Well it looks as though Belathor has bit the proverbial dust in Whiterun for me. Now I don't care too much about him personally but I do not like the fact that there's one less shopkeeper in Whiterun. I though I read before the game came out that when an NPC dies that a family member of friends will take up their place. Either way, the game should regenerate someone to work there. Even if it meant putting a new NPC in there named "shopkeeper" or something. I could at least role-play that it was a family member from another part of Tamriel. Will his shop ever open back up? His assistant still chops wood outside.