Conspiracy Theory: Helaran is Alive

[Jofwu he/him]

Unlikely as it may be, I think this is a fun theory and I want to put my thoughts in one place. Others have talked about the idea before, so I don't mean to claim the idea as my own. But I'm not going to directly cite anyone else's reasoning here.

What we know:

Quote

"…why Thaidakar would risk this?" Amaram was saying, speaking in a soft voice. "But who else
would it be? The Ghostbloods grow more bold. We'll need to find out who he was. Do we know anything
about him?"
"He was Veden, Brightlord," the stormwarden said. "Nobody I recognize. But I will investigate."
Amaram nodded, falling silent. Behind the two, a group of lighteyed officers entered, one of them

~After Kaladin defeat the Shardbearer, The Way of Kings Chapter 51

It's pretty clear that the Shardbearer Kaladin killed was a Veden man. The stormwarden also suggests that he's not a particularly important figure, though it's hard to draw many conclusions from this.

We also have pretty good reason to believe he is a Ghostblood. Amaram seems pretty certain that the Ghostbloods sent the man to kill him. While it's possible Amaram had some other reason to think this, I think that a simpler explanation makes more sense here: the man probably had a Ghostbloods tatoo.

Quote

A Blade some six feet long, curved and thick, with the side that wasn't sharp rising into a shape like burning flames or perhaps ripples of water. It had a gemstone set at the pommel, and as light reflected of the metal, the ridges seemed to move. ~Helaran first reveals his Blade to Lin and Shallan, Words of Radiance Chapter 19

It was engraved and stylized, shaped like flames in motion. ~Kaladin describing the blade on the battlefield, The Way of Kings, Chapter 47

He took the Shardblade from the cloth, holding it in his hand. The gemstone at its pommel let out a flash of white light... Amaram hesitated by the door, resting the blunt edge of the stolen Shardblade on his shoulder. ~Amaram handling the Blade after taking it, The Way of Kings Chapter 51

A Blade with the back edge ridged like flowing waves. Or perhaps tongues of fire. Etchings all along its surface. Curved, sinuous. She knew this Blade. It belonged to her brother Helaran. ~Shallan recognizes her brother's blade in Amaram's hand, Words of Radiance Chapter 52

The Shardbearer certainly had possession of Helaran's Blade. The same Shardblade is described in each case.

Quote

“I’ve explained this to Dalinar already,” Amaram said. “I don’t know the history of my Shards. Both were in the possession of an
assassin who tried to kill me. A younger man. Veden, with red hair. We don’t know his name, and his face was ruined in my counterattack. I had to stab him through his faceplate, you see.” ~Amaram describing the Veden man, Words of Radiance, Chapter 52

Not only was the Shardbearer a Veden man, but he was a younger man with red hair. This, tied with the blade description, leaves little doubt in Shallan's mind that her brother is dead.

Quote

“Helaran is dead,” Father said. “Did you know that? You can’t find him because he’s been killed. I didn’t even have to do it. He found his own death on a battlefield in Alethkar. Idiot.” ~Lin Davar sharing news that Helaran is dead, Words of Radiance, Chapter 73

“Who is it?” he asked softly. “Who is this Surgebinder?”
“Jasnah’s ward?” Adrotagia said.
They had been startled when that one arrived on the Shattered Plains. Already they hypothesized that the girl had been trained. If not by Jasnah, then by the girl’s brother, before his death. ~Taravangian thinking of Shallan, Words of Radiance, Interlude I-14

Helaran is also believed to be dead by quite a few people. Lin has received news of his death, which implies others knows. And Taravangian himself has heard of it.

However, we still haven't encountered indisputable evidence that Helaran is dead, or that he was the Shardbearer defeated by Kaladin.

Support for the idea that Helaran is alive:

Quote

“You don’t know who we are. You don’t know what we’re trying to accomplish. You don’t know much of anything at all, Veil. Why did your father join us? Why did your brother seek out the Skybreakers? I have done some research, you see. I have answers for you.” ~Mraize speaking to Shallan after discovering her identity, Words of Radiance Chapter 88

Mraize's comment suggests that Helaran was not a Ghostblood. Indeed, it seems unlikely that Helaran would join the Ghostbloods given his father had. This doesn't fit well with the notion that Amaram believed the Surgebinder was a Ghostblood.

Quote

They had been startled when that one arrived on the Shattered Plains. Already they hypothesized that the girl had been trained. If not by Jasnah, then by the girl’s brother, before his death. ~Taravangian thinking of Shallan, Words of Radiance, Interlude I-14

“You don’t know who we are. You don’t know what we’re trying to accomplish. You don’t know much of anything at all, Veil. Why did your father join us? Why did your brother seek out the Skybreakers? I have done some research, you see. I have answers for you.” ~Mraize speaking to Shallan after discovering her identity, Words of Radiance Chapter 88

We have reason to believe that Helaran was a Surgebinder. Mraize claims that Helaran sought out the Skybreakers and Taravangian seems certain that he was advanced enough to offer training to his little sister. This strongly suggests that Helaran has advanced far enough to have formed a Nahel bond. (Note: evidence in Edgedancer indicates that this is plausible)

Quote

Question
I guess Helaran was not bonded to a spren then?

Brandon Sanderson
Why do you say that

Question
I saw that his Blade had a gemstone at the bottom, so that was a clue.

Brandon Sanderson
That is a very good clue.

WoR Signing Report - Argent, Mar 22nd, 2014

Brandon was asked in 2014 if Helaran had bonded with a spren. While taken at face value, Brandon's words suggest that he had not. But his initial dance around the question followed by an indirect answer don't rule out the possibility.

If Helaran is a Surgebinder, it seems highly unlikely that he would hang on to his original Shardblade. He would be hearing screams every time he used it. Renarin's experience suggests Helaran would be unable to keep and use it. Besides, it's entirely possible that he has advanced far enough to have no need of a "dead" blade.

Lastly, I'd like to point out that Helaran is never seen with Shardplate. If he wanted to intimidate his father, why not bring that up as well? While it's possible his benefactors may have supplied it later, or that he wanted to keep his full capabilities a secret, the easiest explanation is that he didn't have Shardplate.

Conclusion:

Helaran is alive.

After successfully seeking out the Skybreakers and joining their ranks, he rid himself of the Shardblade he was known to carry. The Blade ended up in the hands of another man--a Ghostblood--who was defeated by Kaladin on the battlefield.

Reports that Helaran died are incorrect. There's too much mystery to the man's identity for this to be surprising. It doesn't matter how lowly Helaran may have been in Veden society. A Shardbearer on the battlefield would normally be well-known, and Amaram would have discovered the man's identity without much effort. The fact that the history of the Blade (and it's former bearer) is so shrouded suggests there's something to the story that people aren't seeing. In fact, it's possible that Helaran intentionally faked his death for one reason or another.

Crackpot? Yes. I'm fully aware that the support for this is flimsy. But until proven false beyond a doubt, I think it's a fun conspiracy theory!

Addendum:

@Bcknight2 points out a notable WoB here, which strongly suggests Amaram knew the Shardbearer's name at the time he spoke with Shallan about the man. Based on that interaction, I think there's a strong case to be made that it wasn't Helaran. The gist is that he wouldn't have acted so casually or provided key details unless he had no reason to believe the details would be meaningful. And that doesn't work if the name he has is Helaran Davar. My full analysis and conclusions are here.

Edited February 22, 2017 by jofwu
addendum

[Argent he/him]

25 minutes ago, jofwu said:

@Argent asked Brandon in 2014 if Helaran had bonded with a spren. While taken at face value, Brandon's words suggest that he had not. But his initial dance around the question followed by an indirect answer don't rule out the possibility.

I don't think the question was mine - my name probably shows up there because the transcription came from my audio.

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

If Helaran was a surgebinder, a true Skybreaker, then he should have been able to heal with Stormlight from a stab to the eye, right? 

Unless... a few things:

1. He wasn't bonded to a spren, only lent a dead sprenblade and armor as a test to join the Skybreakers
2. He wasn't advanced enough to unconsciously use stormlight, like was mentioned in Edgedancer (that's not really a spoiler right?)
3. The shardplate he was using was interfering with his use of stormlight like Szeth mentions in WoK and he couldn't effectively use it to heal
4. The shardplate he was using drained his stormlight to heal itself, like the helm when Kaladin used it in the WoR Arena duel

I don't know if it's been mentioned before... but, if he was there for the Skybreakers... maybe he wasn't assassinating Amaram. Maybe he was there to kill Kaladin as a burgeoning surgebinder? 

[BlackYeti he/him]

30 minutes ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

If Helaran was a surgebinder, a true Skybreaker, then he should have been able to heal with Stormlight from a stab to the eye, right? 

But surely the whole point that @jofwu was making was that it wasn't Helaran who got stabbed in the eye, therefore Helaran is still alive. Hence this isn't an issue with the theory.

[Jofwu he/him]

50 minutes ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

If Helaran was a surgebinder, a true Skybreaker, then he should have been able to heal with Stormlight from a stab to the eye, right?

Just as @BlackYeti says, the theory is the Shardbearer wasn't Helaran.

If Helaran DID have a bond at the time (and somehow managed to wield a dead blade) then presumably being stabbed through the head with a spear would be enough to kill him. Surebinders aren't invincible.

But that's not the theory. The theory is that IF Helaran was bonded to a spren, then it seems very doubtul he can be the man Kaladin killed. It doesn't fit for him to still be carrying around that Blade. And this is supported by further evidence--particularly concerning is connection to the Ghostbloods. The only strong evidence we have to the contrary that the man was actually Helaran is the physical description. But that could very well be a... *ahem*... red hair-ing.

(I'll see myself out.)

Edited December 6, 2016 by jofwu

[Blightsong he/him]

Possible, but im not sure I'd like this. If Helaran is alive it will be the third time that a character thought to be dead was brought back.

[Spoolofwhool]

9 minutes ago, Blightsong said:

Possible, but im not sure I'd like this. If Helaran is alive it will be the third time that a character thought to be dead was brought back.

Who are the other two? Jasnah I know. 

[BlackYeti he/him]

4 minutes ago, Spoolofwhool said:

Who are the other two? Jasnah I know. 

Szeth

[Spoolofwhool]

19 minutes ago, BlackYeti said:

Szeth

True, but I wouldn't have counedt Szeth on the same level as Jasnah or Helaran coming back to life since he was dead for barely any time at all. I guess his perceived death by Kaladin will be still have impact. 

[Jofwu he/him]

There's also at least one other notable case of character "resurrection" elsewhere in the cosmere. So that kinda carries over.

For Helaran, I agree it could be pretty lame. But the fact that he's more minor helps, and it would all boil down to how it's handled. I think it could be done well. It could be used to do some really fun things with Shallan's story, I think. Particularly if they're pitted against one another.

[Spoolofwhool]

13 minutes ago, jofwu said:

For Helaran, I agree it could be pretty lame. But the fact that he's more minor helps, and it would all boil down to how it's handled. I think it could be done well. It could be used to do some really fun things with Shallan's story, I think. Particularly if they're pitted against one another.

Very true. While it's true that reusing a specific concept can be boring, I don't think it's necessarily the concept which we should be evaluating, but rather, how it affects the story. I agree on your point, having Helaran return would provoke an interesting interaction with Shallan and the Ghostbloods, as well as bring the Skybreakers in to the greater story. 

[Green Hoodie Mistborn he/him]

It's just too much happenstance and/or odd planning on Brandon's/Helaran's part to me to have a random unknown Veden with Helaran's blade be at the battle. It was already a huge coincidence that Kaladin was present and killed the shardbearer of the blade that Helaran displayed to his father. 

Maybe, but I will feel cheated if he didn't actually die. The others I am fine with and see the need for, but Helaran should be dead to provide real conflict between Kaladin and Shallan, not a fake one that will be remedied when Helaran shows up from offstage. It cheapens the narrative between Kaladin and Shallan that is sure to come if he's not dead. 

Is it possible? Sure. We've seen Nale use his fabrial to heal Szeth, so why not make Helaran disappear by showing off his shardblade to his ghostblood father and then have the bearer of that blade "die in combat".

I don't think the bearer of that blade was TRYING to die at Kaladin's hand... they were just over confident as are all newly endowed shardbearers. There is no way they could have known that Kaladin would win that battle... by all rights he should not have won. So, that would have been an odd way to try and fake a death, to be the only shardbearer on a field of battle and expect to be killed? That's seems a stretch to me...

[thejopen27 he/him]

4 hours ago, jofwu said:

 

It's pretty clear that the Shardbearer Kaladin killed was a Veden man. The stormwarden also suggests that he's not a particularly important figure, though it's hard to draw many conclusions from this.

We also have pretty good reason to believe he is a Ghostblood. Amaram seems pretty certain that the Ghostbloods sent the man to kill him. While it's possible Amaram had some other reason to think this, I think that a simpler explanation makes more sense here: the man probably had a Ghostbloods tatoo.

 

I don't think Amaram is as smart as he thinks he is. Gavalar also thought he was being assassinated by a ghostblood. I'm not pooh-poohing your whole theory, but don't think we can assume that the shardbearer who tried to kill Amaram was a Ghostblood. We just don't know. Overall your theory is solid.

[thejopen27 he/him]

3 hours ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

If Helaran was a surgebinder, a true Skybreaker, then he should have been able to heal with Stormlight from a stab to the eye, right? 

Unless... a few things:

1. He wasn't bonded to a spren, only lent a dead sprenblade and armor as a test to join the Skybreakers
2. He wasn't advanced enough to unconsciously use stormlight, like was mentioned in Edgedancer (that's not really a spoiler right?)
3. The shardplate he was using was interfering with his use of stormlight like Szeth mentions in WoK and he couldn't effectively use it to heal
4. The shardplate he was using drained his stormlight to heal itself, like the helm when Kaladin used it in the WoR Arena duel

I don't know if it's been mentioned before... but, if he was there for the Skybreakers... maybe he wasn't assassinating Amaram. Maybe he was there to kill Kaladin as a burgeoning surgebinder? 

He rides straight for Amaram. The Skybreakers would also take issue with the Sons of Honor and Amaram for trying to bring back the Voidbringers intentionally. 

[BlackYeti he/him]

3 minutes ago, Green Hoodie Mistborn said:

It's just too much happenstance and/or odd planning on Brandon's/Helaran's part to me to have a random unknown Veden with Helaran's blade be at the battle. It was already a huge coincidence that Kaladin was present and killed the shardbearer of the blade that Helaran displayed to his father. 

Maybe, but I will feel cheated if he didn't actually die. The others I am fine with and see the need for, but Helaran should be dead to provide real conflict between Kaladin and Shallan, not a fake one that will be remedied when Helaran shows up from offstage. It cheapens the narrative between Kaladin and Shallan that is sure to come if he's not dead. 

Is it possible? Sure. We've seen Nale use his fabrial to heal Szeth, so why not make Helaran disappear by showing off his shardblade to his ghostblood father and then have the bearer of that blade "die in combat".

I don't think the bearer of that blade was TRYING to die at Kaladin's hand... they were just over confident as are all newly endowed shardbearers. There is no way they could have known that Kaladin would win that battle... by all rights he should not have won. So, that would have been an odd way to try and fake a death, to be the only shardbearer on a field of battle and expect to be killed? That's seems a stretch to me...

I don't think they were trying to fake Helaran's death. The idea is that Helaran gave away his Shards because he joined the Skybreakers and thus couldn't use them without hearing the screaming. The fact that the person he gave them to got killed by Kaladin is just a coincidence. It actually makes sense that he would give them to a Veden since he is himself Veden, he'd probably give them to a friend after all. I wouldn't say that it's much more unlikely than if it were Helaran that Kaladin killed.

As for the point on cheapening the narrative, that is certainly a real danger here. However I don't think that it necessarily would do so, if the plot line between Shallan and Kaladin is resolved before Helaran returns, for instance, it would then mitigate it to some extent. Also, just because he isn't killed by Kaladin, doesn't necessarily mean that he won't get killed off by some other means.

[Mirdrim]

I think this is pretty plausible. There is certainly room for Helaran to have survived.  At minimum, I think we'll see more about Helaran through the Ghostbloods or through some flashbacks.  I think it would be an interesting twist to see that Helaran was indeed a member of the Ghostbloods, just like his father, which could conceivably have contributed to his conflict with his father, as Helaran could have been more dedicated to the Ghostblood's "actual" cause, while their father seemed like he was only trying to use the Ghostbloods as a means to become more wealthy and influential in Jah Keved.

 

Overall, a very interesting theory.  Like I said, I believe we'll see more about Helaran, at minimum I'd hope to learn a few hints about where his original shards came from, and whether he was given them by the Ghostbloods or by some other organization.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Mirdrim

[Siaun Sanche she/her]

On 12/6/2016 at 4:24 PM, BlackYeti said:

I don't think they were trying to fake Helaran's death. The idea is that Helaran gave away his Shards because he joined the Skybreakers and thus couldn't use them without hearing the screaming. The fact that the person he gave them to got killed by Kaladin is just a coincidence. It actually makes sense that he would give them to a Veden since he is himself Veden, he'd probably give them to a friend after all. I wouldn't say that it's much more unlikely than if it were Helaran that Kaladin killed.

I dunno. Aside from the fact that the friend also matches a loose description of Helaran, it strikes me as weird that a Veden Shardbearer would sign up to fight in an Alethi border dispute. Is he a soldier for hire? A relative to Amaram's rival? In either case, why wouldn't Amaram have known who he was? A Ghostblood on a mission of assassination has reason to cover his tracks, but I don't know why somebody who was just the lucky recipient of a Shardblade and Shardplate would keep his presence there a secret.

[BlackYeti he/him]

17 hours ago, Harry the Heir said:

I dunno. Aside from the fact that the friend also matches a loose description of Helaran, it strikes me as weird that a Veden Shardbearer would sign up to fight in an Alethi border dispute. Is he a soldier for hire? A relative to Amaram's rival? In either case, why wouldn't Amaram have known who he was? A Ghostblood on a mission of assassination has reason to cover his tracks, but I don't know why somebody who was just the lucky recipient of a Shardblade and Shardplate would keep his presence there a secret.

The point that I was trying to make here was that Helaran didn't give away his Shards as part of a scheme to fake his death: that would have been incredibly stupid, not least because it's generally unknown that he has them.

Regardless, I don't think that what you said necessarily conflicts with what I did. It's quite clear that the Shardbearer wasn't a simple member of the opposing army and that he was targeting Amaram as an assassin, likely due to Amaram's association with the Sons of Honour. Why could this assassin not be connected to Helaran? Helaran is clearly involved in something after all: if he gave them to a friend like I proposed, is it not reasonable to think that the friend might not also be involved in something?

[Siaun Sanche she/her]

5 hours ago, BlackYeti said:

Regardless, I don't think that what you said necessarily conflicts with what I did. It's quite clear that the Shardbearer wasn't a simple member of the opposing army and that he was targeting Amaram as an assassin, likely due to Amaram's association with the Sons of Honour. Why could this assassin not be connected to Helaran? Helaran is clearly involved in something after all: if he gave them to a friend like I proposed, is it not reasonable to think that the friend might not also be involved in something?

It doesn't necessarily conflict, but the more peculiar things we assume about this friend, the more unlikely it sounds to me. Now Helaran of the Skybreakers gives his Blade and Plate to a friend who, what, just so happens to be a Ghostblood assassin? (Or does Helaran know? Is he putting out a hit on Amaram? What's his motivation for that?) It's just a very messy theory that requires making up a few extra elements to make it work. Djarskublar's theory strikes me as a lot cleaner.

[Jofwu he/him]

On 1/2/2017 at 0:09 AM, Harry the Heir said:

It doesn't necessarily conflict, but the more peculiar things we assume about this friend, the more unlikely it sounds to me. Now Helaran of the Skybreakers gives his Blade and Plate to a friend who, what, just so happens to be a Ghostblood assassin? (Or does Helaran know? Is he putting out a hit on Amaram? What's his motivation for that?) It's just a very messy theory that requires making up a few extra elements to make it work. Djarskublar's theory strikes me as a lot cleaner.

I'd like to point out that this theory isn't attempting to address what happened with Helaran's blade. There are plenty of simple solutions to that problem.

Maybe he felt the thing was so vile that he just discarded it somewhere and someone else came across it. Maybe he turned it in to whoever gave the thing to him, and they passed it to someone else. Maybe he gave it to a friend--some fellow Veden noble.

I don't pressume to know what happened there, and I don't think there's support for a solution. But I do think there's a lot of wiggle room for an answer.

[Siaun Sanche she/her]

1 hour ago, jofwu said:

I'd like to point out that this theory isn't attempting to address what happened with Helaran's blade. There are plenty of simple solutions to that problem.

I think the combination of this being another red-headed Veden noble _and_ a Ghostblood assassin prevents any simple solution to this problem, to be honest. If he got it from the Ghostbloods and gave it back, why would they give it to a guy who looked a lot like him? If he gave it to a friend, why did that person turn out to be an assassin for a secret society? There is wiggle room, but not as much as you're saying.

[Jofwu he/him]

36 minutes ago, Harry the Heir said:

If he got it from the Ghostbloods and gave it back, why would they give it to a guy who looked a lot like him? If he gave it to a friend, why did that person turn out to be an assassin for a secret society?

The Ghostbloods certainly seem to be up to something in Jah Keved. (e.g. Lin Davar, Amaram's suspicions, etc.) Heck, even the Diagramists are apparently getting in on the action. (e.g. Taravangian) The nation is practically crawling with secret societies. And while I don't expect redheads are running around left and right, I get the sense that it's quite normal in Jah Keved.

In any case, I'm offering this theory up specifically as a conspiracy theory-- not as a highly likely scenario.

Edited January 4, 2017 by jofwu

[Siaun Sanche she/her]

I was just re-reading the prologue to Words of Radiance and I think I may be coming around on this conspiracy theory, sort of. Or at least the Helaran is still alive piece of it. I was skeptical that there'd be another red-headed Veden running around with secret society connections that we never heard of--but oh ye of little faith, because it turns out that there is "a Veden brute with red speckling his beard" that works for Liss. BS brings him up twice in that chapter, and even tells us his name (Talak).

Liss doesn't necessarily have a rooting interest herself, but she works with Jasnah a lot and Jasnah certainly does. In the prologue she runs into Nalan talking about Szeth and thinks that she needs to look into him further. She also knows that Amaram and Gavilar were up to something right before the assassination. So there's reason to think that she would be investigating both the Sons of Honor and the Skybreakers, and it seems reasonable to conclude that she'd oppose them both. (I don't currently recall if she talks about either of them by name.) So perhaps Jasnah is behind both Helaran seeking out the Skybreakers (because she wants a man on the inside) and the attempted assassination of Amaram (because he's up to some evil crap).

And it just so happens that we know two important things about Liss that she's keeping a secret: (a) she's a woman; and (b) she kills people with a Shardblade. But because it's a very gender-stratified society, perhaps there are times when it makes sense for her to give her Shardblade to a man (be it Helaran or Talak) temporarily, because a male Shardbearer can operate in public but a female Shardbearer would attract unwanted attention. So for example if the Weeper assassinated Amaram, that would draw more attention than if he simply fell in a minor border skirmish. And since there were no other Shardbearers on the field that day and Shardbearers basically never get killed by normal soldiers, it would seem to be a minor risk... until Kaladin screws up the play and Amaram winds up with Liss's Blade.

(So why do in-the-know people think that Helaran is dead? Because he didn't join the Skybreakers under his real name to avoid uncomfortable questions about what his real motivations are and who he's connected to. Talak's death is a useful way to maintain his cover.)

I don't know that I 100% believe this theory that I just came up with, but I'll be checking in Oathbringer for Liss to show up complaining that she doesn't have her Shardblade anymore...

[Krandacth]

10 hours ago, Harry the Heir said:

But because it's a very gender-stratified society, perhaps there are times when it makes sense for her to give her Shardblade to a man (be it Helaran or Talak) temporarily, because a male Shardbearer can operate in public but a female Shardbearer would attract unwanted attention. So for example if the Weeper assassinated Amaram, that would draw more attention than if he simply fell in a minor border skirmish. And since there were no other Shardbearers on the field that day and Shardbearers basically never get killed by normal soldiers, it would seem to be a minor risk... until Kaladin screws up the play and Amaram winds up with Liss's Blade.

I like many of your points here, and it does seem far from impossible that there might be more Vedens (Vedenar being a country not much smaller than Alethkar) with red hair (a common Veden trait, by all accounts) involved in the many secret societies on Roshar. However, the specific scenario you describe above seems highly unlikely:

In all instances of Shardblade lending seen so far, the Blade remains bonded to the lendER, and may in fact be summoned back by them at any time.  For Amaram to be able to bond the Veden's dropped Blade it would have to no longer be bonded, which would mean it had previously been bonded to the Veden. For that Veden to have been Talak with Liss' Blade, she would have had to completely unbond it and let Talak bond it. This seems like an insane move, regardless of how much she trusted Talak (which likely isn't much anyway, in her line of work).

Even more damning, however, is that Shallan confirms that the Blade in question belonged (at some point after the WoR prologue) to Heleran :-P

The only feasible scenario close to the specific one you proposed is that Heleran became unbonded from his Blade, it ended up with Liss, she gifted it to Talak, then sent him to kill Amaram. While feasible, this is pure speculation, and the general theory (that Heleran was separated from his Blade and it ended up with another Veden sent to kill Amaram) is exactly as stated in the OP.

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

It is kind of fun that every character thinks it is either A) Ghostbloods or B ) Parshendi behind assassinations.

I have a gut feeling that tells me Helaran is alive, and the point made about the tatoo is a good one. Amaram probably examined the body of the Shardbearer, and if the bearer had the mark it means that he is somehow affiliated with the Ghostbloods, which makes Mraize's comment about Skybreakers wierd. If he does not have the tatoo, then he would not be a Ghostblood. 

There are ways to get around this though. Either, Helaran defected from the Ghostbloods to the Skybreakers, or Amaram just thinks that he is a Ghostbloods-hired assassin, like Tyn.

The Talak theory was kind of good (although the bonding issues mentioned above are a problem) and there must be a reason for Brandon to have the Weeper in the WoR prologue. But otherwise, I do feel that introducing a random twist of "Helaran gave his blade to his redhead BFF who then tried to kill Amaram for unknown reason" is kind of a stretch, although it isn't impossible to pull off.

TL;DR: Gut feeling: Helaran lives, logical feeling: R.I.P Helaran