The examples given of inconsistency are not good. They can sit along side the original conceit.

But I do suspect that some of the later stuff is more Frankie's vision of Halo and I think he has continued with his vision at 343.

Halo is a multi-author work of fiction and different authors have different takes on what the story should be. Also the stories serve the needs and follow the interests of the people telling them.

Bungie had to drag out their story for far longer than they expected. They had a simple story with a single punchline. They couldn't deliver that line until the end of Halo three. They had to cultivate an air of mystery for ~10 years.

343 want to create a multi-decade franchise - they need lots of story to pay the bills for the next umpteen years. The Bungie story was too short and had been told. They NEEDED more stuff so they added filler. Humans aren't Forerunners - they are ancient rivals who fought the flood and were apparently immune but then maybe the flood were toying with them and then there were geas and ancestral memories and two didacts and the librarian is now a mixture of the virgin lady and an oober dr halsey and... so on and so on...

: I've accepted the retcons because while they may have deviated from the
: original intent, internal consistency has been relatively high since that
: point.

I'm not too clear what 343 actually are saying so I can't tell if they are being consistent. I don't get a strong feeling of a clear and consistent message. I also don't find, whatever the story is, to be compelling.

I don't find the mantle to be something I care about. If I have any feelings about it, I would say I don't like it. I don't just not care about it. I actively dislike it.

I wouldn't do anything in game to achieve it (beyond having to perform actions to reach the end of the game).

Is the Chief the chosen one? Who chose him? Does the idea of the chosen one matter any more? The Precursors have shown shit judgment so who cares if they chose him? It's not a ringing endorsement.

And the mantle was their idea and look how it has worked out for them the forerunners, and the rest of the galaxy.

L has been too devious, betrayed her husband and has removed all sense of agency from the people who should be our protagonists. She made Halsey make the Spartans and Cortana. And her geas make people dance to her 100,000 year plan. Humans are her pets and her puppets.

Are 343 going to play against expectations? Will everybody realize that the mantle is a bad idea and that L's tampering has messed up any hope of humans amounting to anything. Will the other races save us from the dead hand of the Precursors and the taint they cast over the Forerunners -> L -> to humans?