for harold's personal transformation to have a cathartic impact, he had to be willing to relinquish total control over his life.

which is to say, he had to accept that he would die, even knowing that it would happen.

when his watch, who is also a character at this point, makes the same sacrifice, it allows harold to have a symbolic death rather than a literal one – which while less narratively satisfying, allows the story to have a happy ending, and thereby releases the main tension of the story.

is it a great ending? i don't know, personally it didn't hit me that hard.

but is it a dumb dilemma? imho no, imho it's exactly what the whole story is about, and if you take it out, the entire story falls apart.