Who Dies In Suits Season 9 & Why Is It Important?

USA's popular legal drama "Suits" concluded at the end of its ninth season, which aired between July and September of 2019. In total, the series lasted for 134 episodes following its premiere in June 2011. With only two episodes of its ninth and final season remaining, protagonist Harvey Specter (Gabriel Macht) suffers a serious loss when his mom, Lily (Brynn Thayer), suddenly dies of a heart attack.

By this point in the show, viewers know that Harvey's relationship with his mother is complicated, most significantly because of a time he discovered her cheating on his father during his childhood. Harvey ultimately decides to forgive her and apologize for writing her out of his life after his partner, Donna Paulsen (Sarah Rafferty), makes a concerted effort to get them to make up. Unfortunately, after he decides to reconcile with her in Season 9, Episode 7, he learns of her death at the conclusion of the very next episode.

So, while he doesn't necessarily resent his mom anymore by the time she dies, he has to come to terms with the fact that their relationship could have further improved had they reconciled sooner, imbuing the triumph of his forgiveness with an acutely tragic undercurrent.

Of course, while losing a parent is significant enough in and of itself, the impact of Lily's death is compounded by a number of difficulties in his life befitting the fact "Suits" was at that point nearing its series finale.

In the lead-up to the event, in the Season 8 finale, Robert Zane (Wendell Pierce) defends Harvey during an ethics hearing and as a result becomes disbarred. Then, in Season 9, Harvey's friend Samantha Wheeler (Katherine Heigl) is fired for manufacturing evidence in a case that Harvey desperately wants her to win, on the other side of which is Faye Richardson (Denise Crosby). So, when Donna lets him know that his mother suffered a fatal heart attack, his existing hardships are only intensified.

Moving forward, Harvey is in the midst of an attempt to get Faye to step down from her position as partner at Specter Litt Wheeler Williams in response to Samantha's somewhat unjust firing. While it seems like the loss of his mother during this pivotal time might hinder his efforts, especially amidst some manufactured discord between him and Samantha, he ends up successful and triumphant in the series finale. Furthermore, at his story's conclusion, he marries Donna after her involvement in the ordeal with his mom — in fact, perhaps Lily's passing brought them closer to one another.