'Grey's Anatomy' shocker: See which major character died

We'll spare you the grisly details, but here's the gist: after helping victims of a nasty car accident, Derek ended up getting into one himself.

And he was taken to a hospital that didn't follow proper protocol to save his life.

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Now, if you're still in shock about all this, you're definitely not alone.

After all, the man behind Dr. Shepherd, Patrick Dempsey, signed a two-year contract extension last year that would have kept him on the show through season 12.

But as we all know, Shonda Rhimes isn't afraid to kill her characters off.

"Scandal" fans who don't want spoilers, cover your ears — after all, she did just seemingly send Jake Ballard to his grave. (Video via ABC / "Scandal")

And back during season eight of "Grey's," Shonda killed off the other McDoctor — McSteamy — along with the love of his life and Meredith's sister, Lexie.

According to several reports earlier this week, Shonda grew tired of Patrick Dempsey's "diva" behavior on the set, which prompted her to end his character's life and fire him from the show.

But Shonda said in a statement obtained by People after the episode aired, "Derek Shepherd is and will always be an incredibly important character. ... I absolutely never imagined saying goodbye to our 'Mcdreamy.' ... His loss will be felt by all."

The Twitterverse erupted after the episode aired.  Take a look at what people are saying.