User blog comment:Thailog/Ep. 207 "Depths" discussion/@comment-74.240.240.11-20120614195554/@comment-24.192.81.195-20120618192507

I originally thought the same thing too (like you said, there is a lot of evidence to support it), but then I realized that scenario is actually not possible. Why? Becuase he is a playable character in the game. It would not make sense for him to die during some point in the game and then not be able to use him as playable character the remainder of the game.