Did Family Guy Just Kill Off the Giant Chicken For Good?

Family Guy Season 23 has been introducing some major shake ups to the long running animated series for its episodes thus far, and the newest episode might have gone in the wildest direction yet as Ernie the Giant Chicken might have been killed off for good. The Giant Chicken has been Peter Griffin’s greatest rival after he gave him a bad coupon back in Season 2, and the two have had massive fights tearing through town every time they see one another ever since. This has even been explored in different kinds of ways as Peter and Ernie realize they need one another to fuel their respective lives.

While the Giant Chicken has been a recurring presence in Peter’s life ever since they first fought in the second season, the character might have been fully killed off. In the latest episode of Family Guy, it’s Meg who ends up nearly fighting the Giant Chicken instead of Peter. But when the Giant Chicken realizes that Meg is a girl and he won’t hit her, Meg settles the fight in a whole new way by just cutting off his head and killing him.

Meg Kills the Giant Chicken

Family Guy Season 23 Episode 5 is titled “The Chicken and the Meg” and it involves Meg entering a reality TV dating show, and forming a connection with the Giant Chicken’s son, Nugget. Naturally, Peter is against the idea of Meg dating the son of his greatest rival and this gets to a point where Meg decides to go live with Nugget’s family instead. But through this, Meg also sees that the Giant Chicken and his family return the rivalry as well. They don’t like the Griffins as much as Peter doesn’t like their family, and are surprised at the fact that Meg doesn’t hate the Griffin Family either.

It’s here that the Giant Chicken and Meg get close to fighting, and soon after Meg cuts off his head. The last shot of the Giant Chicken is his head completely separated from his body and not teasing a revival or return like many of the other Giant Chicken outings. Because it’s done in this way without Peter being involved (as Meg has notably killed many people before according to smaller jokes and asides in previous seasons), this might be the final time we see the Giant Chicken at all. But hopefully that’s not the case.

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Why Family Guy Should Keep the Giant Chicken Alive

Family Guy has had multiple opportunities throughout the years to kill off the Giant Chicken, but has been bringing him back ever since. Although he has been killed off before in smaller throwaway gags, one of the best episodes of the series revealed that the Giant Chicken is truly an important part of Peter’s life. In “Fecal Matters,” the Giant Chicken nearly dies of an illness before Peter brings him back to life. Because while their lives are largely empty, the fact that they can fight at any time keeps them alive.

After this point, it’d seem weird to kill off such a notable character in such a way. Not only does it keep Peter from getting a true final victory over his long running foe, but it’s a wild moment for Meg that will likely be pushed under the rug anyway. Meg is notably a serial killer, but it’s funnier that no one addresses it. So adding the Giant Chicken to this fact would be a waste of the character. Let’s just hope he’ll be back soon enough to wreck Peter’s life once more.