I agree with you, mortal elf. But one thing separates Merry from Boromir. Merry's a sidekick. They never die. Boromir was what is called a "tragic hero". That means that he has some internal flaw (such as a weakness for the Ring) and must therefore die.
It really didn't have a lot to do with how cool a character is - it's all about the archetypes. For example, in Batman, Robin never dies because he's a sidekick!
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If a kid asks where rain comes from, I think a cute thing to tell him is "God is crying." And if he asks why God is crying, another cute thing to tell him is "Probably because of something you did."
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