For weeks, the “Jeopardy!” phenomenon James Holzhauer had been unstoppable.

He set the record for the most money won in one episode, holds the second spot on the list, and the next 14 . Eleven times during his winning streak, he went a whole game without buzzing in incorrectly . For fans, the question was not whether he would surpass the $2.52 million Ken Jennings won during his record 74-game winning streak in 2004, but when.

The correct response:

What is never?

In the prerecorded episode that aired on Monday, Holzhauer’s “Jeopardy!” reign came to an end with his 33rd game, a tantalizing $58,484 shy of Jennings’s mark . The number of the day turned out to be $22,002, the amount that separated him from the winner, a librarian from Chicago named Emma Boettcher.

The surprising end caused even the famously dispassionate host to practically lose his composure.

“What a game!” Alex Trebek exclaimed after Boettcher’s final score popped up. “Oh my gosh!”

Holzhauer walked over to give Boettcher a high-five.

“Nobody likes to lose,” Holzhauer said in an interview. “But I’m very proud of how I did, and I really exceeded my own expectations for the show. So I don’t feel bad about it.”