: I've never really gotten this gripe (I've certainly heard it from many
: people.) As Cortana says, "a lot can happen." If you haven't
: read the books then you're as out-of-the-loop as Chief, and it doesn't
: exactly strain incredulity to think that humans and Elites might have
: lapsed back into war. You know, they only really buddied up to stop the
: end of the universe.

It's a plot point that can makes sense, but it was presented in just about the worst way. Finding peace between the humans and the Elites was the most consequential plot point of Halo 2 and Halo 3. While the two sides descending into war again can make sense in the right context, hand waving huge chunks of the previous games' plot with no explanation is terrible writing.

: As for the rest, either you make as Grizzlei said MGS-level stupefying
: cutscenes, or you put in clues, streamline things, and assume your
: audience has a brain to make connections, because otherwise any game is
: going to start collapsing under the weight of trying to cater to lowest
: common denominators of players.

It would have been nice if 343 or Bungie put in any clues about Blue Team, but they (or any other Spartan IIs) are never even hinted at in any other Halo game.