User blog comment:Maslab/On the subject of Noble Six/@comment-138261-20130708061632/@comment-33741372-20130710022231

Exactly, the point of Reach is that the player (Six) sacrifices him(or her)self to save the Master Chief, Cortana, Linda-058 and everyone else aboard the Autumn... to have him (or her) survive in some way would shatter the effect of his/er selfless act of sacrifice to save the starship that would go on to discover Halo.