: Very interested in your thoughts. Writing for Palmer was a bit obtuse
: throughout Spartan Ops, but I was beginning to wonder if using a woman in
: a stereotypically masculine way was the whole point. It would have simply
: been banal had Palmer been a male commander, and we'd bemoan bad writing
: perhaps...

The 26th century, unlike today, seems to welcome women expressing themselves in atypical feminine ways. Sarah Palmer's attitude and personality stems from her being a Marine, then a Spartan, her being a woman seems to have little to do with it. Her tact, competency, and command style is disgusting and unbefitting of an officer, especially one leading some of humanity's finest warriors. Del Rio possessed much of the same personality traits, so had Commander Palmer been male, I doubt the reaction would've been any different.

Preparing myself for Initiation, I watched a few of the CGI episodes of Spartan Ops last night and noticed some of her flaws. The first two episodes presented none of that. Palmer seemed to be an enthusiastic and capable inspiration for her Spartans just as any officer should be. Only when Dr. Halsey came aboard Infinity did she get snippy. Her publicly noted quips about the elderly scientist being a war criminal didn't reinforce her sins, but actually undermined the authority of her superior officer, Captain Lasky, and High Command, to an extent.