Exalted Obliteration's board-to-board with Morhek

Indeed, I think that is a solid hypothesis. It stands to reason that Cortana probably did something similar, though changing the suit's armor segments probably did require some movement of the body. Still, it is true that John had been out of the cryopod before the events of the game, as Mr. O'Connor stated in one of the interviews in late-mid 2011.

In any event, I also like the new form of the armor; not only in appearance, but when he is in motiona as well. The way it has been shown to move really works well, and in my opinion is just visually more interesting. As for the pauldrons, I agree that they are somewhat of a mixed bag.

On the one hand, their curved, wraparound shape definitely works with the design when the suit is in motion, but the rest of the armor on the upper arms seems a bit sparse. Another problem I have with them is that they are not visibly attached to the character model, though from my experience with the other games, name Reach, so it may be something inherent in rendering, geometry, etc. in the game itself.

The logic of the suit's design dictates that they are mounted on the outer curve of the shoulders, and that the attachment point on the undersuit enables the pauldrons rotate forward and back, along with rising naturally with shoulder. In many ways, these pauldrons are very similar to their counterparts used on the predominant Mark IV model, as seen in Halo Wars etc.

As has been discussed before, that iteration's pauldrons were also mounted on the outer curve of the shoulder, and were separate from the armor beneath them. This enabled those armor segments to slide past and move independently of each other, only fitting fully into place when the arm was raised up and down. However, one significant difference between the upgraded/refitted Mark VI and the older Mark IV is not only the shape, but how they are mounted; the Mark VI's are mounted and attached in a way more similar its own original form and the pauldrons of the variants for the original Mark V.

As one can see in the Halo 4 teaser trailer, those pauldrons move in a very natural way, but the semi-flat, curved upper portion enables it to fit flush with the shoulder segments without issue. The same characteristics are retained with the final character model. Finally, the 'new' Mark VI's pauldrons are mounted lower on the curve of the shoulders, thereby allowing the suit to retain if not improve its earlier flexibility.

In all, I think that the idea with the new pauldrons is that they are a sort of 'jack of all trades' design, since they are meant to provide sound coverage to that area of the body while still encouraging and enabling the full range of the user's movements. Cortana must have had fun with that.

By the way, don't worry about the typo. My laptop fumbles like that all the time.

My guess is that she didn't take him out of cryo at all. We know that Halsey operated on a near-death Linda witho9ut removing her from cryo - presumably a cryo pod has some sort of function that allows external access to the occupant without outright removal.

I've been saying for a while now that there's plenty of ways for Cortana to have fabricated the suit - for one thing, she's got half a frigate to cannibalise for spare parts; for another, she was made from the mind of MJOLNIR's creator; and lastly, she's on the edge of rampancy herself, and doing so would take the edge off, at least for a little while.

I have to say, the armour has actually been growing on my! Yes, the shoulders are awful, but the rest of the suit is actually really nice. It seems to be harkening back to the big, bulkiness of the Mark V, rather than the streamlined smoothness of the original Mark VI. I was always disappointed about the change, myself - I loved the Mark V because it felt powerful, like a tank, while the Mark VI has been compared to a fighter jet. Evidently, 343i think a tank is a better comparison for the chief, returning to that feeling of mass that I really liked.

Long time no see, Specops306.

Given all of the hoopla over the Halo 4 details, I did want to ask you question. Given that Cortana reworked the firmware and other aspects of John-117's suit, how do you think she might have accomplished this?

From the facts that I am aware of, she did take John out of cryo before the events of the game, did her work, and then returned him to cryosleep. After posting my thoughts on the Halo 4 talk page, my theory in a nushell is this; Cortana used the cryo systems to take him out without waking him, used on-board machinery and components to perform her overhaul, and then put the finished product and its user back.

Does this sound plausible, or am I reaching for straws here? It is definitely true that the external structure of the suit has truly changed; this was stated repeatedly by Mr. O'Connor. In a recent interview, he reemphasizes this, stating that the changes are many faceted, but that the change is real and not mere artistic license.

As for removing someone from cryosleep, on page 60 of Halo: Contact Harvest, it is described in moderate detail that when a person comes out of it, it has to be carefully controlled, with many medical measures employed to ensure a safe and extended awakening for Johnson after being revived. Given that a ship's systems and AI have so many measures at their disposal on precisely how a person is put into and out of cryo, does it seem hard at all to see Cortana doing her work without John being awake or have any real memory of it?