Both del Rio and Hood made the conservative play, and both even justified their decision by suggesting that Cortana was unreliable. The nature of their relationship with John 117 was very different, but fundamentally both decided to let the SPARTAN-II soldier confront an existential threat to humanity essentially unaided.
Obviously both the UNSC and history have treated these men very differently for what are essentially the same actions. Am I missing something?
Obviously both the UNSC and history have treated these men very differently for what are essentially the same actions. Am I missing something?
Nope, you have it right. By the time of the Battle of Requiem, the attitude toward the SPARTAN project had greatly shifted. At the Battle of Earth, SPARTANs were seen as the saviors of humanity, larger than life heroes. But when the truth of the SPARTAN program came out, many questioned the ethics of abducting children and forcing them to become soldiers. When the Battle of Requiem came around, the attitude toward SPARTANs was no longer reverence, but almost disgust that the program had happened.