Mason’s Death Explained, Gregg Sulkin Reacts

Warning: This interview spoils the events of the “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” series finale.

The four-part series finale of “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place,” which aired August 4 on Disney Channel, pit the Russo family against the nefarious Nicodemus Penwulf (Tobias Jelinek) for one last battle — and not everyone made it out alive.

Following the dramatic events of the Season 2 finale, this shortened final outing centered around Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown) rescuing Alex (Selena Gomez), who was recently revealed to be Billie’s biological mother, from a mysterious alternate dimension. Doing so also required Billie to reunite with her estranged father Damien (Brandon Micheal Hall), who also happens to be Nicodemus’ son. Hey, families are complicated sometimes.

While navigating her way through the various dimensions, Alex also reunited with alternate versions of her childhood BFF Harper (Jennifer Stone) and ex-boyfriend Mason (Gregg Sulkin), the latter of whom was revealed to be — wait for it — dead. In this reality, Alex and Harper were still roommates, and Harper convinced Alex that Mason was coming over to propose. But when the big moment arrived, things didn’t go quite as Harper predicted.

“I can’t propose to you… and you know why,” Mason told Alex. “Think about it. This isn’t how it’s supposed to be. Why can’t I propose to you?” After taking an emotional beat, Alex replied, “Because you’re dead. You’re gone. That’s why all of this feels weird, it’s not real.”

So, why did “Wizards Beyond Waverly Place” bring back Mason, whom Alex was still dating at the end of the original series, only to reveal that he passed away at some point between the two shows? The answer is simple — and also extremely complicated.

“We always wanted to bring Mason back, but it’s a double-edged sword any route you choose,” star and executive producer David Henrie tells TVLine. “Let’s say they broke up, fans would be furious because they were the ‘best relationship ever.’ You know, how could you break them up and then have her go with a different guy? That doesn’t make any sense. And then why do we even bring him back? So it was a double-edged sword, and the cleanest version was to kill him.”