Theres a very strong belief that the Spartan Ops plot line was going to be a direct tie in to Halo 5. Personally I don’t think that was really there intent. I think people latched onto this due to Halo 4 being such a seemingly contained story with the death of Cortana and the Didact that nobody really knew where the story was going.
Essentially, Spartan Ops is just another piece of EU fiction that wraps up the events of Requim and allows characters we might not get a good look at more. Laskey, Palmer, Halsey and Thorne all got a good look at. It’s not essentially a prologue or even act 1 to Halo 5. In fact it’s mostly an epilogue to Halo 4 with the destruction of Requim.
There were some tie ins planned. Majestic was meant to take Osiris role and obviously Halsey gets introduced. But, those are ultimately supporting characters. There’s no discussion of the Chiefs story and Jul Mdama is many things but a lead villain he is not. Honestly, in Spartan Ops he comes across as a bit of a dumb dumb. So really Spartan Ops should be seen more like the book they brought out which featured Vale. Her actual adventure doesn’t directly relate to Halo 5s main plot but it’s a way of building stuff and characters up.
I mean let’s not forget a lot of reviews of Halo 5 bemoaned the need to have seen Spartan Ops to get the opening level.
As an aside and all that being said. They should have had Chief get the Janus Key back off M Dama and use it to find Cortana or a guardian to get to her. Just a little thing like that would have probably been acceptable to most fans of Spartan Ops. That ad Mdama ring killed by the Arbiter at Sunaion.
Yah jul m’dama should’ve been killed at Sunion. Have Halsey run as he boards a phantom when Osiris comes on Kamchatka. I wish they’d bring Spartan ops back. I liked seeing my Spartan outside of multiplayer.
Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
him.
Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
> 2533274803587475;1:
> Theres a very strong belief that the Spartan Ops plot line was going to be a direct tie in to Halo 5. Personally I don’t think that was really there intent. I think people latched onto this due to Halo 4 being such a seemingly contained story with the death of Cortana and the Didact that nobody really knew where the story was going.
>
> Essentially, Spartan Ops is just another piece of EU fiction that wraps up the events of Requim and allows characters we might not get a good look at more. Laskey, Palmer, Halsey and Thorne all got a good look at. It’s not essentially a prologue or even act 1 to Halo 5. In fact it’s mostly an epilogue to Halo 4 with the destruction of Requim.
>
> There were some tie ins planned. Majestic was meant to take Osiris role and obviously Halsey gets introduced. But, those are ultimately supporting characters. There’s no discussion of the Chiefs story and Jul Mdama is many things but a lead villain he is not. Honestly, in Spartan Ops he comes across as a bit of a dumb dumb. So really Spartan Ops should be seen more like the book they brought out which featured Vale. Her actual adventure doesn’t directly relate to Halo 5s main plot but it’s a way of building stuff and characters up.
>
> I mean let’s not forget a lot of reviews of Halo 5 bemoaned the need to have seen Spartan Ops to get the opening level.
>
> As an aside and all that being said. They should have had Chief get the Janus Key back off M Dama and use it to find Cortana or a guardian to get to her. Just a little thing like that would have probably been acceptable to most fans of Spartan Ops. That ad Mdama ring killed by the Arbiter at Sunaion.
you should have put a spoiler alert before spoiling the halo 4 campaign
> 2533274803587475;4:
> Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
> him.
>
> Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
>
> Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
Humanity did not win the Requiem campaign, hell if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the Infinity would’ve been nothing more than a memory. They simply survived. Jul and his faction easily won the campaign. Jul had Crimson and several other Spartan fireteams running around in circles struggling to keep hold of several locations all over Requiem. He also kidnapped and killed several fireteams and in the end destroyed the damn planet.
And for the last time, THEY WERE NOT CALLED THE STORM COVENANT THAT’S A RANK!
> 2533274803587475;4:
> Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
> him.
>
> Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
>
> Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
The were still elites that still believed in the idea of the covenant. They split into different factions. Others like the swords of sanghelios made an alliance with humanity. This is all explained in the books.
> 2533274883849234;6:
> > 2533274803587475;4:
> > Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
> > him.
> >
> > Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
> >
> > Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
>
>
> Humanity did not win the Requiem campaign, hell if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the Infinity would’ve been nothing more than a memory. They simply survived. Jul and his faction easily won the campaign. Jul had Crimson and several other Spartan fireteams running around in circles struggling to keep hold of several locations all over Requiem. He also kidnapped and killed several fireteams and in the end destroyed the damn planet.
>
> And for the last time, THEY WERE NOT CALLED THE STORM COVENANT THAT’S A RANK!
Storm covenant is a rank and a name. I’m pretty sure jul m’dama’s faction is called the storm covenant.
> 2535455681930574;8:
> > 2533274883849234;6:
> > > 2533274803587475;4:
> > > Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
> > > him.
> > >
> > > Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
> > >
> > > Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
> >
> >
> > Humanity did not win the Requiem campaign, hell if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the Infinity would’ve been nothing more than a memory. They simply survived. Jul and his faction easily won the campaign. Jul had Crimson and several other Spartan fireteams running around in circles struggling to keep hold of several locations all over Requiem. He also kidnapped and killed several fireteams and in the end destroyed the damn planet.
> >
> > And for the last time, THEY WERE NOT CALLED THE STORM COVENANT THAT’S A RANK!
>
> Storm covenant is a rank and a name. I’m pretty sure jul m’dama’s faction
> 2535455681930574;8:
> > 2533274883849234;6:
> > > 2533274803587475;4:
> > > Because he’s a thug and a lummox. The UNSC win at Requim. Kill thousands of covenant for a few Spartans and marines. The humans easily find his secret hideout and chase him off. Halsey tricks him not once but twice into thinking she is helping him. He has an overinflated sense of himself and is basically just dull as a plank. Generic alien warlord. At least the Didact had the Shakespearean British villain going for
> > > him.
> > >
> > > Him and the Storm Covenant were a bad idea that retconned Halo 3’s ending with the elites abandoning the prophets lies. The fact that the game didn’t explain that factions existence at all was a major negative. You could have made them brutes but no. Good riddence to bad rubbish.
> > >
> > > Bring back the real Covenant with their real armor, ascetic and threat. Not a bunch of Covenant wannabes.
> >
> >
> > Humanity did not win the Requiem campaign, hell if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the Infinity would’ve been nothing more than a memory. They simply survived. Jul and his faction easily won the campaign. Jul had Crimson and several other Spartan fireteams running around in circles struggling to keep hold of several locations all over Requiem. He also kidnapped and killed several fireteams and in the end destroyed the damn planet.
> >
> > And for the last time, THEY WERE NOT CALLED THE STORM COVENANT THAT’S A RANK!
>
>
> Storm covenant is a rank and a name. I’m pretty sure jul m’dama’s faction is called the storm covenant.
Iam sorry, Jul struggles against 1 human ship? He never succeeds in taking a single human world even when he had the Prometheans. He was a joke.
They even make the point of how all of their armor, weapons and ships have degraded to the point of being inferior to the UNSC. His soldiers go into battle half naked like a bunch of barbarians.
His faction was never set up as the main enemy. He doesn’t even appear
in Halo 4 and his faction has simply served as an excuse to fight Covenant enemies in Halo 4 and 5. I don’t get how some fans act like he was the next Prophet of Truth from his appearances in EU media like Spartan Ops.
> 2533274803587475;11:
> Iam sorry, Jul struggles against 1 human ship? He never succeeds in taking a single human world even when he had the Prometheans. He was a joke.
>
> They even make the point of how all of their armor, weapons and ships have degraded to the point of being inferior to the UNSC. His soldiers go into battle half naked like a bunch of barbarians.
>
> His faction was never set up as the main enemy. He doesn’t even appear
> in Halo 4 and his faction has simply served as an excuse to fight Covenant enemies in Halo 4 and 5. I don’t get how some fans act like he was the next Prophet of Truth from his appearances in EU media like Spartan Ops.
“Struggling against one ship”
I’m sorry, last time I checked Jul had utterly humiliated the UNSC forces on Requiem. The UNSC Infinity, crewed with humanity’s “beat and brightest” (I can’t say that with a straight face), with every know Forerunner/Covenant derived UNSC tech cramped into it, and crewed with numerous Marines, Naval Officers, Air Force Pilots and a continent of Spartans, is effectively the UNSC’s “I win button” and yet Jul, despite being the underdog and has several disadvantages including tech, overall soldier quality and Halsey (initially) working against him, managed to sent them of a wild goose chase and denied the UNSC access to the shield world. And in the end Jul had sent Requiem into a -Yoinking!- star, causing it to go supernova. How many non-Forerunner characters can say the same? Only one.
Also, the Infinity had at least 10 Strident Frigates onboard AND possess its own escort Fleet. So not “one ship” (see opening level of Spartan Ops episode 9. You can see several UNSC cruisers).
> 2533274926227685;12:
> > 2533274803587475;11:
> > Iam sorry, Jul struggles against 1 human ship? He never succeeds in taking a single human world even when he had the Prometheans. He was a joke.
> >
> > They even make the point of how all of their armor, weapons and ships have degraded to the point of being inferior to the UNSC. His soldiers go into battle half naked like a bunch of barbarians.
> >
> > His faction was never set up as the main enemy. He doesn’t even appear
> > in Halo 4 and his faction has simply served as an excuse to fight Covenant enemies in Halo 4 and 5. I don’t get how some fans act like he was the next Prophet of Truth from his appearances in EU media like Spartan Ops.
>
>
> “Struggling against one ship”
> I’m sorry, last time I checked Jul had utterly humiliated the UNSC forces on Requiem. The UNSC Infinity, crewed with humanity’s “beat and brightest” (I can’t say that with a straight face), with every know Forerunner/Covenant derived UNSC tech cramped into it, and crewed with numerous Marines, Naval Officers, Air Force Pilots and a continent of Spartans, is effectively the UNSC’s “I win button” and yet Jul, despite being the underdog and has several disadvantages including tech, overall soldier quality and Halsey (initially) working against him, managed to sent them of a wild goose chase and denied the UNSC access to the shield world. And in the end Jul had sent Requiem into a -Yoinking!- star, causing it to go supernova. How many non-Forerunner characters can say the same? Only one.
>
> Also, the Infinity had at least 10 Strident Frigates onboard AND possess its own escort Fleet. So not “one ship” (see opening level of Spartan Ops episode 9. You can see several UNSC cruisers).
Don’t forget he also was able to trap the damn Infinity with a slipspace anchor and if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the starship would have joined Requiem in that supernova. You remember why Infinity was anchored? Because instead of examining the artifact where they found it, they brought it on board and started playing around with it!
Spartan Ops and Escalation can be summed up with one quote from Halsey “The UNSC play like children in a sandbox.”
Jul was quite intelliegent. His plan to trap the Infinity was a smart move. After all, the ship only managed to escape Requiem a few seconds before its destruction. It was a close call.
For someone who didn’t have much ressources (I agree with that, as many of his armors, weapons and vehicles were outdated), he did well. He also managed to keep the Prometheans (until Cortana stole them from him), which wasn’t guaranteed since the Didact was gone.
> 2533274812652989;3:
> Not sure how you figure Jul 'Mdama was dumb in Spartan Ops when he regularly got the best of the UNSC during the Second Requiem Campaign.
Jul showed loads of potential in SpOps, and was wasted to say the least. He should have died on Sunion after doing something properly intimidating. They way they did it, he died with a whimper- and that’s a shame for such a properly built up character (in both Kilo 5 and SpOps).
> 2533274883849234;13:
> > 2533274926227685;12:
> > > 2533274803587475;11:
> > > Iam sorry, Jul struggles against 1 human ship? He never succeeds in taking a single human world even when he had the Prometheans. He was a joke.
> > >
> > > They even make the point of how all of their armor, weapons and ships have degraded to the point of being inferior to the UNSC. His soldiers go into battle half naked like a bunch of barbarians.
> > >
> > > His faction was never set up as the main enemy. He doesn’t even appear
> > > in Halo 4 and his faction has simply served as an excuse to fight Covenant enemies in Halo 4 and 5. I don’t get how some fans act like he was the next Prophet of Truth from his appearances in EU media like Spartan Ops.
> >
> >
> > “Struggling against one ship”
> > I’m sorry, last time I checked Jul had utterly humiliated the UNSC forces on Requiem. The UNSC Infinity, crewed with humanity’s “beat and brightest” (I can’t say that with a straight face), with every know Forerunner/Covenant derived UNSC tech cramped into it, and crewed with numerous Marines, Naval Officers, Air Force Pilots and a continent of Spartans, is effectively the UNSC’s “I win button” and yet Jul, despite being the underdog and has several disadvantages including tech, overall soldier quality and Halsey (initially) working against him, managed to sent them of a wild goose chase and denied the UNSC access to the shield world. And in the end Jul had sent Requiem into a -Yoinking!- star, causing it to go supernova. How many non-Forerunner characters can say the same? Only one.
> >
> > Also, the Infinity had at least 10 Strident Frigates onboard AND possess its own escort Fleet. So not “one ship” (see opening level of Spartan Ops episode 9. You can see several UNSC cruisers).
>
>
> Don’t forget he also was able to trap the damn Infinity with a slipspace anchor and if it weren’t for Crimson and Majestic the starship would have joined Requiem in that supernova. You remember why Infinity was anchored? Because instead of examining the artifact where they found it, they brought it on board and started playing around with it!
>
> Spartan Ops and Escalation can be summed up with one quote from Halsey “The UNSC play like children in a sandbox.”
Yep, and don’t forget that the Covenant had placed several stolen Havok nukes onboard the Infinity. And he didn’t just place normal Havok warheads, but Havok warheads equiped with active camouflage (see Spartan Ops episode 7). As in, nukes that people would have a significant issue with finding them place all over Infinity.
And that’s just Spartan Ops itself. Escalation had Jul, despite fighting a sudden a battle on two fronts with Sali 'Nyon and the crew of Infinity, he managed to not only retrieve the second half of the Janus Key but also crushed 'Nyon’s rebellion. Fighting against Traitors and Spartans, and he won that battle. If that’s not badass I don’t know what is.
Jul was a badass, him and his faction were all but teasing the UNSC. I feel H5 did not do his character justice. He should have been a playable books fight at the least.