Japanese Maples: shishigashira, 5 by Weerobin

Weerobin wrote:
One of my shishigashiras was planted right by the walk to my front door,
which is a measure of the esteem I have for this cultivar.
The tree had 2 main trunks, one of which abruptly died mid-summer '13.
I cut that trunk off and you could see dark discoloration in the cut trunk.
I foolishly left the remaining healthy-looking half (wishful thinking),
which of course went on to decline & die over the next year.
Refreshing my memory by looking at the pictures,
I can see the tree was taller than I remembered, probably about 9ft tall.
I have two remaining shishigashiras, both about as tall as this one,
but both in pretty miserable shape, just one or two branches leafed out.
I presume I should remove them, but it seems criminal.

#1 is the wilted foliage. Appeared abruptly mid-summer.
#2 shows Rt (smaller half) with healthy foliage, Lt wilted.
#3 is the cut trunk showing dark discoloration.
#4 is the severed half of the tree.
#5 is the remaining portion of the tree showing discoloration of the cut stem and healthy-appearing foliage on the remaining portion of the tree.