I know there is a significant portion of the community on waypoint that wants Chief to die a ‘glorious’ death, one befitting a badass. For me, however, I think it would be an insult to John’s story ark and his development as a character to have him die at the end of the series.
My reasons for this are primarily due to Cortana’s final wish for Chief about who was the machine, as well as Chief’s own thoughts in Escalation #12.
- So long as 343 decides to continue developing Chief from an emotional perspective, it would imply that at some point, Chief is going to be forced to accept that he has limits, and cannot solve the galaxy’s problems on his own. Imagine if someone else endes up dying at the end in order to give Chief a chance to actually live life without worrying about having to save everybody else, John having to deal with surviver’s guilt, and finally deciding to let go and embrace his chance to truly live for the gift that it is?
- Going back to his thoughts in Escalation 12, Chief is convinced that he WILL die in battle, and decides that he wants to fight as long as he can until that moment comes.
Every good development involves forcing the character to face situations they are not prepared for. Chief is not afraid of death, he’s only afraid to die too soon. Hence, I think the best way for his character to develop, and the best way to end the halo saga would be for Chief to survive whatever happens at the end, and that he finally hang up the suit, and finally start living life, instead of always trying to save it.
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> Imagine if someone else endes up dying at the end in order to give Chief a chance to actually live life without worrying about having to save everybody else, John having to deal with surviver’s guilt, and finally deciding to let go and embrace his chance to truly live for the gift that it is?
Everybody else shouldn’t be a sacrificial lamb to make Chief a special snowflake.
Chief should die of diphtheria. It’s the only fitting way for him to go.
I would have accepted “because Spartans never die; they’re just missing in action.”
- Chief? Survivor’s guilt? Nope. If he was to suffer survivor’s guilt, he would have by now. He has survived more than nearly any human has. Even his fellow super soldiers! His family is down to three fellows and Halsey – that’s at least thirty people he grew up with and fought with now gone. Sam, specifically, sacrificed himself so Chief and co. could escape! I think he’s got a pretty solid psyche. - Halo 4 actually gave us a peek at how 343 can challenge John without him hanging up the power armor – by circumstances forcing him to go against the chain of command to do what is right. I had hoped, after Halo 4, that’s John’s story would be one of ascension in the ranks; that his journey would be one where he rises to become the figure that the UrDidact should have been (and that the IsoDidact, for the Forerunners, likely is). I’d further hoped, based on the Halo for the Xbox One E3 2013 teaser, 72 Hours, and the first Hunt the Truth that we’d see a schism between the UNSC at large and ONI form, with Chief as a major point of contention. ONI would quite hate his suddenly rebellious, vigilante approach, while the military would abide and perhaps even respect it. Chief’s story, I thought, was going to be one where he needed to become a political figure; where Halo 4 forced him to become a super hero, 5 and 6 would demand he change the structure of the UNSC itself to accommodate a President-level authority. But I’m rambling. You get my meaning. I think there is at least one way to challenge Chief that does not involve retirement.Anyway, I think Chief has to die at some point. He’ll go down swinging, because that’s what spartans do. Having him retire would be disingenuous to the severity of his career – it would be straight-up ludicrous if he had endured decades of front-lines warfare to the point of retirement.
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> > 2533274900686411;1:
> > Imagine if someone else endes up dying at the end in order to give Chief a chance to actually live life without worrying about having to save everybody else, John having to deal with surviver’s guilt, and finally deciding to let go and embrace his chance to truly live for the gift that it is?
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> Everybody else shouldn’t be a sacrificial lamb to make Chief a special snowflake.
Chief hater.
Chief is the last thing connecting Halo to its glorious past. I’m sure sales would suffer immensely if he died and the series continued.
The Chief can’t die because Spartans never die.
They just go Missing in Action.
Nope. Never gonna happen.
Except him living a normal life goes against everything Spartans were created to do and goes against everything Chief has lived for. At the end of the day, chief living a happy life seems nice but it also seems wrong. His entire efforts have been to preserve life, take life and be the “hero”. Chief living a normal life creates so many plot holes. There are going to be those who resent him and the Spartans, where is he going to live? Everyone knows the Chief, he would never be allowed to live a normal life. He would never be able to go anywhere without people running up to him.
Chief is a legend. He should be remembered as the legend, For that reason i do not think he should live a normal life. Despite the Halo 3 ending being a bit vague, i enjoyed the idea of him being adrift in Space, he isn’t dead, but he is no longer active and people thought he died, therefore he was remembered as a legend who made the ultimate sacrifice.