Doubtful that they'd just unceremoniously kill off one of the main four. Some of the (non-Kenny) boys have been shot before and survived.

We all love Randy, and the Marsh family being destroyed in this way would be pretty devastating for the show. They are renewed through season 23. I could see it happening for real in the actual final season. They say, fuck it, let's kill everyone.

The cancelsouthpark thing is, IMO, them wanting to get super edgy and controversial again. No doubt they have people go over the episodes before they're finalized. If they really wanted to be canceled they wouldn't renew their contract, and they'd deliberately show things that the network said they couldn't, like uncensored Mohammed, and extreme violence, nudity, etc. Why didn't we see kids being brutally shot to death? Exactly. It's a gimmick, and I hope, a good one that makes the show edgy again like the first few seasons way back when.

...

But, still, I can't lie. There is a lingering "what if..." in the back of my mind. I think many would agree (IMO) that Stan is the least popular of the original four boys, he and Kyle are very similar, and Kyle's conflicts with Cartman are a staple of the show. What does Stan do, really? He's the voice of reason, sure, but then, so is Kyle. And they considered killing one of them off in Season 6. And Randy could still be on the show in a different capacity.

And maybe they want to make a point, a very shocking point, about people being more upset about a dead cartoon character than school shootings. But you'd think they'd wanna make it more dramatic by showing it rather than an off-screen death.

Anyway, guess we'll have to wait until next week.