You know i really like how woy handled helpless wander
While its ambiguous as to whether helpless is a memory of a specific event/s or just a representation of the feeling in general, im gonna assume its the former for the sake of this analysis
Fans love to make this scene angsty by debating what happened to wander and i think thats really dumb. The specifics of what happened don't matter, not to the writers, not to sylvia and not to wander. Theres a reason this wander is defined as being 'helpless' instead of anything more telling. It isn't necessarily what happened thats so upsetting, its how it made wander feel. This scene isnt just here for fan theories its an explanation as to why wander is the way he is. He knows what its like to be helpless and specifically he fucking HATES that feeling. You see incomplete wander looking impossibly stressed when he convince to tell sylvia he's better without helpless and physically cringes away in fear when she puts it back. But he still says its the most important part, because it's what drives wander to help others. He never wants anyone else to feel that. Thats the bit you're actually supposed to focus on and it does such a good job of directing that focus in the right place. Like both wander and sylvia themselves, the show doesnt dwell on the past, only the here and now and the future. What made wander feel helpless in the past is irrelevant, it's only important because that feeling is what made wander want to become the person he is in the present. It's what gives his goal of helping others purpose and meaning
