After seeing your post awhile back about Thistle not dying, I reexamined my own assumptions of that scene. I think a lot of other media would've definitely implied that as death, I do think there's a very strong argument for that scene meaning that Thistle is finally getting to *rest*. I don't believe he's slept or ate well as the dungeon lord. And given that Thistle is a child I think that's a well deserved ending that fits the themes of the entire story
Ultimately I don't think it matters if he died right then and there or not. But that was the moment he could finally "let go" for sure.
When I first saw that scene my first thought was relief and happiness for him, that he didn't have to worry about the mortality of his friend anymore, that he could rest in the arms of a loved one and finally be held, Instead of shouldering the survival of a whole kingdom in his back he finally could lean on someone else.
I love that this moment has a whole page for it, I don't think this is a sad moment at all, to me it's a moment of comfort.
