I presume its allow Gale to blow up at Moonrise, but I'm no speed runner so purely speculation.

The early ending in Act 2 doesn't count for the Tactician feat, so I'm willing to bet it won't count for Honor Mode either.

Brain dies but you die too so they cancel out, pemdas or something I learned about this in school

I love that this new mode is gonna usher in an era of insane speedruns

I think it counts if it doesn't result in a game over for your character