[@BlackPanther]
A species as a whole does not have the ability to give up surviving. But individuals can give up their life if they can justify it to themselves. If they couldn't, there would be no such thing as suicide.

Self preservation means nothing if what you're preserving is your own suffering with no chance at a normal life. As I said above, its not the perspective of the characters I'm calling into question. Its the actions of the Empire to link trusted soldiers to prisoners in a way that if one prisoner justifies it to themselves, all of them die. To me it makes no logical sense. Even taking the risk that the magi would decide to kill themselves just to escape their imprisonment, what's the point in having your own soldiers die with them?