I Can’t Believe Young Sheldon Is Going To Kill Off George Sr. After THAT Big Bang Theory Retcon

Warning! This article contained SPOILERS for Young Sheldon season 7, episode 4.

While Young Sheldon season 7’s George Sr death was always going to be heartbreaking, The Big Bang Theory spinoff’s biggest retcon ever just made the tragedy way worse. Like any spinoff, Young Sheldon diverges from the canon of its predecessor from time to time. However, most of the changes that the show makes to The Big Bang Theory’s backstory are not too major. Sheldon’s mother, Mary, is more bitter and mean-spirited in the earlier show, but this could be a result of losing her husband suddenly while Sheldon and Missy were still young. Meemaw’s character change is similarly understandable.

However, out of Young Sheldon’s entire cast of characters, one major figure stands out when it comes to canon inconsistencies. Lance Barber’s George Sr. is nothing like the character that Sheldon and Mary described throughout the original show. In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon wrote his father off as an unfaithful, shiftless, incurious drunk. However, six seasons of Young Sheldon proved that George Sr. was a sweet, attentive, and loving father who didn’t deserve this slander. Season 7, episode 4, “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker,” worsened the issue when the spinoff finally explained Sheldon’s cheating claims.

Young Sheldon’s Cheating Retcon Makes George Sr’s Death Even Sadder

The Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon never learned that his father was innocent

In this long-awaited outing, Young Sheldon finally proved that George Sr didn’t cheat on Mary and that Sheldon just misunderstood what was happening. Mary returned from Germany with a wig and a costume, eager to try out some role-play with her husband. Sheldon walked in on the pair and silently assumed his father was cheating on his mother, only to never confront either parent about the incident. This means that George Sr. didn’t cheat on Mary, but his young son always thought that he did. To make matters worse, The Big Bang Theory‘s canon states George Sr is going to die soon.

George Sr.’s death has been an inevitability since Young Sheldon’s season 6 finale as Sheldon mentioned his age at the time of his father’s death in The Big Bang Theory. This event was always going to be sad, but the revelation that George Sr. did nothing wrong and never got to explain himself to Sheldon before he died is brutally tragic. This misunderstanding horribly traumatized Sheldon and was also an unfair stain on George Sr.’s memory, despite the episode trying to play the moment off as a light-hearted misunderstanding. This makes the upcoming death far harder to countenance.

Young Sheldon’s Big Bang Theory Backstory Was Always Doomed

George Sr’s backstory would always have been too dark for Young Sheldon

Since Young Sheldon began, it was clear that the spinoff’s well-meaning, patient, and loyal version of George Sr. wasn’t going to cheat on his wife. Despite seasons 5 and 6 setting up a red herring via George Sr.’s relationship with his neighbor Brenda, the show was never dark enough for a cheating plot to make tonal sense. Ironically, Young Sheldon season 7 did make George Sr’s death darker by making him such a kind character, and “Ants on a Log and a Cheating Winker” only exacerbated this. Now, George Sr’s Young Sheldon death is in a position to be the saddest event in the spinoff’s history.