So as mentioned in the comments recently, Byron seems to be over-identifying with Hammerhead a bit. Yes, Hammerhead is incredibly dangerous, focuses on the fight while “activated,” doesn’t shy from the title “berserker,” and occasionally gives the “HUAGH” yell.

But Arkerra has two definitions of “berserker,” somewhat overlapping but mostly distinct, as we hinted before with Brix. If Hammerhead were Byron’s kind, then in a war setting like this, leading him back out into the thick of the fighting could’ve been devastating for the World’s Rebellion. Conversely, if Byron had been Hammerhead’s kind of berserker and somehow tough enough to still threaten Harky, then he would’ve been so fixated on Harky as to be no threat to the others in the Death Pit. He might’ve even escaped to pursue him.

Indeed, you could argue that Hammerhead is less mad than any other land shark except maybe Gizzard Wizard: he can be motivated by blood and gore but can also be constrained and even philosophical, whereas the average land shark doesn’t get far beyond “HEY SAVE SOME FOR THE OTHER GUYS.”