Many "Grey's Anatomy" fans cried foul when creator Shonda Rhimes decided to cut Patrick Dempsey from the show. After all, the series isn't the same without the other half of the Meredith and Derek love story.

However, Rhimes was intent on keeping Derek dead, and she said that it really wasn't a difficult decision that she had to kill him off, reported Deadline.

She said, "Either Derek was going to walk out on Meredith and leave her high and dry, but then that would say that the love wasn't true over the last 11 years of the show. ... That would be untenable."

"He couldn't be the bad guy and walk out. The only way to make Meredith and Derek's magic remain true was to keep it frozen in time," she added.

Contrary to what fans think, it wasn't an impulse decision either. Rhimes said, "There had been a lot of discussions ,and we had been working for a long time, so those choices weren't easy for us."

Now that Derek is gone, what can viewers expect in the upcoming season? Here are some spoilers from TV Line:

1) The series will take off three months after the events of last season, and April is gone - making good on her threat of resuming overseas work, and leaving Jackson behind once again.

2) It will reportedly take on a "much lighter tone" after Derek's death. Rhimes shared, "Meredith is single and she is living this life that she's never thought she'd be living again... I guess the theme [of Season 12] is rebirth. That evolution for that character is beautiful" "

3) New cast member Martin Henderson may or may not be Meredith's new love interest, but Rhimes is insisting she doesn't know what she's going to do with him yet, and he won't appear until "the middle of the season."

4) Callie and Arizona will have new "pretty exciting" romances next season as well.

5) ABC President Paul Lee said that he's seen the pitch for next season. He said that it will be a whole new world for the series. According to Hollywood Life, the exec said, "The show reinvents itself again."

"Grey's Anatomy" will return for its 12th season in September, with Ellen Pompeo as Meredith Grey due until the end of the season, while Jessica Capshaw (Arizona) has just renewed another three years to remain in the show until May 2018.

Do you think the series will survive without the Mer/Der tandem, or is Derek's demise the beginning of the end for the series?