A Reaper at the Gates

Helene is the main protagonist of A Reaper at the Gates. She is the Blood Shrike, Marcus’s second-in-command and his enforcer. Because she is in a leadership position, Helene often puts her personal feelings aside for the sake of duty. In some cases, her desire to protect others is used against her, as when Marcus abuses her sister, Livia, to ensure Helene’s obedience. Like other characters in the book, Helene feels guilty for those she has lost and responsible for taking revenge: “I will not see Livia die too. I need to carry out Marcus’s orders and bring down Commandant Keris Veturia” (23). However, to defeat Keris, Helene must betray Elias and interrogate Mamie Rila, actions that both weigh on her conscience.

Like Laia and Elias, who struggle between doing what they want to do and doing what they should, Helene also struggles to balance her duty as the Blood Shrike, her own moral compass, and her promise to keep Livia safe. Because of this, her character arc emphasizes her compassion. In Navium, Helene strategically pits the Plebeians against the Illustrians and Keris. While this benefits her plan to bolster support for Marcus, it also reflects her anger at seeing Plebeian pain and suffering, which is largely ignored because they are poor.