As far as the Halsey thing is going with Spartan Ops, I'm starting to see that there's [i]maybe[/i] something a bit more complex than what we think we're seeing going on. See, Brian Reed is a [i]very[/i] 'on-the-surface' writer. There's generally not a great deal of subtextual depth, there's not much I can really analyse as being hidden beneath the surface - unlike Chris Schlerf's writing which is FULL of subtext and parallels and such. But I've also been rewatching the CG episodes and I'm noticing more and more how there's never a point where we're not supposed to feel sympathetic towards Halsey. While the likes of Palmer and Grant may talk shit about her, we [i]know[/i] that they don't have the whole story. Halsey does. Thorne is part of the means through which we see her point of view start to bleed through, it tells us that there is a larger story behind the black and white morality that Palmer and Grant project onto the "dragon lady". Also, we're [i]made[/i] to dislike Palmer. It's quite clearly in the writing, as she puts down her troops in the field and is incredibly jumpy - pulling a gun on Halsey as she examines Infinity's engines, for instance. Halsey's motivations are made abundantly clear to us. [quote]"Life is too short, I will never learn all that exist in our tiny galaxy let alone the rest of the universe. And I so desperately want to know... everything. But the UNSC acts like children at play in a sandbox - mistaking its edges for the limits of the world."[/quote] The UNSC is portrayed as the frustrating element here. Halsey's desires are not to experiment on children, turn them into genetically augmented freaks, or anything of the sort - she is aligned with the player in her desires, she wants to [i]learn[/i] and attain knowledge on things that we want to learn and attain knowledge about. Palmer is always shown as acting irrationally, lashing out and saying things which are just plain wrong - outright accusing Halsey for sharing information with what she presumes to be the enemy, when it is shown that Halsey did no such thing and was simply using a resource which offered data which would advance humanity's research by years. Obviously, it [i]was[/i] Jul but Halsey did not know that at the time. And, of course, Halsey is incredibly intelligent. She uses Jul to accomplish her goals because he can offer her what the UNSC can't. [quote]Jul: "You are no fool, Doctor Halsey. Like me, you seek knowledge." Halsey: "I think it is power you seek." Jul: "I have power, Doctor!" Halsey: "Knowledge is power..."[/quote] This is an instance where we need the full picture in order to form a proper opinion on the situation because right now we're being made to sympathise with Halsey. She's being demonised in Spartan Ops by people we know do not have the full picture, she's ONI's perfect scapegoat and this portrays them as the negative, antagonistic force. I think that they're building to a point where Halsey is going to be vindicated. She's been SPECIFICALLY picked by the Librarian to propel humanity towards ownership of the Mantle and (as is heavily hinted) towards uncovering the impending threat of the Flood's return. If THAT'S not portraying her in a positive light, then I don't know what is - and if people fail to realise this still, then [i]maybe[/i] the problem isn't with the writing... Frankie has said that the resolution of the Halsey arc should be a "satisfying conclusion" to people who haven't liked how she's been treated over the last few years, so I'm hoping that this is what will come to fruition.