Roy's death also makes the viewer realize their investment in these wonderfully crafted characters. I was watching the series over with my nephew, who is 7, and I wasn't sure if I should have shown him that episode. After much deliberation, I decided to go ahead and let him see it. He was a greatly saddened, but he but his interest and understanding became more complex after that episode. His questions became more intuitive beyond 'why do they have such big hair?' He actually learned the difference between each type of VFs, when Hikaru started piloting the skull. In the end I'm glad, because he asked what happened to the 1J and why Hikaru was flying Roys Valkyrie, which meant I had to reveal Roy's death anyway...