Please 343, PLEASE! (some spoilers)

Community Halo Universe
1

In the recent issue of Halo: Escalation, although the return of both the Didact and Blue Team was appreciated by fans far and wide, a troubling aspect was encounted. In fact, it was both troubling and absurd. After four years of absence, Spartan II Black Team was killed off-screen by hordes of Knights and Crawlers.

Although the killing of Spartan-II’s is nothing new, and that Promethean’s are a formidable fight and obviously are capable of overwhelming them, Black Team’s deaths was anticlimactic, unneeded, redundant, and above all, just shock-value. If you’re going to kill-off characters, you need to do it right.

And Black Team isn’t the only set of characters that were killed before they could shine or killed in unnecessary ways. In a recent post by Catalog, we learned that the remaining Spartan-III’s in Fireteam Saber have somehow managed to die less than a year after their recovery from Trevelyan. We don’t know how they died, but the only impression that we can make from this is that it’s almost as if they were killed just to magically erase them from the plot.

Seriously?

There are many ways to kill characters. They can die unexpectedly. They can die heroically. They can stumble and fall into a pit of lava. They can spontaneously combust. Hell, death is almost magical in how there are infinite ways for it to occur. But you have to consider, especially when killing fan-favorites, that there needs to be a lasting impression on the audience. I hate to break this to you, but having a character, especially one that has been absent for an extended period of time, die off-screen and for no other reason than shock-value, there’s a problem. The only feeling I got from the deaths of Black Team was frustration and disappointment.

With the new changes in the narrative team (I’m not going to call anyone out), it looks like handling the lore has become a more difficult task. And, although I can’t really influence very much, I’m going to have to show you how to kill characters — the right way.

Look at Paul DeMarco. He started off as a typical arrogant space-jock. If you liked him, you were a minority. However, in Escalation issue 3, he gives his life for the lives of not only his fireteam, but for the lives of those he once spent his entire life fighting. His death was noble, heroic, and it gave his character a final act of redemption.

On the other hand, look at Cortana. Aside from the Master Chief, Cortana is easily the most iconic character in Halo. We knew her days were numbered, and we knew that any hopes of curing her rampancy were very, very slim. But at the end of her life, we saw her finally do what she had been wanting from day one.

“I’ve waited so long to do that.”

Now that’s how you kill a character. Send them out with a bang. Allow them to develop so that they can go out with a bang.

And now, from here on, please 343, PLEASE, be mindful of the cast that you have both built and acquired. I call myself a 343-loyalist, and I don’t want to reconsider my position.

Okay?

2

Might want to put Spoiler in the Title, Escalation 8 is rather new…

3

Thank you for writing this, Andycu5. I feel this is an excellent summary of the complaints and worries expressed by most people who have weighed in on what happened in Escalation #8 as well as the recent Catalog answers about Team Saber.

I saw someone on this forum say once that the ability to kill off characters is “the most powerful tool in the writer’s arsenal”, and it looks like 343i is (to use a quote from my favorite film) “wielding it like a kid that’s found their dad’s gun.”

Black Team may not have been as well known as characters like Blue Team…but ‘Bloodlines’ was still a great comic series and it gave them more than enough development to warrant a death scene 1000x better than what they were given - as well as to be treated less callously (i.e. given more than 1 poorly drawn panel and perhaps at least one line from John and Co. about how 4 more of their few remaining Spartan-II brothers and sisters just got completely destroyed). And then the Spartan-IIIs of Saber Team suddenly being listed as KIA without explanation, via a meta forum thread no less, is just downright insulting.

We all know Halo has a vast number of characters and that they won’t all get have their own comic serial in order to expand upon their lives/deaths. But it seems ridiculous, simply from a story writing standpoint, that DeMarco (an arguably much less developed character in the Haloverse) got a more emotional and resonating death than either Saber or Black. But again, that is just a perfect example of a death done right - even though he was a character who was not well liked by a lot of fans, his death still felt like it added to both the quality of the narrative and his character…simply put, it was treated like it mattered.

I do very much second what the OP says here. Please, 343i, take this recent reaction of your fans/customers into account and think more carefully about how you handle character death.

4

Erickyboo for better handling of halo canon!

I also want stuff to be depicted as shields. "oh it takes longer to kill enemies’. Well make Spartans do what Spartans do! Think! Use their brains, use their combat skills. Enemy has shields? Plasma pistol or EMP grenade, concentrate fire. More epic and sustained combat.

I want better handling of technology. Don’t give us puny bungie stated weapons. Assault rifle range 300m? Still similar bullets? So little kinetic energy? Improve. Make better. Improve composites of armor, shields, weapons stats. Be consistent.

5

I agree with everything here. Honestly, the Escalation storyline right now feels like one giant letdown, and Black Team’s abrupt death is just another straw on the camel’s fragile back. Be careful, 343; you’re about to break it.
For me personally, I’m also disappointed overall that such important details as the Didact’s survival, Chief’s reunion with Blue Team, and Black Team’s deaths are being relegated to such a narrative backwater as Escalation. Such important parts of Halo’s story shouldn’t be put in a comic book many gamers won’t read. This is a blatant effort by Microsoft and 343 to sell more media- “Want to understand what the heck is going on in Halo 5: Guardians? Oh, sorry; you’ll need to buy our comic books!”
When KT wrote the Kilo-Five trilogy, it tried very hard to butcher existing character arcs and storylines. Frank O’Connor claimed that 343 wanted to create controversy with the novels; they planned to upset the fan base with subpar writing. They’re doing it again with this rampant character-killing. Maybe Saber and Black teams aren’t central characters, but they’re still characters; they deserve more than they’re getting.

Stop it, 343. You’re digging a grave for yourself.

6

I don’t personally understand why everybody assumes it was Prometheans. Using them as a means to showcase the power and anger of the Didact makes more sense than that. It still does not make their choice to kill Black team a sensible choice, and that is not what I’m saying. But claiming Prometheans are the culprits when you have the Ur-Didact on the last page…frankly it just makes loads more sense that they are trying to showcase his abilities and power as an enemy against Humanities strongest soldiers.I’m just as confused as everybody else as to why it’s Black team they chose. But don’t try to muddle the clearly intended purpose with a silly “it was Prometheans” excuse. That’s just adding unnecessary fuel to the flames. Be angry about it being Black team, you have a right to that as we all do. But I think a better reaction would be to let 343 know that their intended display of the Didacts power against somebody not John simply backfired. And backfired badly.

Understanding the intent is just as important as letting them know what about the situation makes you upset. Their intent was not misplaced. Being shown that the Didact can steamroll Spartans is quite scary when you sit and think about it(imagine Black team is some other team if you need to). But they executed it terribly, and chose the wrong characters to showcase this. The decision has done nothing but further alienate people.

That’s what we have to let them know. Showing us the Didact is a scary -Yoink- bad guy who can make heads of our best warriors explode as if he was flicking off a fly? Good, because we need to see he’s a powerful and dangerous foe after the defeat by John.

The execution of the idea? Bad bad bad bad, BAD. A different team the fan base had little to no attachment to should have been used. Or at LEAST let us experience the fight hand in hand with the characters. Give them development, and a chance to die on screen as some of Humanities finest.

The way it was done was terrible. The intent behind it was not in and of itself a terrible idea. How it was done though, has really done nothing but make people very angry. There were definitely MUCH better ways to accomplish that.

I seriously do hope they listen, because that was just a terrible idea execution. Just terrible. There is no reason we could not have experienced the fight with Black team on the Halo. There is no reason you could not have used a team other than Black.

7

> I don’t personally understand why everybody assumes it was Prometheans. <mark>Using them as a means to showcase the power and anger of the Didact makes more sense than that…</mark>
>
> …But I think a better reaction would be to let 343 know that <mark>their intended display of the Didacts power</mark> against somebody not John simply backfired. And backfired badly.
>
> Understanding the intent is just as important as letting them know what about the situation makes you upset. Their intent was not misplaced. <mark>Being shown that the Didact can steamroll Spartans is quite scary when you sit and think about it</mark>(imagine Black team is some other team if you need to).
>
> …<mark>Showing us the Didact is a scary -Yoink!- bad guy who can make heads of our best warriors explode as if he was flicking off a fly?</mark> Good, because we need to see he’s a powerful and dangerous foe after the defeat by John.

I see what you’re saying, however you’re banking 100% on the Didact being directly involved with Black Team’s death - which we simply do not know if he was or not because we didn’t get to see it. That’s the whole problem, they didn’t show us anything proving the Didact was responsible. In fact, the science team’s final transmission that Lord Hood played for John seemed to sound like it was indeed just a hoard of Prometheans:
“What the hell are these things?” “They’re appearing out of thin air! Slaughtering the Spartans!”

8

> > I don’t personally understand why everybody assumes it was Prometheans. <mark>Using them as a means to showcase the power and anger of the Didact makes more sense than that…</mark>
> >
> > …But I think a better reaction would be to let 343 know that <mark>their intended display of the Didacts power</mark> against somebody not John simply backfired. And backfired badly.
> >
> > Understanding the intent is just as important as letting them know what about the situation makes you upset. Their intent was not misplaced. <mark>Being shown that the Didact can steamroll Spartans is quite scary when you sit and think about it</mark>(imagine Black team is some other team if you need to).
> >
> > …<mark>Showing us the Didact is a scary -Yoink!- bad guy who can make heads of our best warriors explode as if he was flicking off a fly?</mark> Good, because we need to see he’s a powerful and dangerous foe after the defeat by John.
>
> I see what you’re saying, however you’re banking 100% on the Didact being directly involved with Black Team’s death - which we simply do not know if he was or not because we didn’t get to see it. That’s the whole problem, they didn’t show us anything proving the Didact was responsible. In fact, the science team’s final transmission that Lord Hood played for John seemed to sound like it was indeed just a hoard of Prometheans:
> “What the hell are these things?” “They’re appearing out of thin air! Slaughtering the Spartans!”

At least the Prometheans displayed some tactical competence by killing the dangerous Spartans before harmless the scientists.

9

Someone should’ve reminded the authors that Spartan-IVs outfitted in Defender armor were supposed to be on Gamma Halo.

10

> > I don’t personally understand why everybody assumes it was Prometheans. <mark>Using them as a means to showcase the power and anger of the Didact makes more sense than that…</mark>
> >
> > …But I think a better reaction would be to let 343 know that <mark>their intended display of the Didacts power</mark> against somebody not John simply backfired. And backfired badly.
> >
> > Understanding the intent is just as important as letting them know what about the situation makes you upset. Their intent was not misplaced. <mark>Being shown that the Didact can steamroll Spartans is quite scary when you sit and think about it</mark>(imagine Black team is some other team if you need to).
> >
> > …<mark>Showing us the Didact is a scary -Yoink!- bad guy who can make heads of our best warriors explode as if he was flicking off a fly?</mark> Good, because we need to see he’s a powerful and dangerous foe after the defeat by John.
>
> I see what you’re saying, however you’re banking 100% on the Didact being directly involved with Black Team’s death - which we simply do not know if he was or not because we didn’t get to see it. That’s the whole problem, they didn’t show us anything proving the Didact was responsible. In fact, the science team’s final transmission that Lord Hood played for John seemed to sound like it was indeed just a hoard of Prometheans:
> “What the hell are these things?” “They’re appearing out of thin air! Slaughtering the Spartans!”

I am banking on it because of what I see in the comic. Do you really think the Didact himself would bother with Science team? They’re useless against him and something his Prometheans can handle without any overseeing. Spartans on the other hand have a much easier time dispatching Promethean Knights of all (known) ranks. John can handle them BY HIMSELF with EASE. Spartan IVs can handle them WITH EASE.

Black team, aside from the headless corpse, has no sign of injury. No entry wounds, no cuts,no bullets or projectiles of any kind. Not even anything in the environment to tell tale involvement with a Knight, or group of Knights. What could do that? What could handle FOUR SPARTAN IIS /without causing any visible sign of injury/? I think the answer to that question is glaringly obvious.

11

The war ended and even now Spartan’s drop like flies. My heart is at half-mast for them. Never Forget.

And there had better be a big fricking memorial being built for the Spartan’s either on Earth or Reach and that silly “Spartans never die” crap dropped so their sacrifice can be properly honored or i will be one very unhappy camper.

12

I too hope that 343 is being careful with Blue Team, the last thing anyone here wants is for them to go down. After everything they have been through, they should survive this mission with John. They really have to

13

> Now that’s how you kill a character. Send them out with a bang. Allow them to develop so that they can go out with a bang.

I have to disagree. While that can sometimes be an entertaining way to see a character go out, I would say it’s also incredibly cliché. Not every soldier has to go out in some overly noble sacrifice.

> > I don’t personally understand why everybody assumes it was Prometheans. <mark>Using them as a means to showcase the power and anger of the Didact makes more sense than that…</mark>
> >
> > …But I think a better reaction would be to let 343 know that <mark>their intended display of the Didacts power</mark> against somebody not John simply backfired. And backfired badly.
> >
> > Understanding the intent is just as important as letting them know what about the situation makes you upset. Their intent was not misplaced. <mark>Being shown that the Didact can steamroll Spartans is quite scary when you sit and think about it</mark>(imagine Black team is some other team if you need to).
> >
> > …<mark>Showing us the Didact is a scary -Yoink!- bad guy who can make heads of our best warriors explode as if he was flicking off a fly?</mark> Good, because we need to see he’s a powerful and dangerous foe after the defeat by John.
>
> I see what you’re saying, however you’re banking 100% on the Didact being directly involved with Black Team’s death - which we simply do not know if he was or not because we didn’t get to see it. That’s the whole problem, they didn’t show us anything proving the Didact was responsible. In fact, the science team’s final transmission that Lord Hood played for John seemed to sound like it was indeed just a hoard of Prometheans:
> “What the hell are these things?” “They’re appearing out of thin air! Slaughtering the Spartans!”

No, but they did show Prometheans appear and ambush Blue Team who then destroyed them with the ease you would expect. They make it clear in this very issue that Spartans can destroy Prometheans without breaking a sweat, so why assume that the Knights were responsible for the deaths of Team Black?

It’s true we can’t assume the Ur-Didact was personally involved but when we see Prometheans being easy kills, we have to at least humor the possibility that maybe something more powerful was involved and he definitely fits the bill. I mean, he was described as being incredibly powerful and capable of crushing a human’s skull with his bare hands and we did see him treat the Chief like he was a cheap rag doll so, you know.

> Someone should’ve reminded the authors that Spartan-IVs outfitted in Defender armor were supposed to be on Gamma Halo.

This really depends. The description of the armor states, “Currently employed at research facilities on Trevelyan and Gamma Halo.” However, when exactly is “currently”? If by currently they mean at the time of Spartan Ops, (since we customize our Spartan-IVs who are deployed to the Infinity at that time), then “currently” would be around February 2558, which is seven months after Team Black’s death. So Spartan-IVs in Defender armor are deployed to Gamma Halo afterwards, not during.

14

> > Now that’s how you kill a character. Send them out with a bang. Allow them to develop so that they can go out with a bang.
>
> I have to disagree. While that can sometimes be an entertaining way to see a character go out, I would say it’s also incredibly cliché. Not every soldier has to go out in some overly noble sacrifice.

Meh, perhaps I should rephrase that part because “going out with a bang” certainly doesn’t mean jumping into a pit of fire to allow your enemy to escape.

Deaths just have to be meaningful and memorable. And although having a noble sacrifice isn’t necessary there, the number-one qualification is allowing the character to develop — something that Black Team didn’t really have. In fact, you should really give them an entire game-sized media to develop them.

Overall, the big no-no for me in terms of character mortality is…

  1. Characters dying for shock-value (Black Team)

  2. Characters dying before they could reach their fullest potential (Vata 'Gajat)

15

I agree with Nihlus that not every hero needs to die off in some super bombastic cliche way. But I also think it is to early for anyone to claim that black team was killed off for “shock value” the entire arc hasn’t been explored and we don’t have any exposition as to why black team has been killed yet. I have a feeling all will be answered soon if we all keep patient.

16

Only the overly dramatic seem to be upset at the mere notion of Black Team dying. Spartans die, always have, always will. The problem IS that Black Team died simply to shock. We are talking about a team that since 2010 has been in limbo and stuck on Line Installation 1-4 facing against the remnants of a downed Covenant armada advancing towards them. And then, in 2014, they suddenly aren’t. I doubt how they got off the Line will ever be explained properly seeing as how it is unimportant to Chief’s extra-special development. But the reason they ended up dead on Gamma Halo is obvious, to shock. A highly-specialized team of S-IIs renowned for their black ops skills dead registers much more than dead S-IVs. Thus, it was done to shock, but sadly if that is the only trick the author has for us, he’s ill-equipped for the job ahead as far as I’m concerned.

I have no patience after what happened to Black and, recently, Team Saber. I see no reason to humor 343 Industries’ apathy for some of Halo’s characters.

17

The thing is, nobody expected Black Team to live forever, they’d appreciate one last ride out with a climactic ending to the legacy of Black Team.

What we got was unjustified.

Spoiler Alert: Kelly is actually a grunt.

18

Kill them is not the problem. Secondary characters, protagonized one comic, died in another. Normal, good. Imagine war histories without deaths.

The problem is 343 don’t telling us how they escape from Line Installation 1-4 and don’t showing how they died (and in an believable manner). That’s all.

Can 343 have something planned to clarify this questions (I hope not Catalog) ? Yes, but they will have to endure this justified hate.

19

I want to believe that they have story elements building up with all these confirmed Spartan II and III KIAs. John is on a emotional roller coaster as of now, and seeing four dead Spartans probably hit him pretty hard. I wish they would have put more focus on these occurrences. Maybe thats what this “additional story after Halo 4” is in the MCC (a recap of the next 72 hours with a cinematic focus).

20

> I agree with Nihlus that not every hero needs to die off in some super bombastic cliche way. But I also think it is to early for anyone to claim that black team was killed off for “shock value” the entire arc hasn’t been explored and we don’t have any exposition as to why black team has been killed yet. I have a feeling all will be answered soon if we all keep patient.

It’s kind of late to try and earn back points with the community by explaining Black Team’s demise. They were abruptly brought back into the fiction after 4 years without so much as a hint as to their fate, and the first time we see them, they are dead. And worse, their deaths are basically ignored. We see the bodies, and then move on. It’s disrespectful to established characters and insulting to fans of the expanded universe.

I can’t speak for everyone, obviously, but I honestly couldn’t care less about how Black team died at this point. It was a cheap plot point and a terrible bit of writing. Nothing can change that, now.