History Main / ReleasedToElsewhere

* In the film ''GoyasGhosts'', Goya appeals for help from the disgraced priest turned Napoleonic dictator to find the daughter of a girl released from UsefulNotes/TheSpanishInquisition. When the dictator finds out he is the father of the child in prison (when he was still a priest), he escorts the girl quietly out the door (we don't hear what is said because Goya is deaf) and announces: ''"poor girl, she has been through so much... she will be well taken care of."'' We later find out [[spoiler:he sent her to a mental institution where she went crazy. In a twist, the dictator is executed and she remains loyal to him even in death.]]

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation''

* A failed example occurs in ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsI''. Ursula told [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Ariel]] that she'll help her see other worlds if she obtains the Triton from her estranged father, King Triton. Once Ariel followed that command, Ursula gloats to Ariel that she'll see other worlds, but in this case, it's the Realm of Darkness (or, as Ursula puts it, "the dark world of the Heartless"). However, since Flotsam and Jetsam cannot find the Keyhole, Urusla's intended genocide against Atlantica is foiled.

* In "The Marching Morons" by Cyril M. Kornbluth, the government of Earth solves an overpopulation problem by a massive PR campaign to convince people to emigrate to Venus. [[spoiler: They never get there.]]

** Between early 1942 and early 1943 the Extermination Camps of Treblinka, Bełżec, and Sobibór were designed to meet the specifications of the grand fiction that the "Undesirables" were being deported to somewhere in Germany's Eastern Empire. Of course, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready they had no intention of continuing to feed the "Unfit" elements and risk them transmitting diseases to the "Fit" elements as per previous policies]]. Apparently they managed to make these camps (which were remarkably small) look rather innocuous. Ostensibly each camp was just one more stop on the onward journey, where the deportees would either have a quick shower or be allocated and locked into slightly odd-looking vans for transport elsewhere.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft Turn Left]]" features a ForWantOfANail AlternateTimeline where Donna never met (and saved the life of the Doctor), which leads to London being nuked, the country full of homeless refugees, France's borders closed and the USA's financial aid cancelled due to the Adipose disaster. Finally, the British government starts rounding up immigrants and putting them in "work camps". Wilfred, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran, immediately realises what's ''really'' going on.

* Done rather literally in ''LetsPlay/TwitchPlaysPokemon''. It's called "releasing", but as for what ''actually'' happens, it's generally agreed that the released Pokemon are dead or are being used to power Bill's randomiser.

[[folder:Film]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''

* As related in Creator/ArtSpiegelman's ''ComicBook/{{Maus}}'': most of the 100,000 Jews who were still in [[UsefulNotes/NaziGermany Germany]] in 1939 (of a pre-1933 population of 500k) were elderly women. These really were ReleasedToElsewhere when the Ghettoes were dissolved, as they were sent to the 'show camp' of Theresienstadt. They were paraded around to demonstrate [[BlatantLies how nicely they were treating Undesirables]]. For example, the Red Cross was allowed to record a football match of Jewish prisoners.

* Invoked in several different programs of the {{UsefulNotes/Nazi|Germany}} UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust:

* Invoked in several different programs of UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust:

** Between early 1942 and early 1943 the Extermination Camps of Treblinka, Bełżec, and Sobibór were designed to meet the specifications of the grand Fiction that the Undesirables were being deported to somewhere in Germany's Eastern Empire. Of course, [[YouShouldKnowThisAlready they had no intention of continuing to feed the Unfit elements and risk them transmitting diseases to the Fit elements as per previous policies]]. Apparently they managed to make these camps (which were remarkably small) look rather innocuous. Ostensibly each camp was just one more stop on the onward journey, where the deportees would either have a quick shower or be allocated and locked into slightly odd-looking vans for transport elsewhere.

Features a lot in {{Dystopia}}n settings, particularly those that [[FalseUtopia pretend]] to be a {{Utopia}}, and the revelation of the AwfulTruth does not often happen until late in the story, meaning that most of the examples listed here will be '''spoilers'''. When the revelation actually happens, it's usually the moment the government of the setting [[KickTheDog Kicks the Dog]] or crosses the MoralEventHorizon and its true evil is revealed.

Features a lot in {{Dystopia}}n settings, particularly those that [[FalseUtopia pretend]] to be a {{Utopia}}, and the revelation of the AwfulTruth does not often happen until late in the story, meaning that most of the examples listed here will be spoilers. When the revelation actually happens, it's usually the moment the government of the setting [[KickTheDog Kicks the Dog]] or crosses the MoralEventHorizon and its true evil is revealed.

* In ''Franchise/TheElderScrolls'' series, [[MurderInc Morag Tong]] members speak of the secret island of Vounoura, the place all members must eventually go to for retirement if they become too infamous in the public eye or live long enough grow too old to carry out assassinations. There are some sinister implications about Vounoura though, most notably that the Morag Tong's leadership refuses to tell anything other than very vague details about the place. Furthering the [[ImpliedTrope implication]], it is known that the Grandmaster of the order is "honorably executed" by his successor. It would come as little surprise if this were the fate of other "retiring" members as well.

Compare NeverSayDie, DogGotSentToAFarm, ParentNeverCameBackFromTheStore, and DeadlyEuphemism. See WinYourFreedom. SisterTrope to NoLongerWithUs, when an innocent saying is mistaken for a euphemism for death. The TropeNamer is ''Literature/TheGiver''.

* The pet variant was parodied by Katie Cook on her [[https://twitter.com/katiecandraw/status/300789842223190016 Twitter]] after being asked by many readers about what happened to the [[FanNickname luvcats]] in the issue #3 of ''ComicBook/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicIDW'':

Features a lot in {{Dystopia}}n settings, particularly those that [[FalseUtopia pretend]] to be a {{Utopia}}, and the revelation of the AwfulTruth does not often happen until late in the story, meaning that most of the examples listed here will be spoilers. (When the revelation actually happens, it's usually the moment the government of the setting [[KickTheDog Kicks the Dog]] or crosses the MoralEventHorizon and its true evil is revealed.)

* In chapter 128 of ''LightNovel/NidomeNoYuusha'', it's revealed that the cover story Millanis's home village spins about where she and her mother went is that they were shipped off to another village to "atone for the sin of deceiving the townsfolk" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Only Kirel, Millanis's ChildhoodFriend, for whom Lucia, her other ChildhoodFriend, would happily MurderTheHypotenuse, believes it.

'''Humperdinck:''' [''sotto voice to Count Rugen''] Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.

* There is a double whammy in Asimov's ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves'' book. The young Soft Ones are told that they "go on" at the end of their life cycle. Later the rebellious Dua says that "go on" is a euphemism for death and they shouldn't mince words. But still later we learn that they DON'T die, but morph into a more advanced lifeform. (They have to be ignorant of the morphing process for it to work properly; hence the vague term "go on") .

* In the movie version of ''Film/TheRunningMan'', done with the incarcerated rather than the sick: The skeletons of three of "last year's winners" are found by the love interest in the middle of the movie. Because contestants are political dissidents, the government makes sure they're killed no matter what.
-->'''Amber''': They're running men. Last season's winners.
-->'''Fireball''': No. Last season's losers.

* ‘’Literature/TheTripods'' has the Masters’ human servants going to The Place of Happy Release when they’re no longer able to work. Will finds out they’re actually dying.

Features a lot in {{Dystopia}}n settings, particularly those that [[FalseUtopia pretend]] to be a {{Utopia}}, and the revelation of the AwfulTruth does not often happen until late in the story, meaning that most of the examples listed here will be spoilers. When the revelation actually happens, it's usually the moment the government of the setting [[KickTheDog Kicks the Dog]] or crosses the MoralEventHorizon and its true evil is revealed.

* The plot of the DarkFic ''Fanfic/PaintItGreenBlueBlack'' begins when Charlotte learns that her grandmother has lied to her for yeas by telling her that her dead parents were astronauts.

* One of the official excuses of the military junta that ruled Argentina from 1976-1983 concerning the fate of the hundreds (and eventually thousands) of people who were 'disappeared' by the Armed Forces was that they had simply gone into exile abroad. Many officers confessed to selecting people for "transfer" out of the secret prisons. Officers told remaining "disappeared" prisoners that the former inmates were "transferred" somewhere else. In reality, the "transferred" were summarily executed then buried in mass graves or incinerated. Others were drugged, tied to metal weights, put on cargo planes, and thrown overboard above the Atlantic Ocean.