Talk:Battle of Meridian

Glassing date

Tanaka says the Covenant glassed, not just attacked, Meridian in '48. Barring an inconsistency or Tanaka misremembering things, is it possible that the final battle actually did take place in 2548 and the Covenant just either stuck around for three years or returned to look for Forerunner artifacts in 2551? The only apparent discrepancy is that the H2A terminal does seem to imply Meridian has been glassed only recently seeing as it's still on fire. --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 10:29, 29 October 2015 (EDT)

It's possible that Tanaka is misremembering things. One of the pieces of intel mentions that just a couple years after the UEG defeated the Covenant at Meridian, the Covenant returned and glassed the moon. It could have been partially glassed, but Tanaka also says that the UNSC abandoned Meridian, so it's probably just an inconsistency. There may be more intel on Meridian in the game. --NightHammer^{(talk)(contribs)} 10:32, 29 October 2015 (EDT)

Only one article

Regarding this choice, I don't think we should have two separate articles for the Siege and the Battle of Meridian. Here are all the sources that I think are relevant:

• In Dr Halsey's journal (July 18, 2552), the attack on Sigma Octanus IV is compared to the previous attacks on Harvest, Meridian, and "other" colonies. Halsey says it's strange for the Covenant to come back after a defeat, but then she realizes that there are other examples (Harvest, Meridian...). It's too vague to determine whether there were two battles on Meridian (The Covenant remained on Harvest for several years, but Sigma Octanus IV was only a short episode of the war). So this source is vague.
• Halo 4: The Essential Visual Guide (page 111) mentions the "Battle of Meridian": the prototype of the Mantis fought in the "Cherbourg Run", but there isn't any date given. In the operational history section of our Mantis article, though, we say it happened in 2551. It's probably based on the date given in the H2A terminal, but I don't think we have much proof for that. The Mantis article on Waypoint doesn't have the "Entered service" part that other UNSC vehicles have. So basically the "Cherbourg Run" has never been dated so far.
• The Meridian article on Waypoint says the following: "In 2548, the Covenant found Meridian and began their attack, attempting to cut off supply lines from the colony to other fronts in the war. Meridian’s impressive Air Force and their extensive orbital defensive grid allowed them to fight for three full years, before the Covenant’s sheer power swept away the colony’s resistance. By 2551, the world had been reduced to molten slag and vitrified soil."

I think it's the most accurate description of the engagement. It was a protracted battle. The last sentence says that by 2551 most of Meridian had already been reduced to glass, so it implies that most of the glassing took place before, during the three years of battle.

• In the Halo 5: Guardians level "Glassed", Tanaka says: "The Covenant glassed this planet in '48. It was a UNSC colony then, but we never came back. Run by a private corp now, chipping away the glass, making her livable."

In the light of the Waypoint article, I deduce that: 1) The Covenant started glassing Meridian in 2548. 2) The UNSC fought bitterly for three years. 3) "We" (the UNSC) never came back after losing the battle in 2551. 4) Those who did come back were the corporation.

• Finally, the Mission Intel "The History of Meridian 6/6" in the level "Evacuation": "Almost immediately after Meridian was recaptured by the UEG, the Covenant arrived. Captain Edmund Persie of the UNSC Sevenfold Gates fought to the last, but was forced to order what few ships remained to fall back to the edge of the Hestia system. Within five hours of Captain Persie's retreat, Meridian was glassed, and all life there was eradicated."

So the UEG was about to recapture Meridian in 2551, but a new Covenant fleet arrived. This would validate Halsey's comparison between Sigma Octanus IV and Meridian (though in Sigma Octanus' case, the UNSC ultimately won). This new Covenant fleet then conquered Meridian for good, and it's probably the one we see in the H2A terminal. (Edit: Note that the 6th part is supposed to follow the 5th part (with the UEG retaking the colony from the rebels), but in light of the general picture, part 6 should be put in the context of the Meridian article on Waypoint.)

Conclusion: So when I piece everything together, this is what I get. The Covenant found and attacked Meridian in 2551. They started glassing parts of the moon, though the UNSC fought bitterly thanks to its Air Force and its orbital defense grid. The Mantis was deployed for the first time during this battle. The engagement lasted for three years. In 2551 the UEG was about to recapture the colony. But then new Covenant reinforcements arrived. They destroyed the human resistance, who then fled. The Covenant then found the Luminary under Meridian's surface. One of the Data Drops mentioned the high concentration of Forerunner artifacts. I'm sure the Covenant didn't glass the planet immediately because their main goal was to unearth Forerunner artifacts such as the Luminary. Hence the protracted three-year battle. Everything has been very coherent so far, in my opinion. In conclusion, the title of the article should remain "Battle of Meridian", since it's the official name used in H4: TEVG. This article represents a single battle that lasted for three years. (It is indeed a "siege", so the noun can be used in the article itself, to describe the battle) Imrane-117 (talk) 13:14, 5 November 2015 (EST)

That sounds like the best solution. Honestly, I thought for some reason that the Battle of Meridian specifically referred to the conflict in '51. Since the "Battle of Meridian" is an official name, we can leave the article as such (like you said) and in "The battle" section have the subsections "Siege of Meridian" and "Meridian's fall", with the latter subsection of course being for the Covenant's return. --NightHammer^{(talk)(contribs)} 13:54, 5 November 2015 (EST)