Sydney Snow in public for the death of the orphan Ezra that she had taken as her son. Ezra died in the church when Sydney set it on fire. The shocking part is that Cullen tried to convince Ruth to take a pardon from Governor Campbell, but she refused too and walked the 13 steps to the gallows. Cullen broke down and cried when he buried her.

Watching Cristina leave Seattle after ten seasons was one of the most emotional exits of 2014. The look she gave Owen through the operating window was heartbreaking, but none of her goodbyes compared with watching the twisted sisters break up. Meredith forces her into the cab, but thankfully Cristina comes back to dance it out one more time with her person before leaving for real with these parting words to Meredith: "I gotta go. You stay here. You are a gifted surgeon with an extraordinary mind. Don’t let what he wants eclipse what you need. He’s very dreamy, but he’s not the sun. You are."

The death of Moira Queen was the straw that broke the Arrow's back last season. Moira was killed with a sword through her chest as she sacrificed herself for her children. As her children watched her get murdered. The scene was powerful and emotional, and it raised the stakes for the rest of the show. It was also symbolic, as Oliver was killed in almost the same fashion as he sacrificed himself for his sister.

Lillian on Masters of Sex-DePaul's decision to succumb to cancer with dignity turned into one of TV's most poignant moments when Virginia chose to come back from a falling out between the two and comfort her on her last night

It was tense watching Joffrey berate and harass his unlce Tyrion during the royal wedding. Fans (who have not read the books) did not see it coming when Joffrey keeled over and died a violent and painful death by poisoning after drinking from the cup of wine Tyrion gave him. It was even more shocking when it was revealed that it was none other than Lady Olenna, who was motivated to protect her granddaughter Margaery from Joffrey's cruelty. The death of Joffrey set up the rest of the events in King's Landing for season 4.

Fans had the whole season to marvel at just how much of a bad ass Prince Oberyn was. The fight to the death with the mountain was one of the most suspenseful scenes in the series. It looked like the good guys were going to win the day when the Mountain went down. Unfortunately, the Mountain rose again and proceeded to gouge out Prince Oberyn's eyes and essentially burst his head.

At first, Terminus seemed like the sanctuary our band of survivors needed, but it turned out to be a horrific house of horrors filled with good people turned cannibal. After Carol set events in motion that led to the freeing of Rick and the gang the whole place literally went up in flames. Gareth, the leader of the group, continued to hunt Rick and even managed to kidnap Bob and munch on his leg for dinner. In an unusually quick fashion The Waking Dead killed off this villain in a grotesque and shocking manner with a red handled machete in the middle of a church.

Conrad Grayson thought he had it made when he escaped from prison on Revenge. He was singing a tune and jauntily tossing his hat aside; the world on a string, I tell you! What he didn't bank on was the arrival of long presumed-dead David Clark ambusing him and stabbing him to death. Ouch!!

We all knew King Henry had to die in order for Francis to take over the reign of France, but in this twist, Francis killed him! Henry's son took the place of a jouster and jabbed Henry through the eyeball. That's gotta hurt. No worries, he's been haunting Francis ever since thanks to people even more twisted than the royals!

This should probably be in the best cameo category, but we don't have one of those. Jon Hamm appeared in the Parks and Rec season finale as an office worker named Ed. He was promptly fired just moments after his introduction. How bad does someone have to be for Leslie Knope to fire them? We might have a chance to find out as rumors are he'll be returning for a final season appearance!