Nine months since his death at 70 from pancreatic cancer, and from his final appearance on Days of Our Lives, soap legend Drake Hogestyn's longtime Days character, John Black, finally drew his last breath. When the residents of Salem last saw Hogestyn, the character he's played since 1986 was imparting some poignant words of wisdom on his grandson, Tate (Leo Howard). Though Hogestyn never returned, John soldiered on, getting caught up in a shocking amount of trouble before his tragic passing. As a spy for ISA (the show's fictional International Security Alliance), Black was dispatched to Estonia to the chagrin of wife Marlena Evans (Deidre Hall) and associate Steve Johnson (Stephen Nichols), who searched for him in vain. He was M.I.A. until the ISA brought him back in May, and the character was shown only from behind. Desperate to save Bo Brady (Peter Reckell) from sepsis, John and Steve broke into a lab to steal an experimental drug, but an explosion landed John in the hospital. Other Days characters have survived far worse than sepsis, lab explosions, and third-degree burns, but John wasn't so lucky. June 2's episode depicted his family's tearful bedside farewells while John lay in a full-body cast that obscured even his face. Marlena's goodbye proved especially poignant for longtime Days fans, who've rooted for the super-couple ("Jarlena" for the uninitiated) across their turbulent four decades together on screen. "For nearly four decades, Marlena Evans and I have loved the same man," Hall said in a statement shared after Hogestyn's death. "Marlena's John is an iconic hero, unfailingly rescuing her from all matter of villains. My acting partner was incredibly professional from the moment he entered the studio; flawless in his preparation and ready for any eventuality in any scene." Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more. The cycle of life continues at Days of Our Lives, however. In February, the Peacock soap cast Hank Northrop in an upcoming "short story arc." Northrop is the son of Wayne Northrop, who starred as Roman Brady on over 1,000 episodes of Days alongside Hall and Hogestyn, and who died in December at age 77.