: Today I noticed this post on Reddit, and found a discussion people were
: having about if Locke could beat the Chief in a fight, which in itself
: probably deserves its own thread, but the thing that struck me in
: particular was how people were referencing Chief's " current mental
: state " as a weakness he would have.

: I know i343 is trying to portray the loss of Cortana as a big hit to the
: Chief's emotions, but has there been any discussion (which I'm sure there
: has) on why the loss of Cortana would impact his performance in such a
: major way, while losing several of his fellow Spartans doesn't seem to
: have affected his performance in a noticeable way during the events of
: Halo 1 through 3?

: Is the reasoning that he cannot function properly without Cortana? Which he
: seemed to do fine during the events of Halo 3?

: Is it the fact that it was his mission to protect her and he failed? In that
: case, wouldn't coping with a failed mission be a part of a Spartan's
: training? Or is it that they can cope with the loss of a fellow Spartan
: because they know that's a cost of some missions, but not losing Cortana
: WAS the mission, and they never trained for that?

: Or does it simply come to down to the new version of the Chief i343 is trying
: to portray?

I think Chief’s relationship with Cortana is intimate in a way that’s nearly unfathomable; when she’s in his suit, she’s essentially inside his mind, speeding up his reflexes. It’s always been difficult to portray in the games, but I do think even just the few months they spend together isn’t quite comparable to normal human to human interaction.

Putting that aside, though, the Chief has gone through more awful crap in his career than most, and the span of the Halo games itself is almost unimaginable when you consider how much he’s done, how many crises he’s narrowly avoided dying and saved humanity again and again and again. That’d wear on anyone.

I’ve always disliked Nylund’s portrayal of Chief, because I think whatever its intents it just came off as whiny, for lack of a better word, but it definitely displayed the weaknesses of Chief’s character. Or take Chief’s nightmare awakening from cryo in The Flood—terrified of becoming powerless to defend others. There’s always been chinks in his armor. It’s not surprising to me that they’d become exposed.

Finally, as others have brought up… the UNSC isn’t entirely the great last hope for the galaxy any more. ONI is actually working to undermine peace—for understandable reasons, certainly, but to me it definitely seems like something the Chief would eschew. Put the system in front of him on the way to his goal, and I think Chief is more than willing to break the rules when he knows what needs to be done.