Well Halo 5 has barely had any marketing. It's unfair to claim the marketing revolves solely around Chief as a lone figure when we've had 1 trailer in which he is shown on his own and another trailer in which the Arbiter tells us he's disappeared - though we already knew that from Scruggs' comment in Escalation.
That still doesn't answer as to why 343i wouldn't be introducing Blue Team now alongside Locke and the Arbiter if they were going to be included. 'Nightfall' has been marketed heavily as "directly leading into 'Halo 5'", and the MCC is noted as having bonus Arbiter content that ties to his reintroduction in 'Halo 5' as well. So why are we getting zero acknowledgement at the very least of Blue Team? Everything we've heard about the Chief is strictly about "his" disappearance,
singular - i.e. he's alone. That doesn't leave a lot of options for Blue Team's current state of being other than being dead, or just conveniently written out of the plot again Bungie-style.
Escalation's delivery of the characters may not have been the best, but it doesn't mean that Blue Team are being "systematically erased", or wormed out of the canon because the writer of Escalation handled their introduction badly.
The end of 'Escalation' issue #10 literally talks about the Chief as a lone figure and completely removes Blue Team from the equation. I'd call that being erased. They're not being woven into the main storyline at all. As I said, they've just been treated like one big easter egg, rather than actual characters that matter to the Chief.
It really wasn't very relevant, that encyclopedia entry was simply giving a little bit of backstory about who he was and where he came from. It would have been nice of them to mention Blue Team, but it's no reason to kick off or cause a fuss over.
Actually considering that the biography includes
two very specific events where his work with his team was a key factor, I think at least mentioning them would've been
incredibly relevant. The Chief's work with his team is a huge part of who he is and where he comes from - right up to the events of 'Halo 2'. I think it's very much worth causing a fuss over. It is not okay that whoever wrote this "encyclopedia" entry thought it was prudent to completely cut out his teammates with whom he's spent 99% of his life and career with and whom he regards as family, while simultaneously mentioning an AI he worked with for three months
twice while also using completely overblown and saccharine language while doing so. The biography even trails off at the end and eludes to the Chief's disappearance prior to 'Halo 5', but also completely skips his reunion with his team and the events of 'Escalation'.
Their involvement with him is being deliberately erased.
Because they played such a huge part in the games when Bungie were in charge...
343 confirmed that they'd be playing a larger role in upcoming canon, and we've already seen a render of Fred-104's armour in a trailer for Halo 5.
I never said Bungie did Blue Team any favors....but that doesn't really matter because 343i is in charge now - and they're not doing any better. Actually they've never really confirmed anything about Blue Team. The last thing I believe that was said about them by the devs was at a panel
two years ago when a fan asked them a question about "possibly seeing more of the Chief with his Spartan-IIs" (that's where the "we have plans" statement came from). That could've very well been referring to their brief involvement in 'Escalation' and nothing more. Also that render of Fred's armor was in a trailer for the
multiplayer beta; it had nothing to do with the plot of the next game, and was shown with zero explanation or context - as it stands it is simply an easter egg.
Well that's nothing new. They've made an appearance in recent canon, I don't see why that means their significance is being downplayed.
At the end of the day, a mention of Blue Team wasn't absolutely necessary and vital to that encyclopedia entry, nor have 343 done anything that Bungie didn't do before them.
An appearance in an incredibly brief comic where they're basically treated like pieces of scenery and their strong relationship with the Chief is barely acknowledged
does mean their significance is being downplayed. And as I said before, it makes zero sense to include two events in that bio where his teammates were a
major factor of what made said events significant in the first place, and then just cut them out.
You cannot justify that or excuse that. It wasn't okay when Bungie did it, and it's not okay now.