This Dr. Halsey iPad cinematic summed it up pretty good. Also at the beginning she says"... most importantly don't underestimate, him." In-game Chief says "asking is not my strong suit." to Cortana. So when Halsey tests the asking spartan what he thinks of his enemy his "just killing machines" answer indicate that the very standard of the super solder she established might have been weaning -- John never answered it that way, ever, we do what we have to do for humanity (along those lines). The episode in Halo legends Be Human was on the marine level and answered the soulless soldier vs. human disobeying orders in spectacular fashion. I hate how they had to make the Halo IV marine so mediocre to make up for the lack of character development. Some humor at the very least. The man talk at the end of Halo IV got way too funky, but I guess Master Chiefs silence kind of saved it. To me John looked like he wanted to be left alone and not talk to this boy scout, savoring time to think about Captain Keyes, Johnson, and all the good men on his journey. (flashbacks would have been amazing) Halo got way to damn nerdy, instead of keeping it simple; you now must read a volume of books just to understand the game. Less is more. Those little moments are the best and you can have a lot of them spread out, like firefly for instance. Now I'm just ranting. *grumbles*