x 7y old kid x

A few more things- 1. I don't think Del Rio was a coward. He should be commended for the successful rescue mission. It was dangerous to follow the distress signal but Del Rio went for it. Big risk, big reward. He gambled his entire ship and he didn't even know if Master Chief was alive. It could have been a trap, and it actually was a trap, but the Infinity pulled through. Chief and Cortana may have been stranded without the arrival of the Infinity. Also, how many people in the Halo universe can say they ordered the Chief to be arrested, face to face with the Chief in full armor, and lived to tell the story? That took some nerve. 2. I think Del Rio's plan to withdraw back to Earth had its merits. It was a smart play. Live to fight another day. Knowing your enemy is half the battle and they didn't have a clue what they were up against. Didact scanned the Infinity so presumably he had the better intelligence. Also, the Covenant fleet alone was a pretty good reason to retreat. They were outnumbered even without the Didact's unknown capabilities adding an X factor to the equation. There was no clear right or wrong answer. I think Captain Picard would have retreated and Captain Kirk would have attacked. Both styles of leadership are perfectly valid. Actually, Picard would have attempted to negotiate first but the Didact was decidely hostile and the humans had no bargaining chips. Maybe substitute Spock instead of Picard. Go see the latest Star Trek movie, there is a similar scenario where Kirk and Spock disagree. Not going to spoil the movie but either comparison is favorable for Del Rio. His decision to retreat does not make him a coward, or an idiot, or a bad leader. 3. In my opinion, Del Rio's only mistake was the way he treated Chief and Cortana. There was no need to be insulting or disrespectful. Again look at Picard. He listens to his crew, he treats them with respect, even when he disagrees he is thankful for the advice. Del Rio was too quick to attack Chief and Cortana and he was wrong to make it personal. He failed to see that Cortana was still an extremely useful asset. It was Cortana who made victory possible.

How can they court martial Master Chief? He was kidnapped as a child by the UNSC and replaced with a flash clone. They proceeded to invest huge amounts of money in Master Chief. Even if he wanted to leave the UNSC, I doubt they'd let their investment walk away. They spent too much money, he knows too many dark secrets, and honestly they need him too desperately to ever throw the book at him. It was an extreme situation that will likely never happen again. ONI is now aware of the line in the sand the Chief drew and they will ensure the Chief is handled with more caution so they don't lose the asset. In fact, Lasky may have been tapped on the shoulder by ONI to be Master Chief's new handler (with instructions to use the soft gloves). They want "Halo 5: Chief goes renegade" about as much as they want "Halo 5: Fall of Earth." I'm sure ONI is prepared for either worst case scenario, of course. If anything, Del Rio's mistake was his willingness to discard Chief and Cortana. He failed to realize that the UNSC's total investment in Chief and Cortana was enormous, probably greater than the entire cost of the Spartan 4 project and the Infinity. I wouldn't be surprised if Chief alone was a bigger investment than the Spartan 3 program, the Spartan 4 program, and the Infinity combined. When you look at return on investment, the Chief and Cortana are by far the best investments the UNSC has ever made. Del Rio was making a decision way over his pay grade, a decision that could not be reversed, a decision that was at odds with the expressed sentiments of his superiors. That said, I would like to see Del Rio return in some way. It would be interesting to see Master Chief with a human nemesis, or it would be interesting to see Del Rio redeem himself. He was a gray character who could go either way, I think, and it would be a great plot. Also, it's noteworthy that Del Rio saw Cortana as a machine, not a person. When you rescue a person, it's typical they might require medical attention or emotional counseling. Del Rio didn't offer any support like that for Cortana. His scientists may have been able to stabilize her condition or even repair it completely. Del Rio didn't even run a diagnostic on Cortana, as far as I can tell. The whole thing reminded me of the Star Trek episode where Picard argues that the android Data is a crew member rather than a piece of equipment.

Not trying to start a fight with you, but you're confused on a few things. Cortana did activate a distress beacon. It was pretty obvious to me during my campaign run. The UNSC Infinity was lured into Requiem by the distress signal. It was a major plot point. Suggest you play these levels again and listen to the audio. You can hear the distress beacon. The truce with the Arbiter was in effect for the entire Halo 3 campaign and the last act of the Halo 2 campaign (before Chief and Cortana were stranded in the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn so they definitely had this information, reference Halo 3 cutscene where Chief sticks his gun in the Arbiter's jaw, Johnson intervenes and the Arbiter says "Were it so easy" classic line). It was reasonable for Cortana to assume the Arbiter and his allies would continue to honor the truce. Cortana never claimed to have exact or current intelligence about a truce, hence her surprise and her rationalization that a lot could happen in four years. She doesn't know the war is over, she was making an educated guess (rather optimistic). Please play the "Star Fox" level again. It explains how Master Chief gets inside the shield (Didact thinks Chief was destroyed by the Composer so Chief has element of surprise) and it explains that yes the UNSC is doing their best to defend Earth but they are facing an unknown enemy with unknown tech. The best they might possibly have are contingency plans that have never been tested as they have never faced a real Forerunner before. Also it's a race against time, they don't know for sure they can take out the Didact ship defenses before he fires his weapon. How many shots will it take to pop Didact's shield? They have no idea what to expect. All they know is, Didact hasn't fired his ultimate weapon yet and he's moving rapidly towards planet Earth. What is the exact range of the Composer and how much devastion will it cause when it fires? They don't know how much time they have but it's running out and the Chief is their best hope. On the human installation, just because space is visible does not mean they are exposed to open vacuum. It's apparent that they are not exposed to open vacuum, although the game does not explain in detail what technology is separating them from vacuum. It's typical science fiction stuff. If people are acting as though gravity and oxygen are present, then they are in a controlled environment with gravity and oxygen. Sometimes you have to read between the lines to establish the setting. If people are wearing heavy clothing and they can see their breath, the setting is cold. You don't need the writers to hold your hand and tell you temperature = X, gravity = Y, oxygen level = Z. If the setting was dangerous somehow, that would be shown in the actions of the characters. Also, on the subject of Spartan 4 program, they were not trained from early childhood as the Chief was. They are UNSC veterans who have been upgraded. Any soldier in the UNSC can apply to become a Spartan 4 but only the best are selected. The UNSC could easily achieve this, in less than 4 years.

Thanks! I am passionate about my Halo! I came up with another way to illustrate my point. Let's say Halo 4 had played out differently. Imagine Master Chief wakes up from cryo sleep on Forward Unto Dawn to find 100,000 years have passed. He has been locked away for 100,000 years and he is now alone. Cortana is gone. The universe has moved on. The human race has vanished. Even worse, the Covenant now hold the mantle. The Chief thinks, why should they hold the mantle? I defeated them. They never beat me in a fair fight. I was the victor and they took the prize for themselves when I was sleeping. That's pretty much what the Didact woke up to discover.

Here are some plot symmetries I have noticed between Master Chief and Didact. Can you think of any more? It appears the Didact is not just a villain but a foil for the Chief, an equal and opposite reflection of who and what the Chief is. ---- When we first meet the Chief in Halo 1, he is a legendary warrior who wakes up from cryo sleep and inspires awe in the lesser warriors he encounters. The Chief is something of a mystery, believed to be the last and greatest of the Spartan soldiers. When we first meet the Didact in Halo 4, he is also a legendary warrior believed to be the last and greatest warrior of his kind. The Didact is a mysterious figure who wakes from a long hibernation and inspires a religious awe in the Covenant warriors he encounters. ---- The Chief is a veteran of several long bloody conflicts. He feels the weight of enormous responsibility on his shoulders and he has never known peace. He wants to finish the fight, for the sake of winning, not because he has any dreams or ambitions to pursue when the fighting stops. There is no place for the Chief outside the military. The Didact is also a veteran of multiple long bloody conflicts. He feels the weight of the mantle on his shoulders and he has carried the mantle for so long he can't live without it. He is a warrior servant and it's all he knows. It's inevitable the Chief and the Didact are going to fight each other. Combat is where they feel at home and violence comes easier than conversation. ---- The Chief is getting old. He sees the next generation of Spartans entering their prime and he knows his generation is being replaced. Most of his fellows are dead. The Chief would rather sacrifice himself in battle than fade away into retirement. The Didact feels the same way. He doesn't want to pass the torch yet, either. In a way the heart of the narrative is revealed when Cortana comments that she's going to be replaced and the Chief says he won't let that happen, not yet. ---- Cortana is Master Chief's female counterpart. Her intelligence is one of the greatest weapons he wields. They are both extremely capable on their own, but when they work together the results are far beyond what either one of them could have achieved alone. Master Chief and Cortana complement each other in ways that are both personal and profound. He is devastated when she sacrifices herself for him and is apparently destroyed. In their last moment together, Cortana stepped up and took charge in a physical way (role reversal) to perform an act of extreme loyalty to the Chief. The Librarian is Didact's female counterpart. Their relationship mirrors that of Chief and Cortana. In their last moment together, the Librarian took charge in a physical way (role reversal) to perform an act of betrayal against the Didact. Both female counterparts are believed to be destroyed (self sacrifice). As far as Master Chief is aware, Cortana is gone, the Didact is gone, and the Librarian is gone. He thinks he is the sole survivor, again. Assuming the Didact survived, the Didact thinks the Chief is dead. The Didact believes himself to be the sole survivor, again. The conflict will resume when one realizes the other is still alive. Each feels the loss of his female counterpart sharply and is struggling with powerful emotions. Master Chief blames himself for losing Cortana. He also blames Didact. The Didact blames himself for falling victim to the Librarian's betrayal. He also blames Chief because he sees the Chief as a fulfillment of the Librarian's plans. ---- What other plot symmetries do you see?

The Halo universe has been filled with excellent supporting characters from the very beginning (Johnson, Keyes, Foehammer, to name a few). Halo 4 is no exception. Let us celebrate our new friend, Thomas Lasky. This character is full of win. Thank you 343. I really enjoyed Lasky's interactions with Master Chief and I found Lasky's personality to be both refreshing and authentic to the Halo universe. I look forward to spending more time with Lasky in future episodes of Spartan Ops. Please keep this character around.