Originally Posted by MSC

I don't get why people are saying that because it was a "causative" "die" then it was a "command" to die. "Causative" means exactly what it sounds like it means, which is to say that the subject causes something to happen. From www.m-w.com:

1 : effective or operating as a cause or agent <causative bacteria of cholera>
2 : expressing causation; specifically : being a linguistic form that indicates that the subject causes an act to be performed or a condition to come into being
- causative noun

In other words, the counter reaching zero causes something/someone/everyone to die. Not that the counter is commanding people to die, but that it is the cause that will lead to death.

That's how I read it.