regardless of where he goes, he will always die around where the voidwoken deepdweller shows up, even if there are no enemies in the area, so it's a scripted death (unless of course he dies earlier, like in the OP)

i was surprised to find him in the harbor area where all the magisters were, and even more surprised when he helped me in the fight against said magisters. almost forgave him for leaving me out to dry when i teleported him to freedom

i was kind of disappointed he wouldn't talk to me afterwards and just continued running towards the marshes