What Episode does Andrew DeLuca die in Grey’s Anatomy?

According to the world of Grey’s Anatomy, working at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital is one of the deadliest professions in the world, with many of the hospital’s primary caregivers dying in unexpected, often violent, incidents. Even medical expertise does not spare its staff from a grizzly end.

Few characters have felt the hospital’s high body count more than Meredith Grey herself. The titular character lost the remainder of her immediate family pretty early into the show’s seemingly never-ending run. More recently, Meredith lost her husband, Derek Shepherd, in true Dr. Drake Ramoray from Friends-style, from a brain injury that only he could have saved himself from as a world-renowned brain surgeon.

While Meredith found love once more with a fellow doctor, Andrew DeLuca, the Game of Thrones-like dynamic of Grey’s Anatomy cruelly snatched another loved one away from the long-suffering surgeon.

What Episode does Andrew DeLuca die in?

Andrew DeLuca dies in the episode “Helplessly Hoping,” the seventh episode of season 17. DeLuca was stabbed while investigating Opal, a human trafficker who posed as the aunt of Cindy Wright, a patient at the hospital. In reality, Cindy, aka Wendy Banks, was a victim of Opal’s that she had trapped into the world of trafficking.

Andrew grew supsicious of the cold, yet controlling treatment of Cindy at the hands of Wendy. After spotting Opal again at another human trafficking-related incident at the hospital, Andrew decides to follow Opal through the city and track her movements.

In doing so, Andrew was stabbed by an accomplice of Opal’s in a surprise attack. Initially successful, the incident led to Opal’s arrest and Andrew getting surgery in time to prevent death from bleeding out. However, a cardiac event in response to the trauma from the stabbing resulted in Andrew’s death, with a subsequent surgery unable to save him in time.

During the ordeal, Meredith, Andrew’s ex-girlfriend at the time, was in a coma due to COVID-19 complications. Previously, the couple broke up after another episode of mania that Andrew experienced due to his herditary mental illness, bipolar disorder type one. While comatose, Meredith was visited by various deceased loved ones on a beach, acting as a sort of plane between life and death.

After visits from former husband Derek Shepherd and sister Lexie Grey, Meredith is surprised by the appearance of Andrew, who confirms that despite his illness, he managed to make a positive impact. After making peace with one another, Andrew leaves the beach with his deceased mother, at the same time that Andrew leaves the living world for good.