: I don't think it ever needed to be addressed. Given 20+ billion human beings
: around the inception of the Spartan II project, a number of individuals
: with the requisite age, intelligence, and athletic ability are bound to be
: present.

: One of my pet peeves about Spartan fans is that they keep talking about the
: Spartan's 'superior genetics' or 'perfect genes'. Superior how? Perfect
: how? The biggest selection criterion for the candidates would have been
: "Does this individual have the physiology needed to survive the
: augmentation process and use the upgrades we give them?"

: Genetics are just raw material. Without the Spartan II program, the Spartan
: candidates may have become the next Otto von Bismarck, but they might also
: have squandered that potential as drifters or social workers. Halsey and
: her cohorts stole the Spartan's free agency, but in return those Spartans
: were leveraged to their ultimate potential, made more human than human.

: And, I guess that's what I dislike about the Librarian's Geas. It removes
: that conflict entirely by removing everyone's agency. Nobody ponders the
: morality of marionettes.

See now I don't interpret geas as predestination cor whatever you want to call it. I see it as subtle nudges from the Librarian to position humanity in the best position possible for their final test from the Flood/Ur-Didact.