“Scandal” Season 6 Shocks With Death Of Major Character; Fans And Celebrities React Over “Trojan Horse” Episode

On Thursday night, the “Trojan Horse” episode of “Scandal” Season 6 ended with a major shocker: the death of series regular Portia de Rossi as resourceful Republican operative Liz North.

In the episode, Liz is brutally murdered by the season’s villain, a mystery woman played by Zoe Perry. Liz was beaten to death with a golf club. The death marked the mystery woman’s ascension as the new chief of staff to Mellie (Bellamy Young).

First introduced in Season 4, Liz was popular to the show’s fans, and had prompted de Rossi’s promotion to series regular in Season 5. However, Deadline noted that Liz’s presence, and her involvement on “Scandal” Season 6 was limited, but it didn’t occur to anyone that Liz’s time in the series will end.

De Rossi said in a statement, “I am incredibly grateful for my time here at “Scandal”!I will miss playing Elizabeth North but I’ve made the decision to focus on a business opportunity. Shonda, Betsy and the cast have been incredibly supportive of my decision. I will always love my Scandal family. I’ll be watching!”

In another interview for PEOPLE, de Rossi admits that her exit from the show was unexpected. She said, "[The death] was pretty creative, I thought, and very shocking," she added. "The part that shocked me the most was I didn’t even, as a character, have a second to acknowledge what was happening before I was murdered, so in that aspect, it’s as shocking to the character as it is to the audience. It’s pretty cool."