For years, fans of the HBO series “The Sopranos” have scratched their heads, wondering if the show’s beloved mob boss, Tony Soprano, was killed in the final episode of the series. It only took seven years after the finale, but there is now an answer to that question.

The show’s series finale, titled “Made in America,” aired on June 10, 2007. But it is hardly viewed as a conclusion. The abrupt cut to a black screen at the end of the episode was not the resolution fans were anticipating. That ending created more questions than it provided answers. And the main question it left in the minds of many viewers was about the fate of Tony Soprano.

That final episode, watched by 11.9 million viewers during its initial airing, has been hailed, criticized, debated, and overanalyzed by fans and academics alike. On Wednesday, August 27, Vox posted a lengthy piece by film professor Martha P. Nochimson in which she reveals the answer she received from series creator David Chase about Tony’s fate.

She explains how she asked Chase about Tony's fate: “We were in a tiny coffee shop, when, in the middle of a low-key chat about a writing problem I was having, I popped the question. Chase startled me by turning toward me and saying with sudden, explosive anger, ‘Why are we talking about this?’ I answered, ‘I’m just curious.’ And then, for whatever reason, he told me.

The answer? As the article states, "He shook his head ‘no.’ And he said simply, ‘No he isn’t.’ That was all."

Chase also explained that the cut to black at the end of the episode is based on Edgar Allen Poe’s poem “Dream Within a Dream,” which is about the struggle to determine what is reality and what is fantasy.

So, finally, fans have an answer. Tony Soprano isn't dead. That is, unless a frustrated Chase was simply blowing off Nochimson's question.