I think your annoyance is well-justified! I realize now that I originally set out to make something closer to a roguelike, but the final product was more of a linear action adventure, which makes death into nothing but a drastic repetition penalty. If I could change it now I'd change it to restart you from the current level. Ah well, thanks for giving it a try and congrats on seeing the last level (you're the only one who's mentioned it so far)!