Did Gen die in the maze??

[readsintrees.livejournal.com]

So I have a friend who's reading the series for the first time, and he says that when he read The Thief, he thinks Gen drowned when the maze flooded and was revived through the powers of Hamiathe's Gift. I pointed out that the Gift's powers only work when it's given, not stolen...but he says that the gods GAVE Gen permission to take the Gift, and therefore it wasn't stolen, and therefore it granted him immortality, and therefore that's the reason he didn't drown.

This is not how I read that part AT ALL... Have I been interpreting the ending wrong for nineteen plus years????