Moments pages are Spoilers Off. You Have Been Warned.
- The Reveal in the pilot. Especially painful for Morse, since it's implied that Rosalind Stromming's singing was what saved him from suicide.
- "Neverland":
- Thursday is shot, Morse is under arrest for his shooting, and the only people who could prove his innocence are either dead, in hospital, or drinking themselves into a stupor.
- A little before the end of the episode, Jakes tells Morse he can't go to Blenheim Vale as he relives his physical and sexual abuse there as a child. It's heavily hinted at earlier, but seeing the effects on Jakes and the other boys who were abused is pretty heartbreaking.
- Throughout the episode "Nocturne", we see that all pictures of the surviving daughter have the faces scratched out. "Bloody Catherine" was blamed for the murders and was locked away for the rest of her life in a sanitarium. At the end of the episode, after the truth has been revealed, we discover the truth: Catherine had Down Syndrome, and the pictures were damaged to hide the distinctive facial features. Her disability was probably why the killer left her alive, but made her an easy scapegoat. Especially heartbreaking is the fact that people with Down Syndrome are almost universally described as cheerful and friendly, and her expression in the picture matches.
- Joan Thursday leaving home at the end of "Coda", which echoes the Beatles song "She's Leaving Home" - right down to her parents' utterly distraught reactions when they wake up and discover that she's gone.
- Morse finding out his sergeant's exam never made it to the testing office, meaning he's automatically failed. After being so excited for it (including getting a new suit), he sounds almost like he's about to cry when he asks Bright what happened.
- "Icarus" has an absolute heartbreaker of an ending. This episode is bleak even by Endeavour's standards, but right at the end, George Fancy is killed in what appears to be a gang shootout. The kicker? He wasn't even supposed to be in the building. Nobody even gets the chance to start dealing with his death before the higher-ups break the Cowley team up.
- Bright's wife is seen battling cancer throughout series 6 & 7. He clearly loves her dearly and she makes a seemingly miraculous recovery ... only to suffer a fatal 'accident'. Bright's reaction as Thursday break the news to him is heartbreaking.
- When Bright tells Max about his wife's cancer, Max is quick to reassure him that he'll get in touch with the country's leading specialist - who turns out to be the one who made the diagnosis.
