Notice: please take a look at the links provided before posting. Because of the upcoming release of Halo Reach, I have been doing a lot of reading about the Spartans. After looking up the roster of all known Spartan IIs on [url=http://halo.wikia.com/wiki/SPARTAN_II]Halopedia[/url] and [url=http://halostory.bungie.org/spartanroster.html]HBO[/url] there seem to be quite a few inconsistencies in the number of Spartan IIs that exist. If we include all the canonical fiction released to date, including Legends, Halo Wars, and all the novels, then the issue is this: there are not enough Spartans to support the number that supposedly defended Reach. As you can see from the first link provided, counting all Halo fiction would only allow for 14 Spartans to be alive at the time of the invasion of Reach. This contradicts the number that we know were present at the battle (either 25 or 30, depending on if you're reading First Strike or The Fall of Reach). If you only follow the novels then the situation is a bit clearer, but still confusing. Supposedly 27 Spartans deployed to the surface of Reach, with 3 more aboard Gamma Station and the final 3 of Gray Team too distant to be recalled. This number is also not possible, as we know that AT LEAST 5 Spartans were no longer on active duty as of 2552. This would mean that the number that went to the surface of Reach was actually 22. Unfortunately there are many instances in First Strike that say otherwise. So the question that I pose to you is what is the explanation for these conflicting numbers? I have several theories of my own, which I will quickly outline. The first is that Bungie simply made a few mistakes in their fact checking during the writing of the novels. I'd like to believe that this isn't true, and the quote by Eric Trautmann at the end of the HBO link seems to point to another explanation. Another possibility is that the 30 Spartans who were said to die during augmentation did not in fact die. This would allow for many more active Spartans than we currently know of, enough to account for all the inconsistencies created to date. If this were true the problem we'd have now is how they managed to replace the deceased Spartans without the others noticing. And it still wouldn't explain how in FoR there is only 25 Spartans at Reach, and in FS there is suddenly 30. I would appreciate any and all speculation as to how this is possible.