Are Spartans “Legends” anymore?

This question was posed on the Halo Waypoint forums. It’s a good one to ask and talk about.

In my opinion, Spartan IVs are NOT Legends. For one they haven’t even been around long enough to earn that title, nor have they done anything near the epicness of Master Chief. He IS a legend. Spartan IVs are not.

I do have my hopes for Spartan Thorne. I foresee him being the successor to Master Chief. We’re only just now seeing him develop. He is a rookie Spartan after all.

Spartan IIs are/were legends. Their battlefield prowess very often changed the tide of battles. They are the most disciplined troops in the Halo universe. Being trained for combat from 6 years old, by the time they started seeing real live-fire battles when then were in their mid-teens, they already had a decade of training and experience as a cohesive unit to draw upon. Their regimented code of battle, their skill, and then later their armor all point to them being legendary.

The status of Spartan IIs as legendary though come more from the victories they’ve achieved over time. Not only their initial victories against Insurgents, but then against the Covenant. Master Chief is often the one credited the most, however he was not the only Spartan II to turn the tide. Don’t get me wrong though, Master Chief is the embodiment of what it is to be a Spartan AND a Legend. His actions in the last 6 months of the war with the Covenant completely changed the war.

Moving on to Spartan IIIs, while not as strong as their Spartan II brethren, they still were conscripted fairly early on and had similar training to Spartan IIs. Their armor while different  still posed a major threat on battlefields. However they were utilized more as strong arm cannon fodder rather than Super Soliders like the Spartan IIs were. As evidenced in Halo Reach, they were not as disciplined. This in part is why they should not be considered legendary. Kat stealing info… She was too sure of herself. That is not a trait of a legendary spartan. Emile had some issues for sure. Jun was okay, but not legendary. Carter was a good leader, but not great. Were the legendary? NO. Heroic? Yes.

Spartan IVs are at this point little more than glorified ODSTs. Even look at the Recruit armor they get. The helmet bears a resemblance to the ODST helmet. With attitudes on display such as Commander Palmer and Fireteam Majestic’s leader Paul DeMarco, it’s a wonder they can even be considered any where in the realm of being true Spartans, let alone legendary.

Will they rise to legendary status? That remains to be seen. As I mentioned earlier, I have my hopes for Thorne, but even he has shown insubordination and gross misconduct. While saving his squad, he should have never let to attack a Banshee on his own, as well he shouldn’t have been anywhere near the Forerunner artifact after having left in a huff over the incident onboard the Infinity. In doing so he was transported to Requiem away from his squadmates and anyone else who could help him for that matter. We can only hope that he learns from these errors and while improve as a Spartan. Halsey even hinted that he may be more ready than some of the others.

So taking all this in, I ask again, are Spartans legendary?

Spartan IIs, YES
Spartan IIIs, No, but heroic
Spartan IVs, Definitely not, but some have the potential to be.

What do you think about this? Are they legendary?

-Sal