I'm not sure I could ever count Elpizo stabbing his vacant body as X dying in any sense except the most technical.
true, but it kinda makes it a bit more "concrete" that hes now dead for sure, since now his body is gone as well. before, if his body was ever removed from the seal, Im pretty sure he could still have been re integrated into his body, but now, theres no such hope. plus, the way I see it, his vacant body was his Cyber elf's power source. hence he no longer had an infinite amount of power provided by his body, and faded away in Z3.
also, I must know. when Ciel found Zero in Z1, was he also Disembodied? as the drama tracks make it seem that way.
Most here can tell you that I'm not the biggest Elpizo fan. But frankly, yes, I DO prefer Z2's scenario of having someone stab X's empty shell, as opposed to having Zero kill him. No matter how much a Zero fanboy I may be, I wouldn't want to see X turn genuinely evil. The idea of a copy showing us how sick and dangerous he could become if he wasn't careful fills that need just as well without damaging him as a character.
personally I fond the Elpizo destruction of X's body far more dramatic than dying simply from the unwritten rule that the main character always beats the boss.
plus Copy X is almost like the embodiment of Light's fears of what could become of X if his internal systems wernt tested for such a long time.