Personally, I'm willing to be led by the author on such ethical questions. I mean...if the author writes the villain as reasonable, and there's a way for a compromise to be had, it's good to see that compromise brought up/considered, even if it's discarded because one party can't accept it for a good reason.

On the other hand, if that villain's gonna do the thing until they dead and that's the way they're written, then hey, you do what you have to do, hero, y'know? ;P

I guess I just like it all to make sense, to read like real people thinking out whether or not they really want to risk their life/take a life over the thing they're fighting over. I've enjoyed stories that end either way. :D