He was talking about parents of main characters, not about main characters themselves.
I can think of at least one counterexample, of a main character whose parents are alive and happily together for the entire length of canon, right off the top of my head. I'm not sure there are enough others to refute the alleged pattern, though.
I can think of at least one counterexample, of a main character whose parents are alive and happily together for the entire length of canon, right off the top of my head. I'm not sure there are enough others to refute the alleged pattern, though.