It's not "official". But it's stated as the reason Cortana chose him over the other Spartans. I think it's supposed to explain the video game retry nature of video games. But also why he survives random chance circumstances when others don't.

He's also really good at surviving though.

[–] jacksilver@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

I think it's really just supposed to be more of a narrative device. The purely logical AI with the almost robotic human drawn together by luck of the draw.

In the books, they definitely lean a bit more into him "making" his own luck. There is a whole bit with him predicting coin flips and it's presented in a way that implies he knows how to twist the odds in his favor (whether purposefully or unconsciously).

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 1 points 13 hours ago

It's been years and years since I read the books, but I remember one scene during which they're performing surgeries on him. They've sedated him in preparation and he's resisting the sedative in an endearing manner. I'm no super soldier, but I've had a lot of surgeries before and since and, well... The idea of resisting anesthetics seems unlikely to me if the anesthesiologist wants you under.

I also remember another character being impressed by the scout sent out to check out potential Spartans. He is impressed because she manages to make his ship's AI lag by making a series of requests of it. Even at the time, though, I remember thinking that any system that couldn't handle the requests she made (something like set a navigational beacon, bring up a few files, and play classical music) wasn't all that impressive.

There are a few other random things I remember, like the introduction of Cortana and the end (at the time) of the series, but not much stuck with me, I guess. I never really liked the game series, so I guess it makes sense.

[–] toynbee@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

Fair enough, thank you for the information!