I still think there is a subtle sexual dynamic to this written into the series by RJ. He didn't defeat Semirhage through brute strength, for example - his psychic block prevented him from defeating her in their first meeting using brute force, but it was his desperation unleashed by her own psychoses is what caused her undoing. The point was less about how he destroyed her and moreso that he was able to do so in the first place.

But, as I said before, I think it is possible Graendal was killed, but the entire scene and the leadup left a possibility that this dynamic is goign to reassert itself in how her storyline is handled.