Dab1001's board-to-board with Two EEzy

I appreciate your investigating!

Regarding the Silent Cartographer, there is another conclusion that we could come to,

We could say that Sergeants Marcus Stacker and Waller were BOTH present at the LZ, and Stacker was able to make it off the Island alive, since it is technically possible.

Or alternately, we can without doubt confirm that CE depicts only 1 Sergeant present at the LZ, and that no more Marines are deployed to the LZ after the initial storm. We can without doubt confirm that The Flood specify Sergeant Waller was in charge of the LZ. If we take the most obvious decision with the least assumptions, it would mean the Marine Sergeant in that level is Waller. Would you agree that this is a less of a reach than making the assumption that they were both there?

What springs to mind for me, is what CIA391 said the other day on discord "Canon till reason to doubt." I think he (or someone) also said something like "the most obvious explanation is usually the best" but I couldn't find it.

Do we have enough reason to doubt here? If we prioritize the compatible information between the two sources, and commit the Stacker Model in The SC being Waller, is that a lesser evil than assuming they were both there and Stacker wasn't killed with the rest? I would like to hear your thoughts on this, once your schedule is more free of course :D

In a similar vein, it's technically possible that Marcus Stacker somehow made it on to the PoA after participating in the Siege of New Alexandria (August 18-23rd). But is it too much of a reach? (heh)

The PoA was recalled to Reach on August 30th, participated in the battle in Orbit, and then landed briefly in Aszod, also on August 30th (the date of Carter & Emile's deaths) to retrieve Halsey's Excavation data. While technically possible, is it not heavily improbable that Stacker made his way on board during the very brief time the Autumn was down on Reach?

Furthermore, Marcus Stacker is confirmed to be a Gunnery Sergeant at the time of Halo Reach, and we know Johnson was a Staff Sergeant during CE. Marcus Stacker would have been the ranking NCO aboard PoA, which is evidently not the case in CE & The Flood, as despite being a very recent addition to the PoA's marine complement (picked up from Reach's orbit, not assigned for Operation Red Flag) Johnson is evidently the senior sergeant aboard the PoA.

(There is no problem with Marcus Stacker serving under Johnson in Halo 2, as Johnson is promoted to Sergeant Major at the beginning of the game.)

You agree that 2/3 of the Sergeant Stacker marine models Halo CE appearances are questionable when it comes to a narrative appearance of Marcus Stacker. I'm hoping you'll consider my proposal that the third one is also questionable enough, when taking into account the information stated above.

I would also take into consideration the increased spotlight Bungie put Marcus Stacker in during Halo 2, as opposed to Halo CE where he appears a maximum of 3 times. Halo 2 had him accompany Johnson & Miranda through Cairo station, lead the second pelican in Outskirts/Another Day at the Beach, have a solo encounter with John-117 in Metropolis, and be rescued by The Arbiter alongside Johnson in The Great Journey. This seems much more like a canonical character than Halo CE, where it seems much easier to consider him a placeholder for various distinct Sergeants. Bungie doubled down on this by including him in Reach Firefight, which back in the day, was the first legitimate source we had that "Pete Stacker" (as the article called him in those days) existed in the Halo universe as a character.

So in summary, I propose we consider the Marine Sergeant in The Silent Cartographer Waller, - just as we consider The Marine Sergeant in Truth & Reconciliation (Johnson's model) canonically Sergeant Parker https://www.halopedia.org/Parker (Avery Johnson's Installation 04 section contains no mention of his in-game role of leading the force that helped John rescue Keyes from the TnR, should it not be the same with Stacker/Waller?)

Oh and thanks! A clear-up from 343 would be ideal. ':)

"As for him not being in The Flood, the lack of any mentions isn't necessarily proof that he wasn't there."

What you say is true, however the the thing that brings me to considering him "not there" is that his exact (in game) appearances and dialogue are replaced in the book by other, named characters such as Sergeant Waller. It's not just that he wasn't there, other people were there speaking his exact words.

To me, this would suggest that when the writer was sent the ingame script, Marcus Stacker as a canonical person didn't exist. This is also suggested by CE's credits, which don't include any credit to Pete Stacker as the Sergeant's VA, despite Johnson, Bisenti, Mendoza, Jenkins and Dubbo all being named in the credits.

On The_Silent_Cartographer level page, it mentions Waller throughout, as we are certain this was Waller. There is the following note: "The Sergeant Stacker NPC appears in Waller's place in the game, although due to the character's establishment as a separate character in Halo: The Flood, this particular appearance of Stacker is not considered canonical." I would say that the same should apply for all of the "Sergeant Stacker NPC" 's appearances in Halo: CE, as it is just that, an-ingame NPC, which is used to represents many UNSC Sergeants from the PoA's crew.

I'm sure you know all this already, I just really think that his Installation 04 appearances are canonically comparable to his appearance on Kizingo_Boulevard, or as one of the Sabre Pilots on Long Night of Solace - purely gameplay appearances that can be referenced in the Trivia section. It would make Halopedia more internally consistent.

Hey Dab, regarding your edit on the Marcus_Stacker page - "Not being assigned to the PoA on-screen, and not being seen in FS is not evidence that Stacker was not on I04. There have been other I04 survivors besides the FS ones - Chips Dubbo and Thomas Chang."

While I agree with your above statement, I would argue that his Halo CE appearances being retconned in Halo: The Flood, combined with the fact that Bungie named, modeled, and included him in Halo Reach participating in the Planet's defense (at a time when the POA was in orbit) is enough to conclude that Bungie didn't consider the Marine Sergeant in Halo CE to be the character Marcus Stacker. Thus I believe there's enough evidence to establish Halo Reach/Halo 2-onwards Marcus Stacker as a canonical person, and removing the whole installation 04 section. Your thoughts?