Talk:Harold Stanforth

Merge

Support - I support the move to merge (despite having created this page myself). Data Drop Three does seem to confirm that the two are the same person. In addition to Braidenvl's reasons, it also states that he'd been around well before the Covenant War. If we merge however we will have to disregard the date of birth on the ONI memorial, since there's no way he could have been an Admiral at the age of 17. This will be similar to the incorrect date of birth for Admiral Cole listed on the memorial.-- Rusty - 112 16:34, 25 September 2011 (EDT)

• Support - As per above reasoning. Date discrepency should be noted, but otherwise, I think it's pretty conclusive.--Hawki 20:36, 25 September 2011 (EDT)

• Support - The reasons seem solid enough, and there's so much overlap between the two it's reasonable to believe they're the same person. However, there are still several discrepancies. Parangosky addressing him as "Harold" in the Data Drop seems contradictory, given the fact the transmission headers identify him only as "VADM STANFORTH, HIERONYMUS MICHAEL" without mentioning the name Harold (neither does the ONI memorial). Meanwhile, in The Impossible Life and the Possible Death of Preston J. Cole, the name Harold is used in the header of a formal transmission. It could be that he changed his first name, or chose not to be officially addressed as "Harold" anymore. There's also a contradiction with Halsey's journal, where Stanforth is said to be a captain by 2510, while Harold was an admiral by 2503 (there's a possibility the "vice admiral" in the journal isn't Stanforth after all, but that seems unlikely). --Jugus (Talk | Contribs) 08:24, 26 September 2011 (EDT)

• Support - Since Evolutions came out, I've supposed that "Harold" was Eric Nylund's justification for the 'HS' in Stanforth's service number; of course, the name Hieronymus had already been introduced by the Alpha Site memorial. From an in-universe perspective, it seems strange that he'd alternately use the names Hieronymus and Harold, rather than using his straightforward middle name. Perhaps felt that Hieronymus was too formal, too old-fashioned, or... something, and thus preferred to go by Harold. Still, why wouldn't he call himself Michael?

Now for the rank discrepancies. In TILatPDoPJC, Stanforth is addressed as a full admiral. However, considering that Cole is addressed as a vice admiral throughout the story - no mention is made of his promotion after Harvest - their ranks could be hand waved away fairly easily if need be. As with anyone else, I'd hate too see anything from Halsey's journal be retconned. "The Vice Admiral" is inarguably meant to be Stanforth, but the fact that Halsey calls him a captain in 2510 is irksome. Perhaps 343i will retcon him into a separate character, à la Thel 'Lodamee, though I hope this is not so. For now, let's pretend it's just a canon anomaly. --Courage never dies. 09:22, 26 September 2011 (EDT)