Spoilers ahead!
My guess is that its a simple slip up, I picked up a few other types of slip ups in there
Anvil was pretty solid, outside of the detail problems that were not caught- which is a little problematic- but while I could deal with the narrative in A Splinter of Hope, I was not a fan of how the two main meta characters were portrayed. It was almost the same jarring continuity feeling from A Call to Arms to the Proving Grounds fiasco with Tassa Kay/Anastasia Kerensky. Danai's character was pretty well established in her last few MWDA novel appearances and IIRC she had quit referring to Daoshen as her 'brother' in her own mind since she had learned the truth. She was mentally capitalizing 'Enemy' like her old lancemate that was in command of the Dynasty Guard and she had not been that bloodthirsty- duty bound & unflinching but she solved some of her problems with guile.
Julian's difference is a bit more explainable for narrative purposes- 3-4 years leading a government in exile with most of his territory lost and being mostly at war since the mid 30s- first aiding the Republic, then being sent to die with the Lyrans against the Clans, and then finally struggling back to the FedSuns with the loss of a lot of support. However during all that time, he had led from the front and put his life on the line to protect other soldiers so some of the internal thoughts did not line up to who he had been. He had also been piloting a Templar III since his first appearance, and I expect Shattered Fortress will make the Dawn Guard's origin more clear.
Edit- To be clear, I disagree with Cubby that he was one dimensional in MWDA. I think he was a tad naive while being so convinced of his place that he did not see himself being groomed to become First Prince. The faux relationship with Sandra Felon from Chesterton to keep Amanda Hasek happy, his involvement with Zhou & Levin balancing his commitments as a ally while serving his own House properly, and his interactions with rogue Knight Conner Monroe as the Fortress announcement spreads are all part of his development and show the depth IMO. He has ideals and he sticks with them . . . but you might say until he met Gavin, they were never challenged. We may not LIKE his decision but we know a lot more OOC details, and history is filled with power struggles within as enemies pound on the gate- along with how bad that turns out. Bonfire might start to show his pragmatism coming to the fore with his remarks to Anastasia about taking her from Alaric.
Roderick has green eyes- specifically noted b/c they are outside the Steiner norm, his Rifleman IIC had 2 LPL and 2 ACs, Ultras I think per MWDA and more importantly Bonfire of Worlds which was a CGL product.
Jasek pilots a Templar III, as discussed about the cover's being a Templar I. As described in the book, he was still sporting the Stormhammer colors- and it seemed they were rolled into his Arcturan Guards unit.
Anvil's biggest flaw was in a character who appeared in the opening of the story and the close- Cynthy . . . Malvina saved her from her infantry, spoiled her and yes treated her something like a pet. Malvina gave her treats- we see her eating a chocolate treat in Bonfire of Worlds on the bridge of a DS before a Trial- and at one point told her she would gift her the galaxy after killing everyone else off. She even seems to have mentally set her outside the way she views everyone else as being split into the caste system which caused some questions among the warriors about why the child/teen was special. Malvina loved her in her sick twisted way, and was raising a fellow psychopath . . . but five years later has so abused her and shifted her view of Cynthy that she uses her as a object lesson of what the IS will become & to unsettle other Falcons in different ways. Her ER3145 write up is definitely a POV character from the outside looking in and a single sentence from that seems to be where that version of the character came from while her interactions in Bonfire & MWDA novels paint a different picture. Do I have a problem with the epilogue foreshadowing? No, and I could definitely see Bonfire Cynthy doing the same thing though for different reasons.
