Chapter 58 was not only a huge turning point in the Death Note manga series, but also a significant event in the fandom. After L's death, and with the unbearably long hiatus, many readers fell out of the fandom, some believing that the series should have ended at 59, some fed up with the wait, and some simply upset that L had "lost" and Light had "won."

    This buzz and controversy raises an obvious question: Why did L have to die? From Death Note's outset, phrases such as "The one who uses the Death Note will suffer torment and anguish" has basically confirmed that Light is a "bad guy", that the Death Note is a tool of evil, and essentially, that good SHOULD conquer evil (though in truth, whether it actually does is questionable). Ryuk's prophetic mumblings about "writing your name in the Death Note when you die" and "no guarantee of going to heaven or to hell" certainly seem to foreshadow that Light will lose and is going to die. Chapter 1 introduces the story as "the battle between two fated ones," but this oracle seems to directly conflict with the event of L's death.

    Perhaps this conflict suggests that L (as an individual) is NOT the second fated one (the first being Light). L serves as Light's first and primary foil, quite obviously, as the "detective" to his "criminal." He does NOT, however, represent the "good" to Light's "evil." Kira's evil is questionable-- he acts supposedly for the good of humanity, many ordinary people begin to agree with him (even Matsuda, a thoroughly innocent police officer!), and he actually judges OTHERS as evil. However, in the same way, L's "good" is also questionable. L is willing to risk the lives of criminals-- his false front as Lind L. Taylor indirectly led to the death of a criminal about to be executed, and though Taylor's death was indeed imminent and inevitable (he was scheduled to be put to death just at the moment that Kira killed him), it could be argued that ALL of humanity has the same status. The difference is that L deliberately allowed the execution of criminals to fall out of the impersonal justice system-- the moral structure set by men that an individual cannot touch-- and this shows that he is in this aspect no different from Kira in his willingness to let the power of judgement fall out of the law's hands. Symbolically, it is hypocritical for L to insist that Kira must be stopped if L himself freely allows Kira to continue his actions, even if he does so out of pragmatism. To L, it's not the arbitrary theft of power that is the crime, but the killing of the criminals itself; this places him a step outside of man's morality. Additionally, L lacks respect for human life, possibly to a higher extend than Light himself does; as demonstrated in the Yotsuba arc, L is willing to allow more criminals to die in order to assist in his winning the war against Kira; on the contrary, Light, having lost his Kira memories, wants to save as many lives-- even those of criminals!-- as possible. This suggests that at the "base material" without the introduction of the Death Note, Light is actually more moral and just than L. A detective with less moral sense than a man who becomes a criminal certainly doesn't deserve to represent the "side of justice." Indeed, L has too many similarities to Light-- he admits that both Kira and he are "childish sore losers," and in one particularly effective symmetrical panel scheme, both Light and L declare simultaneoulsy "I am Justice!"-- and just as Light's position as Justice is debatable, so is L's. L's definition of justice does not even necessarily match that of society or the justice system; he actually puts himself at a level similar to Light's by breaking the law and kidnapping Misa without the general police office's knowledge or consent. Note that in the first volume, Kira is not initially specifically deemed a "criminal" by Interpol or the international community-- until L declares him as so. L thus becomes an arbitary judge that passes sentences upon others as he sees fit, not as any standard moral code would deem. It is because of his moral grayness-- because he is too similar to Kira and is simply not FIT, with his hypocrisy, to determine what is evil; it would be wrong to allow him to live and win.

    L's characterization is furthered AFTER his death, with the introduction of his proteges Mello and Near. With the two children's inheritance of L's habits-- eating sweets and having bad posture-- Ohba clearly designates the two as the split of L's personality-- Near is the calculating, quiet one while Mello is the more impulsive law-breaker. The split is obviously not even-- while Mello has no qualms about very illegally kidnapping young girls (Sayu), Near, as Light notes, "does not dare to risk human life." Light's observation is derogatory, as he believes that this "make Near weaker than L;" however, because Near does not break the law (aside from invasion of privacy and the very gentle kidnapping of Misa and Mogi, both of which are not particularly heinous and are not even completely shared among the various international moral systems) and because he DOES value human life, Near is more or a representative of "Justice" than L. However, in chapter 105, Near admits that alone, he is, in intelligence, inferior to L and thus incapable of catching Kira, but when aided by Mello, the two have the strength to surpass L. This strength, both measured in skill and symbolically represented by the characters' moral stances, can be investigated by analyzing motives. L, it can be said, does act more for his ego as a "sore loser," not for the justice that he holds so arbitrary; Near acts to avenge L; and Mello acts to gain recognition. Of the three, Near has the best motives, but they are not entirely wholesome either. At Mello's death, the most wholesome motive is finally achieved-- seeing that Kira has the upper hand, Mello comments "It looks like I'm the only one that can do it" and Lidner explains "At first I thought he only meant, "to settle it himself before Near". But, if you look at the result of what happened and think about what if Mello hadn't done that..." suggesting that Mello finally given up his aim to be number one to focus on what is "most important"-- the capture of Kira, as a threat to society and the justice system. With Near's "correct" outlook on morality and Mello's "correct" motives, Team LMN finally achieves a better moral condition than Kira, and is thus fit to bring him down.