I think what Daniel never got out of H.W. was the certainty of knowing that whatever was in him - that awful side of him that was, to an extent, very useful - was bound by blood to also be in H.W. I also think that’s why he gripped so tightly to the idea of Henry, while Henry was still thought of as his brother. At the end of the day he wanted someone so alike him that they could mirror the ugly parts. He got the opposite in Eli (so different that he did also end up mirroring the worst).
He doesn’t care for family as a concept, he cares for likeness. Maybe part of that is vanity, maybe part of that is deep loneliness.
















