Yeah, one of the reasons I love Cortana's "evil" turn is she's basically trying to pull off exactly what ONI's been trying to do, she just has power they could only dream of. The idea that a military AI based on the mind of a young genius scientist who thinks she's saving humanity by creating covert hit squads of supersoldiers to stop rebellions decides that she knows best for humanity is not much of a stretch at all, and the Gravemind specifically identified and tried to exploit that.
I have issues with certain executional elements, but execution is ultimately the only really relevant benchmark I hold this stuff up to. If they wanted magical space unicorns to show up in Halo I'd be down with it as long as it's executed well.
Yeah. I have 0 problems with her turning "evil". It actually makes perfect sense. I just hate the way they executed it.
As i said, the didact is mostly a cool concept executed poorly, but i think he could still be salvaged. Cortana's arc in halo 5 makes perfect sense if you've only followed the numbered halo games; in fact I don't think any supplemental media has anything else to add to it. said supplemental media is where you'd find out that they've only known each other a year, by the way; it doesn't really feel that way in the games.
Cortana's motivation is not her affection for chief, what i was saying is that she's always had kind of a god complex, but she's also always been limited in a way that tamped down on that. it makes sense that she would resent those limitations once they've been taken off, and it makes sense that she would rationalize what she's doing in the way she does.
The interplay between the two in the endgame of halo 5 feels really authentic to actual relationships, for me, where one person can be blind to the flaws of another until they do something so extreme that you can't ignore it anymore. As to why a deep personal drama would be at the center of galaxy-changing events? because that's good storytelling. And honestly who's to say it's all that unlikely; wars have been started over people's personal business many, many times.
Where in the game's do you gather she has a God complex, and where does one get the impression that that complex would evolve into the mass murder of the innocent people she's been protecting her whole life?
You find out chief and Cortana have only known each other for a few weeks, just by playing the games. The dates are provided. The only reason it maybe "feels" longer than that is because the space between game releases. And then because H4 makes it seem like they are BFFs with benefits.
And how were her limitations removed? The domain? To someone who's only played the game's its just empty space jargon used to handwave a monumental shift in character. They definitely didn't do enough to explain how she was able to free herself from those shackles or why hey current behavior would differ so greatly from her past.
As far as the interplay between the two, I can't say it's good storytelling at all. If the Idea is that Cortana has amassed so much intellectual power that she can rationalize sacrificing the few (millions) for total galactic peace, then why would she allow emotion to jeopardize her plan? Logically, she should be more Ozymandias than Scooby-Doo villain, but that's not what we got. Master Chief (off-screen) had, up to this point, spent his entire life sending his life long friends to die for the mission. Now we are to believe he'd jeapardize it all due to blind love for an AI he's consciously known for a few months? Again, if it was effectively established, in game that this was the sort of relationship they had, then sure go for. But the entirety of their emotional connection has felt contrived ever since 343 decided to focus on it.
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