Jason Ralph Left 'The Magicians' After the Season 4 Finale — Could He Make a Comeback?

The Magician Season 4 finale left viewers completely aghast. Although it was long hinted at that one of the characters would be killed off, nobody expected it to be the protagonist, Quentin Coldwater (Jason Ralph). 

The drama series chronicled his first steps toward becoming a real magician, zooming in on the various struggles he faced during his time at the Brakebills University. That is, until now. 

Why did Jason Ralph leave The Magicians? Could he return for Season 5? 

"We felt like this character's journey was coming to an end. I could feel it in my bones and Jason felt the same way," told Sera Gamble, the executive producer of the show to E! News.

As Sera explained in the interview, the creators were determined to change the overall direction of the show, and killing off the main character was the easiest way to achieve that. They were in complete agreement with the actor throughout the process, and they parted on amicable terms.

"Quentin came in with a very specific purpose and a very specific set of life goals and challenges, and in a way, I'm not sure what we would have done with the character had he lived. It felt like the major question in his life is, ‘Is my life truly worth living? Was it a good thing that I didn't succeed in killing myself at 15 or 18?' He now has that answer: he mattered to these other people, and their lives are never going to be the same for knowing him," she told E! News.

As Sera emphasized throughout the interview, Jason's departure was an inevitability. However, she didn't add any details about her future plans for the show, and neither did she clarify which character will come to replace him. 

The actor took a similar stance in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. 

"It’s funny, it all felt kind of natural when we started talking about it before the season started," Jason told the outlet.

As Jason also explained, he was the only actor who knew what was going to happen in advance — and he had to show up on set every day with the heavy secret weighing down his chest.  

In fact, the rest of the cast shot the last scene he has ever been in without knowing that it would be the last. 

As Jason described, the producers came up with a simple, yet genius hack: to make sure the actors would give their best performances, they included a "dummy scene" in the script. As this had it, Quentin was supposed to die momentarily — only to be brought back to life shortly afterward. That, obviously, did not happen. 

Every piece of evidence seems to indicate otherwise. 

Jason didn't appear in the Season 5 trailer of The Magicians. What's more, as his website reveals, he is currently working on a new play, Bernie and Mikey's Trip to the Moon.