Here I go, being a dick again. Let's try and improve that.

One of the things I liked about the article is that it acknowledged that Halo's use of archetypes used to be a strong point. It borrowed a lot of archetypes and built upon our resonance with those archetypes, because a space opera first person shooter doesn't have the runtime to flesh out complex characters, especially if they're part of the supporting cast. That works, and it's perfectly fine for a medium that doesn't have the narrative density of a novel.

343i has trouble with archetypes. That's nothing new. Truth changed archetypes between Halo 2 and Halo 3, from a manipulative schemer to the ranting zealot. It hurt the story, and fans have been complaining ever since.

Aside from the Chief getting out of his cryopod, there's the Didact. What was he supposed to be? He looks like a vampire, he acts like a Bond villain, but his motivations are... what? Are the Spartan IVs gung-ho rookie soldiers, in sharp contrast to Spartan IIs? Are the Prometheans mindless robot monsters or poor trapped souls? Either way, what happened to the cold, calculating Sentinels?