I apologize if this isn't strictly GAMING, but it does revolve around the story and themes of a gaming franchise, so I hope you'll forgive me. While I don't consider myself a HUGE part of #Gaming here on B.net, a few of you know my extreme distaste for the way the character of Dr. Halsey in the Halo lore has been treated in recent Halo media. Between Karen Traviss' moral soapboxing in Glasslands and Thursday War disguised as stories in the Halo universe, Brian Reed's "Halsey's a monster and I cut her arm off for ambiguity's sake" statements in one of the Halo Bulletins and other...hamfisted portrayals and interpretations have really taken a toll on my interest in the franchise. 343 Industries certainly know my disdain, bs angel herself responded to a message I sent her outlying my concern and I even got a response on Twitter from @HaloWaypoint. And yet while I've been assured by 343 Industries that they don't hate Halsey, Brian Reed's statements making such a claim a bit hard to believe, I can't let it go. Some other fans have either that I don't like this because I'm a Halsey fanboy who can't accept change. Perhaps this is the case, but after thinking about it, I think the real reason I hate what is going on with Halsey is that Halo was truly my entry point into the world of science-fiction and thus actual science. Now while I am at college studying to become a history teacher, I do have an interest in science, particularly that of the cosmos. In fact I am reading Carl Sagan's Cosmos right now! My attitude towards all of this can be summed up with this Halsey quote: [quote]Life is too short. I will never learn all that exists in our own tiny galaxy, let alone the rest of the universe. And I so desperately want to know everything.[/quote] I look up into the night sky and see the heavens before me and I yearn to learn about it all. Science-fiction, thus far, has been my bridge. When I read the works of Asimov and Clarke, I feel awestruck by the scale of the universe. Halo got me there and it was through the eyes and ideas of Dr. Halsey that guided me. Even though she is a fictional character, I do consider Dr. Halsey a kinda of role model. True, she has had her hand in nasty stuff, the Spartan-II Program a real red flag. Yet, as 343i and Traviss would have me believe, she didn't do it for the perverse thrills that [url=http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law]-godwinslaw!-[/url] scientists like Josef Mengele had. Humanity was on the verge of tearing itself apart and extraterrestrial life was going to finish the job. She made tough choices and dedicated her work to preserving humanity and in the end, she did. In a way, I associate Halsey with my intelligence and seeing the character beaten, mutilated, proverbially spat upon and just plain handled badly hurts me. I know that sounds sad, but that is how I feel about it. Given how Halsey essentially guided me towards my interest in science, history and the pursuit of knowledge, I can't help but take it personally when crap happens. Hopefully something better happens with this character because as I said above, the more seemingly pointless crap that keeps happening to her makes me lose interest in a franchise I love. I sure don't want that and I'm sure plenty of other people, for one reason or another, feel the same way. Thanks for reading.