History Main / ReleasedToElsewhere

'''Humperdinck:''' ''(loudly)'' I swear it will be done.\\
'''Humperdinck:''' ''(sotto voce to Count Rugen)'' Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.\\
'''Count Rugen:''' ''(sotto voce)'' I swear it will be done.

* ''Series/TheSopranos'': Appears to be played straight with Tony Soprano though it's subverted in that his father actually ''does'' send the dog to live with a nice family.
-->'''Tony:''' Father told me he took him to live on a farm.
-->'''Bobby:''' That's what they always say. That same farm must have 17 billion dogs on it. Dogshit up to the rafters.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS30E11TurnLeft Turn Left]]" features a ForWantOfANail AlternateTimeline where Donna never met (and saved the life of) the Doctor, which leads to London being nuked, the country full of homeless refugees, France's borders closed and the USA's financial aid cancelled due to the Adipose disaster. Finally, the British government starts rounding up immigrants and putting them in "work camps". Wilfred, a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII veteran, immediately realises what's ''really'' going on.

* ''VideoGame/AmericanArcadia'': You do not go to Fiji if you become an Edge Travel Grant winner. This is also how American Arcadia makes people within Arcadia not suspect anything is wrong when someone is never seen again, as they'll assume they're on vacation and not dead.

* ''WebVideo/PiratesSMP'': A few days after capturing [[spoiler:Marnie]], the Hooded Figures inform [[spoiler:Owen]] that she has been "released" from imprisonment, which is what he reiterates to everyone else who has gotten captured in the meantime. The truth is that [[spoiler:Marnie has been petrified and]] is effectively dead; [[spoiler:Owen]] and everyone else don't find out about this until after escaping from imprisonment themselves on Day 76.

'''Humperdinck:''' [''loudly''] I swear it will be done.\\
'''Humperdinck:''' [''sotto voce to Count Rugen''] Once we're out of sight, take him back to Florin and throw him in the Pit of Despair.\\
'''Count Rugen:''' [''sotto voce''] I swear it will be done.

-->'''Dad''': Kids, sometimes when dogs get a little older... moms and dads... send them away to a nice farm.\\
'''Mom''': And that's what we did with Noodles. He's at a big farm upstate, with lots of dogs to play with. And, hey -- remember how Noodles loved avocadoes? Well, he's on this farm, and they've got avocadoes growing on every tree.\\
'''Son''': Oh, wow!\\
'''Daughter with Pigtails''': I'm gonna miss him, but I'm glad he's happy.\\
'''Daughter with [[SmartPeopleWearGlasses Glasses]]''': Wait a minute, you said the farm was upstate?\\
'''Mom''': Uh, yeah.\\
'''Daughter with Glasses''': [[ConvictionByContradiction Well, unless New York state has undergone some kind of drastic climate shift, I doubt you'd find avocado trees there.]]

--> '''Man On The Phone:''' Hey, you're doing great! Most people don't last this long! I mean... y'know. [[ReleasedToElsewhere They usually move on to other things by now]]. [[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial I'm not implying that they died]]. [[VerbalBackspace That's not what I meant]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', in the [[MultipleEndings ending of the game]] where [[spoiler:Papyrus becomes King of the Underground, he'll talk about how he misses his friends. Sans says they went on a long vacation, and Papyrus wishes they'd send a postcard - but they're actually dead, having been killed by the player earlier in the game.]]

--> '''Andy:''' Dad took them out for a swim. Said they needed the exercise. They never came back. And then one day neither did he...Sure miss those kittens though.

[[folder:Web Originals]]
* In the finale of ''Literature/TheSalvationWar'', just as the human army is getting ready to storm the capital of Heaven - the Eternal City (or just [[NukeEm Nuke It]]) a word gets around that "[[GodIsEvil Yahweh]] has gone into seclusion for a long period of meditation and contemplation, leaving the throne to his trusted general [[TheDragon Michael]]". The GenreSavvy Thai General immediately remarks: "Ah, so Michael killed him." [[spoiler: She's right, of course]].
* When WebVideo/{{Bobsheaux}} reviewed WesternAnimation/GumbyTheMovie, Bob imagines this discussion when he notices the dog in the movie is different from the dog in the shorts.
-->'''Gumby:''' Dad, have you seen my dog, Nopey?
-->'''Gumbo:''' [[InvokedTrope We, uh, sold him to a farm where he'll be happier.]]
-->'''Gumby:''' [[FridgeLogic But we live on a farm.]]
-->'''Gumbo:''' [[BrutalHonesty Your dog's dead, kid!]]
* ''Website/SCPFoundation''

* In ''WebVideo/SpaceJanitors'', clone soldiers are supposedly retired to the resort world Pyus Dunes after their four-year Term of Service. Every non-clone has their own theory on what *really* happens. [[spoiler: They really are sent to Pyus Dunes to live out their remaining six years in peace.]]'

* The habit of many parents to tell their children that "the dog was given to a farm somewhere".

* ''ComicBook/DarkTimes'': The ''Fire Carrier'' arc features a refugee camp on the frontier planet of Arkinnea. At irregular intervals, the local militia selects a hundred or so refugees to transport to land that's ready for settlement. What really happens is that the militia (who resent sharing their homeworld with outsiders, many of whom fought against them in the Clone Wars) murder those refugees by opening the bomb bay doors of the titular carrier while hovering hundreds of feet in the air. Both the Imperial officer overseeing the camp and the group of Jedi hiding there are horrified to find out what's going on and make sure the militiamen get their just desserts.

* In ''The Girl Of The Golden West'', Johnson tries to invoke this on himself: his last request before hanging is that the Girl should never know how his life really ended; he'd rather her think that he escaped, went East and started a new life. In the original play, he is allowed to talk privately with her while the boys keep guard outside and persuade her to make a IWillWaitForYou promise. However, once the Girl finds out, a LastMinuteReprieve ensues, and he departs for the East together with her, both alive and well.

* Inverted in ''Invitation To The Game'' (not [[TheGame that one]]). The eponymous Game is an immersive simulation of being stranded on a habitable but unpopulated alien planet. Player groups that do well enough [[spoiler:get sent to the real thing, and are reported dead back home]]. Played with even further in that this leads to skewed average life expectancies.

* The titular island in ''Film/TheIsland''. [[spoiler: In reality, there is no "lottery" and the clones are "chosen" when their originals need spare parts.]]

* There is a double whammy in Asimov's ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves'' book. The young Soft Ones are told that they "go on" at the end of their life cycle. Later the rebellious Dua says that "go on" is a euphemism for death and they shouldn't mince words. But still later we learn that they DON'T die, but morph into a more advanced lifeform. (They have to be ignorant of the morphing process for it to work properly; hence the vague term "go on"). [[spoiler: And then we finally find out that their personalities disappear during the morphing process, so they do effectively die.]]

* In the prologue of ''VideoGame/WeHappyFew'', Arthur passes by the office of a co-worker who's "on holiday". As he's coming down off [[GovernmentDrugEnforcement his perpetual Joy high]], Arthur takes in the rotting fruit baskets and collapsing "WELCOME BACK" sign and realizes that whatever happened to Prudence, she's never coming back.

* In ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'', those that try to cheat the law and not pay to use a public toilet are sent to Urinetown, and not even the daughter of the villain knows what or where it is. [[spoiler: It turns out to be, at least in Bobby Strong's case, being thrown off the top of the UGC headquarters building.]] This is played with early on (well before the official Reveal) when [[LemonyNarrator Officer Lockstock]] admits that if they just yelled [[spoiler:"There is no Urinetown! We just kill people!"]], there'd be no dramatic tension.

* In chapter 128 of ''LightNovel/TheHeroLaughsWhileWalkingThePathOfVengeanceASecondTime'', it's revealed that the cover story Millanis's home village spins about where she and her mother went is that they were shipped off to another village to "atone for the sin of deceiving the townsfolk" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). Only Kirel, Millanis's ChildhoodFriend, for whom Lucia, her other ChildhoodFriend, would happily MurderTheHypotenuse, believes it.
* In ''LightNovel/HeavyObject'' the Faith Organization opened a factory that employed the residents of Giant Pizza. The hexavalent chromium used in the factory would eventually make them sick at which point they would disappear. Giant Pizza citizens became convinced the Faith Organization was transporting the sick workers to a dedicated hospital when they were actually being quietly executed and buried in the surrounding desert. The Faith Organization was intrigued as they never actually made any indication this was the case and viewed the belief as a pseudo-religion.

* ''Literature/UseOfWeapons'' features a blatantly Nazi-esque tyrant who rounds up ethnic minorities and puts them on trains -- supposedly to resettle them elsewhere, but they're actually immediately killed. The SociopathicHero gives an IronicEcho when he comes for the guy -- at first telling him he'll be humanely imprisoned in Literature/TheCulture, he compares this to being resettled, and then starts talking about the actual fate of the guy's subjects. He reassures him that [[HopeSpot The Culture is not nearly so harsh]]. [[spoiler:Then he tells him he is no longer affiliated with The Culture, and kills the tyrant.]]

** A variation occurs in [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime]]. The people that Father Cornello resurrects are only ever seen behind a veil, and immediately leave town once they're fully regenerated. [[spoiler:They were never actually resurrected, Cornello just uses a chimera made of parrots to mimic their voice]].