: I think for better or worse 343 isn't going to retcon their own designs as
: heavily as Bungie did theirs or 343 did when it took the mantle. But
: visual consistency has been their weakest element whereas they care much
: more than Bungie did about the story implications of what they do.

Remember: Earth's home fleet was torn to shreds by a fleet of Sentinel constructors that emerged from the Voi portal. For some reason, this wasn't worth bringing up in Halo 4. Or Spartan Ops. Or any of the comics or probably even Halo 5, I dunno. Seems like the UNSC openly and visibly getting its ass handed to it by Forerunner bulldozers would be worth bringing up whenever they dink around in Forerunner ruins, but nobody ever brings it up.

That doesn't quite compare to the Reach retcons, but it's harder to compare 343i's handling of lore consistency with Bungie's. Bungie was only responsible for what they themselves produced, and apparently wanted little to do with spinoff stories. 343i is in a position where they have editorial control of just about everything.