Reach did have a legendary ending, you can look to the right on the ship and it shows masterchief in the cryo pod. It was an interactive bit that I wouldn't have noticed until a friend showed me.
As for the ending, I felt they could have made the normal ending stop after his talk with laskey on infinity, hard could have showed him in the spartan area and had him unload his armor, ledengary I feel they should have hinted at the direction they plan on taking for the next game.
However, spartan ops adds way more to the story than any of the other legendary endings so I dont think you can have a fair comparison because it continues to be a running story. That said I can appreciate the distinction they are making between masterchief being a "true spartan" and the newer spartans not being on the same level, which was demonstarted when the one on the treadmil stumbles and more so when (in spartan ops) halsey makes the comparison between the new spartans and being a true spartan. Showing how his eyes are different (watch the last episode of forward unto dawn) makes you realize he is different, not his humanity but the fact that he is alone now, aside from laskey (who is an old aquaintance as per the forward unto dawn series) he has nothing incommon with anyone, the new spartans are different, cortana is gone, johnson died before that. He is kind of like the last of a dying breed.
