At the end of Halo 4, Master Chief was finding out about what it means to be human, and how to deal with the loss of Cortana. Then Halo 5 happened. We all know how much characterisation Chief and FREAKING BLUE TEAM, his old team and most important people in his life besides Cortana, were spared in the game(hint, it was jack- sh!#).
My question for you guys is how do you think the Chief and co. are going to be handled in H6 and hopefully in later installments? Will Chief still remember what Cortana’s sacrifice meant to him, and that Blue Team could maybe help him figure some things out?
I hope that he does learn what it means to be human. I found it a bit disappointing that during 5 they didn’t show that he had answered Cortanas question, about who was the machine. I do hope that during 6 they bring that question back, and we can find out if he has his answer.
> 2535458356653045;1:
> At the end of Halo 4, Master Chief was finding out about what it means to be human, and how to deal with the loss of Cortana. Then Halo 5 happened. We all know how much characterisation Chief and FREAKING BLUE TEAM, his old team and most important people in his life besides Cortana, were spared in the game(hint, it was jack- sh!#).
> My question for you guys is how do you think the Chief and co. are going to be handled in H6 and hopefully in later installments? Will Chief still remember what Cortana’s sacrifice meant to him, and that Blue Team could maybe help him figure some things out?
I don’t think his characterization is that off, we just don’t spend any length of time with him and have significantly less cutscenes with him. Halo 4 has quite a few cutscenes where its just Chief and Cortana talking, with most other secondary characters just there for exposition or to further their story.
Well, if you remember what the interrogator says to Halsey about the Spartans being inhuman because of “mildly sociopathic tendencies, difficulty with socialization” as why the Chief is broken. To me, Halo 4 shows that the Chief is human, precisely because he has that bond with Cortana and cares about her so much. So, theres a very deliberate and conscious identification of his humanity with his bond with Cortana. Its his most human trait. To me, losing her is more about demonstrating the depth of that affection and losing her tells the Chief how much she mattered to him. There is very telling in the scene where Cortana suggests that he might get paired with another AI and the Chief pretty firmly says “that’s not going to happen”. At its core the game has one single objective and that is to make you care about this blue AI.
Halo 5’s main fault is that it fails to build on that in Halo 4 and it fails to articulate or express itself. I mean, there are only three missions with Chief. Plus the dialogue and pacing isn’t up to scratch compared to Halo 4 writer which was very succinct and good.
I am not sure how they can solve Halo 6 story. I am not confident in the writing team. Plus the fan base is at odds with where the story is going. Blue Team were never intended as being at the heart of the narrative, yet people really want them to be. Do you put more time to tertiary characters. They want more time with Chief but to 343 that WILL mean focusing on his bond with Cortana, when most fans believe these are two separate things. Plus people despise the Created storyline and her characterization. They can always try to sell the concept and alter things like that (Halo Wars 2 will be a good indicator) but its a tough sell. 343 is in a very difficult position.
To the OP: your guess is as good as mine why 343i lied about pretty much everything about ‘Halo 5’, Chief’s character growth alongside Blue Team included. There really was no reason for it; and their empty silence now seems pretty indicative of something going horribly wrong during development. We’ll never know what that was I’m sure, but all we can do is hope we’ll see a return to healthy character dynamics and themes in the next game (like what ‘Halo 4’ did). :\ And that means more exploration of the Chief on his own terms as well as meaningful scenes and dialogue revolving around him interacting with other characters in positive ways. And with Blue Team at least being introduced now, there is still a chance for the Chief and his squadmates to get their dues in a Halo game. We just have to keep asking for it.
> Well, if you remember what the interrogator says to Halsey about the Spartans being inhuman because of “mildly sociopathic tendencies, difficulty with socialization” as why the Chief is broken. To me, Halo 4 shows that the Chief is human, precisely because he has that bond with Cortana and cares about her so much. So, theres a very deliberate and conscious identification of his humanity with his bond with Cortana. Its his most human trait.
Except most of what you said is all 100% fan-created sentiment, not actual Halo canon. The Spartan-IIs may not be “normal”, but they aren’t “broken” and never have been. The ‘Halo 4’ prologue is way out of context, rather inaccurate, and spoken by a very unreliable narrator. Also that game doesn’t show that the Chief is human just because he cares about Cortana; it shows that he is human because he cares, period. Because largely outside the games we have seen him demonstrate this kind of behavior over and over and over in regards to plenty of people - like his Spartans, Dr. Halsey, and found friends like Sgt. Johnson. There is simply no reason for an AI that the Chief worked with for barely 3 months to override the very real people he has in his life that have spent legitimate time bonding with him and getting to know him. The Chief has always been human. And it’s his care for all the people close to him that has always made him so.
> They want more time with Chief but to 343 that WILL mean focusing on his bond with Cortana, when most fans believe these are two separate things.
No, it won’t. At all. Because the Chief is and always has been his own character with far more to himself and other relationships far more worthy of exploring at this point. The books prove this. And in fact ‘Halo 5’ is case and point why not doing so is nothing but a huge step backwards and detrimental to the story as a whole. Because now we have the Chief forced to deal with a toxic dynamic which does nothing but impede his development and his ability to heal and move on. If anything the best thing for the story to do is move away from Cortana and focus on the Chief himself and who he has left that he can relate to and actually trust.
Are you like the Joker and you wake up whenever I post anything in the Halo Universe section?
So you’re going to ignore Halo 4 as evidence that 343 is making Chief/Cortana central to the story? Then you also ignore Halo 5 as evidence of this since near as I can tell her taking over the galaxy and the Chief going after her is pretty indicative. So, the only evidence you have that 343 doesn’t think about it in those terms is tertiary material like books, most of which precede the Reclaimer Saga and 343 taking over. You’re also ignoring various canon fodder articles and statements made by 343i employees which indicate this as being a central pillar of the story? I mean why make that the big thing they chatted about in the sprint in relation to the campaign?
You can make whatever demands to 343 you want for a change in direction or bemoan the fact but outright denial just isn’t going to work.
You mean the version of Chief who had just lost his best friend and partner and was being suddenly thrust back into a new world which he didn’t understand while also having returned home for the first time in a long time? That version of Chief who was about to learn how to deal with all these changes at once, the most important of them being loneliness?
Yeah, would’ve been nice to play as that Chief.
> So you’re going to ignore Halo 4 as evidence that 343 is making Chief/Cortana central to the story?
I haven’t ignored anything from ‘Halo 4’. I’m simply pointing out why your insistence that Cortana is somehow has to be involved in the Chief’s story going forward is misplaced - because she absolutely does not. Especially when ‘Halo 4’ was pretty clearly designed to be the completion of her own story arc and her direct involvement in the main narrative.
> Then you also ignore Halo 5 as evidence of this since near as I can tell her taking over the galaxy and the Chief going after her is pretty indicative.
Well seeing as how the only thing that happens in ‘Halo 5’ is that Cortana lies to, abuses, and betrays the Chief, on top of murdering millions of innocent people - one would certainly think that after this we’ll get away from that obvious toxicity and further explore dynamics that actually allow for the Chief to grow as a character and actually heal.
> So, the only evidence you have that 343 doesn’t think about it in those terms is tertiary material like books, most of which precede the Reclaimer Saga and 343 taking over.
So what? They’re still a key part of Halo canon. Also most of the material published under 343i up to ‘Halo 5’ (books and comics) was all about exploring the wider aspects of the Halo Universe, advancing the setting in logical ways, and the importance of the core cast of characters like Blue Team, Jul 'Mdama, Dr. Halsey, etc. This also includes the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear, which pretty neatly set up the Didact to be the Reclaimer Saga’s ongoing antagonist. So if you want to talk about “ignoring” stuff, go ask 343i why they suddenly dropped the last 5 years of their own narrative buildup.
> You’re also ignoring various canon fodder articles and statements made by 343i employees which indicate this as being a central pillar of the story?
And this is completely false. We have literally nothing from 343i that says anything about what the “central pillars” of the story are now. All we have are pre-release statements that said the story going forward would be about how the Chief moves on without Cortana and how that would further his own story on his own terms alongside his family on Blue Team and new characters like Osiris.
> You can make whatever demands to 343 you want for a change in direction or bemoan the fact but outright denial just isn’t going to work.
And you just making up stuff about the nature of the story or the characters isn’t going to work either, nor does it make anything you’ve said about the supposed “direction” of the series any more “correct” than mine.
> 2533274817408735;6:
> You mean the version of Chief who had just lost his best friend and partner and was being suddenly thrust back into a new world which he didn’t understand while also having returned home for the first time in a long time? That version of Chief who was about to learn how to deal with all these changes at once, the most important of them being loneliness?
> Yeah, would’ve been nice to play as that Chief.
Its been 4 years, the UNSC isn’t that different and nothing in the games implies that the Chief is a “Man out of time” with the UNSC. Del Rio made a few quips about him being “an aging Spartan” but that’s it and Del Rio was intended to be unpleasant.
You do play as that Chief. However that Chief finds out Cortana is alive and so goes to find her. Plus, he doesn’t get Cortana back at the end of Halo 5. So the wound over losing her is still very much there. I mean the scene at the end of the Breaking is consciously meant to mirror the scene at the end of Halo 4 because its stressing that he loses her a second time but for different reasons. Her being alive is immaterial to the fact that he isn’t reunited with her. So her betraying him just (or is supposed to) build on that pain but; bad writing.
> 2533274920039666;7:
> > So you’re going to ignore Halo 4 as evidence that 343 is making Chief/Cortana central to the story?
>
>
> I haven’t ignored anything from ‘Halo 4’. I’m simply pointing out why your insistence that Cortana is somehow has to be involved in the Chief’s story going forward is misplaced - because she absolutely does not. Especially when ‘Halo 4’ was pretty clearly designed to be the completion of her own story arc and her direct involvement in the main narrative.
>
>
> > Then you also ignore Halo 5 as evidence of this since near as I can tell her taking over the galaxy and the Chief going after her is pretty indicative.
>
>
> Well seeing as how the only thing that happens in ‘Halo 5’ is that Cortana lies to, abuses, and betrays the Chief, on top of murdering millions of innocent people - one would certainly think that after this we’ll get away from that obvious toxicity and further explore dynamics that actually allow for the Chief to grow as a character and actually heal.
>
>
> > So, the only evidence you have that 343 doesn’t think about it in those terms is tertiary material like books, most of which precede the Reclaimer Saga and 343 taking over.
>
>
> So what? They’re still a key part of Halo canon. Also most of the material published under 343i up to ‘Halo 5’ (books and comics) was all about exploring the wider aspects of the Halo Universe, advancing the setting in logical ways, and the importance of the core cast of characters like Blue Team, Jul 'Mdama, Dr. Halsey, etc. This also includes the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear, which pretty neatly set up the Didact to be the Reclaimer Saga’s ongoing antagonist. So if you want to talk about “ignoring” stuff, go ask 343i why they suddenly dropped the last 5 years of their own narrative buildup.
>
>
> > You’re also ignoring various canon fodder articles and statements made by 343i employees which indicate this as being a central pillar of the story?
>
>
> And this is completely false. We have literally nothing from 343i that says anything about what the “central pillars” of the story are now. All we have are pre-release statements that said the story going forward would be about how the Chief moves on without Cortana and how that would further his own story on his own terms alongside his family on Blue Team and new characters like Osiris.
>
>
> > You can make whatever demands to 343 you want for a change in direction or bemoan the fact but outright denial just isn’t going to work.
>
>
> And you just making up stuff about the nature of the story or the characters isn’t going to work either, nor does it make anything you’ve said about the supposed “direction” of the series any more “correct” than mine.
Not “Has to”, “Will be”. All I am doing is making inferences from the last two games and they’ve made it a very important aspect of those games story. I am not saying 343 has to focus on that in Halo 6, but I honestly don’t know how you can expect anything other than this.
You’re ignoring the central premise of Halo 4. “Is Chief human?”
Oh so you are going to ignore Halo 5 as evidence 343i direction for the story. Right, that’s definitely putting your head in the sand.
They’ve written canon fodder articles on how Cortana has allied with the Grunts, written articles on the Created taking over various worlds, Tales from Slipspace will talk about her in the Domain and be written by Frank O Connor. They talked about it on the Sprint as like the big thing that happened in the campaign. At the SDCC when asked about Prometheans being in the game, even simple things like saying “when you think about the end of Halo 5 and whats going on with Chief and Cortana”. That all adds up to a pretty clear picture. So, please, really. Explain to me how they can make our main hero the Chief and our main antagonist Cortana and not make that the focus of Halo 6?
I mean even if, I dunno, “surprise, it was the Didact all along” and he usurps Cortana’s plan. That’s just going to push her back towards the Chief and continue that narrative.
How am I making stuff up? Halo 4 focuses on Chief losing Cortana. Halo 5 focuses on Cortana taking over the galaxy. Please, explain how that doesn’t point to those two characters being central to the Reclaimer Saga? You’re literally ignoring every game in the Reclaimer Saga in order to argue “343i isn’t making Chief/Cortana a focus of the games”.
> You’re ignoring the central premise of Halo 4. “Is Chief human?”
What are you even talking about? Yeah the Chief’s humanity was a major theme in ‘Halo 4’, and would have been great to explore further in ‘Halo 5’ had 343i not dropped that idea like a hot potato for no reason whatsoever. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t always been human or that we haven’t seen him be so many times before now.
> Oh so you are going to ignore Halo 5 as evidence 343i direction for the story. Right, that’s definitely putting your head in the sand.
Again: what are you talking about? We have no idea what direction the story is going in now. Because 343i has refused to talk about it since the game came out and the only information we have to go off of is things they said prior to release.
> Explain to me how they can make our main hero the Chief and our main antagonist Cortana and not make that the focus of Halo 6?
Cortana being the villain now is a totally different thing than exploring the Chief on his own terms and growing as a character without her though. He doesn’t need to have any more to do with her at this point than he did the Prophets or the Flood in the original trilogy of games - i.e. finding a way to stop her before even more people needlessly die. And we have plenty of characters in the narrative that can currently serve as foils for him and provide reasons for him to move on and ultimately heal.
> I mean even if, I dunno, “surprise, it was the Didact all along” and he usurps Cortana’s plan. That’s just going to push her back towards the Chief and continue that narrative.
Except you can’t have it be “the Didact all along” and have Cortana just absolved of everything at the same time. Because even if he did appear to try and take stewardship of The Mantle back, she still would have been responsible for starting this whole mess in the first place. Also it would send some seriously dangerous messages to Halo’s audience if 343i were to forcibly shove a clear-cut abuser back onto the person they’ve abused and just have everyone accept it.
> You’re literally ignoring every game in the Reclaimer Saga in order to argue “343i isn’t making Chief/Cortana a focus of the games”.
As I said already, I’m not ignoring anything. I’m merely pointing how how and why there is no reason for this garbage with Cortana to be pursued any further than it already has. I don’t know why 343i decided to ignore all of their own set-up from the last few years and not own up to everything they promised the story was going to be about in the lead up to ‘Halo 5’ - but myself and many others, like the OP, would still like to see them follow through with what they said they were going to do in spite of this recent misstep.
> 2533274803587475;9:
> > 2533274920039666;7:
> > > So you’re going to ignore Halo 4 as evidence that 343 is making Chief/Cortana central to the story?
> >
> >
> > I haven’t ignored anything from ‘Halo 4’. I’m simply pointing out why your insistence that Cortana is somehow has to be involved in the Chief’s story going forward is misplaced - because she absolutely does not. Especially when ‘Halo 4’ was pretty clearly designed to be the completion of her own story arc and her direct involvement in the main narrative.
> >
> >
> > > Then you also ignore Halo 5 as evidence of this since near as I can tell her taking over the galaxy and the Chief going after her is pretty indicative.
> >
> >
> > Well seeing as how the only thing that happens in ‘Halo 5’ is that Cortana lies to, abuses, and betrays the Chief, on top of murdering millions of innocent people - one would certainly think that after this we’ll get away from that obvious toxicity and further explore dynamics that actually allow for the Chief to grow as a character and actually heal.
> >
> >
> > > So, the only evidence you have that 343 doesn’t think about it in those terms is tertiary material like books, most of which precede the Reclaimer Saga and 343 taking over.
> >
> >
> > So what? They’re still a key part of Halo canon. Also most of the material published under 343i up to ‘Halo 5’ (books and comics) was all about exploring the wider aspects of the Halo Universe, advancing the setting in logical ways, and the importance of the core cast of characters like Blue Team, Jul 'Mdama, Dr. Halsey, etc. This also includes the Forerunner Saga by Greg Bear, which pretty neatly set up the Didact to be the Reclaimer Saga’s ongoing antagonist. So if you want to talk about “ignoring” stuff, go ask 343i why they suddenly dropped the last 5 years of their own narrative buildup.
> >
> >
> > > You’re also ignoring various canon fodder articles and statements made by 343i employees which indicate this as being a central pillar of the story?
> >
> >
> > And this is completely false. We have literally nothing from 343i that says anything about what the “central pillars” of the story are now. All we have are pre-release statements that said the story going forward would be about how the Chief moves on without Cortana and how that would further his own story on his own terms alongside his family on Blue Team and new characters like Osiris.
> >
> >
> > > You can make whatever demands to 343 you want for a change in direction or bemoan the fact but outright denial just isn’t going to work.
> >
> >
> > And you just making up stuff about the nature of the story or the characters isn’t going to work either, nor does it make anything you’ve said about the supposed “direction” of the series any more “correct” than mine.
>
>
> [snip]
>
> They’ve written canon fodder articles on how Cortana has allied with the Grunts, written articles on the Created taking over various worlds, Tales from Slipspace will talk about her in the Domain and be written by Frank O Connor. They talked about it on the Sprint as like the big thing that happened in the campaign. At the SDCC when asked about Prometheans being in the game, even simple things like saying “when you think about the end of Halo 5 and whats going on with Chief and Cortana”. That all adds up to a pretty clear picture. So, please, really. Explain to me how they can make our main hero the Chief and our main antagonist Cortana and not make that the focus of Halo 6?
>
> [snip]
That part right there is what really bothers me about the way 343i is handling the franchise. All of these important plot points that, you know, are vital to the status of the story and lore, get told in online posts and articles, and side-books! Why can’t any of these things be in the game? Anyone who doesn’t pay attention to all of the EU material, including posts/articles in Waypoint, will not know what’s really going on behind the scenes. Case in point: The Next 72 Hours. That should have been the plot of Halo 5, but instead it was a comic that not everyone looked in to. It frustrates me to no end. I liked Halo’s stories being able to make sense on their own, without reliance to outside material.
(Not attacking you, just voicing my frustration with what 343i has done, which you inadvertently pointed out.)
@Greenleaf
> As I said already, I’m not ignoring anything. I’m merely pointing how how and why there is no reason for this garbage with Cortana to be pursued any further than it already has. I don’t know why 343i decided to ignore all of their own set-up from the last few years and not own up to everything they promised the story was going to be about in the lead up to ‘Halo 5’ - but myself and many others, like the OP, would still like to see them follow through with what they said they were going to do in spite of this recent misstep.
Yes you are. You are literally looking for an argument. Now, you’re obviously bad at reading, so I am going to lay this out nice and slow for you.
You are talking about what 343i SHOULD do.
I am talking about what I think 343i WILL do.
If you read what you’ve written up there, why are you asking about “hoping” that 343i deliver on their promises if you’re so adamant that Chief/Cortana was not, is not and will not be a central part of the Reclaimer Saga? You’re even contradicting yourself. How can Halo 5 be a bad game for pushing the Cortana storyline and yet not be indicative that this is a direction 343i is taking the plot? I mean even Late Night Gaming accepts that he’ll simply have to suffer through Halo 6 and have them quietly wrap up “this whole Cortana thing”.
> You are talking about what 343i SHOULD do. I am talking about what I think 343i WILL do.
Okay. So what? If you’re so convinced that 343i will just pursue this totally nonsensical story direction to the further detriment of the series’ narrative integrity then fine. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out why that would be a very bad idea though, and offer alternatives to doing so.
> If you read what you’ve written up there, why are you asking about “hoping” that 343i deliver on their promises if you’re so adamant that Chief/Cortana was not, is not and will not be a central part of the Reclaimer Saga?
Like I said already, Cortana being the villain now is a totally different thing than exploring the Chief on his own terms and showing him growing as a character without her though. He doesn’t need to have any more to do with her at this point than he did the Prophets or the Flood in the original trilogy of games - i.e. finding a way to stop her before even more people needlessly die. And we have plenty of characters in the narrative that can currently serve as foils for him and provide reasons for him to move on and ultimately heal. That is what I am talking about. We don’t need to have the Chief perpetually hung up on an AI he barely worked with for 3 months when there are still ample avenues through which to develop his character and bonds with other characters he has that are healthy dynamics that can be built upon. Ergo 343i can still ultimately live up to what they promised us in spite of Cortana’s continued presence.
Hey guys I just got back and I gotta say, I agree with GreenleafCm and total war1402. I think you guys both share my sentiments about Halo 5s story(that it sucks). It doesn’t really matter how it got screwed up(personally I think it was a combination of Microsoft forcing changes and 343 having a person who does not know how to write for Halo). I think we can all agree that the story was…subpar. There is no need to argue about something like this. Thank you for giving valid points and lets all just hope that Halo gets more storytellers that understand the universe. I hope you guys are looking forward to Halo Wars 2, because it finally looks like were getting back on track in terms of good storytelling.
> 2533274920039666;14:
> > You are talking about what 343i SHOULD do. I am talking about what I think 343i WILL do.
>
>
> Okay. So what? If you’re so convinced that 343i will just pursue this totally nonsensical story direction to the further detriment of the series’ narrative integrity then fine. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out why that would be a very bad idea though, and offer alternatives to doing so.
>
>
> > If you read what you’ve written up there, why are you asking about “hoping” that 343i deliver on their promises if you’re so adamant that Chief/Cortana was not, is not and will not be a central part of the Reclaimer Saga?
>
>
> Like I said already, Cortana being the villain now is a totally different thing than exploring the Chief on his own terms and showing him growing as a character without her though. He doesn’t need to have any more to do with her at this point than he did the Prophets or the Flood in the original trilogy of games - i.e. finding a way to stop her before even more people needlessly die. And we have plenty of characters in the narrative that can currently serve as foils for him and provide reasons for him to move on and ultimately heal. That is what I am talking about. We don’t need to have the Chief perpetually hung up on an AI he barely worked with for 3 months when there are still ample avenues through which to develop his character and bonds with other characters he has that are healthy dynamics that can be built upon. Ergo 343i can still ultimately live up to what they promised us in spite of Cortana’s continued presence.
I agree.
> 2533274803587475;12:
> @Greenleaf
>
>
>
>
> > As I said already, I’m not ignoring anything. I’m merely pointing how how and why there is no reason for this garbage with Cortana to be pursued any further than it already has. I don’t know why 343i decided to ignore all of their own set-up from the last few years and not own up to everything they promised the story was going to be about in the lead up to ‘Halo 5’ - but myself and many others, like the OP, would still like to see them follow through with what they said they were going to do in spite of this recent misstep.
>
>
> Yes you are. You are literally looking for an argument. Now, you’re obviously bad at reading, so I am going to lay this out nice and slow for you.
>
> You are talking about what 343i SHOULD do.
>
> I am talking about what I think 343i WILL do.
>
> If you read what you’ve written up there, why are you asking about “hoping” that 343i deliver on their promises if you’re so adamant that Chief/Cortana was not, is not and will not be a central part of the Reclaimer Saga? You’re even contradicting yourself. How can Halo 5 be a bad game for pushing the Cortana storyline and yet not be indicative that this is a direction 343i is taking the plot? I mean even Late Night Gaming accepts that he’ll simply have to suffer through Halo 6 and have them quietly wrap up “this whole Cortana thing”.
I think this was not what they necessarily wanted to do with the Chief/Cortana narrative, but they were made to make changes to the story. You do bring up good points, though.
> 2533274920039666;14:
> > You are talking about what 343i SHOULD do. I am talking about what I think 343i WILL do.
>
>
> Okay. So what? If you’re so convinced that 343i will just pursue this totally nonsensical story direction to the further detriment of the series’ narrative integrity then fine. Doesn’t mean I’m not going to point out why that would be a very bad idea though, and offer alternatives to doing so.
>
>
> > If you read what you’ve written up there, why are you asking about “hoping” that 343i deliver on their promises if you’re so adamant that Chief/Cortana was not, is not and will not be a central part of the Reclaimer Saga?
>
>
> Like I said already, Cortana being the villain now is a totally different thing than exploring the Chief on his own terms and showing him growing as a character without her though. He doesn’t need to have any more to do with her at this point than he did the Prophets or the Flood in the original trilogy of games - i.e. finding a way to stop her before even more people needlessly die. And we have plenty of characters in the narrative that can currently serve as foils for him and provide reasons for him to move on and ultimately heal. That is what I am talking about. We don’t need to have the Chief perpetually hung up on an AI he barely worked with for 3 months when there are still ample avenues through which to develop his character and bonds with other characters he has that are healthy dynamics that can be built upon. Ergo 343i can still ultimately live up to what they promised us in spite of Cortana’s continued presence.
So, you’re misconstruing what I’am saying and being malicious. You’re looking for an argument.
Yes, 3 months for the character, near enough 16 years for some players. You’re trivializing the fact that shes one of the main cast since the first game. Its also not perpetually at all since they only really fleshed out Cortana and Chief characters in Halo 4 and there was a long hiatus between 3 and 4 where neither of those characters got any attention. So, no I don’t see where you’re coming from there. I’ve played one 8 hour game in Halo 4 and a 6 hour game in Halo 5 where Cortana and Chief were in for less than a third of that.
You think the character is just going to be awkwardly left off screen with no interactions with the Chief? You really think they’re not going to make something out of the fact that they used to be best buddies and now they’re enemies? That’s extremely unlikely and you’re assuming that 343i is both going to back down on this and that they ascribe the majority of fan complaints to that sole reason. When, in fact, they’re more likely to ascribe this to things like split screen, the length of the campaign, number of missions with Chief and lack of cutscenes. If 343i was really embarrassed about the character, well I don’t think they would be including her in any EU material or articles on this site; they’d let it quietly wither and die. Instead its looking increasingly likely that shes going to have some role in Halo Wars 2 with the Ark and its Halo ring. 343 hasn’t done anything post Halo 5 to imply a change in direction.
> So, you’re misconstruing what I’am saying and being malicious. You’re looking for an argument.
No, I’m not misconstruing anything. And I’m not the one making unwarranted personal attacks either. If you seriously can’t handle someone logically debating your points in an open forum, then leave.
> Yes, 3 months for the character, near enough 16 years for some players.
So what? Blue Team has been around just as long. Not everyone is obsessed with Cortana or has adopted the completely fan-created notion that she’s a be-all-end-all of this franchise. The fact that she and the Chief have hardly spent any legitimate time getting to know each other is a factor that does matter in actual Halo canon and needs to be taken into account. You’re essentially demanding that everyone put Cortana on a pedestal just because she’s gotten slightly more exposure over the years than other characters, which is ridiculous.
> You think the character is just going to be awkwardly left off screen with no interactions with the Chief?
Considering she’s far and away doing whatever the heck she’s doing to conquer the galaxy, yes. There’s nothing more to add on to what happened in ‘Halo 5’ now that the Chief already tried to get her to stop and knows the depth of her betrayal. How else are they going to interact? Have Cortana try to manipulate and abuse the Chief even more? I don’t think so - unless 343i has completely lost it, that is. Like I said, there is no reason for the Chief to have anything more to do with her (in a direct sense), when we have plenty of other characters that are actually with him for him to play off of and ways to explore him and have him grow without her.
> If 343i was really embarrassed about the character, well I don’t think they would be including her in any EU material or articles on this site; they’d let it quietly wither and die.
Have they really though? We’ve gotten a few updates about “the created” causing more death and destruction in multiplayer map updates, but that’s it. We literally have no clear word on what is going on in the setting or with the characters post-‘Halo 5’. Also you claim that 343i isn’t embarrassed by what they’ve done, then why have they not only completely clammed-up about the campaign, but also not done things like updated Cortana’s character bio here with ‘Halo 5’ information (in spite of adding information in pages for the Warden and Genesis) nearly 10 months after the game has come out? And why are they waiting to explain anything about her at all in a simple comic anthology? Seems odd to me. And definitely doesn’t smack of them being at all “proud” of this story direction or too firmly committed to it is as you are so wont to say.
> 343 hasn’t done anything post Halo 5 to imply a change in direction.
343i hasn’t done much of anything post-‘Halo 5’, period. There’s still plenty of time for them to swing this another way just like what they did about 2 years after ‘Halo 4’ - only this time, it would make things infinitely better for the franchise instead of worse. You’re making a lot of bold claims with nothing substantial to go off of yet.
@Greenleaf
Well, taking over the galaxy is a pretty important role, so yeah, I kind of think that does make her really important to the franchise. I wouldn’t call that slightly more exposure. That’s an incredible understatement.
Getting post Halo 5 lore updates 3 years before Halo 6 comes out is really early. We shouldn’t be getting anything until 2017. They probably haven’t updated Cortana’s log because they intend to add material that has yet be released yet but which takes place before Halo 5; or because they don’t want to change it twice because she’ll appear in Halo Wars 2.
Well considering Frank went on The Sprint and an interview on TIME magazine and came out very strongly on the subject that’s obviously their official line. I think the guy who did canon fodder also mentioned similar words on a live stream when talking about one of the multi. Also, at the SDCC, they were pretty coy about the “Created being very much a going concern in our universe” and how post Halo 5 is wrapped up in “whats going on with Chief and Cortana”. If they were trying to sideline Cortana then why would they be pretty blatantly teasing that her and the Prometheans will be a faction in Halo Wars 2? If, I don’t know, MS from on high decreed that they kill that storyline, we would not have heard anything at all.
We’ll have to wait until February next year. But, if HW2 comes out and Cortana and the Prometheans play a substantial role in that game then I’d say that would be the biggest indicator of their intent. If it is purely the Banished or some other Forerunner threat and I don’t see why it would be with Halo 5 legendary ending and the game being set on the Ark then yeah, that would suggest a change of direction.
edit - No, 343i is building up to release an entire spin off game set post Halo 5. That’s pretty clearly focusing on post Halo 5 content. 