u/Valdemar3E

I haven't really had anyone to speak to about Killzone, and I'm fascinated with the franchise's lore and have been since the first game came out, so I figured this would be the best place to post something like this and get a conversation going! Please feel free to share your thoughts.

This post consists of four parts. For those familiar with the lore of Killzone, feel free to skip ahead to the last part.

1. The groundwork for Helghast resentment

Not going to go through the space colonization story - this post is long enough as is, instead I will start by focusing on what caused the Helghans to become who they are now.

First with the UCN rescinding their agreements for the selling of Alpha Centauri (and their blockade, invasion, and claiming of Vekta afterwards), to them and their ISA supporters mistreating Helghans left behind on Vekta after the first war due to terrorist groups which led to the Helghans abandoning Vekta to resettle on Helghan.

Only to then again get the short end of the stick as neither the ISA nor the UCN want to aid in the construction of Helghan as an actual habitable planet - so they formally kick the Helghans from the UCN to leave them to fend for themselves... but still the ISA blockaded their planet and imposed restrictions. These restrictions included trade sanctions, which forced the destitute Helghans to trade on unfavorable terms. Vekta has a monopoly on the trade network of the planet, resulting in Vekta getting immensely wealthy off of the mistreated Helghans - despite refusing to reinvest in the planet itself.

Medical supplies - much-needed by the Helghans to survive on their harsh planet - are not provided by the ISA, leading to the Helghans adopting their now-iconic gas masks. Life is short, hard and painful for most of the people on the planet. The limited wealth of the people of Helghan is spent feeding and protecting their own people - unfortunately resulting in expensive machinery on Helghan not being maintained and getting ravaged by the planet's climate over time - causing a crisis lasting 20 years, where once again the Vektans who had benefitted off of this trade for years refused to send aid.

2. The Rise of Visari and Second Extrasolar War

With aforementioned neglect at the hands of the UCN and their ISA supporters, combined with Helghan's own issues, Scolar Visari rises to power. The short version of the story is that he reforms Helghan society, coins the term Helghast, and makes plans to reclaim Vekta.

The Helghast invasion of Vekta, while devastating, fails. The UCA came to the rescue of Vekta, aiding their ISA supporters in defeating the Helghast. Despite countless Helghast losses - including figures such as General Lente, General Armin Metrac, and Colonel Cobar, the Helghast did gain something from their war: nuclear weapons and high-tech weapons which they brought back to Helghan.

The UCA give the ISA of Alpha Centauri a couple of very clear orders after their victory: Blockade Helghan and await an inquisition team from the UCN which will investigate the matter.

3. The invasion of Helghan and Terracide

Ignoring the orders by the UCA and UCN out of fear that the UCN will blame Vekta for the rise of Visari, the ISA Alpha Centauri instead pushes on to Helghan after its Vektan government (understandably) comes to the conclusion that the Helghasts need to be removed as a military threat, Visari needs to stand trial, and a new (puppet) government more friendly to Vekta needs to be established on Helghan.

The invasion is brutal; the bulk of the ISA forces is massacred in the fighting (especially after the nuclear bomb Red Dust is dropped on Pyrrhus), but due to one hot-headed (cough cough Rico) sergeant, Visari is killed instead of captured, leading to even more fighting. The ISA starships, who had previously quickly beaten the Helghast fleet, are now largely destroyed - leaving many of the soldiers on Helghan stranded.

By the time the UCN finds out all that's happened, Vekta is forced to capitulate and surrender. The remaining ISA forces on Helghan are ordered to stand down - but refuse to do so. A core of the ISA was captured, and found out that Jorhan Stahl is planning to nuke Earth. They prevent him from doing so, but in the process nuke Helghan with irradiated Petrusite after blowing up Stahl's flagship as it was getting ready to land after being too damaged to carry out its plans.

4. So why was Vekta forced to hand over half their planet (and half their capital) to a defeated enemy?

It's something a lot of people write off as ''bad writing'' and ''not making sense'', and in some aspect, I agree with this. But on the other hand, while the UCN did plant the seeds of Helghast extremism, it was the Vektan government and its ISA that ensured those seeds would bloom. It was Vektan neglect which led to the extremism on Helghan, it was their outright refusal to follow orders which led to the death of Visari, and it was the call of their remnants on Helghan which led to the Terracide - even after Stahl's cruiser had been incapacitated.

So why the settlement? I think the UCN demanded it of Vekta. Vekta's neglect and outright refusal to obey orders would have left a very bad taste in the mouth of the UCN - who are adamant that their authority should never be challenged. I believe the splitting of Vekta was done by the UCN because of one thing in particular:

To show Vekta that it is not the Vektan government that rules, but the UCN. Showing them that just as how the Helghan Administration's power was granted and reclaimed by the UCN after the First Extrasolar War, Vekta's government only exists because the UCN allows it to exists - and that power is likewise given just as easily as it is taken away.