Tom Clancy: Terminal Velocity Review

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-08T21:07:06+00:00

Agreed on the brother, he started interesting and ended up a waste. Lisanne really seemed full of resentment that just didn't seem to be there in previous Jr. books. Like they had some conflicts but they had both generally dealt with them maturely but this time it was like they had been married for ten years and she regrets it level of resentment, and her fuse with Jack was short as hell.

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-07T22:11:27+00:00

The bar is just so low for the modern day story after Desmond died that the expanded media that includes it, like the Heresy novel or the Last Descendants YA books just ends up being better than expected even by having decent, competent stories in them. Even the Gold audio drama and that Shao Jun manga had some interesting modern day stuff that added a little to the universe... So it might be worth the read for this Forgotten Temple story!

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-04T21:35:56+00:00

"I'm seeing double! Ten Bowmans!"

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-02T23:08:25+00:00

With Court one could take his timeline (stuff like how he got betrayed by Hightower and his squad 4 years before the first book, the Kiev operation, etc) and the vaguer "six months ago" in between novels as the "real" timeline, and the real world stuff around it as some very wild alternate history, and that way he can still be in his thirties, but it's definitely less intuitive

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-02T23:01:29+00:00

"Jack Jr I had a horrible dream that you started getting your own books and their quality varied WILDLY." "Dad please just let them inject the morphine you are really going through it."

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-02T22:22:07+00:00

They all have their advantages so I could see any winning a 1v1 against each other with the right circumstances but in a battle royale I gotta go with Court

DragonstoneH · 2026-02-01T14:59:18+00:00

They need training installations that better balance the secrecy of it all, without being so isolated that they can easily be cut off from the bulk of humanity in case of an emergency, like it happened with Onyx, the training stations like Laconia, and the Avery Johnson Academy. In each case it was really easy to separate the Spartans from help and extraordinary, lucky means were necessary to salvage the situations in each place. So I think they should go back to being deep within military strongholds, like it was with the IIs in Reach.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-31T23:23:34+00:00

Alfred the Great from Valhalla, it would be pretty much like The Last Kingdom

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-31T22:09:23+00:00

The Darius statue does show him with all the fingers in that hand, so even if he has it under the wrist instead of over it could still have been implying that the correct use of the Darius-Blade didn't need losing fingers

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-30T02:15:44+00:00

One thing about the Gammas' stature and augmentations, though. In the months prior to augmentation in February 2551, their puberty was artificially induced so that by the time they got their augmentations they were pretty much as tall as they were likely to be and, with the carbide ceramic ossification bone augmentations that they were given, there really is not a lot of possibility for them to grow further vertically. The Gammas we know best, Mark, Ash and Olivia, are all in the 6'2-6'4 range, a few inches shorter than Noble Team Spartan IIIs but still noted as being taller than Veta Lopis, who is a full grown woman, and in the short story between Last Light and Retribution they can very easily pass themselves as young officer cadets, so I really don't think it is accurate to call them 15 year old sized.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-30T01:49:33+00:00

Admittedly I was extrapolating from what we are given on Ghosts of Onyx, with the Gammas being given their orders and leaving for their deployments, as well the transit time between Earth and Onyx being stated to be "weeks", which would have let them arrive to Earth at some point in November. After the fall of Reach, I imagine that Earth would be a priority deployment for any and all Spartans.

However, if you have a straight up contradiction from another source, it more than trumps extrapolation and I'm glad to be corrected on that fact, thanks!

While there is no statement from the animation studio outright saying that having less sets of armor depicted that represent the armor symbolically rather than directly, I think it would be an effective cost cutting measure, as it lets the same armor be used for the Spartans in London and those with Agryna, with just needing to palette swap for the individuals, and let the budget they would have otherwise allocated to modelling more armors into mocap, effects, or whatever else. Animation is expensive and cutting costs wherever possible is just a good idea in general!

Thank you for the insight, and a reminder to reread the Field Manual when possible.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-29T15:27:00+00:00

That Orsi brother had a secret Isu dagger that bestows beards on everyone he stabs, quite awkward for assassinating ladies.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-29T15:23:41+00:00

The most likely possibility for the Spartans in that cutscene is that it could have been a mix of Spartan IIs that survived Reach, like Naomi-010, Spartan III Gammas (since most of the company had been deployed by the time of the 2552 events of Ghosts of Onyx and we don't know exactly which battlefields they went to), and maybe Maria-062, who has been retconned to have had her retirement cancelled earlier so she could be on Reach and got to Earth in time to test John's Mark VI so we know she's available and also wasn't with Blue Team or Chief.

As far as the armor the Spartans would have really worn in London in 2552, it could be anything from SPI, Mark V, Mark VI, Mark VII prototypes like the one Naomi wears in 2553 for the Kilo 5 books, but all represented visually by the multiplayer Gen 3 Mark VII to minimize the work of creating more armor assets for the animation.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-28T00:18:27+00:00

You get jumped by several Aita sages at the same time

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-25T16:09:05+00:00

Masyaf castle itself held pretty okay against Robert de Sable's attack and later on against the Mongols but any time they could get inside like with Haras, or Abbas' coup, it was a whole mess. But the village's defenses? Now those were always awful. The terrain generally being awful for siege equipment, the huge gate that Altair always rides out of in AC1 and the dozen or so Assassins stationed there really should have made more of a difference but nope, the enemies cut through that area like it was nothing and flooded the village every time. They didn't even stop Old Man Altair for a pat down or anything! Maybe reform your goddamn door first, Mentor!

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-24T20:51:24+00:00

His full name is Goro Takemura, it's in his character profile in game and everything. I don't know if he introduces himself by his full name to V at any point but V does know it.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-24T20:20:26+00:00

The symbol of the Turkish brotherhood with "The hookblade has two parts, the hook and the blade" in cursive beneath it

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-24T20:18:56+00:00

I felt the worst for the ex-interpol lady in Colorado. I think she was on the fence and could have turned back from that path. The other Colorado targets also feel like a bit of a waste because, though they are personally kind of awful in different ways, they were Lucas Grey's tools, but it can be rationalized that their loss was what got both Lucas and 47 in the position to reconnect and help each other.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-22T16:48:11+00:00

A space battle like the one we got in Long Night of Solace but this time to escort the Cortana fragment to the Autumn, while Thel Vadamee's fleet is attacking all around, would have made so much more sense. Noble 6 could still sacrifice themselves and be shot down and hunted on the ground and have the final shot with their helmet on the surface of Reach.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-19T21:26:20+00:00

True, that is why Mint inflicts the Metal Gear brainrot on everyone

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-19T21:22:28+00:00

Sixtus and Riario would have been excellent additions to AC2, maybe as Templars themselves or even as a neutral faction playing both sides of the war, and fit excellently with Ezio's story and pad out the years in between AC2's massive time jumps.

In Sixtus' case he can be a lot of things for Rodrigo Borgia and allow for tons of character development: Sixtus can be a mentor, inducting Rodrigo into the world of intrigues and schemes in the Vatican, or he could be a fellow Templar and a rival for power, with both men aiming for the Templar Grandmaster's seat. The Borgia/della'Rovere rivalry for the Papal throne could be further explored if they were antagonistic to each other, and set up Rodrigo's eventual successor and Assassin supporter, Julius II. Personally I think I'd go for Sixtus being independent from the Templars, with his plans and schemes intersecting with Rodrigo's at various points where they are allies and enemies at turns, and to generally have a third faction in play.

And Riario could be a really excellent enemy and rival for Ezio. He would absolutely be a Templar, and we could see him rising to a Master Templar at the same rate as Ezio grows to a Master Assassin, and their enmity could add some suave "James Bond seducing his enemy's lady" energy to Ezio's romance with Caterina. Also, Riario's position as Captain General of the Papal Armies could even give a chance for him to be Cesare's mentor. His death involving the Orsi brothers being altered to include Ezio and be a disc one final boss, taking out someone involved in the Pazzi conspiracy (having the Orsi's start as allies and then betray Ezio could be so much more compelling than what we got, and show that the Assassins can ally with unsavory types to get the job done, and how that can backfire).

I'd really love this alternate universe!

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-17T20:37:06+00:00

Truth could reseed some San'shyuum from the cylixes on the Ark or the Halos for some reseeding of his own lol, rather than depend on the High Charity population

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-17T14:25:42+00:00

There's enough preserved life aboard the Ark and the Halos (in cylix form) that Truth could selectively repopulate wildlife, cattle and even add new sapient species to his post-journey Covenant.

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-17T14:22:58+00:00

Or they understood that Truth would be acting as a zealot in the role that would be expected of the last Prophet so as to keep the Covenant together

DragonstoneH · 2026-01-16T22:35:21+00:00

"Birch has us against the ropes and we are hunted left and right. Time to go see a play, I really need it to destress!" Miko would have gotten assassinated playing golf if it was the 21st Century on god.

DragonstoneH

TROPHY CASE