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If you’re one of the Homeland fans who’s holding out hope that Quinn somehow survived that bloody Season 6 finale… well, we have an answer for you.

“Quinn is definitely dead,” executive producer Alex Gansa tells TVLine. If you’ll recall, back in Season 6, Rupert Friend’s ex-sniper character sacrificed himself to save Carrie and President-elect Keane, ramming his SUV through a barricade and taking a half-dozen bullets to the chest, and though some fans still think he may have lived through it — to be fair, Quinn survived a lot over the years — “I think the manner of his death was pretty definitive,” Gansa says.

He sympathizes with fans’ grief, of course, he adds, because the people behind the show feel it, too. “We went through the grieving process after Brody died, too, and Quinn managed to take Brody’s place in our fans’ hearts, and then we lost Quinn. But we lost both characters for good dramatic reasons,” Gansa maintains, noting that “Carrie takes all of these people who she’s lost with her wherever she goes.”

Despite his demise, Quinn and his strong connection with Carrie will still loom large in the Showtime thriller’s eighth and final season, debuting Sunday, Feb. 9 at 9/8c. In fact, “Quinn is really featured in the main titles” of Season 8, Gansa reveals, “as is Brody. These characters are part of the fabric that this show has woven over the course of the seasons. Though Quinn may not be physically alive, he’s certainly spiritually alive in every thing Carrie does.”

Want more scoop on Homeland, or for any other show? Email InsideLine@tvline.com and your question may be answered via Matt Webb Mitovich’s Inside Line.