I think Death is one of the most important cards in any deck; so important, in fact, that it can be a "deck breaker" for me, it's usually the first thing I look at.
Death, to me means the "traditional" meanings of death, of which there are many, but so much more. Think of it, from the Death of people to throwing out the trash to shedding skin flakes, Death is almost more a part of our lives than, well, Life. There is a reason there is a Death card, but not a Life card. Death not only represents the end and death of things and situations, but the endless continuation of the road of Time, that each step we take on it, indeed, every breath we take, is the Death of the previous one. Death is at once the End and the Beginning, not separate as in death and rebirth, but simultaneously.
In the Thoth, Death shows a traditional skeleton and scythe, but here he is not bringing things to an end, he is actively
creating new forms out of the putrefaction of the dead weeds at the bottom of the ocean. Even when things end and die, that very death
is a form of rebirth and new creation, the two are not separate. Put another way, when the world was formed, that was the Death of the Nothingness that was before; birth and death are interlinked and the same. When you burn an match, are you really ending it, or creating ash? Death is attributed to Scorpio, representing the sea, fish, and everything underwater. Fish hold important significance in many cultures, as well they should. Jesus brought fish to his followers, fish are the traditional food at Jewish New Year... We ourselves were created in the ocean, and staggered onto land to begin our lives here. Scorpio in this case may represent our long lost ties to the ocean, where in fact everything on earth began.
In a way this card represents not rebirth, but simple birth, since what was, is no more, nothing to be reborn from it, only something new and completely different.
Sorry for the ramble, I really like this card