: Your premise is an interesting one I'd never thought about. I'd preface it
: with saying it feels a bit simplistic to assume Silva would have stayed on
: the same path we saw her (I also think you're overstating her mindset a
: bit.) She reminds me of a lot of college kids--fired up and ready to
: change the world. But mindsets change, and maybe combat would have
: hardened it, maybe it would have softened it, we dunno. Your idea about
: wanting to be a Spartan based on the outsize role they played in their
: survival is interesting too.

I love this thought--that Silva is just like any other college kid in her own right. She has these things she believes in and because she's so young still she's willing to go for them no matter the price, but that with age and maturity she'd eventually cool down and be more reserved.

: As for Palmer's role, I don't think switching it would have mattered if the
: execution was the same. The hatred of Palmer is something I've personally
: never really gotten. Some of it is probably just "this woman is
: telling me what to do!" sexist bull from the worst of video gaming. A
: lot of it is probably that she was against Halsey in Spartan Ops, that she
: exemplifies the differences between the Spartan IIs and IVs, and that she
: reacts to things more than creating an impression based on her actions.
: Not seeing her out in the field for the vast majority of the game probably
: influenced that. That she got a lot of repetitive dialogue in Spartan Ops
: didn't help.

I feel like a lot of the hate is that, while her character is written to be a strong female character, she simply is not, falling flat in most situations and having the worst dialogue in the game. I don't see it mainly being sexist, although it may be, but I feel her dull character is why Silva would have been a better candidate, theoretically.

: Given that the best stuff we've gotten with Palmer is the stuff in
: Escalation, I think part of the problem is that Chris Schlerf and Brian
: Reed seem to have pulled her in different directions. Brian Reed was
: responsible for Initiation, Halo 4 Spartan Ops, and Spartan Assault, and
: I'd say from that selection he's not writing Palmer to be an effective
: interesting character (I don't think whether she's particularly likable
: has much to do with it.) Spartan Assault was particularly egregious
: because it laid on the "Palmer saved us!" flavor text between
: missions, and that felt like a redundant telling when the game should be
: showing. She didn't get dialogue or real personality for most of it, or in
: Halo 4, so she gets dragged down by the deficiencies of Spartan Ops more
: than anyone else.

Again, I couldn't agree more. The way she was written was so different in each product she's put in; be it that she has no character (besides as you mention the Ya, Palmer! bits) in spartan assault or that her persona in Escalations is more of the collected leader than the brash rude Palmer that we get in Halo 4: SpOps. She wasn't nailed down in concept and this lead to her character being too sporadic to be likable.

: But there are no bad characters, just bad executions of characters. These
: aren't problems with Palmer, they're problems with writing. So I don't
: think subbing in Silva would help in this area. On the other face of the
: coin, I think her death in Forward Unto Dawn worked and benefited the
: story because it ties into Lasky's personal growth.

And once more, you say it perfectly. Palmer had/has the potential to be a great character, albeit though a perfect 180, and Silvia as Lasky's better half aboard the Infinity would have complicated the story more than it would have improved it. We will never know for sure, and even though I don't like Palmer, I don't think Silvia would have been a good replacement.