So, in halo wars 1 the CGI cutscenes show elites not having personal energy shields. So was personal shield technology not a thing up to at least 2531 or was it just creative licence like the Spartan Ops cutscenes were dramatic effect and not canon?
If there was a reason for the Elites not having shields, they never gave one. If I had to guess a canonical reason, it’s that Ripa 'Moramee’s armor didn’t have energy shields, and because even for an Elite he was a jerk, had his subordinates not use their shields too? In all honesty it probably was just creative liberties taken by Ensemble Studios, though.
Two canonical explanations for this:
-Similar to what The Sorge said, Ripa 'Moramee was so stubborn and narcissistic that he thought shields were irrelevant for him and he thought his armor was tough enough (which it was, surprisingly) that he didn’t need them per se. He then extended that thought onto his subordinates, ordering them to disable their shields. This show of force can also be interpreted into a sign of honor. In this case, Ripa believed he and those under him could retain honor by not hiding behind shields. Rather leave oneself exposed to danger and be adaptive and evasive.
- Or, who behold the philosophy that not everything you see in fiction is exactly as it appeared in that universe’s reality. As such, Ripa did have shields, along with his subordinates. They weren’t shown due to artistic liberty or resource limitations whilst making the cutscenes.
I think the answer is “creative license and convenience,” because that’s the only answer for why Red Team has energy shields in Halo Wars. The technology for energy shields was first finally adapted for the MJOLNIR suits in 2551; those spartans cannot have energy shields. But for gameplay they do.
Developing the special effects for energy shielding in a cinematic would be tiresome and difficult, and forces a shift in the choreography of a fight. A shift away from the conventions of fight choreography that draw people to them. Presumably they didn’t want to figure out how to make the fight look cool when energy shields are a thing, didn’t want to tell their artists to figure out how to make that effect and make it look good, and so they just went without unilaterally.
To frustrate attempts at explaining, Ripa 'Moramee is not a particularly honor-bent person. He’s more about results than method. He probably wouldn’t tell his peeps to go without shields, nor would he do so himself.
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> I think the answer is “creative license and convenience,” because that’s the only answer for why Red Team has energy shields in Halo Wars. The technology for energy shields was first finally adapted for the MJOLNIR suits in 2551; those spartans cannot have energy shields. But for gameplay they do.
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> To frustrate attempts at explaining, Ripa 'Moramee is not a particularly honor-bent person. He’s more about results than method. He probably wouldn’t tell his peeps to go without shields, nor would he do so himself.
It’s canon that Red Team had prototype energy shielding. Page 119 of Halo The Essential Visual Guide: “Energy shielding was a key feature of Mark V, although other Spartan squads had field-tested prototypes of this technology as early as 2531.”
In terms of Ripa 'Moramee’s ‘honor,’ it’s a possibility that was the reason. You’re right, he isn’t an honor bent person, but doesn’t mean he has his own interpretations of Honor. But I do agree that the animators simply didn’t give them energy shields, while canonically they did.
Well, I’ll just shake my head at that and shrug. Those are some good prototype energy shields. Real good.
well, not all elites really have shields (like those camo elites in Halo: Combat Evolved) and if you specifically mean the ones in Halo: Wars, then the honor guards could have gotten somekind of old ceremonial armor alongside with the arbiter ripa (which means the current arbiter armor could have been fitted with shield system later on, since its supposed to be pretty old armor set and it could be replicated later for i dont think they could have recovered all of the fallen arbiters and since the armor could have been replicated, they might as well could have fitted a stealth and armor system later.) or that the shield couldnt really just have been seen for the design choise or the lack of technical resources.