Well, I'd heard he was supposed to be killed by Caleb, but I'd never heard he was supposed to be in killed in season five. I doubt that part is true because none of us have really heard that and no one can find any cold hard facts to back it up. I also really doubt Joss (who recently shut down production on Dollhouse temporarily because he thought the scripts could be better) would compromise what he wanted to happen on the show for the sake of giving Nicholas Brendon a paycheck.
And I don't think the men in Buffy were portrayed as particularly weak. Xander may not have been the best fighter in the bunch, but he stood up to Buffy when he disagreed with her and at the same time always had her back when it counted anyway. Angel certainly wasn't a weak guy, as he went on to have his own ass-kicking spinoff. Giles was the most intelligent and seemingly mature guy in the bunch, and yet would kill an innocent if he thought the situation warrented it. Emotionally, he was not that weak.