Franky talkig about Halsey on NeoGaf:
Thera are two sides of the coin:
On neogaf, not here.
I wonder what he’s talking Bout in two and how soon we’ll get to see it.
Well, it seems that 343 will show both sides of the coin after all. Yes, Halsey did terrible things, but it was all for the preservation of humanity, and she did feel guilt about it. Hopefully any future games will show that, instead of having the audience believe that she is a “monster” or is “akin to -Yoink!-”.
Cobra should like this.
All we can do is cross our fingers for the sake of Halsey. She deserves to be treated better.
I have never understood the fervency of the Halsey apologists. Just because one of your victims goes on to do something good does not negate the gravity of your crimes. Halsey is a complex and evocative character, but she is not a hero by any means.
The same goes for Mendez. Having regrets in your old age does not rectify the fact you used cattle prods on abducted children.
> I have never understood the fervency of the Halsey apologists. Just because one of your victims goes on to do something good does not negate the gravity of your crimes. Halsey is a complex and evocative character, but she is not a hero by any means.
>
> The same goes for Mendez. Having regrets in your old age does not rectify the fact you used cattle prods on abducted children.
…Nobody ever said they were heroes. If anything, we wanted them to be shown in a neutral light and show that while she did terrible things, she’s living with the guilt of destroying their lives. I don’t understand what’s with people and saying that we’re “angeling up Halsey”, because we’re not, and it’s been stated numerous times. Why people continue to use that despite being told we’re not doing numerous times is beyond me…
Well this makes me happy. While I am in no way an Halsey apologist I did feel she was getting a rather raw deal in the last set of books and in the game. Maybe now we can get behind the whole story instead of just one rather nasty point of view
Always knew this was coming. The people that couldn’t realize the intended bias and perspective of the Kilo-5 novels should read a little more, possibly something other than game-based novels.
> Always knew this was coming. The people that couldn’t realize the intended bias and perspective of the Kilo-5 novels should read a little more, possibly something other than game-based novels.
I’ve had the opinion that Halsey is a mad scientist with a god-complex since reading The Fall of Reach back in 2002 or so. Her journal that from the Reach game didn’t help my opinion. It’s a class in unreliable narrator…the villain is always the hero of their story. She wanted to see how far she could push her theories and had the megalomaniacal she was the only person in the galaxy that could stop the Insurrection. Halsey is brilliant, but she is not well. Those late night guilt pangs she played up never once stopped her from inhumane experimentation on children.
The Spartans of heroes despite what Halsey and ONI did to them, not because of it. Again, just because your victim goes on to change the world doesn’t minimize the fact you victimized them.
> Always knew this was coming. The people that couldn’t realize the intended bias and perspective of the Kilo-5 novels should read a little more, possibly something other than game-based novels.
The next time you want to make assumptions about the reading level and comprehension of literary themes, make sure you know the people you are trying to insult. I’ve read the Halo novels, but I have also read Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels, Arthur C. Clarke’s “Childhood’s End” and “Rendezvous with Rama”, Carl Sagan’s “Cosmos”, Jared Diamond’s “Guns, Germs and Steel”, the collected works of HP Lovecraft, Dante’s “Inferno”, Max Brook’s “Zombie Survival Guide” and “World War Z”, “War of the Worlds” by HG Wells and so on and so on.
Is that enough for me to still not like the Kilo-5 novels? I know those novels employ intended bias and biased perspectives. I still think the books aren’t that great. I find most of the characters split between “okay” and “bad”, the former being Phillips, Black-Box, Devereaux and some others while the latter contains characters like Vaz, Parangosky, and Jul.
Frankly, I just see too much of Karen Traviss’ own morals and opinions being pushed into the reader. And really, what has changed? She’s basically just dredged up the criticisms and problems with the Spartan-II program covered in past books and media that we’ve already dealt with. The lack of differing perspectives didn’t exactly help matters. I know, that was intentional, but I think one person raising some kind of counterpoint to everything going on wouldn’t hurt too much.
Hell, “Frankenstein” would be a pretty boring book if we never got the monsters side of things and only had Victor to rely on, thus robbing us of a gripping narrative and complex character packed with depth. Sure, having everybody dogpile on Halsey gets the point Traviss and 343i want across, but I have a hard time enjoying the rest of the novels since all of this conflict is so shoehorned and, at times, contrived.
So I’ll trust Frankie and hold him to what he said. Be Angel told me similar things months back. Still, Brian Reeds “Halsey is a monster” comments still cling to my mind and cast some doubt on the sincerity of what they say. I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
> … I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
Man, if I quit Halo when the Flood as an enemy in the main games stopped…
> > … I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
>
> Man, if I quit Halo when the Flood as an enemy in the main games stopped…
It may seem shortsighted, but all I have left in Halo that I like is Halsey. Take that away and I have nothing to stick around for.
“It may seem shortsighted, but all I have left in Halo that I like is Halsey. Take that away and I have nothing to stick around for.”
How about Master Chiefs fate? Well for me it is just getting started. 
One reason I love Halsey is because she formed the spartan 2`s. I think/know Master Chief and blue Team are still loyal to Halsey. Thats in my opinion the second side of the coin Franky is talking. How far do you think Master Chief would go for her?
> > > … I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
> >
> > Man, if I quit Halo when the Flood as an enemy in the main games stopped…
>
> It may seem shortsighted, but all I have left in Halo that I like is Halsey. Take that away and I have nothing to stick around for.
I feel the same way about Jul. So far, he’s the best thing about post-war Halo. Although it’s a bit much to quit the series over one character, when there are so many other aspects of the universe.
I love the Kilo 5 books, but I have to agree with Cobra on this one point. When Halsey gets compared to Mengalle, it’s hard not to get uber pissed. And when Vaz daydreams about killing her as if that’s any form of justice, it gets me even more pissed. The Thursday War did a (slightly) better job in that respect, but it’s a hard thing to forget- especially when Brian Reed, our own lead writer, calls her a monster. That said, I think Spartan Ops did a good job of being impartial towards the Halsey dilemma. It was clear in SPOPS that she was a hero, even though she was criticized for her past, and it was also clear that all the things that happened to her were unfair (like the attempted assassination and the amputation). In fact, when she said she wants vengeance, I think most people cheered her.
Painting a grayer version of the UNSC is a great choice IMO, with ONI becoming ultimate -Yoinks!-. It ties into the Reclamation theme very well by showing the races of the galaxy are far from ready to reclaim the Mantle, and should the Flood return there is no chance they’ll pass their test. Halsey becoming anti-UNSC while still being developed as a hero (of sorts) can help that. It also ties in well with Jon finding his own humanity after losing Cortana, and having to make hard choices such as going rogue for the sake of the galaxy and opposing ONI (even if not in open combat, which I hope never happens).
After what Frankie said, I’m very happy. It seems like Halsey will not become a cookie cutter villain after all, and my guesses about her future role might be correct.
“Honestly I think folks unhappy with that aspect/perspective and angle are going to enjoy what’s coming more than most. It’s a thing that is designed to provoke a response but it has an arc that I suspect will be satisfying.”
So it’s quite official, 343 didn’t abandon Halsey and she will come back to the “past glory”.
This also means she won’t die and Osman will fail (another time).
> > > … I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
> >
> > Man, if I quit Halo when the Flood as an enemy in the main games stopped…
>
> It may seem shortsighted, but all I have left in Halo that I like is Halsey. Take that away and I have nothing to stick around for.
That seems kind of ridiculous. Halsey is the only thing you have ‘left’ in Halo? You dont care about Chief’s quest? Or if the Forerunners are still around (Iso-Didact, Chant to Green)?
Yes, the Kilo Five trilogy are maybe the worst books in the franchise, but Im not going to leave Halo because they upset me. Thats almost childish to say, unless it continued to the point where its just overbearing on the rest of the games, novels, and media. I understand the frustration, but I think thats a little much.
> > > > … I’ve drawn the line in the sand on this issue, if I am not satisfied with what they do with Halsey, I’m done with Halo. Just how I feel to be honest.
> > >
> > > Man, if I quit Halo when the Flood as an enemy in the main games stopped…
> >
> > It may seem shortsighted, but all I have left in Halo that I like is Halsey. Take that away and I have nothing to stick around for.
>
> That seems kind of ridiculous. Halsey is the only thing you have ‘left’ in Halo? You dont care about Chief’s quest? Or if the Forerunners are still around (Iso-Didact, Chant to Green)?
>
> Yes, the Kilo Five trilogy are maybe the worst books in the franchise, but Im not going to leave Halo because they upset me. Thats almost childish to say, unless it continued to the point where its just overbearing on the rest of the games, novels, and media. I understand the frustration, but I think thats a little much.
I agree with Cobra, I once said that I wouldn’t buy halo 5 if they killed Halsey in spops, or something like that.
It’s my favorite character, I’ve read lots of books about her, her diary… Post war she became the only interesting character for me (most of the old ones died and I don’t like the new ones), the only clever person i trust still alive. Recently they seem to be ruining her character to replace it with horrible characters like Palmer, kilo-V members, Osman, the S-IV…
Now I’m glad to know that Frank has positive plans for her.