Same thing with Lasky, he was referenced in that story (as confirmed on twitter by a 343i writer), that the character Tom in the story is the very same.
Anyway, so I must ask Green...
Do you think we will see Chant-To-Green or even the IsoDidact in future media?
Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!
Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.
Can we also discuss Halo lore? Because I'd like to say that retconning humanity to be at one time a super advance ancient race that fought the Forerunners was really stupid.
Can we also discuss Halo lore? Because I'd like to say that retconning humanity to be at one time a super advance ancient race that fought the Forerunners was really stupid.
Humans were the rightful heirs tot he mantle. Also, humans had ways to fight off the Flood that the Forerunners never understood. I think after their failed attempts to protect the galaxy they wanted to leave its protection in the hands of a more worthy species.
Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!
Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.
Can we also discuss Halo lore? Because I'd like to say that retconning humanity to be at one time a super advance ancient race that fought the Forerunners was really stupid.
Humans were the rightful heirs tot he mantle. Also, humans had ways to fight off the Flood that the Forerunners never understood. I think after their failed attempts to protect the galaxy they wanted to leave its protection in the hands of a more worthy species.
Yeah, but humans able to fight off the Flood was a retcon as well. Humanity sucked at fighting Flood in the contemporary era unless they had Spartan DNA treatment.
Yeah. I mean, in the Bungie titles, namely 3, did kinda foreshadow or had alluded this part of the fiction in the background so-to-speak with the Terminals and other EU stuff, but it just really diminished all the other races and retroactively diminished everything that was done throughout the original trilogy. With everything including the Master Chief and Cortana already being pre-determined just felt really off.
Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!
Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.
Yeah, but humans able to fight off the Flood was a retcon as well. Humanity sucked at fighting Flood in the contemporary era unless they had Spartan DNA treatment.
I always understood the Flood to be a mutated form of the Precursors that was created to see who was worthy of the Mantle. Unless I'm wrong, which would not surprise me at all.
Yeah, but humans able to fight off the Flood was a retcon as well. Humanity sucked at fighting Flood in the contemporary era unless they had Spartan DNA treatment.
Here is was thinking ancient human warrior would get a better spartan treatment when enrolling into the army. Or maybe already were at that level of spartan genetics. I can vaguely remember something about humans getting devolved by the Forerunners and set back to being earthbound.
Yeah, but humans able to fight off the Flood was a retcon as well. Humanity sucked at fighting Flood in the contemporary era unless they had Spartan DNA treatment.
Um... Dude... Anicent Humanity, Pre-Devolution (from the Forerunners), were nearly as advanced as the Forerunners... It seems you're under the impression that they weren't even as advanced as the UNSC...
Plus, I don't think you know what a retcon is... Because that's not a retcon.
I always understood the Flood to be a mutated form of the Precursors that was created to see who was worthy of the Mantle. Unless I'm wrong, which would not surprise me at all.
The ensuing conflict ended with the Forerunners successfully wiping out all but a few Precursors.[8] The few Precursors that escaped from (or were spared by) the Forerunners either went into suspended animation or transmuted themselves into dust that would regenerate into their past forms at a later time. However, over time the dust became defective, creating sickness, disease and biological mutations in other organisms that came into contact with it. With this new form the earliest stage of the Flood the Precursors vowed that none of their creations would rise against them again.[7]
An archaic Gravemind home to what appeared to be an intact Precursor consciousness allegedly the only one was sealed in a Precursor stasis capsule and placed in a small, ravaged planetoid at the galaxy's edge around 9,000,000 BCE.[9] This being, later known as the Primordial, would eventually reveal the nature of the Flood to those willing to know the truth
Here is was thinking ancient human warrior would get a better spartan treatment when enrolling into the army. Or maybe already were at that level of spartan genetics. I can vaguely remember something about humans getting devolved by the Forerunners and set back to being earthbound.
Exactly. In one of the CEA terminals, the Librarian and Didact have a disagreement on whether it was just to devolve humans. Didact was for it, and even wanted to just eradicate them, while the Librarian thought that devolution would affect their natural evolution and progress towards the Mantle.
I read the source material, but neither do I remember being mentioned that the precursors "turned themselves into powder", nor that an explanation was given for what "The Prisoner/Timeless One/etc" really was.
I also never got the impression that the powder was defective, but that it did what it was supposed to do: spread and mutate into the Flood as we know it.
Wonderfull post MrGreencastle, keep them coming. Only one concern I have with you theory. You're guessing that the Absolute Record is a back-up of the Domain. But how does one back-up an entity which you barely understand? Even with the knowledge and technology of the Forerunners this seems impossible to me, especially when it's Precusor in origin.
Humans were the rightful heirs tot he mantle. Also, humans had ways to fight off the Flood that the Forerunners never understood. I think after their failed attempts to protect the galaxy they wanted to leave its protection in the hands of a more worthy species.
Humanity was able to fight the Flood because the Flood simply didn't infect Humanity.
"Can the Flood choose to infect or not to infect?" - Didact "No immunity. Judgement. Timing" - Gravemind, Primordium - 364
John will never have a biological child, Spartan IIs are incapable of reproduction.
"I do. Because the augmentation they performed on us had side effects.... It reduces your drive to reproduce." - Naomi, Mortal Dictata - 360. In response to her farther when asked if she knew for certain that there where no kids in her future.
I read the source material, but neither do I remember being mentioned that the precursors "turned themselves into powder"(1), nor that an explanation was given for what "The Prisoner/Timeless One/etc"(2) really was.
I also never got the impression that the powder was defective(1), but that it did what it was supposed to do: spread and mutate into the Flood as we know it.
Well, the "Flood choose what to infect" element is certainly true within the games as well. The Gravemind is intelligent and cunning; if they were mindlessly directed to spread instead of doing so intelligently it wouldn't have allied with the Arbiter and Chief, et al.
Oh, Shirley did "Rapture"? Ehh, it felt like a background info dump to justify Bioshock's existence than really adding much to the story to me personally. I don't know how much of that was his "fault" though.
I know. And I apologize for taking that snippet slightly out of its context. When you read the entire page it's clear that Naomi pointed to infertility, but tried to soften the blow it would give her dad upon hearing it. BB and Staffen make this clear.
Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!
Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.
Simon & Schuster is proud to announce a new Halo novel from John Shirley, releasing on November 4, 2014!
Witness an untold chapter in Halo lore as John Shirley's Halo: Broken Circle takes us to the dawn of the Covenant and the fateful first bargain between the Prophets and the Elites. Broken Circle will explore an Elite splinter group rebelling against the Covenant in its earliest days, a brave Prophet caught in the machinations of the new Covenant leadership, and the root of the betrayal that would ultimately shatter the Covenant during events seen in the blockbuster Xbox game Halo 2.
Well, the "Flood choose what to infect" element is certainly true within the games as well. The Gravemind is intelligent and cunning; if they were mindlessly directed to spread instead of doing so intelligently it wouldn't have allied with the Arbiter and Chief, et al.
Oh, Shirley did "Rapture"? Ehh, it felt like a background info dump to justify Bioshock's existence than really adding much to the story to me personally. I don't know how much of that was his "fault" though.
I guess so, but I despite that the Gravemind is a flood powerhouse/brain, I didn't think it had overall control of the rest when they did their own thing, or when they attacked and infected mindlessly.
And yeah, he did "Rapture". I won't be expecting much from his Halo book, but I'm still down to have another.
Same thing with Lasky, he was referenced in that story (as confirmed on twitter by a 343i writer), that the character Tom in the story is the very same.
Anyway, so I must ask Green...
Do you think we will see Chant-To-Green or even the IsoDidact in future media?
Hmm, I would hope so, yet it would be crazy to try and explain two Didacts in game, so I would imagine Bornstellar/IsoDidact would come through in another way somehow.
Wonderfull post MrGreencastle, keep them coming. Only one concern I have with you theory. You're guessing that the Absolute Record is a back-up of the Domain. But how does one back-up an entity which you barely understand? Even with the knowledge and technology of the Forerunners this seems impossible to me, especially when it's Precusor in origin.
Yeah that's something I'm having trouble with as well. The domain is the organon, and the gravemind/flood seems to be able to tap into something very similar to what the forerunners were doing. The flood is a sort of living brain as well, from a certain point of view... I just can't for the life of me figure out what else the absolute record could be for other than a vast store of forerunner history, or more.
Hmm, I would hope so, yet it would be crazy to try and explain two Didacts in game, so I would imagine Bornstellar/IsoDidact would come through in another way somehow.
Wasn't the Didact infected/driven mad by a Gravemind? It's possible to have a less menacing looking Iso Didact introduced. At least that's how I picture it. Normal blue color scheme like the Librarian or something. The jump to the Didact as a villain was probably plenty confusing for people unfamiliar with the Expanded Universe, and they seemed to navigate it just fine.
I don't expect to see the Iso-Didact in the future games, mostly because he represents whatever mystery remains on the fate of the Forerunners as a species. Didn't he flee to Andromeda along with a few other survivors?
Hmm... I disagree. I think it is fantastic, every piece of fiction really does matter if you want to get a good picture of the universe, but it is certainly subtle. And it has been all building up to a point if you pay attention to the subtleties... To what? I'm not so sure yet - I think that part has yet to come. 343i are being really, really sneaky right now I think. Well, they kinda always have been haha!
Wasn't the Didact infected/driven mad by a Gravemind? It's possible to have a less menacing looking Iso Didact introduced. At least that's how I picture it. Normal blue color scheme like the Librarian or something. The jump to the Didact as a villain was probably plenty confusing for people unfamiliar with the Expanded Universe, and they seemed to navigate it just fine.
True, I definitely trust in 343i's capabilities to weave the story, so if he does make a return, it would be pretty crazy. [
note: he did promise 343GS that he wouldn't come back, so who knows...
]
--
While working on part 3 of my rant/posts (getting a bit big, I may split it up lol), I "dug" up a little something from Silentium that I found really intriguing. I don't have much to add to the following, but I figured I would post something for now.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Context: UNSC/ONI discover a dead Forerunner Catalog carapace on Trevelyan [
Ridiculously massive solar system-sized Shield World Installation that was located inside Onyx
]. The excerpt is from Librarian's testament to Catalog[
Forerunner entity that records information for their society - which they call the Ecumene - Catalog is made up of Juridicals, basically the lawyers and detectives of the Forerunners, investigating crimes against the Ecumene and the Mantle
]. At this point, Librarian is on Earth - and it is the moment that she transfers the title of Lifeshaper [
The "Master Lifeworker". Lifeworkers were basically the doctors and geneticists of Forerunner society
] to another Lifeworker named Chant-to-Green:
I'll put more expanded context inline in spoiler-ed [ brackets ], hopefully that isn't too confusing, still trying to figure out how to do notes effectively haha.
Chant-to-Green stands beside me. Chant is among the last of my aides. Most were lost on the
greater Ark or consumed by the Flood.
When I began to realize what my husband intended [
UrDidact, from Halo 4, we learn he was composing the remaining humans into Promethean machines to combat the Flood - Librarian locks him away in his Cryptum in Requiem
], I asked her to return to Erde-Tyrene on a special and very dangerous mission, to determine the extent of Flood conquest in this system (there was none), and if possible, to scour and save whatever portion of humanity remained behind.
[...]
In her time here, she has located only a few hundred humans.
[...] A handful of other humans have likely made it to the lesser Ark[
Chakas, who became 343GS, and his company
]. These then are all we have of natural, physical human specimens. The once-teeming populations of humans are now down to at most three or four species[
sapiens, neanderthalensis, etc
]. Without that many healthy, natural templates it will be much more difficult, if not impossible, to use the genetic patterns I've stored.[
referencing the "genesong" in Master Chief that her AI-form "unlocks" in Halo 4's campaign
]
[...]
"I am staying," I say. "You will take our humans back to the Ark-you've served the Mantle brilliantly, and for that, I confer my title upon you."
She is astonished. "Lifeshaper... I cannot accept. You are still-"
"No longer. Our ancillas [
AI counterparts that exist in their armour - just like Cortana
] will confirm the transfer. You are Lifeshaper. No arguing. It's time to save our humans."
"I am confused, Lifeshaper-what about you?" She paces around me in desperate uncertainty and agitation. She knows me well enough to see that I have a plan, but for the life of her, she cannot reason what it might be.
"There is another vessel on its way here as we speak," I tell her. "Large enough to deploy assemblers and to create a portal. If I succeed, then those who are re-seeded here will have a hope they should have been granted long ago. They will have access to our history. Our legacy. The Ark. [
implying the record mentioned by 343GS in Halo 3's Terminals? - The Absolute Record?
]"
Chant-to-Green-the new Lifeshaper-stands very still. A long, low sigh of wind blows around us, wistful and beautiful; I have always loved this world, for all its changeful ways and harshness. There is great beauty here.
"All is said. This keyship is the last that will be allowed to leave and soon even that will be risky. Hurry. Take our humans to the new Ark. Watch over them; watch over him. If I join you again, I will serve you, I hope as well as you have served me."
She refuses to accept. "Lifeshaper, you've lost your reason!"
"Go. In time you will know why I have done this." She does not move. She seems rooted to the dirt.
"Go!" I cry out. "Save our specimens! We are done here!"
Some more info: Keyships were those big triangle ones like we see at the center of High Charity - Truth calls his the "Dreadnought", it opens the portal in Halo 3:
There's a lot of history behind that particular Keyship, which will be part of a future post. Keyships were also the ships where the Lifeworkers stored the Index for each species to the Ark, and were then used to re-seed the planets after the Halo Array was originally activated. Here is that process shown in Origins 1.. Cortana's interpretations of the event differ somewhat, because it is based on information gleaned from Halo and likely the Gravemind during her "capture" between Halo 2 and 3, but the gist of it is shown, either way.
Interestingly, the other "large ship" on its way gets torn down by the assemblers (big sentinels) and rebuilt into the Portal machine at Voi. Here's a comic from Halo 3 IRIS campaign that shows the construction of said Portal machine:
I don't expect to see the Iso-Didact in the future games, mostly because he represents whatever mystery remains on the fate of the Forerunners as a species. Didn't he flee to Andromeda along with a few other survivors?
It makes sense though, that Chief would seek them out (if he knows that a few are possibly still alive). Forerunner AIs don't seem to have a lifespan like human smart AIs do, so what better way to bring back Cortana? Clearly, from the Halo For Xbox One reveal, that is his goal.
I don't think convoluted is the right word for it. It certainly has become move involved, and there are a lot of spinning plates (possible return of Insurrectionists, the general shadiness of ONI, possible Forerunner survivors, etc) but I don't think they harm the general understanding of the main games.
I feel most people who use "convoluted" mean to say that it's just gotten really big. Cause Halo imo isn't convoluted, it's just very expansive.
Though World History? Man that's so convoluted, I mean there are all of these ancient civilizations from like three or so thousand years ago. Man fuck this. XD
^Haha yeah, I like the Halo universe gaining more depth. It's helping along the maturation of the series IMO.
Stuff like Ghosts of Onyx is just so good though, hopefully that type of lore can subsist now that the Forerunners are ... Shall we say, at the forefront
^Haha yeah, I like the Halo universe gaining more depth. It's helping along the maturation of the series IMO.
Stuff like Ghosts of Onyx is just so good though, hopefully that type of lore can subsist now that the Forerunners are ... Shall we say, at the forefront
Have you read the Kilo-Five Trilogy? The Spartans stuck on Onyx get quite a bit of time in the first book, which was glorious. I squealed a little bit when
Jul and Serin Osman were in Spartan Ops
. I'm sure the Onyx team will get their due once more.
Let's see of some of you, that are experts on Halo lore, help me clarify some points.
We know from Halo Reach that the Pillar of Autumn was dry docked on the planet surface, awaiting the delivery of the AI Cortana by Noble Team. We also know that Cortana got information from a forerunner library (construct?) located in a cave under Sword base. So we might assume that Cortana learns the location of the first Halo and, therefore, programs the Pillar of Autumn slipspace jump to that position. Captain Keyes thinks is a random jump, but it's not. Why is Cortana so secretive or deceitful?
On the other hand, from the comic series Halo the Fall of Reach Invasion, we learn that the Pillar of Autumn was fighting the Covenant in space, not dry docked. And Cortana seems to learn of the location of the first Halo by an ancient bit of rock that Master Chief seems also to recall? What gives? It looks like some of it cannot be canon?
Let's see of some of you, that are experts on Halo lore, help me clarify some points.
We know from Halo Reach that the Pillar of Autumn was dry docked on the planet surface, awaiting the delivery of the AI Cortana by Noble Team. We also know that Cortana got information from a forerunner library (construct?) located in a cave under Sword base. So we might assume that Cortana learns the location of the first Halo and, therefore, programs the Pillar of Autumn slipspace jump to that position. Captain Keyes thinks is a random jump, but it's not. Why is Cortana so secretive or deceitful?
On the other hand, from the comic series Halo the Fall of Reach Invasion, we learn that the Pillar of Autumn was fighting the Covenant in space, not dry docked. And Cortana seems to learn of the location of the first Halo by an ancient bit of rock that Master Chief seems also to recall? What gives? It looks like some of it cannot be canon?
For point one, I think she has the general idea of the location of the Halo, but I think she just assumes it's a Forerunner object and not a pseudo-planet. Plus, the Covenant were hot on their heels. I think it was more a combination of security clearance and not having time to fully explain.
For point two, the Reach game really, REALLY fucked up some of the canon. The main books and comics were expected to be the only things to come from that time span, but the game kinda threw a wrench into that. As for what still canon and what is not (or is soft canon), someone far more knowledgeable than me on the subject will have to answer.
EDIT: we also don't know the time between end of Reach the game, and start of Reach Invasion. I don't think Reach fell in a day, but again, Reach history is not my strong suit.
Let's see of some of you, that are experts on Halo lore, help me clarify some points.
We know from Halo Reach that the Pillar of Autumn was dry docked on the planet surface, awaiting the delivery of the AI Cortana by Noble Team. We also know that Cortana got information from a forerunner library (construct?) located in a cave under Sword base. So we might assume that Cortana learns the location of the first Halo and, therefore, programs the Pillar of Autumn slipspace jump to that position. Captain Keyes thinks is a random jump, but it's not. Why is Cortana so secretive or deceitful?
On the other hand, from the comic series Halo the Fall of Reach Invasion, we learn that the Pillar of Autumn was fighting the Covenant in space, not dry docked. And Cortana seems to learn of the location of the first Halo by an ancient bit of rock that Master Chief seems also to recall? What gives? It looks like some of it cannot be canon?
They sort of kinda tried to clear up some of the confusion with data drops quite a while back, they are probably available somewhere still on waypoint. It did an admirable job, but obviously you might need to suspend your disbelief a little extra.
Let's see of some of you, that are experts on Halo lore, help me clarify some points.
We know from Halo Reach that the Pillar of Autumn was dry docked on the planet surface, awaiting the delivery of the AI Cortana by Noble Team. We also know that Cortana got information from a forerunner library (construct?) located in a cave under Sword base. So we might assume that Cortana learns the location of the first Halo and, therefore, programs the Pillar of Autumn slipspace jump to that position. Captain Keyes thinks is a random jump, but it's not. Why is Cortana so secretive or deceitful?
On the other hand, from the comic series Halo the Fall of Reach Invasion, we learn that the Pillar of Autumn was fighting the Covenant in space, not dry docked. And Cortana seems to learn of the location of the first Halo by an ancient bit of rock that Master Chief seems also to recall? What gives? It looks like some of it cannot be canon?
Let's see of some of you, that are experts on Halo lore, help me clarify some points.
We know from Halo Reach that the Pillar of Autumn was dry docked on the planet surface, awaiting the delivery of the AI Cortana by Noble Team. We also know that Cortana got information from a forerunner library (construct?) located in a cave under Sword base. So we might assume that Cortana learns the location of the first Halo and, therefore, programs the Pillar of Autumn slipspace jump to that position. Captain Keyes thinks is a random jump, but it's not. Why is Cortana so secretive or deceitful?
On the other hand, from the comic series Halo the Fall of Reach Invasion, we learn that the Pillar of Autumn was fighting the Covenant in space, not dry docked. And Cortana seems to learn of the location of the first Halo by an ancient bit of rock that Master Chief seems also to recall? What gives? It looks like some of it cannot be canon?
Cortana did not discover the coordinates of installation 04 in the Forerunners ruines beneath Reach's surface. She decipherered the coordinates from a Forerunner artifact found on the planet Sigma Octanus IV, the ruins helped her decipher it.
Cortana didn't tell anyone that she was jumping to those coordinates because it was supposed to be a random jump. Revealing that she didn't pick those coordinates randomly would reveal that she deliberately went against orders/protocol in order to satisfy her own curiosity. She is made of of Halsey's brain after all, extremely smart but so thirsty for the unknown.
As for the entire Reach is cannon thingy, personally I'm against it. But I'm one of the few so
Hmm... I disagree. I think it is fantastic, every piece of fiction really does matter if you want to get a good picture of the universe, but it is certainly subtle. And it has been all building up to a point if you pay attention to the subtleties... To what? I'm not so sure yet - I think that part has yet to come. 343i are being really, really sneaky right now I think. Well, they kinda always have been haha!
True, I definitely trust in 343i's capabilities to weave the story, so if he does make a return, it would be pretty crazy. [
note: he did promise 343GS that he wouldn't come back, so who knows...
]
--
While working on part 3 of my rant/posts (getting a bit big, I may split it up lol), I "dug" up a little something from Silentium that I found really intriguing. I don't have much to add to the following, but I figured I would post something for now.
SPOILERS AHEAD!
Context: UNSC/ONI discover a dead Forerunner Catalog carapace on Trevelyan [
Ridiculously massive solar system-sized Shield World Installation that was located inside Onyx
]. The excerpt is from Librarian's testament to Catalog[
Forerunner entity that records information for their society - which they call the Ecumene - Catalog is made up of Juridicals, basically the lawyers and detectives of the Forerunners, investigating crimes against the Ecumene and the Mantle
]. At this point, Librarian is on Earth - and it is the moment that she transfers the title of Lifeshaper [
The "Master Lifeworker". Lifeworkers were basically the doctors and geneticists of Forerunner society
] to another Lifeworker named Chant-to-Green:
I'll put more expanded context inline in spoiler-ed [ brackets ], hopefully that isn't too confusing, still trying to figure out how to do notes effectively haha.
Some more info: Keyships were those big triangle ones like we see at the center of High Charity - Truth calls his the "Dreadnought", it opens the portal in Halo 3:
There's a lot of history behind that particular Keyship, which will be part of a future post. Keyships were also the ships where the Lifeworkers stored the Index for each species to the Ark, and were then used to re-seed the planets after the Halo Array was originally activated. Here is that process shown in Origins 1.. Cortana's interpretations of the event differ somewhat, because it is based on information gleaned from Halo and likely the Gravemind during her "capture" between Halo 2 and 3, but the gist of it is shown, either way.
Interestingly, the other "large ship" on its way gets torn down by the assemblers (big sentinels) and rebuilt into the Portal machine at Voi. Here's a comic from Halo 3 IRIS campaign that shows the construction of said Portal machine:
I feel most people who use "convoluted" mean to say that it's just gotten really big. Cause Halo imo isn't convoluted, it's just very expansive.
Though World History? Man that's so convoluted, I mean there are all of these ancient civilizations from like three or so thousand years ago. Man fuck this. XD
Exactly and this bothers me. I haven't read the books because I really don't want to. I'm afraid that 343i will focus too much on the books for their next games and I'll be left hanging, asking what the hell is going on.
Cortana did not discover the coordinates of installation 04 in the Forerunners ruines beneath Reach's surface. She decipherered the coordinates from a Forerunner artifact found on the planet Sigma Octanus IV, the ruins helped her decipher it.
Cortana didn't tell anyone that she was jumping to those coordinates because it was supposed to be a random jump. Revealing that she didn't pick those coordinates randomly would reveal that she deliberately went against orders/protocol in order to satisfy her own curiosity. She is made of of Halsey's brain after all, extremely smart but so thirsty for the unknown.
As for the entire Reach is cannon thingy, personally I'm against it. But I'm one of the few so
Yeah there's no real way to make Reach makes sense, because even if you handwave the Covenant fighting on Reach for a month before everyone noticed, Cortana's contribution in the game should be irrelevant due to what we know in the books. Le sigh.
That's the problem with the laissez-faire attitude Microsoft had towards Bungie with Halo until they formed their own division--they just wanted Halo games by all appearances.
Cortana did not discover the coordinates of installation 04 in the Forerunners ruines beneath Reach's surface. She decipherered the coordinates from a Forerunner artifact found on the planet Sigma Octanus IV, the ruins helped her decipher it.
Cortana didn't tell anyone that she was jumping to those coordinates because it was supposed to be a random jump. Revealing that she didn't pick those coordinates randomly would reveal that she deliberately went against orders/protocol in order to satisfy her own curiosity. She is made of of Halsey's brain after all, extremely smart but so thirsty for the unknown.
As for the entire Reach is cannon thingy, personally I'm against it. But I'm one of the few so
That makes sense. Still, it feels like they wanted to have Cortana in Halo Reach at all costs, even if story wise doesn't make much sense. About MC's cameo in the Pelican I won't even comment Even then, Halsey tells Noble team that what was found In Reach's ruins was a weapon/tool that was the only option to defeat the Covenant, so they hint at Halsey and Cortana knowing about it.
One thing I find interesting is that Cortana disobeys orders. Not only she was supposed to make a random jump, instead of using Halo 04 position, she also deals with Col. Hackerman in an evil way. Cortana makes a fraudulent money transfer, so that the wife of the colonel thinks he is involved in a prostitution ring and cause their divorce. Such divorce would force Col. Hackerman to transfer to first line duty and probably die in combat. Cortana is evil in this instance.
Reach will never make sense. A shift between Bungie and 343, the large amount of media on the subject, et al just makes it a mess and without fully commenting that some details are no longer canon (which 343 has no interest in doing it seems) it'll stay that way.
Cortana is far from evil. She's too human for her own good, falling prey to her hubris and curiosity, but I don't see malevolence.
Toying around with an idea... Decided to put together a small "story" with gifs and quotes. Nothing special, just something to get the imagination going. Spoilers warning!
"The Forerunners themselves were gone forever. This destruction, this conflagration was their gift to you - and their sacrifice. They left you to reclaim your world, to rebuild it with your own hands - by sacrificing themselves. Eternally."
"Your mistake is seeing Spartans as military hardware. My Spartans are humanity's next step - our destiny as a species. Do not underestimate them, but most of all, do not underestimate him."
"Reclaimer, when I indexed mankind for repopulation, I hid seeds from the Didact. Seeds which would lead to an eventuality. Your physical evolution. Your combat skin. Even your ancilla, Cortana. You are the culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning."
"Do not doubt the reality: The Reclamation has already begun, and we are hopeless to stop it."
