The friendship between Elías and Jóhann

Elías and Jóhann’s friendship is defined in the surviving account less by shared history than by what Elías does after Jóhann is killed: he treats the truth about his friend’s death as an obligation, even as the circumstances make public justice unlikely.

Friendship and the unanswered questions

As Elías recovers from his injuries, he presses Kristín not to give up investigating the plane on the glacier. He asks where she had been and what the plane was carrying, then says that they owe answers to the others. His appeal links the mystery of the aircraft to the people harmed by the events surrounding it; Jóhann’s death is among the losses that make the search more than a question of military secrecy.

Telling Jóhann’s parents

In August, Kristín tells Elías that Jóhann has died. After Elías is strong enough, the siblings invite Jóhann’s parents to the hospital and explain the circumstances of their son’s death, including what became of his murderer. They deliberately leave out the German plane. Kristín argues that the army would deny violence, let alone murder, and that no one in its ranks would testify for them. Their decision therefore separates what they owe Jóhann’s family from what they judge possible to prove.

Testimony without redress

Jóhann’s parents are not satisfied with the initial explanation that their son and Elías fell into a crevasse. They call on Elías, Kristín, and Júlíus as witnesses and submit charges to the public prosecutor’s office, but the investigation produces no prosecution. Army spokesmen deny that the forces harboured a killer and disclaim knowledge of Delta Force operators or a C-17 plane in the country. The proceedings drag on before the media attention fades. Elías’s friendship with Jóhann thus appears through a costly act of remembrance and testimony, while the institutions that might confirm their account leave the family without legal redress.