Sideshow Bob will finally kill Bart Simpson in this year’s “Treehouse Of Horror” episode

After years of being held back by Gilbert and Sullivan-based distractions, retro ‘50s bombs that no longer work, excessive pride related to election rigging, an inability to cover up his enormous feet, the general incompetence of Chief Wiggum, and a bunch of things from the seasons nobody likes, Sideshow Bob is finally going to kill Bart Simpson. Like, for real. Bart’s going to die, and this isn’t another fake out like “The Death Of Sad Sack.”

Okay, it won’t really be a fake out, but it is going to happen in The Simpsons’ “Treehouse Of Horror” episode this season. That means he won’t actually die, but the episode will be a sort of thought experiment to see what would happen to the show—and to Sideshow Bob—if he actually accomplished the main goal in his life. We imagine seeing the death of a beloved cartoon character—who happens to be a little kid—will be a lot of fun for all of the people who grew up watching The Simpsons, and we hope this is a glimpse into the show’s eventual series finale, in which all of the characters die and Marge reveals that she has rabbit ears under her hair.

The Simpsons will return this fall for season 27, possibly without Harry Shearer—so Sideshow Bob might end up killing Mr. Burns and Ned Flanders as well.