I disagree with the idea that a story doesn't need death to be good. Some of the most iconic stories throughout human history have had stakes in the form of character death - including major protagonists. The aversion to both major and minor characters being at risk of dying strikes me as a recent thing and I don't think it's healthy for characters to be held hostage in such a manner.

It's reached the point where an actual apocalypse can occur and it's still pushed that such a dire threat isn't a good reason to kill off anyone important.

I'd say a healthy balance is needed. I'd care more about the protagonists if they weren't obviously going to walk away from even the most dire of threats bragging about lacking even a scratch to show for it. That isn't interesting to me. Especially if they do die only to come back five minutes later.