Ragnarok Flames
Banned
Green, I'm loving all this lore discussion.
-- It could be Mendicant Bias (or even a seeker assigned to protect/defend/contain it), because the giant birdmachine was buried under sand, and in Silentium: The Trial of Mendicant Bias, we note that Didact buries Mendicant Bias in a tomb under sand on the Ark, and I like the idea that this location from the trailer is on the Ark...
Two theories, with some elaboration:
First Idea:
To elaborate on this theory, I believe this thing from the gif above is either:
-- A War Sphinx, Forerunner combat skin/vehicle
Excerpt from Cryptum concerning War Sphinxes:
The above is likely Didact's armour before he became all crazy. It's from the cutscene on the Halo 4 level Librarian. I like to think of it as "good Didact" armour. Getting this would be pretty damn sweet, in my opinion. I notice how the image at first appears to be Master Chief, though as he looks up (a trademark Chief movement) the full visor and armour is revealed.
--
All of the above is wishful thinking really, but I'd like to see it. Hell... I'd like to see Chief get BOTH at some point in the next Halo game...
BTW, a few people tweeted/PM'd me about RTX, I won't be there because I am in Iceland. Getting soaked.
Boo. Is Jessica and/or Bravo coming? Tashi?
Think we'll actually see that "War Sphinx" in Halo 5's Campaign? If so, on what level (in terms of interactivity)?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a3YLl2NLVFA
I think it's funny how mendicant bias has always been lurking through out the halo plot without most people noticing. Bungie was obviously going to do something with him otherwise what was the point of hinting him in Contact Harvest, halo 2 and 3? If there's one thing I'm happy with 343, it's the fact they're finally expanding on him. I believe something BIG is going to happen in the lore once he does come back, and judging from the video it's has to do with the flood of some sort.
He knows an action that will atone for his sins and is calling out to Chief for that reason.
Doesn't matter, you're too tall to play Hamish Jr anyways.They'd have to speak with my Agency. I might be too busy filming the biggest action thriller of 2016 with Brad Pitt in South Korea. Brad and I go way back so I'm throwing him a bone.
Greencastle could it be like these suits the promethean's wore before being robots:
I think that was his promethean armor before his DNA ascention and composer further mutation.
I am still in doubt about how much liberty 343i have to make the new enemies mechanics or make a IA overhaul to make them smart and not letting you space to do something if you enter rambo style. I really hope you can fight the Sphynx like fighting it first on the ground the ride it on its back and start destrioying his wings part by part and not QTE something 4 times to kill it
Worst case scenario is they are bringing Halo 4 enemies assets and just make them some slighly designs just to fill nearly all campain (Never forget theron guards in gears of wars 3) and just put the new enemies in the small ending portion of the campaign.
Think we'll actually see that "War Sphinx" in Halo 5's Campaign? If so, on what level (in terms of interactivity)?
Personally, I hope so, but I still have yet to be blown away by anything in a Halo Campaign aside from CE and Reach's Sabre mission (it's really too bad Bungie spoiled that surprise). I really want them to do something crazy with the single player and not play it so safe. It's funny because Halo 4 got dinged for being too similar to past games, but many fans complained that it was too unlike past games.. Either way, I just want to be blown away and I think that could only happen if they drastically change things up.
Its still hard for me to believe this scene was hidden on waypoint!
It seems so integral to the books, I didn't even read it until months later.
I had the idea Bungie wanted to keep you remind you of that enigmatic civilization and the unknown conection with humanity and make the story advance following those breadcrumbs. Dunno maybe finally meet one of them as the last remant of their civilization in the final Halo would be a awesome setting to end the series but the ashes never know.
Revealing mostly everything in the novels and a direct interaction with one of them kinda blows the mistery.
I think it was also Bungie trying to capitalize on the mystery of the Forerunners without directly having you communicate with one, as well. Bias realizes that of the still-sapient life that exists in the universe, he was basically all that was left of the Forerunners in the old lore.
Maybe Chief's at the Greater Ark in Halo 5 because Mendicant Bias is (theoretically, based on Halo 3's terminals) the only AI to truly reach trans-sentience - the fourth and mostly theoretical state in AI Rampancy where they level out and gain the capacity to feel. Y'know, so he could figure out how to bring back Cortana and make her sentient.
I think you might be onto something on both accounts.Two well thought out theories
I think we will meet it and that's about it. I don't see us flying it or anything but I'm sure there is something you could do to make it awesome and interactive. The thing is huge. Actually if Halo did want to go further into Mecha anime territory than it already is, maybe we really could fly it and destroy covenant (or better yet Forerunner) ships. Again though it will probably just be there and look cool while we wish we could be cool with it.Think we'll actually see that "War Sphinx" in Halo 5's Campaign? If so, on what level (in terms of interactivity)?
Personally, I hope so, but I still have yet to be blown away by anything in a Halo Campaign aside from CE and Reach's Sabre mission (it's really too bad Bungie spoiled that surprise). I really want them to do something crazy with the single player and not play it so safe. It's funny because Halo 4 got dinged for being too similar to past games, but many fans complained that it was too unlike past games.. Either way, I just want to be blown away and I think that could only happen if they drastically change things up.
I think so too, though it would be cool to get his Blue armour to fight him, where did the Red one in Halo 4 come from? Is it the same, or just another kind of armour? Hard to say... Imagery in this clip is really, really strange.
The problem I have with fighting the construct is that in the trailer (assuming the teaser is actually from somewhere in the campaign, who knows anymore...) Chief doesn't seem to have anything with him aside from what looks like Cortana's chip and his new poncho... How is he going to fight it? I suspect he will either drive it, or speak with it. Or maybe even put the chip he has into it... Again, hard to say.
I think it was also Bungie trying to capitalize on the mystery of the Forerunners without directly having you communicate with one, as well. Bias realizes that of the still-sapient life that exists in the universe, he was basically all that was left of the Forerunners in the old lore.
EDIT: OT, but I'm developing a clearer idea on the Project Livechamber logo, suggestions / comments / criticism welcome.
indeed.rip supersecretafterparty
Knights themselves are weird as I assume there's only a finite amount of the digital people to go with a basically infinite resource of bodies so do they save copies or is it just one death per unit (Does death to revive count as a death if so that's two)?Yeah it could be, those were old combat skins from the Human-Forerunner war, which was about 9000 years before the Flood-Forerunner war.
The whole Promethean terminology is kinda weird. You have the Warrior-Servants, which is a type of Forerunners that does battle and stuffs for the Didact. Of those, the Prometheans were at one point the best-of-the-best of the Warrior-Servants - kind of like Spartans if Warrior-Servants were the UNSC I guess. They were super smart, super fast, super strong, etc. A few of which were actually Didact and Librarians children, though all perished in the Human-Forerunner war, their essences stored within the old War Sphinxes I talked about in the post above.
The Promethean Knights, however, were composed-digital forms of those Prometheans put into those robot carapaces we see in Halo 4.
Knights themselves are weird as I assume there's only a finite amount of the digital people to go with a basically infinite resource of bodies so do they save copies or is it just one death per unit (Does death to revive count as a death if so that's two)?
I know what you meant but definitely check that out on urban dictionary...NSFWfrolf.
Knights themselves are weird as I assume there's only a finite amount of the digital people to go with a basically infinite resource of bodies so do they save copies or is it just one death per unit (Does death to revive count as a death if so that's two)?
"I've discovered something interesting about our new friends. When the big ones explode, that momentary flash we're seeing is actually a data purge."
Sounds majestic and beautiful.I think a Composed being can be revived an infinite number of times considering the "digital soul" always lingers behind even when the body's destroyed. It's just a matter of procuring the original bodies.
What's it like in Missouri? Never been.How long have you been a member of NeoGAF? How long have you lurked?
Been a member since late 2011, Started lurking early 2011. Started school that year so was able to sign up with my school email.
How old are you? What country or state are you posting from?
21, posting from Missouri
How long have you been a Halo fan? Have you played all the games?
Had an Xbox since launch, bought Halo 2 in 2006. I have played all the games, and on all the platforms.
What mode do you spend most of your time in?
(i.e. Multiplayer, Campaign, Forge, Firefight, Theater)
Multiplayer.
What is your favorite playlist?
(i.e. MLG, Action Sack)
I enjoy BTB the most, lots of action.
AR or BR?
BR.
Highest Halo 3 level and what playlist?
35, Team Slayer I think.
Favorite Halo 2 map?
Turf
Favorite all-time Halo map?
Lockout(Blackout)
- Any other games you spend a lot of time playing.
Lots.
- Personal bio stuff. (occupation/hobbies/etc.) IT Technician, hockey, frolf.
It's the little thingsI know what you meant but definitely check that out on urban dictionary...NSFW
I think a Composed being can be revived an infinite number of times considering the "digital soul" always lingers behind even when the body's destroyed. It's just a matter of procuring the original bodies.
I know what you meant but definitely check that out on urban dictionary...NSFW
I thought that was Offensive Bias?Tell that to the Didact, he used them as a bombs to going kamikazi and destroy the infested ships.
I thought that was Offensive Bias?
Before the Didact lost his marbles I'm pretty sure he didn't hate humanity. At least not in the racist way he does now.
I thought that was Offensive Bias?
Before the Didact lost his marbles I'm pretty sure he didn't hate humanity. At least not in the racist way he does now.
I don't think you can classify the Didact as racist against humanity. He's certainly got legitimate beef with how humanity provoked a war with the Forerunners. Does his concept of the Mantle come with a sort of smug dismissal? Yeah.
He always disliked humanity, going "crazy" is more a function of desperation hardening his resolve. To him using the humans who killed many Forerunners as conscripts was eminently logical.
One interesting thing about the Halo 3 terminals, and what we see in the books and Halo 4, is that the Forerunner's use of AI seems a lot different from what we'd assume for an advanced race—basically a super-smart person in every computer. The Forerunners instead seemed to mostly use the equivalent of dumb AIs as ancillas, but truly "smart" ones like Cortana didn't commonly exist—think about how Mendicant and Offensive Bias were such big deals, and how it was apparently easier to mass-compose individuals to drive the Prometheans rather than "duped this AI code into these husks".
I know what you meant but definitely check that out on urban dictionary...NSFW
I know what you meant but definitely check that out on urban dictionary...NSFW
What's it like in Missouri? Never been.
Welcome to HaloGaf.
The Salt reserves have been running a bit low.
It's the little things
I thought that was Offensive Bias?
Before the Didact lost his marbles I'm pretty sure he didn't hate humanity. At least not in the racist way he does now.
It IS interesting. Even Didact refers to Cortana as an "evolved Ancilla", almost as if she was a secret kept from him - Librarian even says Cortana, like Chief, is the result of a 1000 lifetimes of planning. Also interesting is the Covenant don't really seem to have advanced AIs, either. Could be a religious thing within the Covenant or otherwise. There are very few instances when Cortana interacts with them (I think twice). One on the Ascendant Justice, where she even recognizes the underlying code! Another we see in Halo CEA terminals where 343GS scolds one, presumably the AI of Truth and Reconciliation. And the last is known as Seeker, from i love bees. There's a bit more to this...
Hmm... Luminaries... Crystals...Shards...Artifacts...Fractals...Mendicant...Recessive...Seed... Don't mind me!
I hope there is 360 controller support on the Xbox One by the time the MCC comes out :S I wasn't feeling H2V with the XB1 controller.
It IS interesting. Even Didact refers to Cortana as an "evolved Ancilla", almost as if she was a secret kept from him - Librarian even says Cortana, like Chief, is the result of a 1000 lifetimes of planning. Also interesting is the Covenant don't really seem to have advanced AIs, either. Could be a religious thing within the Covenant or otherwise. There are very few instances when Cortana interacts with them (I think twice). One on the Ascendant Justice, where she even recognizes the underlying code! Another we see in Halo CEA terminals where 343GS scolds one, presumably the AI of Truth and Reconciliation. And the last is known as Seeker, from i love bees. There's a bit more to this...
Hmm... Luminaries... Crystals...Shards...Artifacts...Fractals...Mendicant...Recessive...Seed... Don't mind me!
The little glowy ball things they leave behind are only able to be revived via a watcher once so I assume they break after and are purged from what ever system they exist in.I think a Composed being can be revived an infinite number of times considering the "digital soul" always lingers behind even when the body's destroyed. It's just a matter of procuring the original bodies.
I assume that they are stored within a system that allows them to learn and adapt from their deaths so the next version of the knight person soul thingy acts more efficiently. I assume the purge is so they don't use outdated info maybe? Like a little dominion except localized and with robot knights.Yeah this is something that I was thinking about at some point... So they are erased from some sort of storage. If they are interconnnected like other Prometheans, then perhaps they share memories and experience, and perhaps their data is stored in/transferred through a centralized location?
Well most of the covenant tech was for bad reverse tech of forerunner artifacts and huragok assistance while humanity pretty much sacrified itself to do their tech, the libarian IA confirms humanity is reaching their ancient heritage technology but for chief physiology.
Well if we take it that "smart" AIs like the monitors were rare in Forerunner times (or at the very least, as we learn more about 343GS, "true digital" AIs seemed to be) it makes sense that the Covenant wouldn't have much in the way of AI--they'd have to find the tech to reverse-engineer it, and a dearth of AIs to deconstruct means little in the way of advances.
I've taken the CEA terminals as that when the Covenant *did* have AIs they might have been ripped off of Forerunner ones--the terminal really made me think that it was an enslaved AI who was getting "revenge" on its captors by trying to make them release the Flood.
Rampant speculation: The Covenant AI in the CEA terminal is what's left of Abject Testament.
MENDICANT BIAS–A tremendously powerful Contender-class ancilla designed to coordinate control of the Halo installations under authorization of the Council and the Master Builder.
METARCH–A hyper-advanced level of ancilla in the exclusive service of the Council, with less than five in existence at any given time.
METARCHY–An unimaginably vast network used by ancilla, ultimately coordinated by a single metarch-level intelligence which reports directly to the chief councilor.
The little glowy ball things they leave behind are only able to be revived via a watcher once so I assume they break after and are purged from what ever system they exist in.
I assume that they are stored within a system that allows them to learn and adapt from their deaths so the next version of the knight person soul thingy acts more efficiently. I assume the purge is so they don't use outdated info maybe? Like a little dominion except localized and with robot knights.
Not sure what to make of the box things other than they seem to be dea ex machina plot wise to me.
I don't think you can classify the Didact as racist against humanity. He's certainly got legitimate beef with how humanity provoked a war with the Forerunners. Does his concept of the Mantle come with a sort of smug dismissal? Yeah.
He always disliked humanity, going "crazy" is more a function of desperation hardening his resolve. To him using the humans who killed many Forerunners as conscripts was eminently logical.
If I remember right, he just didn't think we deserved the Mantle. After he went crazy/the death of his children, THEN he hated humanity.
Didact's Superiority... ThingCheck out Halo 4 Terminals for your quote. Didact definitely uses Prometheans as suicide bombers at one point.
One interesting thing about the Halo 3 terminals, and what we see in the books and Halo 4, is that the Forerunner's use of AI seems a lot different from what we'd assume for an advanced racebasically a super-smart person in every computer. The Forerunners instead seemed to mostly use the equivalent of dumb AIs as ancillas, but truly "smart" ones like Cortana didn't commonly existthink about how Mendicant and Offensive Bias were such big deals, and how it was apparently easier to mass-compose individuals to drive the Prometheans rather than "duped this AI code into these husks".
AI's are BadassIt IS interesting. Even Didact refers to Cortana as an "evolved Ancilla", almost as if she was a secret kept from him - Librarian even says Cortana, like Chief, is the result of a 1000 lifetimes of planning. Also interesting is the Covenant don't really seem to have advanced AIs, either. Could be a religious thing within the Covenant or otherwise. There are very few instances when Cortana interacts with them (I think twice). One on the Ascendant Justice, where she even recognizes the underlying code! Another we see in Halo CEA terminals where 343GS scolds one, presumably the AI of Truth and Reconciliation. And the last is known as Seeker, from i love bees. There's a bit more to this...
Hmm... Luminaries... Crystals...Shards...Artifacts...Fractals...Mendicant...Recessive...Seed... Don't mind me!
The Gravemind is basically a giant tentacle monster.Part of the reason why the Covenant don't have many Forerunner AIs to work off of, and why the Didact went a bit nuts, is one of the cooler aspects of the Flood: the Logic Plague. Most of the Forerunner AIs would have been either subverted or destroyed (or both), and the Didact's interaction with the Gravemind is part of what drove him over the edge.
Cool. I've traveled around most of the west side of the states but that's about it. Really want to check out some other countries.It's not bad, I live outside St. Louis, plenty of stuff to do. Stick to STL or KC side, otherwise it's boring. Haven't been to many other cities/states so hard to do a comparison.
Didact's Superiority... Thing
I suppose racist may not be the right word.
Dyson sphere's exist as shield worlds such as 459 in wars and requiem they might be stored in a variation of them maybe like a conservation sphere?. The knights seem to use swarm behavior like really advanced swarm robotics much like the Geth.Dyson sphere huh? Too bad its minds dies if the watcher dont recolect them in time. Cortana stand by mode have a similar form in Halo 4
Reminds me of the geth.
Dyson sphere's exist as shield worlds such as 459 in wars and requiem they might be stored in a variation of them maybe like a conservation sphere?. The knights seem to use swarm behavior like really advanced swarm robotics much like the Geth.
Prometheans > Geth
I wonder if 343 will show off some H2A forge mode using one of the anniversary maps at RTX.
Interesting speculation. Personally, I like to think the Covenant reverse-engineered Monitors to use as their ship Luminaries. There's a bit more to add, though I'm leaving that for a future post in the lore thread. This part of the fiction interests me immensely. Maybe Cortana is based on very similar coding as the Monitors? Maybe Halsey didn't use only her inventions here when she created her...? Maybe Cortana was the source of copied code that the Covenant stole? Who knows?
edit: my own rampant speculation: Covenant AI are derived from copies of Mendicant Bias, or at least, the bit of MB that was on the Dreadnought in High Charity.
Interestingly, I read today on the Cryptum Glossary page on Waypoint, these 3 stuck out to me in a row, concerning Mendicant Bias:
Ok so, we know that Mendicant Bias (05-032) is a Contender-class ancilla, which is the highest of the Metarch-level of ancillas (of which there would less than 5 at any given time). So Mendicant at one point was in control of most of Forerunner society through his Metarchy (which could exists in countless numbers of ships) before and after going rampant. Just something to think about, anyway, concerning his so-called burial and seeming reawakening during Halo 3's events as we see in the terminals...
Just for fun, I'm going to assume that Offensive Bias' designation was either 04-016, if they get replacement designations, or since he was made after Mendicant, 06-064.
--
Thinking about it, your rampant speculation reminds me, Fred Tatasciore voiced both 049 and the Covenant AI in the Terminals (also did Saren in Mass Effect). It would hilarious if it were that simple
Didact > SovereignMmmm no, the geth gets more intelligent the more they are, the prometheans knights have no inteligence at all unless the leader unit gives them a command they are pretty dormant.