Iain Armitage Dedicates Emotional Post to “Young Sheldon” Costar Ahead of Series Finale: 'Love You'

The 15-year-old actor paid tribute to a character who died in the sitcom's penultimate episode on May 9

This post contains spoilers from the May 9 episode of Young Sheldon.

Iain Armitage is saying goodbye to Young Sheldon — and a member of his on-screen family.

The 15-year-old actor, who has been portraying Sheldon Cooper in the Big Bang Theory spinoff since he was 9, shared a short but sweet post on May 10 following the CBS sitcom’s penultimate episode on May 9.

In the episode, titled “A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture,” Sheldon faced a major tragedy: the death of his father, George Cooper Sr., after suffering a heart attack.

The death was not unexpected, as it was previously established in The Big Bang Theory that George (played by Lance Barber) died when Sheldon was 14, but it still hit hard with fans — and Armitage himself.

Related: See Jim Parsons and Mayim Bialik Bicker Like an Old Married Couple in Young Sheldon Series Finale (Exclusive)

In his post, the teen actor shared two photos, a Young Sheldon still of Sheldon and George interacting, and a smiley, behind-the-scenes selfie of himself and Barber.

And, nodding to George’s final episode on the show ahead of its May 16 finale, Armitage wrote, “Love you, George! Love you, Lance!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.”

Another Young Sheldon star — Zoe Perry, who portrays George’s on-screen wife, Mary Cooper — also had an emotional reaction to the events of the May 9 episode.

Even though she knew George would die of a heart attack, she was still caught off guard by the news, Perry, 40, told TVLine ahead of the episode.

Recalling her first glance at the episode — in which George’s friends deliver the news of his death as the Cooper family plans a move to Houston — Perry said, "As I started to read it, to see all of the plans being made — the excitement, [Missy Cooper]’s excitement — I was tearing up just reading that.”

"The loss was so incredible,” she said, adding, “It was a loss of a future.”

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Reflecting on the end of Young Sheldon, Armitage chatted with PEOPLE about his seven years on the series — and what lies ahead.

"It's been half my life, which is kind of wild to think about, but just so fun, so wonderful, and I couldn't have asked for a better way to grow up,” he said, adding, “Every single person I get to work with, I feel so honored to get to be working with and get to be their costar or … get to be part of their work and part of their livelihood.”

Related: Annie Potts Says Young Sheldon Could Be Her 'Last Rodeo' as Show Nears End

Armitage also said he wants to take on a project that is the “exact opposite end of the spectrum” of his stint on the CBS sitcom.

“It's funny, because I've had so much fun getting to do this character for seven awesome years that it would be cool to do something … just completely different from Sheldon in every way,” he told PEOPLE.

"I would love to do something indie, maybe something action, maybe something sci-fi, just something super different and weird,” he added. “Like a drama, again, kind of Big Little Lies."

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