I do say.

Though I greatly appreciate that the Waypoint article has the appropriate picture. Thank you.

: It's a new model.

It's not a new- it's a new...

*goes back and re-reads the post*

Ok, I figured out what I'm trying to say. It's a reinterpretation of Mark VI. In isolation, if the Chief's armor was the only thing changed, and maybe if he'd come out of the cryotube without the scars on the breastplate, I could buy that Cortana changed it with nanotechnology. Grudgingly.

But when the Master Chief woke up in that armor, the Forward Unto Dawn was completely renovated, which is artistic license, and all of the new-model firearms and vehicles were present, which is due to time and memory constraints.

So, which is the Chief's new armor? Is it new because the artists wanted to try their own thing and the Mark VI Classic wouldn't fit on the same Spartan model as the Gen II MJOLNIR? Is it new because the development team didn't have time to model/skin/rig/animate a suit of Mark VI Classic or the time and resources for a cutscene of the Chief swapping out old armor for new on the Infinity?

That's the problem. So much changed when 343i took the reigns that it is difficult to believe that the Master Chief's armor is different.

: Who exactly do you think gets to decide intention?

Death of the author, baby.

: Not sure what this means?

For a while, it looked like the Mark IV MJOLNIR design was up for grabs. Sometimes it looked like Mark V or VI (Legends), around which time Frankie said that Mark IV looked a lot like later armor designs, and the changes were all internal. Starting with the opening cutscene of Halo 4, it looked like MJOLNIR was getting retconned so that it always looked like Gen II. I seem to recall that the initial trailer to the Fall of Reach animated series depicted Mark IV as sharing a lot of the design of Gen II, which has apparently been toned down for the final product.

On the other hand, the teaser for Halo Wars 2 had some faithful armor designs.

So, feel free to ignore that specific criticism. I didn't know what I was talking about.

: Again, that's you creating a hierarchy for what media "counts" more
: than others. That's been done before too, but not by 343.

Seeing classic Bungie designs appear in the mainline games means a lot more to me than their appearance in a comic series that I've quit following.

: If you really believe that - especially if you are including me in your
: broadstroke statement,

Of course not. You're the kind of passionate, talented fan who devotes his free time to what he loves until he gets the chance to work on Halo professionally, and you are evidently graced with boatloads of patience since you haven't told me to fuck off. I'm the kind of fan who whines about things he doesn't like on an internet forum, and I'm lucky to have enough self-awareness to realize that.

I shouldn't have implied that I include you in that statement, and I apologize.

: then literally nothing I can say will do anything
: to change your mind. Other than maybe the ironically classic Halo phrase
: "Were it so easy."

It was never in your hands to begin with. It all comes down to what the art team does, and how they present Halo.

I've got a bone to pick with the writing team and their handling of the Forerunners, but that's a completely different topic.