Young Sheldon’s Most Tragic Death From the Finale, Debunked

Summary:

• The Big Bang Theory 's prequel, Young Sheldon, ended with a big finale last week.
• Connecting two shows, Young Sheldon not only depicted the death of George Cooper, but also included a flashforward with an adult Sheldon and his wife Amy.
• Although the episodes were tragic enough due to George's death, fans started a theory alluding to Leonard's death as well.

For a comedy, The Big Bang Theory's prequel Young Sheldon ended on a more tragic note than anyone could have expected. For those unfamiliar with the lore of the original series, George Cooper's death came out of nowhere, and they mourned along with the rest of the family for the final episodes.

Those who knew what was coming still held out hope that this death would remain behind the cameras. However, the moment the show ended, fans took to social media with another frightening theory. This time, the target was Sheldon's best friend from the future timeline, Leonard.

Does Leonard Die in The Big Bang Theory?

Luckily for viewers, all of the friends featured in the 12-season sitcom The Big Bang Theory live to see another day after a happy ending. While there are endless possibilities of how their lives could have continued or ended after that, none of them are confirmed by canon, so they would only count as theories and guesses.

Even though none of the original cast members except Jim Parsons, who portrayed Sheldon Cooper, and Mayim Bialik, who played his wife Amy, appeared in the highly anticipated finale of the prequel, people still found a way to come up with different ideas of where their characters would have been today.

One such theory about Leonard Hofstadter's well-being made the rounds on the Internet, and suggested another unfortunate death. Based on Sheldon and Amy naming their son Leonard, which had been confirmed in previous episodes, fans concluded that the original Leonard might already be gone.

The theory itself has not been officially confirmed, and there is not much evidence to support it either way. Many people tend to think that Sheldon mentioning Penny but not his best friend is an odd detail, but in fact Penny is mentioned in a very specific context where Leonard simply wouldn't work.

Another detail that many viewers tend to forget or intentionally leave out is the fact that Sheldon named their son not only after his best friend, but also, in a very Sheldon-esque way, after Star Trek 's Spock, Leonard Nimoy. So his name is in no way a sign that Sheldon and Amy are honoring their late friend.

If you haven't had a chance to watch the two-part finale of Young Sheldon with Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik's cameo, you can watch it online at Paramount Plus.