What was up with Del Rio’s hostility toward Chief? I’m not sure if this was explained yet.
> What was up with Del Rio’s hostility toward Chief? I’m not sure if this was explained yet.
I think its just simply he was created to look bad he was made to question Master Chief’s every Move make Master Chief look better.
> > What was up with Del Rio’s hostility toward Chief? I’m not sure if this was explained yet.
>
> I think its just simply he was created to look bad he was made to question Master Chief’s every Move make Master Chief look better.
If that’s the case, then that’s just bad writing. There has to be some reason other than “it’s convenient to make the Chief look good”.
Del Rio’s position as Captain of the Infinity is the result of a political battle. When ONI commissioned Infinity, it took up half of the Navy’s entire budget. You can’t hide something like that so the UNSC wanted in on the project too.
Not wanting to let ONI have complete control of the Infinity, the UNSC placed Del Rio as Captain, while ONI wanted Lasky. With Del Rio as captain the UNSC secured two things.
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The Infinity would not be destroyed easily. Del Rio served as a Captain throughout the Covenant War following the guide book by the letter. As a result, he made calculated retreats, decorating his Service Record with numerous undestroyed ships in good condition.
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ONI would not have entire control of Infinity. With Del Rio in charge, and Lasky as the XO, the UNSC and ONI effectively shared Infinity.
In the results that lead up to Halo 4, Del Rio would come to understand Infinity’s awesome power. This lead him to overestimate it when they were deployed to Requiem in '57. Losing complete control over Infinity with no power, had Del Rio quite shocked and concerned. His understanding of Forerunner technology based on his experiences was that it was mostly inert.
With Infinity crash landed on Requiem, Del Rio was quite afraid he had just cost Humanity their role as top dog in the Orion Arm. So when the Covenant and Didact were fended off, he decided Infinity was already at too much risk and quite defenseless here. He wanted to make a tactical retreat and return more prepared.
So when Humanity’s living legend came back from the dead, and started talking about pursuing an aggressive Campaign on Requiem against the Didact, Del Rio was more concerned about Infinity’s safety and didn’t want Chief to undermine his command.
When Infinity was capable of leaving, and Master Chief was debriefed on the bridge, his story sounded insane. Humanity has once been an Interstellar civilization, capable of contending with the Ecumene, who had then been devolved, and converted into living machines. In addition, his experience sounded more akin to a vision. If you think about that cutscene, it’s actually really trippy.
So as Chief continues to push for the campaign on Requiem, Del Rio adamantly says no. This sends the rampant Cortana off and she reveals just how bad she’s deteriorated. Rampant AI’s are quite capable of killing people or severely injuring them, so Del Rio went by the book and ordered her termination. Master Chief of course intervened, directly disobeying Del Rio’s orders and possibly endangering Infinity’s crew by keeping a rampant AI aboard the ship. But Master Chief doesn’t stop there, he announces that we will continue the campaign on Requiem if Del Rio will not, undermining his authority.
Del Rio, not wanting to lose the living legend or his perceived authority, ordered Master Chief’s arrest, to attempt to keep him aboard Infinity. But it was too late.
Chief had already inspired Infinity’s crew by his past deeds and his unflinching resolve to meet the Didact’s threat head on.
Hope that clears some stuff up OP.
@Onyx81
That was quite informative, and a great read. Thanks a lot!
No problem.
Nice Onyx.
> > What was up with Del Rio’s hostility toward Chief? I’m not sure if this was explained yet.
>
> I think its just simply he was created to look bad he was made to question Master Chief’s every Move make Master Chief look better.
While what Onyx81 said certainly feels right, imo at least, I just don’t think his in-game personality was the result of a more deeper and complex backstory.
The “relationship” between Master Chief and Cortana was the centrepiece of Campaign’s story. Having Del Rio as an antagonistic character was a cheap way of challenging this relationship, boosting the drama of Cortana’s survival and creating that “feel good” effect when Lasky rolled into the final showdown, having overthrown Del Rio.
There’s also no real in-game explanation of Del Rio’s actions or reference to his past exploits and reputation as a commander. Any real justification of his hostility is absent in game, which further leads me to believe he was just used as a throwaway antagonist.
That was nicely written, Onyx81.
Well, it’s hard to put everything in game. Like the Covenant, a comment or two regarding Del Rio would have been nice, but isn’t absolutely necessary.
And Onyx, like I normally expect from you, that was well written, and a great analysis.
Another thing to keep in mind.
From the Visual Guide, Infinity lost is primary AI when the ship crashed.
Without an AI, things would be difficult, especially chasing and battling a Cryptum in unfamiliar and unnatural territory with a 3 mile long ship.
> There’s also no real in-game explanation of Del Rio’s actions or reference to his past exploits and reputation as a commander. Any real justification of his hostility is absent in game, which further leads me to believe he was just used as a throwaway antagonist.
A bit more than half of what I wrote was based specifically on content available to us in Halo 4.
> Another thing to keep in mind.
> From the Visual Guide, Infinity list is primary AI when the ship crashed.
>
> Without an AI, things would be difficult, especially chasing and battling a Cryptum in unfamiliar and unnatural territory with a 3 mile long ship.
That’s actually an excellent point.
> > There’s also no real in-game explanation of Del Rio’s actions or reference to his past exploits and reputation as a commander. Any real justification of his hostility is absent in game, which further leads me to believe he was just used as a throwaway antagonist.
>
> A bit more than half of what I wrote was based specifically on content available to us in Halo 4.
Where in-game specifically did you retrieve this information?
> Another thing to keep in mind.
> From the Visual Guide, Infinity lost is primary AI when the ship crashed.
>
> Without an AI, things would be difficult, especially chasing and battling a Cryptum in unfamiliar and unnatural territory with a 3 mile long ship.
Very valid point. Wish that could’ve been mentioned quickly in campaign at the very least.
> > > There’s also no real in-game explanation of Del Rio’s actions or reference to his past exploits and reputation as a commander. Any real justification of his hostility is absent in game, which further leads me to believe he was just used as a throwaway antagonist.
> >
> > A bit more than half of what I wrote was based specifically on content available to us in Halo 4.
>
> Where in-game specifically did you retrieve this information?
Just for context, this is all that was gleaned from Halo 4.
> Losing complete control over Infinity with no power, had Del Rio quite shocked and concerned. His understanding of Forerunner technology based on his experiences was that it was mostly inert.
>
> With Infinity crash landed on Requiem, Del Rio was quite afraid he had just cost Humanity their role as top dog in the Orion Arm. So when the Covenant and Didact were fended off, he decided Infinity was already at too much risk and quite defenseless here. He wanted to make a tactical retreat and return more prepared.
>
> So when Humanity’s living legend came back from the dead, and started talking about pursuing an aggressive Campaign on Requiem against the Didact, Del Rio was more concerned about Infinity’s safety and didn’t want Chief to undermine his command.
>
> When Infinity was capable of leaving, and Master Chief was debriefed on the bridge, his story sounded insane. Humanity has once been an Interstellar civilization, capable of contending with the Ecumene, who had then been devolved, and converted into living machines. In addition, his experience sounded more akin to a vision. If you think about that cutscene, it’s actually really trippy.
>
> So as Chief continues to push for the campaign on Requiem, Del Rio adamantly says no. This sends the rampant Cortana off and she reveals just how bad she’s deteriorated. Rampant AI’s are quite capable of killing people or severely injuring them, so Del Rio went by the book and ordered her termination. Master Chief of course intervened, directly disobeying Del Rio’s orders and possibly endangering Infinity’s crew by keeping a rampant AI aboard the ship. But Master Chief doesn’t stop there, he announces that we will continue the campaign on Requiem if Del Rio will not, undermining his authority.
>
> Del Rio, not wanting to lose the living legend or his perceived authority, ordered Master Chief’s arrest, to attempt to keep him aboard Infinity. But it was too late.
>
> Chief had already inspired Infinity’s crew by his past deeds and his unflinching resolve to meet the Didact’s threat head on.
Where did I get it from? Tone of voice and quotes. That includes in-game dialogue too. I’m working on beefing up my analysis with quotes and more detail I’ll have that done later today.