A producer working on The Simpsons has clarified whether Marge is actually dead after the season finale left people shocked.
The episode that caused chaos was the season 36 finale, 'Estranger Things,' which aired on May 18.
In the episode — written by Tim Long and directed by Matthew Nastuk — Bart and Lisa are seen drifting apart as they stop watching 'Itchy & Scratchy' together.
They agree to maintain their relationship, but drift apart after Marge dies.
Years later, Lisa is the commissioner of the NBA, and Bart is running an unlicensed retirement home where Homer lives.
Bart and Lisa are still estranged when she comes home to make a speech at Springfield Elementary — but after she discovers a video Marge made urging them to look after each other, they reestablish their bond.
Marge, meanwhile, is watching this happen from heaven, while carrying on an affair with Ringo Starr.
The episode begins with a flashback where Marge leaves Homer in charge of Bart and Lisa, telling him not to let them watch TV or eat Twinkies — a plea he immediately ignores.
What follows is the children discovering The Itchy & Scratchy Show, becoming obsessed with it (as we know), but then eventually drifting apart as their interests change over the years.
However, the real gut-punch lands 35 years in the future. Lisa, now a successful WNBA commissioner, and Bart, who runs a barely legal retirement home, are adults living very different lives.
But it's a revelation early in this timeline that steals the spotlight: Lisa refers to their “late mother,” confirming that Marge has died before reaching her early seventies.
Throughout the episode, Marge remains conspicuously absent while familiar faces like Homer, Principal Skinner, and Milhouse still populate Springfield.
The emotional climax comes when Lisa discovers a heartfelt letter from Marge, written “to be opened after I pass (on).”
The letter features a video message in which Marge gently pleads with her children to remain close, even in her absence — a moving callback to her earlier concerns about them drifting apart.
The final scenes depict Lisa and Bart reuniting to rescue Homer from a shady Florida retirement scheme, bonding once again over a reboot of Itchy & Scratchy.
Meanwhile, Marge watches from a cloud above, eventually ascending into heaven with Ringo Starr by her side.
Well, you can put down the pitchforks and save the strongly-worded letters: Marge Simpson is not going anywhere.
That’s the official word from The Simpsons executive producer Matt Selman, who confirms that what happened in the recent season finale of the series is not canon.
That’s because, after 790 episodes, “there is no canon,” he told Variety. “‘The Simpsons’ doesn’t even have canon!
“Obviously since the ‘The Simpsons’ future episodes are all speculative fantasies, they’re all different every time,” Selman said. “Marge will probably never be dead ever again. The only place Marge is dead is in one future episode that aired six weeks ago.”
So everyone relax - Marge is fine!