The mistake many people make - including quite a few writers - is believing that most character deaths are for 'shock value'. They're not - and quite a lot of people simply cry foul just because they happen to like a character and never, ever want to see them die. This is dangerous, however, since it quite easily leads to stagnation. When you have the same characters showing up to save the day frequently whilst remaining largely unscathed then there reaches a point where you know they're never going to truly be harmed and that every antagonist they cross paths with is going to fall before them.

Estinien is one of my favourite characters. I think he's pretty interesting, cool, and I love a good tale of someone falling prey to that which they seek to do battle with. He may or may not survive - we'll have to see - but if's he's redeemed, I hope it's done tastefully. If he dies, again, I hope it's done tastefully. Yet either option has the potential to be great for the story. The same applies to the Scions. They don't need to die for the sake of dying yet nor do they need to stick around for the sake of sticking around.