In my opinion, the fight between Gek and Thorne was one of the highlights in SpOps.
I was not expecting that Gek would kill Thorne (that would have been quite radical but I wasn’t really cheering for Thorne to be honest) but a part of me was disappointed when Gek was simply shot in the back during his imminent victory and died (not even an honourable death for an Elite).
I was disappointed because the relation between Jul and Gek reminded me about the relation between Thel and Zhar in a way.
Also, I think Gek could have been or rather become an interesting character, especially in his role as the right hand of Jul.
I would rather have seen him escape when Majestic arrived but leaving Thorne with some “deep wounds/scars” but I think his death was quite unnecessary and likely a waste of potential.
Commander Gek’Lhar was one of the best characters in Spartan Ops. He had numerous UNSC service (dog) tags, some of which where spartan-IVs, and scars, proving he was a formidable veteran. He also possessed advanced technology like the active camouflage modulator, a energy sword and a forerunner mobile cartographer artifact. He was definitely the right hand of the Supreme Commander Jul’Mdama, who was known as the ‘Didacts Hand’ by the more patriotically religious in his remnant.
He had so much potential, especially if he had managed to escape Requiem, when Jul’Mdama sent Requiem into the sun. This could also mean Spartan-IV Gabriel Thorne would have a rival villain and could lead to continual stale-mate battles.
Would have been much more awesome if, Spartan-IV Anthony Madsen slightly missed his shot, with the sniper rifle. This would alert Gek’Lhar who would quickly knock Spartan-IV Gabriel Thorne unconscious, with the boulder, and run for cover, but in the process take Thorne’s service tag with him. Later in Spartan Ops Season 2 Thorne and Gek fight yet again, this time with Thorne gaining the upper hand and stealing back his tags, and then planting a frag grenade in Geks jaw…
He definitely seemed like the Grievous to Jul’s Dooku. I’d hoped for more of a story behind Gek, as there was physical evidence all over his face that he’d seen some pretty heavy action. It sucks that he was killed off, but I don’t really see how that scene could’ve worked any other way - he definitely wouldn’t have run off to save his own skin.
Perhaps Mortal Dictata will lend a bit of insight into Gek’s history, Jul seems to know him quite well.
> Commander Gek’Lhar was one of the best characters in Spartan Ops. He had numerous UNSC service (dog) tags, some of which where spartan-IVs, and scars, proving he was a formidable veteran. He also possessed advanced technology like the active camouflage modulator, a energy sword and a forerunner mobile cartographer artifact. He was definitely the right hand of the Supreme Commander Jul’Mdama, who was known as the ‘Didacts Hand’ by the more patriotically religious in his remnant.
>
> He had so much potential, especially if he had managed to escape Requiem, when Jul’Mdama sent Requiem into the sun. This could also mean Spartan-IV Gabriel Thorne would have a rival villain and could lead to continual stale-mate battles.
>
> Would have been much more awesome if, Spartan-IV Anthony Madsen slightly missed his shot, with the sniper rifle. This would alert Gek’Lhar who would quickly knock Spartan-IV Gabriel Thorne unconscious, with the boulder, and run for cover, but in the process take Thorne’s service tag with him. Later in Spartan Ops Season 2 Thorne and Gek fight yet again, this time with Thorne gaining the upper hand and stealing back his tags, and then planting a frag grenade in Geks jaw…
A Spartan missing a stationary target from 20 meters away? No, that wouldn’t work at all.
> He had so much potential, especially if he had managed to escape Requiem, when Jul’Mdama sent Requiem into the sun. This could also mean Spartan-IV Gabriel Thorne would have a rival villain and could lead to continual stale-mate battles.
Forming him to a potential rival to Thorne would have been one of the more interesting options in a potential further development of his character, indeed.
But Gek could have become an interesting and important character in general. As Jul’s right hand you could expect him to function as his valued adviser, someone with that he can freely share his intentions, impressions or opinions. Someone with that he could have argued when their opinions differ (similar to Thel and Zhar, when Zhar is questioning the intentions of the Prophets).
> He definitely seemed like the Grievous to Jul’s Dooku. I’d hoped for more of a story behind Gek, as there was physical evidence all over his face that he’d seen some pretty heavy action. It sucks that he was killed off, but I don’t really see how that scene could’ve worked any other way - he definitely wouldn’t have run off to save his own skin.
>
> Perhaps Mortal Dictata will lend a bit of insight into Gek’s history, Jul seems to know him quite well.
Yes, he has probably some interesting history.
I wouldn’t say that it is definite that he wouldn’t have decided to save himself though.
I don’t think the Storms are overly focused on honor and pride. Therefore, I think he would have been “allowed” to retreat. Plus, he didn’t really seem to be dispensable to Jul and the Storms anyway, what could have justified a retreat as well.
Killing off Gek was a stupid move on 343’s part. He had the potential to be a really great character. As short as his story was, he may as well have been just some generic Elite Minor.
> Killing off Gek was a stupid move on 343’s part. He had the potential to be a really great character. As short as his story was, he may as well have been just some generic Elite Minor.
Indeed. Perhaps we will get to see Jul fight and learn more of him at least.
I always saw Gek to be Regret as Jul is to Truth. It would’ve been cool to see them together in the future. I was definitely interested in him, and he definitely has some kind of interesting background. I was really hoping his character would’ve been fleshed out much more.
While I didn’t expect Gek to die so soon, and was quite upset when he did, I don’t know how else it would’ve ended up working at the end of the fight.
Hopefully future Halo media fleshes out his backstory.
> <mark>I always saw Gek to be Regret as Jul is to Truth</mark>. It would’ve been cool to see them together in the future. I was definitely interested in him, and he definitely has some kind of interesting background. I was really hoping his character would’ve been fleshed out much more.
>
> While I didn’t expect Gek to die so soon, and was quite upset when he did, I don’t know how else it would’ve ended up working at the end of the fight.
>
> Hopefully future Halo media fleshes out his backstory.
> I always saw Gek to be Regret as Jul is to Truth. It would’ve been cool to see them together in the future. I was definitely interested in him, and he definitely has some kind of interesting background. I was really hoping his character would’ve been fleshed out much more.
>
> While I didn’t expect Gek to die so soon, and was quite upset when he did, I don’t know how else it would’ve ended up working at the end of the fight.
>
> Hopefully future Halo media fleshes out his backstory.
Would you mind to elaborate on your analogy, because I can’t really follow it.
I also hope that we get at least some backstory of him. Nonetheless, for me it would only be a cold comfort.
I mean, learning about his potential impressing story after his (unnecessary) death is like: “Oh, he was a really tough guy but he’s dead and his role didn’t contribute much or anything significant to the actual story anyway.”
> > I’m surprised how though he was.
> >
> > The thing is, I don’t know how though or strong brutes/elites Spartans are exactly.
>
> What do you mean with that?
> Do you wonder how tough/strong Brutes, Elites and Spartans are in comparison or how tough/strong they are in general?
How much can they lift? How much Newton does their punches and kicks do. How fast can they run? How much punishment they can endure? How fast are they? All of that. How high can they jump?
> He definitely seemed like the Grievous to Jul’s Dooku. I’d hoped for more of a story behind Gek, as there was physical evidence all over his face that he’d seen some pretty heavy action. It sucks that he was killed off, but I don’t really see how that scene could’ve worked any other way - he definitely wouldn’t have run off to save his own skin.
>
> Perhaps Mortal Dictata will lend a bit of insight into Gek’s history, Jul seems to know him quite well.
Had Gek actually had energy shields then he would’ve easily survived Madsen’s shot. Using his active camo, he could’ve retreated and waited for another moment to strike or go back to Jul demanding more forces to go with him. Sure Gek wasn’t the brightest of the bunch, he didn’t think like the Zealots or Jul did about retreating to strike back another day, but I certainly don’t he was dumb enough to think he could take on all of Majestic when he struggled in a fight with just Thorne. I’m sure Jul wouldn’t have had an issue with Gek not following the lower ranks’ concept of blindly following honor to death.
Sorry i haven’t read everything in this thread but its late and i just want to get this out.
IT seems to me that 343i hasn’t tired to look to the future but are only doing things in the now. In Halo 4 the threat was so minimum. I really did think that MC lost and the Earth was blown the -Yoink- up. When i saw the laser hit I stopped for a moment and watched as( in my mind) burned into the core of the world starting a chain reaction.
I felt that MC ( I ) had failed and all that lead to me going on from there was RAGE! I was pissed at Didact. I thought what happened in Spartan Assault happened was happening to Earth, but i could save some lives so i hit the nuke. To find out that only one city was destroyed was a bit of a let down. Didact posed no real threat. A Covenant Super Carrier would of been able to do that and wipe out all of the Home Fleet and maybe the Infinity too. With Didact probably dead, i thought that 343i really messed up with killing him. Than Gek died as well.
Halo 4 had no real sense of danger. No one important humans died. Gek could of easily killed Thorne and moved on. Since he didn’t care for stabbing him in his back with his first strike when Thorne fought him off all he would of had to do was turn his camo back on. Throne might of been able to see him but it would of been alot harder to anticipate his movements.
Gek was the light in halo 4 for me until he was killed. He lost his brother and he accidentally killed all of his troops because of Thorne and Glassman. How could 343i get rid of a character who had so much hatred for the heros.
Thats what 343i basically did was have Bumblebee kill Soundwave in transformers. In the first battle.
Gek should of died a meaningful death. Like the recurring Boss Battle kind of death. If anything 343i needs to pull a Boba Fett with him, saying something like the shot wounded him / knocked him out. Makes sense because there was no bullet wouldn’t anywhere so i’m assuming the round didn’t kill him. Even worst since Jul saw Gek as an Old friend and he didn’t even care that he had died. He was gone awhile so i’m sure he sent out a phantom or two to go and find him. If anything he might think he stayed behind and didn’t leave him a text msg.
> > > I’m surprised how though he was.
> > >
> > > The thing is, I don’t know how though or strong brutes/elites Spartans are exactly.
> >
> > What do you mean with that?
> > Do you wonder how tough/strong Brutes, Elites and Spartans are in comparison or how tough/strong they are in general?
>
> How much can they lift? How much Newton does their punches and kicks do. How fast can they run? How much punishment they can endure? How fast are they? All of that. How high can they jump?
Well when the Spartans were teenagers after their augmentations they could lift three times their own body weight (Chief weighs 286 pounds). Mjolnir Mark V armour increases their strength by a factor of 5, meaning that with a bit of basic maths we can deduce they can lift 4290 pounds - roughly two tons. That number might have increased however as Mendez suspected their augmentations would only increase in effectiveness as they got older due to their bodies getting used to them, and so they might be able to lift even more than two tons with ease. A Warthog weighs 3.25 tons, however Chief managed to lift one with ease in The Flood (Not sure if this is true, I heard it on these forums, some verification would be nice if anyone has read The Flood).
Not sure if we there’s any solid information on that but just after their augmentations when they were teenagers, their punches left dents in the Mark I mjolnir prototypes used by the trainers. They also managed to tear the weapon systems from the prototypes. I’m guessing these suits were made of titanium alloy as they were the original design for Mjolnir, though there’s no proof of that. Tearing through solid, likely bullet-proof metal with your bear hands is still highly impressive, especially considering the Spartans weren’t wearing armour. They also tore metal doors from their frames un-armoured.
How fast can they run? - “Only a few months after augmentation procedures, the SPARTAN-IIs were capable of running at speeds exceeding 55 km/h or 34.2 mph”
How much punishment can they endure? - Unspecified, though they have shrugged off brain damage, internal bleeding, broken bones, and torn ligaments just so they could carry on with the mission. Noble Six and John-117 have also fallen from space and survived.
How fast are they? - Guessing you mean reaction times? Outside of their armour, their reaction times were roughly 20ms, though these reaction times were much faster when the Spartans’ adrenaline was pumping. This was also only a short time after augmentation.
How high can they jump? - About 3 metres high in Mjolnir.
> Had Gek actually had energy shields then he would’ve easily survived <mark>Madsen’s shot</mark>. Using his active camo, he could’ve retreated and waited for another moment to strike or go back to Jul demanding more forces to go with him. Sure Gek wasn’t the brightest of the bunch, he didn’t think like the Zealots or Jul did about retreating to strike back another day, but I certainly don’t he was dumb enough to think he could take on all of Majestic when he struggled in a fight with just Thorne. I’m sure Jul wouldn’t have had an issue with Gek not following the lower ranks’ concept of blindly following honor to death.
To me it has seemed as if DeMarco shot him, since he is the only one who holds his rifle in a battle position if I remember it correctly.
However, I think the scene could have played out in a way like you suggested.
