: 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.

: 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.

Notice how that's a common problem with Halo games? The only 'strong female character' Halo can lay claim to is Halsey and probably Cortana. The ones who were explicitly written to be SFCs tripped over their own feet.

: 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.

Palmer's relationships with Lasky is one of the character's high points. Trust me, I'm ecstatic that we got a female character whose story isn't burdened by a romantic subplot. But would Sylva still be romantically linked to Lasky? Like you noted above, her character could have changed during the 25-year war. By the time she and Lasky were stationed together on the Infinity, they could have drifted apart and remained friends.