Brian's death was temporary; he was saved two episodes later in "Christmas Guy" (S12E08) when Stewie encountered a past version of himself with a time pad. Viewing Context on XRYSOI
The Griffin family holds a funeral where everyone (except a distracted Quagmire) mourns his loss. Watch www xrysoi se Family Guy S12E06
After a time-travel mission to 17th-century Jamestown goes wrong, Stewie decides to destroy his time machine to prevent further history-altering mistakes. Brian's death was temporary; he was saved two
Producer Seth MacFarlane later revealed the death was a way to "shake things up" and demonstrate how much the audience cared for the character. Brian's death was temporary
The episode caused a massive stir upon its release, as Brian was considered a core protagonist.
Over 100,000 fans signed a petition on Change.org demanding Brian's resurrection.