: If that's all Cortana wants then I'm not bothered, she can have that, we
: don't need to pay taxes for the military. The UNSC and ONI whiff of
: darkness. It's about time the military was put in its place in the
: haloverse.

: John's out of a job but that's his worry.

: Her plan is probably not what the Precursors want but so what? I don't give a
: flying fig for what they want. I always thought that the mantle (or the
: love of the mantle) was silly. But, you know, if Cortana wants it, if it
: makes her happy, then she can have it.

: Maybe humanity should talk to her. Say, "You can have the mantle if you
: want but we don't want you to be queen of the universe. We don't trust you
: because you have Hasley's I know what's best for everybody disease. We'd
: like there to be a council of AIs to oversee things and we'd like to be
: consulted as well."

: See what she says. Ensuring that the other AIs have a big say would blunt
: her, mummy knows best, tendencies.

Too much ego for that to happen, really, on all sides.

But, as you point out, why I think it's hilarious people think Cortana has "suddenly" turned into a despot is that the UNSC is very much a totalitarian, military-run regime, and while the insurrectionists are complete jerks... they're pretty much right. All the characters we have played in the games, with the exception of the Arbiter, are I think good soldiers and good people, but they're in the service of a pretty monstrous organ of iniquity. Cortana agreeing with their ends but disagreeing with their fallible, human way of handling it (not to mention tying into her "mother's" longstanding belief about humanity spiraling out of control) makes a whole lot of sense to me.