Young Sheldon just delivered a devastating full-circle moment. During the penultimate episode of The Big Bang Theory prequel, Sheldon’s father George Cooper, played by Lance Barber, died of a heart attack. While heartbreaking, it’s a moment fans of the series knew may be coming as in season seven of The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon-played by Jim Parsons who also narrates Young Sheldon-explained his dad had passed away when he was 14, the same age his character is in the final season of the prequel series. And after the episode aired May 9, Iain Armitage, who stars in the titular role, shared a tribute to his onscreen father. “Love you, George!” he wrote alongside heart emojis and photos with Barber on set. “Love you, Lance!!!” And despite laying the groundwork for George’s death years earlier, Young Sheldon producers Steven Holland and Chuck Lorre made a conscious effort to make it as least sad as possible. “There was a version of this,” Holland explained to Variety, “where it would have been: The finale would have been the death and the funeral. I think it was Chuck who said, ‘This is mostly a positive, uplifting show. Let’s not leave the audience deep in their grief.