In Response To: My main concern (AfroRyan)
: Now, I'm not going to complain about hair this time, seeing as you [Frankie]
: have clarified it as artistic license...which I interpret as "They
: drew big hair because they wanted to, but that doesn't make it
: canon." However, I have another small complaint that I would bet
: money is the same thing...or may simply be an oversight on whoever's in
: charge of overall continuity.
: Despite the hair in "The Babysitter," I was happy to see that Cal
: was ghost white; one couldn't be paler without being transparent. However,
: I was saddened to see a typical "multiculture pals" group of
: Spartans. Don't take that the wrong way; I don't mean to imply that
: Spartans aren't made up of a wide group of racial groups...however, the
: books describe the Spartans as being, without much exception, pale. I
: realize that a pale 'white' person in comparison to a pale 'black' person
: would still be considerably 'whiter' than the pale 'black' person...but
: this particular group of Spartans seems to have seen plenty of sun, since
: I couldn't describe a single one as being 'pale' compared to someone of
: whatever race they happen to be.
: This may seem nitpicky, but I have always thought of this trait (the pale
: factor) as a very important part of Spartan mythology. It shows that they
: hardly ever take off their armor; that they are 100% dedicated to their
: mission, their species, their creation. It sets them apart from the rest
: of humanity...in fact, Spartans are already so different from the average
: human, that you could argue that they are a separate, albeit artificial,
: ethnicity. They all live by the same code, morality, and culture. The
: differences between a Spartan (any Spartan) and any other human
: race/ethnicity should be immediately obvious...so obvious, in fact, that a
: Spartan would have a nearly impossible time blending into a crowd. Even
: ODSTs are indistinguishable from civilians when they are out of
: uniform...but the books have made it clear that the Spartans, even without
: armor, would have an almost impossible mission in blending in with
: society...except for Fred, apparently...which is funny, since "The
: Package" shows Fred as the only Spartan in the group to have any
: major scarring on his face; something that would make blending into a
: crowd significantly less easy.
: The only other small problem I see is that the Spartans seem
: pretty...incompetent. I don't mean that to sound damning, it's just that
: Spartans (both individually and as a group) have been depicted as a well
: oiled military machine. Why are they referring to each other by name? Why
: aren't they using their Spartan numbers, or like many examples in the
: novels, using team tactics combined with color/number designations? I
: already think I know the answer; it's hard to attach a face/character to a
: number...so to help the audience connect emotionally to the characters,
: they are always referenced by name (The Babysitter did this too...they
: introduce the Spartan as Cal right from the beginning). It's just that the
: books mention many times that their names are generally kept secret and
: only the Spartan's number/rank is given/used outside of Spartans
: themselves, and even then they only refer to each other by their first
: name outside of combat (which is rare).
: Overall, I've liked "The Package" a lot. I'm super pumped to see
: the ending, and I feel that I pretty much already have answers for all my
: little problems. It's unrealistic to view "Halo Legends" as
: anything but a cash-in (I don't mean that in a bad way). Although there
: are plenty of Halo fans that are also anime fans, it doesn't make much
: sense to think that Microsoft would commission something for that
: demographic. Those people and most Halo fans in general will buy it
: regardless. It's the anime fans who aren't Halo fans that Microsoft is
: trying to appeal to...and I doubt they would attract many new fans to the
: franchise by sticking strictly to the canon of the games/books. It's a
: little disappointing, but that's how it works. I'm still happy and eager
: to contribute to the franchise, even if it's being "dumbed down"
: (not to imply anime fans are dumb) for new fans so that they can process
: the new and exciting Halo universe...just don't expect us jaded old fans
: to accept everything (especially the 'little' things) presented as canon.
They've used their own names during combat several times, though. I'm rereading First Strike at the moment, and I remember the passage where Fred and Kelly destroy that Covenant cruiser that's bleeding troops all over the place. They refer to Joshua (who got lost a bit earlier on) as Joshua multiple times, and not as SPARTAN-something something seventeen.
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