Quote Originally Posted by Zeph View Post
I dont see why ODSTs would ever become obsolete. They're pretty much the same as a airborne infantry. They have a useful and well established role that SIVs can do, but only as something more expensive. If marines and spartans are considered separate departments of the UNSC, then ODSTs are still around.

If you ever read into the subtext of Halo 4, you'll find that Halsey's definition of a Spartan is far different than what the Spartan IVs are. While the continuity of the war at Reach has been broken, the raising and development of Spartan IIs are pretty much still there. 343i is trying to do whatever they can to show that Master Chief is not a faceless soldier, but a guy named John. The problem is that Bungie always did this indirectly and 343i is trying to shoe it in through brute force. In campaign, they tried the theme of Spartans=military-hardware/power and in ops they're trying social personality. In the next game or two, through some salvation of MC, they'll wind up with the 'revelation' that slapping on a set of armor doesn't make a soldier and it surely doesn't make a Spartan. To paraphrase from FoR, "you don't volunteer to be a Spartan."
What I mean is that Spartan IVs are a specialty program, just like ODSTs. ODSTs were the best of the best short of being a Spartan, and now the Spartan IV program has usurped that title. The nature of the job ODSTs were intended to carry out is better suited to Spartan IVs than ODSTs; the armour would reduce mortality rate during drops and could even make an individual drop operation a less costly affair since the pods could be made simpler for the same reason. Spartan IVs are better at sustaining themselves for extended periods behind enemy lines.

As for Spartan IVs vs. Spartan IIs, as far as I'm concerned Spartan IIIs barely deserved the title. The Spartan Program ended with II.