I am reminded of the bit in the first Avengers when Steve is berating Tony, saying "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you" and Tony comes back with "I think I would just cut the wire". Sacrificing oneself is indeed a noble end... But when there's no need it's just wasteful. Awesome to have the dream and want to fulfill your parents' goal -- but you've got a super mutant who can go hit the on button who doesn't get fussed over the radiation. You're not asking someone else to sacrifice themselves for you and your goal -- they won't be harmed. That's just smart. Or rather, not moronic.
Don't get me wrong, I completely agree. The
logic behind the ending is faulty.
But it seems as though they never intended for there to be DLC, or at least maybe they didn't assume the game would be popular enough to make DLC. Otherwise why would they kill off (or possibly kill off) your character to begin with? I think they viewed this game as not a shoe-in like Oblivion, and may not have actually planned for DLC from the beginning the way game companies do now. And clearly for them to add said DLC, they would then need to "resurrect" your character. The game turns out to be a hit, they decide they wanna do some DLC, so they have to come up with a story to make it all work.
I think originally, the ending served as a mechanic to do exactly that, end the game. Nothing more. Sure, it could have been done better, but maybe they figured 'what difference does it make if the game is over?'. What does it matter if you die, since you're not going to be playing anymore?
I mean, what would it really mean to anybody if the Courier dies at the very end? The game's over, you can't play anymore. It's not open ended, and said death would only be part of story lore. And how fulfilling is the original Vault Dweller's fate, being cast out from his/her home into the wasteland (keeping in mind you don't yet know the rest of their fate as outlined in the beginning of FO2).
But yes,
logically speaking, Fawkes should have taken his big ass in there, activated the purifier, and me and Sarah watch and drink a Nuka Cola as we celebrate victory. What's odd is that they still didn't go that route with the DLC. You still activate the purifier yourself (or Sarah does), and instead of dying, you survive an incredible amount of radiation and wake up good to go two weeks later.