Let’s take a look at most of the Spartan IVs that we have seen in the game:
First the “Cons” of each, then the “Pros” of each.
Commander Sarah Palmer: She commands all of the Spartans of the Infinity, yet she makes sexist remarks like “Ladies and other Spartans.” She sized up Master Chief with a “come hither” look, smiled then said she thought he’d be taller. She seems to take every opportunity to berate her subordinates. Not a way to lead. “Eggheads” <–gawd, I’m SO tired of that phrase.
Fireteam Majestic Squad Leader, Paul DeMarco: Meathead. Clearly evidenced as per the dialogue in the first Spartan Ops vid. His and Madsen’s interaction with Thorne and Hoya cement them as nothing more than that, meatheads.
Spartan Madsen: see above. Also, what is with that goofy surprised look on his face when Thorne comes out of active camo in the Spartan Ops episode 8 video? Come on, you can’t tell me the Spartan IVs didn’t know about active camo. Who trained these yahoos?
Spartan Hoya: Seemed like a decent spartan, though he was a little insubordinate to DeMarco in the SpOps episode 1 vid. Fast forward to the vid where he races out in front of his team against DeMarco’s orders and gets his butt handed to him by a Promethean Knight.
Spartan Tedra Grant: Um….missing in action? Seriously, we haven’t had much interaction with her in the vids.
Spartan Miller: I have to think that the “best and brightest” does NOT include Miller. In fact I’d say he’s the son of some politician or wealthy civilian who wanted to make a name for themselves by having a spartan for a son. He’s a dolt. “Bad Guys” <–another phrase I’m SO tired of. Come on folks, this is a mature rated game. “Bad Guys” and “Eggheads” are childish uses of dialogue.
Finally, Spartan Gabriel Thorne: Of all the others, I’d say he has the most potential. Halsey even seems to think so, though her remarks could be taken as her playing him for a sucker. He’s already disobeyed orders, left in a huff over supposed secrets being kept from him. (That done in the presence of his direct superior as well as ship’s Captain) As well he manages to get himself sucked down to Requiem when touching the artifact, as device I’m pretty sure he didn’t have clearance to go touch by himself.
They’ve all got some serious flaws one way or another. So it’s not just Palmer.
So let’s look at the Pro side.
Palmer: Decorated veteran with a decade of military service before entering the Spartan Program.
DeMarco: Still a leader and can take being humiliated when a mission goes south (Palmer asking him about Hoya, after Hoya is hurt by the Knight)
Madsen: a skilled sniper, he also seems to know his spartan history pretty well.
Grant: Hmm, again not much to say, need more to go on from her.
Miller: Despite his dialogue, it’s clear that he takes his job seriously and is trying to be the best spartan he can be.
Thorne: I’m still thinking he’s going to be the successor to Master Chief. He’s the one who’s gotten the most face time in SpOps. He has taken out plenty of Elites and rescued Dr. Glassman. He’s a rookie Spartan IV so he’s bound to make some mistakes. I think he’s learning and will become a great Spartan.
So what does this say about Spartan IVs? Well, they are flawed. But then we knew they would be. It’s been said in the Halo novels that adults wouldn’t be good candidates for the Spartan program due to being set in their ways mentally as well as having more issues with the rigors of augmentation.
So far, I’m thinking the Spartan IVs are little more than glorified ODSTs. However, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, it means they have just that much more room to improve upon themselves.
By the way, I’m not bad mouthing Spartan Ops/Spartan IVs. I think this behavior shows their human side quite well and gives them character. We can easily differentiate each Spartan IV, not just in armor config, but in their separate and defined personalities.
All this said though…I hope Palmer is killed off so that Master Chief can then become Commander of the Spartans. That’s just a more exciting story line to me than Palmer remaining in charge. Nothing too much against Palmer.
Alright folks, what are your thoughts on these Spartans? Feel free to discus any one in particular or all of them. I want to see what other people think about the Spartan IVs in Halo 4.
-Sal
“The UNSC acts like children at play in a sandbox…” – Halsey
Sums it up really.
I think this is a very deliberate attempt by 343 to show how they ‘are not spartans’. Even so, they’re meant to be the best of the best in the UNSC and they still act like children. Not that a soldier wouldn’t be excited by suddenly having access to power armour and weaponry, but they would most likely keep it internalised.
I really like Palmer now. I would always joke about her obsession about eggheads, but I’ve never understood the hatred some people have for her. She’s way less obnoxious now anyway. She’s clearly not happy about being ordered to kill Halsey in the preview, despite putting a gun to her head at a moments notice. Though she is also likely concerned about Lasky, who really doesn’t like the order, so that might be why she isn’t so enthusiastic about it. I don’t want her to die. At the DICE conference, Kiki Wolfkill said they weren’t going to kill as many characters off in the future, as they (and Bungie/Ensemble) have in the past.
That said, I’d trade Palmer for more John in a second. I mean it’s been over 6 months since the Didact’s attack on Earth, you’d think Chief would have met up with Blue Team again. You know, his family. It would be a good way to market a second season of Spartan Ops if it had at least John in it. You hear that Microsoft? Money. Yeah. It’s a win-win.