I figured he had to come back (would have been nice if TVLine hadn’t put him in the “death” category of their May Sweeps, putting him in “maybe dead” instead) because the EQ is left holding his heart, not crushing it.
I recall they made the same mistake listing the Apprentice as a death in their May 2015 Sweeps, too. The Apprentice did eventually die, but it wasn’t until the Season 5 premiere months later.