Will the writers of “Homeland” attempt to throw the perfect curveball? And kill either Nicolas Brody (Damian Lewis) or Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes)? In the land of spies and terrorists, wouldn’t it be the ultimate pull-the-rug ‘neath the viewers move? Will they have enough guts to kill the bipolar spy or the unpredictable terrorist?

Most “Homeland” fans are probably going to be shocked—they’ll go through the four stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining and depression in 7 days, before they accept the new fact on the next episode. Still, it’s the most stimulating twist that can change the complexion of the entire series, which only means that fans will get more excited about the best drama-thriller in television today.

Over at sportsbet.com.au, betting odds are available on which major persona will be the first to die in the series.

Homeland Betting Odds – First Main Character to Die
 Quinn 2.0
Saul 3.75
Brody 4.0
Carrie 6.0

Before we go to the (dead) meat of the topic, here’s a brief explanation of those numbers:

The simple formula is: X (amount of bet) x Betting Odds = Payout

It’s simple math, too. A wager of $100 on Quinn (2.0) to die first will get a total payout of $200 or $100 winnings. A bet $100 on Carrie (6.0) will get a total payout of $600 or $500 winnings.

Let’s (over)analyse each character and their chances of being shot to the head or being blown to pieces by a bomb (from the favourites to the underdog)

Peter Quinn (Rupert Friend) – Clearly the 2.0 betting line means that he is the most expandable among the main characters. And equally clear is the fact that he is the most at risk among our “Homeland” heroes. Remember, he already got shot in the stomach in “A Gettysburg Address” (Season 2, Episode 6) although he survived the attack of that (terrorists) assault team.

Do note, however, that Quinn already had a chance to kill Brody in "Two Hats" (Season 2, Episode 9), meaning he could have bet $10,000 on Brody to die first and he'd make a killing with the $40,000 payout.

Saul Michael Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) – At a betting line of 3.75, it appears that betting on Saul’s death has more value than the other three. Yes, Quinn is the “action guy” and Saul is more the character who’s contented in pulling the strings.

However, there’s indeed a hidden value here. Remember, he is still a bit depressed in not being directly promoted as a CIA director and then, since he’s with the agency for 35 years already, he probably knows, too, that his wife, Mira Berenson (Sarita Choudhury) is sleeping with a former lover.

This depression could lead Saul to shoot his own head— ecstasy to those who will wager on Saul to die first.

The best bang for buck comes in betting for Carrie or Brody though. It is far-fetched to think that “Homeland” writers will attempt to kill the two main characters that have run the show for nearly three seasons now.

But hey, George R.R. Martin kills them like flies in “Game of Thrones”, so what’s stopping the brains behind “Homeland” to go that route and pull off the ultimate surprise plot twist? And if it so happened that a wager is put on them and one of these star-crossed lovers died, that person would be as rich as Majid Javadi (Shaun Toub).