Basically, if he does die, I don't want it to be something cheap and meaningless. Basically not something that comes off like this:

"Hey look I killed off a prominent and popular character! I have the balls to bump off a character beloved by the whole fanbase, and it does absolutely nothing to advance the actual plot! Who cares about the fans, they're only buying my books, they're not an artist like I am! I'm not writing some Disney-esque kiddie piece of shit here! Look at what an edgy, mature, and modern writer I am! Now for an encore, I need to put in a graphic sex scene and maybe some scat!"

(note: this isn't necessarily indicative of any single writer; I'm kind of conflating several different attitudes or approaches here)

At least, that how it feels to me, and it's a sensibility that I don't like.

RJ's writing never comes off like this. It's not to everyone's taste but it satisfies me. If he planned to bump Lan off at any point, I seriously doubt he was going for a cheap kill.