To the OP; I don't agree with you, I have come to enjoy Halo more and more since CE and all main titles after. Did Microsoft and Bungie see potential in Halo after CE? Ofcourse! But going by Fall of Reach, there was already plans on expanding the universe.
Though I have to admit that there has been a little too much Halo in the later years (making it seem more like a cash grab), but in the same way that there's too much Star Wars, it has a universe that dedicated people want to explore. I don't think it's bad.
And you think that the "downfall" started with Halo 2? Halo 3 was the peak even though my personal favorites are between Reach, ODST and 5. 3 had Legendary gameplay that none other in the series could master in the same way. But it is just an opinion :P
To people talking Halo 5;
I believe Halo has had its ups and downs in releases of all its titles. 5 was great to me, the sense of scale was amazing, running down a Guardian, climbing a crumbling space elevator, actually riding the space elevator, Exhuberant Witness in general, I for one loved the small tidbits of interacting with other characters (even though it could've been done better and shouldn't have been counted into mission count), multiplayer/forge are superb, other weapons/vehicle variants in campaign, Buck, Blue Team, taking down the Kraken (could have been better though).
It had problems though: Locke wasn't really interesting (though he was basically what Chief was in CE, just a dude in his armor, doing his job), campaign was short, only 3 missions with Blue Team (granted, they were the longest missions), cutscenes ending too early, ending was a huge dick-punch of a cliffhanger, REQ system, while I do like it, I would've wanted more armour pieces that you had to earn in order to unlock (like the Helioskrill, Nightfall and Mark VI scarred), no infection, no oddball, no elites in multiplayer, misleading marketing (douchebags).
Overall, I love Halo 5: Guardians. But still, it's not better than 3, Reach or 2.