: So... they always intended to end on a "resurrected Cortana conquers the
: galaxy" cliffhanger. I would've thought the reception to Halo 2's
: cliffhanger would've been a warning flag...

I very much doubt that is true. They spent the entirety of Halo 4 portraying Cortana's breakdown building up to her inevitable death and then delivered on that beautifully and unambiguously. Cortana was supposed to die for real, and Disco Dracula was supposed to be the new big recurring villain, but something happened that made 343i chicken out and change course. Maybe the higher-ups at MS decreed that Cortana is too iconic a character to kill off for real. Maybe it's just the new lead writer's comic book background bleeding in. But it's extremely difficult for me to believe her resurrection like this was the plan back when they made Halo 4.