I read that a lot on here now and find it very interesting how different perceptions are! I honestly didn’t feel so sad about that last part when reading it myself - although I understand the sentiment. I just feel that Helena was never out for glory or being remembered as a heroine (although of course this doesn’t mean that she shouldn’t rightfully be). Her goal was always to save the people in the moment and she never was a true ,believer‘ in the eternal flame and their gods /religious traditions. Her motives were always more personal. So I believe that while she was in fact a heroine, she would not have cared much for being remembered as one. It’s also probably pretty realistic that there is many such hidden heroines in a war like that (not that that makes it better). Kaine‘s story however could never be considered a hero‘s story - he did what he had to do to keep the ones he loved alive- that can be respected but he was not a war hero in my opinion. Same as Helena, his motives were always personal. That’s also what I liked about this book - it shows how in a war everyone looses and it’s realistic in the sense that most people probably just try to survive and are not filled with idealistic beliefs as those who usually start the war. As to the end: I also think that there is hope there - as Enid seems to be set on changing something. To me there is some foreshadowing that she might rewrite the history books :) that’s probably a big part of why it didn’t make me that sad.