#helaran

Here’s what we’re told:

Helaran had a Shardblade with a gemstone, implying that he wasn’t bonded with a spren.*

Helaran left the Davar house for something that would take him away for a few years, involved some “new friends,” and was something he believed was very important.

Hoid disagreed. “I would fault him for it, as I find nothing more frightening than a man trying to do what he has decided is important.” 

Hoid also said: “Your father is slowly destroying your family. Your brother was right on that count. He was wrong about everything else.”

Helaran said he was watching his father through spies.

Someone who may have been Helaran (Veden, young, red hair and bearing Helaran’s Shardblade) tried to kill Amaram.

That Shardbearer was killed by Kaladin, who stabbed him through his faceplate. 

Mraize says to Shallan, “Why did your father join us? Why did your brother seek out the Skybreakers?” 

Taravangian and Adrotagia suspect that Shallan had been trained, “If not by Jasnah, then by the girl’s brother, before his death.”

Adding up these pieces with what we know of the Skybreakers (that they are trying to kill Surgebinders to delay or prevent the Desolation from happening), it initially looks this simple:

Helaran joined the Skybreakers. That was why he tried to kill Amaram, because Amaram has the opposite goal, to bring back the Voidbringers. He was killed in the attempt, by Kaladin.

However, you could use that same evidence and make an argument that Helaran is still alive:

Helaran joined the Skybreakers. He was killed by an unknown assassin, presumably also a young Veden with red hair, who took his Shardblade. That man was killed by Kaladin.

Or maybe this:

Helaran tried to find the Skybreakers for other reasons. They killed him and took his Shardblade, then used it and some Shardplate to try to kill Amaram.

Or possibly:

Helaran didn’t die at all. He gave up his Shardblade. He’s still working with whatever mysterious group (could be anything but the Skybreakers fit) and is fine. He and Shallan will have a happy, tearful reunion eventually.

*sigh*

Usually the simplest answer is the best one. However I’m not sure whether that applies to SA.

There are too many possibilities to settle on one…

Did Helaran join the Skybreakers?

He sought them out.

He (apparently) tried to kill Amaram. Amaram is trying to bring back the Voidbringers, and the Skybreakers are trying to stop it from happening. 

He was not bonded to a spren*, and so that wouldn’t prohibit him from acting as the Skybreakers do.

He was concerned with justice.

The things that make me think Helaran did NOT join the Skybreakers:

What Mraize said is too ambiguous. He didn’t say Helaran joined them, only looked for them, and we don’t know why. 

Mraize doesn’t name the brother who sought out the Skybreakers.

Helaran had no (known) reason to join them. 

If the Skybreakers were targeting Amaram, they would have accomplished his assassination by now, and more competently. I’m not convinced they are aware of Amaram’s efforts or are trying to kill him. Also, they (or at least Nalan) seem to be targeting those who manifest Surgebinding abilities only.

Helaran said to Shallan about their father, “We can’t have vengeance yet. […] Soon, though.” So he was planning something to take vengeance against their father, but this doesn’t fit in with Skybreaker goals. 

Was it Helaran who died on the battlefield?

He fits the physical description.

The Shardblade matches.

His death makes an interesting parallel to Tien.

The things that make me think it maybe wasn’t Helaran who died on the battlefield:

Where did the Shardplate come from?

His face was ruined. No identifiable body, no certainty.

Taravangian doesn’t specify which Davar brother died.

Taravangian and Adrotagia thought one of Shallan’s brothers might have trained her before he died, but Helaran was NOT a Surgebinder.

Lin Davar ordered Rin to assassinate Helaran, promising him Helaran’s Shardblade as a reward.

I really don’t want Kaladin to be responsible for killing Shallan’s brother.

In conclusion, I don’t freaking know. All of it. Something else. Probably something I don’t expect.

But I believe there is cause for Helaran’s survival, or at the very least, it’s possible that Kaladin did not kill him. That alone makes me very happy.

Though I feel more than a little bit unsatisfied not knowing. 

Other unanswered Helaran questions:

What is included in the “everything else” Hoid says Helaran was wrong about?

What does Lin Davar mean when he says to Helaran, “You don’t know what you think you know. Your mother—”

In chapter 39 of WoR, Helaran sent a book written by Jasnah for Shallan to read. No real questions here, I’d just like to know more of this connection, especially why Helaran chose this particular text.