Quote Originally Posted by ti'esar View Post
I'd say the rules of drama actually put him in more danger now: he's just dropped a significant reveal about his motivations that suggest his death won't be the end of the problem, given a reasonably cool exit line (and exit in general), and put the protagonists in more danger in a way that his survival is irrelevant to. I've seen villains die like this before.
"Villain" has to be debated, but that is an argument I'm not particular to have. It shall be decided by the Emperor Ing/the plot, so I much prefer to wait.

Regarding the rest, I give you 50% chance of being right. I see only 2 things that last panel might lead to: a "sacrificial" death you've described; or it might lead to the classic James Bond (I think it's the best troper, but probably not the original) escape: hit the explosion button, jump of the cliff, be saved by a plane/helicopter/Q's invention.