: I get that she's an amazing piece of hardware for him to have. But does that
: really explain why he would suddenly become emotionally unstable by losing
: her? Aren't the Spartans experts at working with limited supplies and
: improvise?

: This makes it sound sort of like he lost his favorite toy and no longer wants
: to play solider. Which just seems to conflict so heavily with his
: personality from the books & prior games.

The Chief-Cortana relationship may have been blown a little out of proportion in the later games; they're treated as this super magical pair extraordinaire preordained to be together 4eva! by mankind's genetic destiny. But when you think about it, they've been together for, what, a couple of months at most, when you don't count cryo sleep.

Sure, their connection was a special one, but it feels as though the writers are operating under the presumption that the Chief hasn't been forced to deal with loss before. Like that time he was forced to leave behind his best friend since the age of six.