- Plasma Prestige
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- Intrepid Legendary Member
Expressing my strong liberal views without shame. Favorite quotes below:
"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe."
"One starts to live when he can live outside himself."
- Albert Einstein
Posted by: Primo84
I think the potential to reflect upon Mendez's involvement in the Spartan programs was there, it's just that there wasn't a proper character present to call him out on such transgressions. The Spartans sure as hell weren't going to do it. Sure, Halsey had an idea of what the S-III program's M.O. was, but did anyone ever explicitly tell her what had been going on? (Legit question; I don't remember and I don't have the books on me at the time I'm writing this.)
I wrote a theory (that was ignored) a while back trying to explain why Mendez would react in such a way given his involvement. It's not so much what Halsey did, it's just that, in Mendez's eyes, she's rationalizing it with the whole "for the greater good" mentality. If Mendez had the same insight into Halsey's thoughts that we, the readers have, then he'd probably be singing a different tune.
In short, while Mendez probably hates himself for the things he's done over the last several decades and is likely still coming to terms with it, he sees Halsey as this heartless monster because she seems to think her actions are justified. In return, he lashes out at her, whether it be with personal insults or a hypocritical blame game.
Parangosky, on the other hand, I feel hates her for the exact same reason. Aside from the obvious power struggle what with Halsey doing certain things without permission, Parangosky is disgusted by what she sees as weakness in Halsey. Margaret seems a bit more comfortable with her actions, on the extreme end of the "greater good" camp that Mendez sees in Halsey. The Admiral saw the clones as a way for Halsey to cope with her actions, and I think she considers her weak for it.
If Mendez were in a position of power similar to Halsey's, I like to think he and Admiral Parangosky would butt heads even worse.
What I've been trying to say since Glasslands came out.
Interesting. I will read it later on. I am probably also going to reread the sections where Mendez is quarreling with Halsey to note what he was saying specifically.