Right?

: I'm not surprised they killed the Ur-Didact. Just disappointed. This arc
: didn't really need to happen because nothing was really gained from it.
: Most people by the end of Halo 4 assumed Didact was gone anyways; it
: wasn't something that needed to be wrapped up right away.

The past two arcs have been nothing worth our time. I'm just glad the Ur-Didact is gone. Seems like his character hasn't evolved since the earliest chapters of Cryptum. He's done nothing but throw a temper tantrum, and bitch and moan about the Forerunner's forebearers and successors.

: Also, where did that Shield World at the end come from? That wasn't near
: Installation 03, was it?

This was the most confusing thing about this issue. Forerunner technology rarely ever has its mechanical properties properly shown or explained. 343 seems to believe that we'll come out in the end without being stumped.

: I love Halo, and I'm still interested in what 343 is doing with it. But man
: it sucks when I ask myself nearly every month, "why did I pay $4 to
: be disappointed?"

That was my final thought. Not that I was excited to see Blue's further adventures or whatever else they have planned, but that my money goes to such half-assed balony. I really can't imagine these people looking back at their work and not conclude that zero effort was put into making this a quality piece of fiction and art. Did we really need this story? No. Did we need the story which teased Spirit of Fire for three issues and only really gave us the story of a spoiled brat? Nope!

The interspecies conference in the first story arc was fantastic. If I had to guess, I would attribute its success to its writer, Chris Schlerf. Since then we've encountered the writing of Brian Reed, a former comic book writer and now the lead writer on Halo. More and more it seems like he can't deliver good stories and fiction worth investing time in with this universe. Fortunately a new writer is coming onto the series in the next couple of issues.