Another 'True Blood' Favorite Bites the Dust [SPOILERS]

Fans of the "True Blood" series have been consistently shocked by this seventh and final season.

First, in the season opener, we lost Tara Thornton (Rutina Wesley), and last Sunday's third episode "Fire in the Hole" killed off another staple - the werewolf Alcide, played by the uber-ripped Joe Manganiello.

Although he's been a character on the show since season three, Alcide's death left many fans both horrified and unsatisfied when a few bullets to the chest and head put a quick end to his storyline.

"Honestly, I called it as soon as I read the finale last season," Manganiello told TVLine. "There was no way they could keep him around... On a show like this, where you're looking for vital characters to kill off, you've got to take out Alcide."

He went on to explain, and possibly spoil the ending for some of us, the reasoning behind the removal of Alcide.

"Storytelling-wise, you have to get Sookie (Anna Paquin) with Bill (Stephen Moyer); that's the beginning of this whole story. That's the A plot of the show. The B plot is Eric (Alexander Skarsgard)... I'm not even the C plot... I'm like indigo on the rainbow if Bill is red. Alcide would be a smart choice for her inevitable, but you can't have me wind up with her at the end.

"So, what? They're going to have her break up with me? they're going to have her break the heart of the best guy she knows? The guy who would do anything for her? They can't do that because then the audience is going to hate her for breaking his heart. That's why they had to kill him."

Tough break, Alcide! Apparently nice guys do finish last... or just get shot in the head.

Manganiello, unlike many "True Blood" fans, didn't mind his hasty exit.

"I die naked in the woods with nothing but my sock on," he said in a separate interview. "Given Alcide's track record on the show, I was like like, 'that's about right.'"

What did you think about Alcide's death?