Relationships are not always a permanent state of being, especially when it comes to the various states of books, television, and film. The Daily Crate recently discussed some of the ships that went the distance in pop culture, which you can read here!
On the other side of those time-tested relationships, there are the ones that we want to happen with every fiber of our being, but never end up happening. We’re going to take a look at some of those ships that sunk, right before our eyes.
Just as a refresher, let’s look at the definition of shipping once more:
Shipping (verb): the desire by fans for two or more people, either real-life people or fictional characters (in film, literature, television etc.) to be in a relationship, romantic or otherwise.
Matt Murdock and Claire Temple from Marvel/Netflix’s Daredevil
This one. This is the one that just needed to happen. It had all its moments, it had all the right bits of timing and tension and then, well, it didn’t. Fans of the comic books know that Claire is part of Luke Cage’s life and story, having her introduced within the first season of Daredevil was a good way to show fans the television version of the character and give Matt Murdock a romantic plotline, even if it was destined to go nowhere. What fans were given were great moments of back and forth dialogue, a lot of shirtless Charlie Cox, and that one heck of a steamy kiss. You know, this one:
((Marvel/Netflix))
But in the end, Claire has Luke Cage…so that’s not that bad of a trade-off at all!
Alex Danvers and Maggie Sawyer from Supergirl
I wanted Alex and Maggie to be together forever. The couple, aptly nicknamed “Sanvers,” blossomed from friendship to relationship before viewers eyes in good, sometimes painful, ways. I say painful in the sense that their relationship had to grow through realization and Alex coming to term with the fact that she liked women and to embrace her sexuality, Maggie being the one to help bring those feelings to the surface and eventually helped her to admit it to both herself and others.
While the two were engaged to marry one another, this current season airing on the CW brought the “Sanvers” relationship to an end, as the couple could not come to terms over what each other wanted when it came to starting a family. The ending of this relationship came as a bittersweet moment to fans of the show, where took to social media to air their feelings about the loss of the one queer couple featured on Supergirl.
Echo and Paul Ballard from Dollhouse
((Fox))
Oh Dollhouse, how you broke us. Besides being completely underrated as a television show and quite possibly too ahead of its time for when it was airing, Dollhouse also brought us the relationship of Echo, the lead character, and her handler, Paul Ballard. Everything about these two was complicated. I guess that is what happens when you’re in charge of someone who can be imprinted with any personality and can essentially cycle through them at will. There was plenty of back and forth between these two. She had feelings, he had feelings, feelings were squashed because the world was essentially going to end, etc. Things can get in the way of relationships in the worst of circumstances. And while this relationship did have its moments where the two were very much together and happy, sometimes ships end because of the worst of circumstances. Spoiler Alert: In this case, Paul is shot in the head right before Echo’s eyes. That is one way to completely sink a ship.
Petyr Baelish and Lysa Arryn from Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire
Love is an open moon door. Oh, was that too harsh? This ship was probably one that only Lysa thought was actually true when in the end it was just a ruse by the dastardly Peytr. Why do people trust this guy in any situation? He knows how to play the game of thrones quite well, doing everything in his power to well, take power. Playing the game includes getting the sister (Lysa) of the woman he loved (Catelyn Stark) to fall for him, give him power, and then be thrown from a small circular door with the deadliest of drops. Now that is not how you fall in love.
Malcolm Reynolds and Inara Serra from Firefly and Serenity
((Fox))
While this couple never actually got together on screen, the chemistry that viewers were able to see on screen was enough to keep this ship flying high throughout the ‘Verse. Throughout the episodes and the film, the back and forth between the Companion and Captain Tight Pants continuously shed light on their relationship. No, they were not just shipmates, seeing as Inara rented out one of Mal’s shuttlecraft in the Serenity, but they were part of the familiar crew that fans know and love.
They cared for one another, fought like two people in a relationship would, and in the end, had each other’s backs in time of need. Besides, who else but Captain Mal would take on a duel with a master swordsman, even though he knew nothing of swords? Possibly taking a sword to the death for someone? Now that’s true love.
