Stiff animation. Not a fan of this style. "Friend"? Feels like tumblr fan-fic. Why such blunt narrative exhibition? It's as if the writers think that simply stating something directly makes it so, without backing it up with detail. I'd argue that it's way more reasonable to see them as two instruments of war that slowly realise that they weren't actually enemies. Thel, because he was lied to, and John cause he realises that Thel was lied to. Having them already be friends at Halo 3 feels cheap and rushed. They'd need another arc (no pun intended) for that. Halo 3 was learning to fight alongside a previous foe. It also feels undeserved cause we never actually heard John call Thel friend. Assuming that it happened behind the scenes--- I'm not even going to bother explaining why that's low quality storytelling, other than to say that if "friend" has any weight, it ought to be highlighted.