One thing that I've noticed several times in this thread is the idea that the Skulls might have been alright with or agreed to the sacrifice. I personally do not believe this to be true. If they were willing to be sacrificed to the cause, at least on this very literal level, then things would have gone very differently. Namely, the fact that they were quite clearly not fanatical enough to throw their lives away for their cause. If they were fanatical, it would probably have taken a bit more than Kemp talking to them for them to surrender. They would have been more inclined to fight to the death, like Rhitayn, various Temple Knights, and the VII legion had previously in the story. I'm not necessarily saying that Fordola doesn't have any positive motivations regarding her decision, but I think it's worthy to think about the fact that her subordinate Skulls were definitely NOT willing to be sacrificed.