Lilies on the grave... (HW-spoiler ahead!)

[Ayuhra]

I feel like it does a major disservice to the writers for people to claim that his death was 'meaningless'. People have a habit of becoming quite nasty when their favourite characters are killed off, or they sink into a state of denial. It would have made for a very dull story if we waltzed into Ishgard, changed the way the city and culture operated and then killed any and all who stood in our way. We needed to lose something precious - especially since the Archbishop and his companions were not outright villains and actually had misguided motives that could be sympathised with to some extent.

Like I said death for dramatic effect is fine but what gets people about this death is that it is the FIRST death we've seen so far that's been for drama, to make us angry, but did not further the plot. Emotion is important and no doubt we'll see more deaths like this. It does make the story and world feel more dangerous. But since this is the first such death, some fans are...not upset that he died, maybe. Just that he died how he did.

Killing off a generic 'red shirt' that we didn't care about wouldn't leave a lasting impact. What would it accomplish, exactly? Now, killing off Haurchefant...that accomplished something. People got angry, upset, some even felt happy! The fact that there's such a strong emotional connection to the character suggests that the writers did, in fact, do an excellent job.

I agree with this and mentioned as much!

On the topic of of his death...

We saw a character give her life to fuel an attack against an Ascian to which Midgardsormr rumbled "Life for death. A fair exchange. Other bargains will be struck." There is a one hundred percent chance that he is referring to the many deaths in Heavensward but it IS interesting than when you cry vengeance against the Ward you can say "Life for death. I will have Ser Zephirin's heart for what he did to Haurchefant!". I know it's grasping at wispy straws to think that means anything, it just amuses me that these are the only two cases where that weird "Life for death!" line pops up.