When Is Ellen Pompeo’s Final ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Episode?

Ellen took to her Instagram after the premiere of Season 19 to give a tribute to Meredith and to thank the fans captioning:

I am eternally grateful and humbled by the love and support you have all shown me, Meredith GREY and the show for 19 seasons! Through it all….none of it …would have been possible without the best fans in the world. You all are RIDERS and you all have made the ride so fun and ICONIC!!I love you madly and appreciate you right back. This isn’t your first time on the rollercoaster… you know the show must go on and I’ll definitely be back to visit. With a lot of love and immense gratitude XoE

Ahead of the Feb. 23 episode of Grey’s Anatomy, a trailer dropped even writing that “Meredith Leaves Seattle” and has clips of her saying “Big last day!” and shots of her being toasted at a going away party. Meredith jokes that she will “probably be here next week.”

The promo definitely pulls at our heart strings and has fans wondering, is this truly the last time we’ll see Meredith Grey?

And thankfully, the answer to that question, is no. As mentioned earlier, Ellen will be in eight episodes this season, and this episode is only the seventh of the entire season. If that wasn’t confirmation enough, Ellen herself said that she would be back. Ellen told Entertainment Tonight, “For the record, it’s not really my final,” adding that, “It’s a little bit of a trick they’re playing on people.” Ellen did clarify that it is her, “final episode for a while.”

Even though we won’t be seeing Ellen much, we will still be hearing her since she will be doing the voiceovers at least for the rest of the season. And even after she’s gone, Ellen will remain on as an executive producer.

So goodbye for now Ellen, Meredith, Dr. Grey. We’ve cried, laughed, and danced it out with you. Thank you for teaching us how to persevere in times of hardship, how to move on in the deepest of griefs, and how to stand up for ourselves.