Outer Banks fans have been left devastated after JJ Maybank was tragically killed off in season 4 part two.

The beloved character, played by Rudy Pankow, died in Kiara’s arms in heartbreaking scenes in the finale of the newly released episodes.

JJ was fatally stabbed by his own father Chandler Groff (played by J. Anthony Crane) in Morocco after he had pulled out a knife on Kiara (Madison Bailey) and tried to rob them of their treasure.

In a desperate attempt to save his girlfriend’s life, the Pogue offered his dad the crown – but he had his stomach slashed anyway.

As he took his final breath, JJ told Kiara: ‘Take care of the others. I love you, Kie.’

Outer Banks fan favorite character JJ Maybank was killed off in season 4 part two scenes

JJ – played by Rudy Pankow – succumbed to his injuries after being stabbed by his father

A montage of JJ’s life and treasured memories with the rest of the Pogues then played out, with Chase Stokes’ character John B paying an emotional tribute.

‘Everyone you know will die,’ he said. ‘Your father, your mother, and even your best friend.’

He continued: ‘I like to think it’s not so much how many years you get, but what you do with them.

‘And JJ packed it in. A whole life in those 20 years.’

John B added: ‘Adventure, romance. Some tough things, that was part of it too. Sacrifice. And friendship.

‘If JJ was the king of anything, he was the king of friendship. He held us all together. He was the best friend we ever had.’

Viewers were crushed by JJ’s untimely and unexpected death and slammed the character’s ‘horrible ending’ on social media.

Taking to X, one said: ‘JJ Maybank, you will forever be loved. The people’s prince. I’m sorry we couldn’t protect you from your actor, writers and cast drama. There’s no Outer Banks without you.’

He took his last breaths in the company of his girlfriend Kiara

Viewers were heartbroken by the ‘horrible ending’ and vented their frustrations on social media

‘JJ Maybank comes back, it can’t end like this,’ another said.

A third vented: ‘I seriously need to stop getting attached to characters that are traumatic. They never get a happy ending. JJ never got a single peaceful moment in all four seasons of Outer Banks, and now his final scene is all over my feed. I’m so hurt and heartbroken.’

Echoing a similar sentiment, another said: ‘There is no Outer Banks without JJ.

‘There is no pogues without one of the members, there is no s5 without JJ. A huge script hole and all this because the actors have personal problems between them.’

‘Sorry but there is literally NO Outer Banks without JJ Maybank,’ posted a fifth.

A sixth continued: ‘Taking everyone’s favourite character away? Whose decision was this? Horrible ending, it definitely won’t be the same without JJ.’

JJ’s shock death comes just days after Netflix announced it has renewed Outer Banks for a fifth and final season.

It was revealed earlier this week that Outer Banks would be returning for a fifth and final season

A newsletter called Dispatch to all Pogues was shared by creators and executive producers Jonas Pate, Josh Pate, and Shannon Burke on Monday, confirming the update.

In their statement the trio said that they got the idea to write the series when they came across a snapshot of teenagers ‘on a beach at dusk during a power outage’ in 2017.

‘At the time, seven years ago, it seemed impossible that we would really get to tell the whole five season story, but here we are, at the end of our fourth season, still chopping away,’ they penned.

Another part of the note read: ‘Now, with a little sadness, but also excitement, we’re putting Season Four behind us, and are turning to Season Five, in which we hope to bring our beloved Pogues home in the way we imagined and planned years ago.’

The letter continued: ‘The fourth season was our longest and hardest – but most rewarding – to produce.

‘The season ends with a feature length episode, which we think is our best, most powerful episode. We hope you feel the same way.’

Concluding their announcement, they said: ‘Season Five will be our last season, and we think it will be our best yet. We hope you’ll join us for one more paddle out to the surf break.’