ach i heard that was a bad way to die. If it doesnt go through all the way you could be living wiht a damaged neck, untill they hoisted the blade up and droped it down again. Also people are not quite sure if it was an immediate death. One guy did an experiment after his decaptitation. People reported that after his head was off and in the basket he blinked some 12 times before closing his eyes for the last time. That leads me to assume that the pain from having your neck sliced in half would be lingering for at least some 10-12 seconds, thereby making it QUITE painfull.