Warning: contains spoilers for The Death of Doctor Strange #4!
The reason for Doctor Strange's death pays off his origin with a tragic sense of irony. Readers learn of this fact in the final pages of Death of Doctor Strange #4. The series is written by Jed MacKay with art by Lee Garbett, colors by Antonio Favela, and lettering by Cory Petit.
It's no surprise that The Death of Doctor Strange began with the titular character's murder, but what was shocking was that the Sorcerer Supreme's hands were also severed after he was killed. Much to everyone's surprise, a younger version of Doctor Strange appeared to investigate his own murder. Now, working with Clea, Sorcerer Supreme of the Dark Dimension, Doctor Strange seeks to blame Baron Mordo for his demise, especially after Strange's Eye of Agamotto and Cloak of Levitation are found in his possession. But Mordo denies being the murderer, leading to a dark revolution of who really killed the mystical hero.
Instead, Strange deduces the murderer to be Mordo’s disciple, Kaecilius, who was bitter after his master failed to rescue him when Doctor Strange exiled him to the Purple Dimension. Kaecilius cut off Strange's hands in order transplant them onto his own arms, thus imbuing himself with Strange’s power. This is an incredibly ironic twist on Strange's origin. Once a respected surgeon, Stephen Strange became a mystic in order to heal his hands after a terrible accident. Instead, Strange became a master of the mystic arts and Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme, ultimately imbuing his hands with so much power that he was killed so Kaecilius could take them as his own.
As of yet, it hasn’t been revealed how Kaecilius was able to overpower Doctor Strange so easily in the first issue of the series, and in Strange's own Sanctum Sanctorum no less, but it's clear that while revenge was on his mind in framing Mordo for Strange's death, the power he gained from Stephen's hands is an even greater prize. Strange's journey began with his selfish desire to restore his hands and regain his status, but his pursuit of magic changed him for the better. Sadly, that very journey turned his hands into an irresistible prize, and the end of Stephen's time as Earth's Sorcerer Supreme is a dark reflection of how it began.
While comic fans are used to heroic deaths being reversed, the focus of the title and the fact that a new Sorcerer Supreme has already been revealed suggest it'll be a while before readers see Doctor Strange again. That his death comes with such tragic irony is a meaningful send-off for the character, and one which will hopefully be rendered even more satisfying when the miniseries concludes with the final battle against Kaecilius in Death of Doctor Strange #5, which is set to hit comic store shelves on January 26.