Did ‘Wizards Beyond Waverly Place’ kill off Selena Gomez?

It’s not every day a Disney show dares to kill off a fan-favorite character… or did they?

In part 2 of the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place season 2 finale, Selena Gomez’s wizard Alex Russo makes her long-awaited return. But instead of a happy ending, viewers were left sad and confused, as it seems the Wizards of Waverly Place sequel may have killed off its original star in an emotionally charged moment.

Even though her sacrifice feels painfully final, is Alex really gone for good?

What happens to Alex in the Wizards Beyond Waverly Place season 2 finale?

In the dramatic Wizards Beyond Waverly Place season 2 finale, Alex sacrifices herself to save her family and her long-lost daughter, Billie (Janice LeAnn Brown). 

During a tense encounter with the dark wizard Lord Morsus (Tobias Jelinek), Alex regains her lost memories and remembers she once used the Cerebellum Erasus spell to wipe her, Justin (David Henrie), and Billie’s (Janice LeAnn Brown) minds years ago to protect her daughter from Morsus, who is also revealed to be Billie’s grandfather.

Speaking of the evil wizard, he uses Billie and her powers to open a rift between the mortal world and the realm of dark magic. As Alex begins to cry while watching Billie struggling, her tears open a locket that she found earlier in the finale. When the locket opens, it restores a shared memory that reveals Alex is Billie’s mom.

In the memory, Alex cries as she and Justin drop off a young Billie at WizTech. Billie says she doesn’t want to go, but Alex tells her, “I would do anything to be with you, but right now, there’s someone out there trying to find you, and I can’t let that happen.”

Justin then appears, telling Alex she’s doing the right thing because Billie’s grandfather cannot know the young wizard exists. Alex promises Billie they’ll find each other again before casting the spell on herself, Billie, and Justin.

Back in the present, it’s revealed that the only way to close this portal is from the other side. Billie offers to close it herself, but Alex steps up and makes the ultimate sacrifice. To save her daughter, she grabs Morsus and throws both of them into the portal to seal it shut.

The finale ends with the Russos and Billie mourning Alex, but Justin promises that they will find her again someday.

In a recent interview with TVLine, Henrie dished about the finale and shared he “knew that everyone was going to freak out.”

He continued, “For seven months, I was just waiting for the moment [the cast] got to read the script with the ending. When we finally read it, everyone cried at the table read with all the executives and all the different folks that work on the show. Everyone was just deeply moved and touched. It was exactly what I had hoped for.”

Is Alex Russo really dead?

Fans of Wizards of Waverly Place aren’t handling Alex’s apparent death all too well. After the sacrifice scene went viral on social media, multiple viewers shared their heartbreak over the beloved wizard’s supposed demise — though, as Gomez sings in the opening theme, everything is not what it seems.

Alex isn’t necessarily gone forever; she’s technically just stuck in the world of dark magic. While her fate remains uncertain, it’s entirely possible she’s still alive and already finding her way back to her daughter. 

Henrie is also keeping hope alive by reminding fans that when it comes to the Russo’s, even the hardest problems can be solved with a little bit of magic.

“Just so you know, Alex Russo is tougher than you think — and there’s a lot more to come,” he teased in an October 8 post on X. “You’re asking all the right questions. Stay tuned, #WizardsBeyond has got some magical surprises up our sleeves.”

Where can I watch Wizards Beyond Waverly Place?

The first two seasons of Wizards Beyond Waverly Place are currently streaming on Disney+. You can also watch all four seasons of Wizards of Waverly Place on the streamer.