At least EDI wasn't a physical, mental, or emotional mirror of Joker's mother though (not that that made their relationship any less uncomfortable). But good god, with Cortana's origins in mind this is just so much worse. I can't wait to see how people try to defend that Cortana's obsession/relationship with the Chief is so "healthy" after this comes out.
I mean, how people apparently just now are realizing how fucked up and twisted relationship between Cortana/Halsey and John is?
John has always been Halsey's favorite out of all Spartan 2's and I would say she sees him as her son. Sure she looks after all Spartan 2's and doesn't want them to be demonized now after Covenant war, but John has always been her favorite. I think she would do anything just to guarantee John's survival at the end.
Then we have Cortana, AI that is basically perfect copy of Haley's persona and always shown that she really likes John. That
"liking" just has evolved over time into what could be said to be love[?] at the end of H4. Joking around, showing a lot care and worry towards John and that infamous
"Don't make a girl a promise you can't keep" -line that suggests a lot when it comes to how she sees John.
They also have John showing more emotion towards Cortana than at beginning on franchise. She isn't just AI designed to aid him in combat anymore, they show him as having deeper feelings for AI, for Cortana... for Halsey. Do they want paint picture where player is supposed to feel that John has fallen in love with Cortana, with a woman she is based upon?
That dynamic between three of them is all kinds of weird and twisted when you really think about it and how game developers are dropping all those [not so subtle] hints about feelings between Cortana and John. Did community want deeper emotional connection between the two, or from where it's coming from?
Am I making fanfic here? Not sure, but H3 and H4 weren't subtle about how relationship between John and Cortana evolved.