: Bungie started to understand that as they moved in Halo 3 and decided that
: death added depth to a story if the characters stayed dead. Think back to
: Captain Keyes... how would you feel if you somehow found he was alive on
: the Ark somehow? In a Forerunner storage pod or something?

: It would've ruined moment when the Master Chief had to "kill" him
: to get the neural relay. It would have ruined the introduction of
: Commander Keyes when she accepted his medals posthumously.

: It hurt even more when Miranda died as well. I like to think the Chief had a
: moment of pause under his helmet when he saw Johnson cradling her body. I
: like to believe that he was sad that he had let her down just like her
: father.

: Cortana's death was cheesy, but it worked. I really hope she remains gone,
: but that she is brought up again in memory through dialogue or actions(ex.
: the chief having her chip in the desert in the trailer for H5.)

The only issue I have with that is that John and Cortana's characters were always constructed as co-dependent. The other characters who died and stayed dead were satellite characters; beloved, but not really a 'part' of who J&C are. In this case, death of John or Cortana would serve to enhance that narrative bond; and if they came back, in whatever manner, bring it full circle.

Whereas, had John's character been one of seeking independence (rather than turning to the growing relation he had with Cortana), or deep inside desiring full independence rather than accepting dependence, then death of one or the other being permanent would have a better place. It could serve to push the living character beyond their self-imposed limitation and into the new life they were always hoping for deeper inside.

Call that cheese or cliche or whatever, but in this case, IMO, John's character wasn't really narratively built to accept complete autonomy and independence from Cortana. I honestly don't think this will be the last of her, and hope it won't be.

Now, say she did come back in some form - if she returned in another way that highlighted how John and Cortana could never be together again, that could be a turning point in John's character where he has to accept the life he never wanted, become a 'changed man' as it were, completely independent of Cortana. I could go with that too... but it would require Cortana to return ;)