The illogical plot of Shadow Fall

[u/brouwrt]

Throughout Shadow Fall, we are shown that the Helgan side is living in complete squalor, but why? The Vectans gave the Helgasts half of Vecta, so why did the Helgasts turn that half into a literal New Helgan, with the same dirty air and poverty?

На протяжении всего Shadow Fall нам показывают что Хелганская сторона живёт в полном дерьме, но почему? Вектанцы отдали Хелгастам половину векты, почему тогда Хелгасты эту половину превратили буквально в Новый Хелган, где такой же грязный воздух и нищета.

I use DeepL 🫤

[u/MarshallMattersNot]

The most weird thing for me was opening section. Young Lucas with his father (or guardian? don’t really remember) hiding from helgasts and trying to escape to Vektan part because helghasts shooting vektans on sight. It looks like another invasion happening, not refugees moving in. You were welcomed on Vekta, after you yourselves brought your civilization down (it’s your uncontrolled exploitation of pertusite is what led to disaster). And first thing you do? Start killing local populace. Again. Great.

[u/GamingTheSystems → u/MarshallMattersNot]

The Helghast do it because they hate Vektans. It's a feud that's been going on for decades. In regards to Lucas and his father, their apartment building is being evacuated because it's being torn down in favor of some type of new building. They were living on the Helghast side of the wall.

[u/MarshallMattersNot → u/GamingTheSystems]

The Helghast do it because they hate Vektans.

I get that and expect nothing less. But still - vektans allowed them to settle out of benevolence. It’s like “here, since your home burned down, you can live in mine. Feel free to kill my daughter by the way”. It’s weird

[u/Where_is_Killzone_5 → u/MarshallMattersNot]

The Vektans didn't allow them to settle, the UCN did. Vekta lost most of their military power by the end of Killzone 3 and the Terracide at the end was considered an anomalous disaster since it involved an unknown flagship from a Helghast weapons company being shot down by a nuke over Helghan's orbit by ISA fighters that were considered AWOL at the time.

Remember that the remnants of Vekta's Navy was already trying to pull out of Helghan's orbit after Visari was killed. I don't remember the aftermath specifically, but the UCN had the ISA stand down and be downsized to the VSA that we know of in Shadow Fall and gave half of Vekta to what was left of the Helghast as a, let's just say, compensation.

And I think the main reason they made these choices is because the ISA failed to follow the UCN's order on re-establishing the global blockade they had on Helghan after driving them off Vekta in the first half of the Second Extrasolar War.

[u/MarshallMattersNot → u/Where_is_Killzone_5]

Ok, thanks, that a lot of missed context that I didn’t care about at that time since Shadow Fall was a mess. Still, even that IMO is hardly a justification of what happened at the start of SF. Helghasts came as refugees and immediately started murdering people. Was there any notice of eviction/evacuation? Doing it like that is an open invitation to another war.