Death as a Character Hook (4e)

Hey all,

Just last night, my Githyanki Swordmage died in a pretty tough encounter. I want to continue with the character, and I'll be resurrected in the next session, but I want to use the death as a character hook/plot hook.

"Brief" character description:

Technically Unaligned, Therigan is a Githyanki, with a "checkered" past. Basically was a pirate of the Astral Sea, participated in massacres and has basically murdered more people than most people have ever met (in the name of his cadre; I know that Just Following Orders isn't a good justification, but it makes a great character hook.)

After his cadre fell to self-destruction and self-indulgence, he left the Astral Sea, wandering the mortal realm/Underdark until he found himself in a Duergar city, working as a sellsword. He's put the past behind him, but little hints and character traits indicate that it follows him. (a lack of care when seeing the ghosts/skeletons of little children, etc.)

Then he fell in with a party of nobles/retainers that were trapped in the Underdark, looking for a way home. On the way, explored/cleansed a haunted monastery, leapt forward 157 years from the monastery's evil, and we're returning to the noble's former kingdom.

On the way, traveling through a section of the lands that is held by a bandit group, I went down protecting the party.

So:

What sort of experiences/impact should this death have on the character? What am I going to be dealing with?

I've looked into transforming into a Revenant, but I don't think that'd fly with the party real well.

PTSD?

I mean, the way I see it, you've got 3 options:
1. Nothing changes. I.E. WoW. You die, you come back. No big, it happens all the time in a high magic game.
2. You have some divine protection or... 'A hint of destiny' to paraphrase Pirates.
3. Everything action you take could be your last. You've seen death, and you don't care to again. This goes a couple different ways from extreme paranoia to frat boy parties at every opportunity.

EDIT: Obviously there are others, but were it my character I'd probably pick from one of these 3.

In Buffy the Vampire Slayer....

Spoiler

Show

Buffy dies and gets resurrected by her friends. For the next season or so she keeps it a secret from them that she went to fluffy-cloud heaven when she died and they ripped her away from that to call her soul back to earth. Understandably, she was sort of pissed.

It could change your outlook on killing people, now that you have died yourself.

In death, you received a vision from the Raven Queen about your lich queen's impending ascension to divinity? Or you met the immortal spirit of Gith and received a prophecy about her glorious return, signalling the upheaval of gith society?