History YMMV / HaloEscalation

* EndingAversion: The final arc of ''Escalation'', which was supposed to be the finale to the cancelled "Spartan Ops", ends with [[spoiler:the Custodian taking away the Janus Key and disappearing with the Absolute Record, which made an entire almost-three-years-long plot arc completely pointless]]. Worse, despite promising to bridge ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', the series never actually bothered to explain most of the important offscreen details that happened in between, such as [[spoiler:how Jul lost control of the Prometheans, when the Guardian attacks began, and how Halsey realized Cortana was alive and in the Domain]].

* InternetBackdraft / BrokenBase:
** Bringing [[spoiler:Black Team]] BackForTheDead and having them KilledOffscreen. A good way of reestablishing the threat of [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact and his Prometheans]] and make things even more personal between him and the Chief? Or merely an emotionally cheap attempt to get rid of potentially loose plot ends?
*** Though the next issue didn't address the main complaints, it did slightly mitigate the offscreen death part by starting off with a flashback [[spoiler: depicting Black Team encountering the Didact on Installation 03]].
** Issue 7 seems to be a source of this too: While some readers applaud it for showing some good character development on Thorne's part, others accuse it of being boring filler with no action or plot development.

** After some less than...positive fan reactions to the portrayal of the Elites in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' and the [[Literature/HaloGlasslands Kilo]]-[[Literature/HaloTheThursdayWar Five]] [[Literature/HaloMortalDictata trilogy]], 343 seems to be trying to give the Elites a better portrayal, showing that the Swords of Sanghelios, the Arbiter's faction, are still in control of Sanghelios and still allied with the UNSC. It also establishes that there are potentially ''hundreds'' of Covenant factions that have formed since ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', beyond the ones controlled by the Arbiter or Jul, which are the largest.

** As has ONI mole Ayit 'Sevi for his sheer cleverness, to the point where many consider him the only redeeming feature of the final arc.

** Even after the Terminals of ''Halo 4'' say it's impossible, ''Escalation'' kills [[spoiler:the Didact with a Composer even though he was visibly immune during ''4'''s final encounter.]]

* InternetBackdraft / BrokenBase: Bringing [[spoiler:Black Team]] BackForTheDead and having them KilledOffscreen. A good way of reestablishing the threat of [[spoiler:the Ur-Didact and his Prometheans]] and make things even more personal between him and the Chief? Or an emotionally cheap attempt to merely get rid of potentially loose plot ends?
** Though the next issue didn't address the main complaints, it did slightly mitigate the offscreen death part by starting off with a flashback [[spoiler: depicting Black Team encountering the Didact on Installation 03]].

** Additionally, contrary to the impressions given off in Kilo-Five, the first few issues show that there are still major conflicts going on between the Elites and Brutes.
** Issue 16 settles another long standing issue from the Kilo-Five books by fully acknowledging that Halsey is being used as a scapegoat to cover up for the fact that ONI were the ones who green-lit everything in the SPARTAN-II Program. Also, it seems the people who wanted to see Palmer [[BreakTheHaughty taken down a few pegs]] get their wish at the end.

** Somewhat mitigated in the next issue, which starts off with a flashback [[spoiler: depicting Black Team encountering the Didact on Installation 03.]]

* EndingAversion: The final arc of ''Escalation'', which was supposed to be the finale to the cancelled "Spartan Ops", ends with [[spoiler:the Custodian taking away the Janus Key and disappearing with the Absolute Record, making that entire plot arc completely pointless]]. Worse, despite promising to bridge ''VideoGame/{{Halo 4}}'' and ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', the series never actually bothered to explain most of the important offscreen details that happened in between, such as [[spoiler:how Jul lost control of the Prometheans, when the Guardian attacks began, and how Halsey realized Cortana was alive and in the Domain]].

* EndingAversion: The Absolute Record, the end of Season 3 of ''Escalation'' and conclusion to the cancelled Spartan Ops, closes with [[spoiler:the ancilla taking away the Janus Key and Absolute Record, making all the preceding events over it pointless]]. Worse, the story doesn't bother to explain any of the offscreen elements of ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', such as how [[spoiler:Jul lost control of the Prometheans, or when Guardian attacks began, or how Halsey realized Cortana was alive and in the Domain.]]

** The Absolute Record arc has Halsey hack a Contender-class ancilla (the most powerful Forerunner AI ever built)... somehow. Never said how.