Watch ‘The Simpsons’ Finally Reveal the Fate of Mrs. Krabappel

When Marcia Wallace passed away in October after battling breast cancer for 28 years, the folks running The Simpsons didn't give explicit details about what would become of the beloved Mrs. Krabappel. They only said that, somehow, the character would be "retired," and in the meantime they gave us that sweet opening sequence blackboard tribute.

Well, in case you missed it, last night's episode paid tribute to Wallace's Mrs. K. again, and this time they spelled it out for us. Apparently poor Ned Flanders is now a widower twice over.

Here's the scene, courtesy of the folks at Vulture:

Unfortunately we still don't know what exactly what happened to Edna, but the black armband and Edna's picture next to that of the late Maude Flanders give us a pretty good idea. Is it a bummer? Sure. But you had to figure it was coming. What were they going to do—have Mrs. K. run off with another guy or something?

In any case, presumably Edna's story will be told in greater detail in upcoming episodes. For now all we can do is tip our hats again to The Simpsons. Those folks know their way around a touching tribute.