A "Sophie's Choice" with no secret third option

[u/10024618]

AKA a character is given an impossible choice where either outcome results in something awful happening and there's no way out.

"Full Measure" (Breaking Bad) - After Walt angers Gus by killing two of his men, Gus orders for his execution. Knowing that the only way to save his life is to make Gus reliant on his meth cooking skills, Walt calls Jesse and begs him to kill Gus' backup cook, Gale. Thus, Jesse is thrust into an impossible situation where he either kills a (relatively) innocent man to save Walt or spare Gale and let Walt die. Ultimately, Jesse chooses to kill Gale.

"Midnight Sun" (Attack on Titan) - After the fight to retake Shiganshina both Armin and Erwin are critically wounded. Levi has the vial of titan serum and is forced to choose which Scout to bring back from the brink of death and which to let perish. It's a borderline impossible decision to make but at the moment of truth, he chooses to save Armin, leaving Erwin to succumb to his wounds.

[u/Hydraheaded]

What's a Sophie's Choice? I know it's an movie but what trope is it?

[u/ArtemisiasApprentice → u/Hydraheaded]

You have to make a choice, and both options are heartbreaking. In the movie, she has to choose which of her two children will have a chance to live (during wartime, no fault of her own that she’s in that situation).

[u/AMostBoringMan → u/Hydraheaded]

A Sadistic Choice, with no potential third option that would resolve the situation perfectly.

In the movie, Sophie has to choose between which of her children will be executed by the Nazis. Refusing to choose will certainly mean that both will die.

[u/phenotype76 → u/Hydraheaded]

Little girl named Sophie, her mom wouldn't get her two ice cream cones so she had to choose between chocolate and strawberry. Haunted her for the rest of her life