[Peleus]

The whole single elim vs double elim etc comes down to a balance between spectators and players.

The more games you play (BO1 vs BO3 vs BO5) reduces the variance so it's more likely that the more skilled player will progress. Double elimination vs Single elimination is another example of reducing variance through giving better players a comeback opportunity through the lower bracket.

This (almost) goes directly opposed to the excitement factor, where each game is more critical and important hence, more exciting for the viewer. Greater variance means even a lower skill player can win the tournament given a lucky run through the brackets and a few cheeses.

In other words
More games = Less variance = Better for skilled players
Less games = More variance = Better for spectators

So while I agree with Pig that it's unfair to forgive a loss earlier in the brackets, it probably would make the finals more exciting. As a skilled player, Pig should never want this, and almost always want as little variance as possible, I can't blame him. A question I'd ask is, would you prefer a double elim tournament where the finals are a straight BO5 / BO7 whatever, or would you prefer a single elim tournament?