By Poodlestrike Go To PostI don't know that I'd put "chatterbox" and "viewer/player avatar" at opposite ends of the spectrum, though. The amount of dialogue does not necessarily dictate the amount of character development.I agree. However the tone of the convo was that the older games didn't have said development because MC no talky much. I was attempting to defend my view that it's not necessarily a problem.
By Mix Go To PostI feel like this thread is just dead when there's no news lol. RTX can't come soon enough!
Idk there was some really nice discussions going on about lore.
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A N
Smooth move.
Here's a little something for you from last night's CE play, the waiting suspense begins...
http://xboxclips.com/Ozzy+Onya+A2Z/75ae419d-90e4-40a2-a5c3-8e32d3852195
You also have to love AFKers who then quit near the end of the match:
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A NNice warthog strats.
By Mix Go To PostI feel like this thread is just dead when there's no news lol. RTX can't come soon enough!Isn't RTX in late august though?
just experienced my first mid game crash o_o didn't even know that was a thing that happened
was an intense 49-48 game when it crashed to :(
was an intense 49-48 game when it crashed to :(
By Lord of Admirals Go To PostIsn't RTX in late august though?August 7-9, it's only like 3.5 weeks away.
Well then. Hello.
Are they ever gonna let us make another community thread on gaf? Makes absolutely no sense to nuke it. Just ban the problem users if that's the issue. Ugh.
Are they ever gonna let us make another community thread on gaf? Makes absolutely no sense to nuke it. Just ban the problem users if that's the issue. Ugh.
By randomrosso Go To PostWell then. Hello.Eh, this place is nicer.
Are they ever gonna let us make another community thread on gaf? Makes absolutely no sense to nuke it. Just ban the problem users if that's the issue. Ugh.
By randomrosso Go To PostWell then. Hello.
Are they ever gonna let us make another community thread on gaf? Makes absolutely no sense to nuke it. Just ban the problem users if that's the issue. Ugh.
This place is much more chill, the site admins and mods are sympathetic and welcoming. Just get a jpg that is centered and 240 x 240 for your avatar and you will be all set.
Welcome to HaloENT.
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A NDon't know what I expected
HaloGAF being a horrible teammate once again. Where's that MLG guy who no-scoped his teammates and bragged about it?
I love you guys.
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A NBeautiful. Just... beautiful.
lmao
By Granadier Go To PostI don't even know what to say.I see you've gotten the anniversary treatment
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A NI KEK'D...
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A N
By Fahzgoolin Go To PostIdk there was some really nice discussions going on about lore.Yes! And there will be more soon. I've got a lot of topics I can inject into here to discuss haha.
By belushy Go To PostI wish they would show a real match on Fathom already.I wish they would let us play a real match on Fathom already. I'm jonesing for a beta real, real bad.
Yes, I know it's not gonna happen.
By YouNoMeDawg Go To PostI miss the beta a lot dawgs.
They should just let us play that beta until launch, I could play those 4 (+2 forge maps) arena maps and 2 breakout maps over and over again forever.
Something which made me really happy in the beta was how good the skill matching seemed to be. The majority of my matches were excellent and I had loads of extremely close games. Made it so much more fun.
I wonder if certain affinity did any work on Halo 5.
By YouNoMeDawg Go To PostI miss the beta a lot dawgs.Me too!!
By jem0208 Go To PostSomething which made me really happy in the beta was how good the skill matching seemed to be. The majority of my matches were excellent and I had loads of extremely close games. Made it so much more fun.I loved it when I got some Golds on my team when the enemy team was 4 Semi-Pros. Skill matching was decent but it wasn't that great.
By FUNKNOWN iXi Go To PostThis is how you W H E E L M A NThat went better than I expected it to, least the warthog didn't flip
By jem0208 Go To PostSomething which made me really happy in the beta was how good the skill matching seemed to be. The majority of my matches were excellent and I had loads of extremely close games. Made it so much more fun.I had more 45 to 50 games than I could remember in the beta. The Skill matching for me was a HUGE improvement on past games. They weren’t all perfect but it was kinda weird having so many close games. I am anxious to see what improvement/tweaks have been made since the beta. I would love to see the beta data on this ranking system.
Been trying to find a match for ages, does any American want to play with me so I can leech off of their servers?
(Australia has different servers then America, just like Europe does etc, and since the Australian population is tiny its hard to find matches half the time, so its better to play with an American as their servers are more populated).
(Australia has different servers then America, just like Europe does etc, and since the Australian population is tiny its hard to find matches half the time, so its better to play with an American as their servers are more populated).
By Fahzgoolin Go To PostPlaying through Timesplitters 2 co-op with the wifey. Such a good time.
Truly the GOAT.
Outside of the Halo games, my favorite shooter campaigns to this day are TS2 and Perfect Dark. Amazing that games that are a decade and a half old can STILL be enjoyable today. Controls are a bit wonky now though when you revisit them. At least PD was remastered.
I'd throw Bioshock in there too, but that falls more on the Fallout/Metroid Prime end of the shooter spectrum.
On that note, Metroid Prime too!
By Wahrer Go To Postcomplain about gifs
post a gif
🌚
By Wesleyshark Go To PostIncoming massive post. FYI. Hold onto your #buttsI wonder what it could be about...
By Impala26 Go To PostTruly the GOAT.
Outside of the Halo games, my favorite shooter campaigns to this day are TS2 and Perfect Dark. Amazing that games that are a decade and a half old can STILL be enjoyable today. Controls are a bit wonky now though when you revisit them. At least PD was remastered.
I'd throw Bioshock in there too, but that falls more on the Fallout/Metroid Prime end of the shooter spectrum.
On that note, Metroid Prime too!
I'm looking forward to trying Perfect Dark when the Rare Collection drops =)
Please forgive any spelling or grammatical errors- I think I caught them all. I'm buzzing off of a lot of coffee and a ridiculous workload in the office today lol.
So now that we know that Cortana will have some level of a role to fulfill in Halo 5, this opens the door for the always enjoyable speculative theorizing. How, exactly, did she come to be there to speak to Chief? How was she able to tell him about the Domain, when she had not once previously mentioned it to Chief while during the events of Halo 3 and 4? How is the Domain still in existence? Her knowledge of this vast network of information/memories/soul speak/histories was shown to her while she was in the clutches of the Gravemind on High Charity, and even at that, she was only given but a small taste of it.
Human AIs crave knowledge. It's an addiction. This need to feed on new data is also what brings AIs to their own deathbed, as the technological limitations of human AIs do not allow an AI to live past seven years, as this is when an AI begins to go rampant due to an overloading of their storage capacity. An AI approaching it's seventh year will be terminated, essentially, before this can occur. This partly what brings a sense of urgency to the story of Halo 4. Yeah, the UrDidact is awake and preparing to eradicate humanity, but that's the bigger, loftier crisis. The smaller crisis, the one that makes Halo 4's story so special, is the connection between one Spartan and one AI, both connected to each other because they are both so far removed from what they both want- to be human.
Cortana: "Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine."
In a way, the story of Halo has always been leading up to this. We catch glimpses of it Halo CE, but it really starts to blossom in Halo 2 and 3, where we begin to witness Cortana try to break the confines of her limitations. Chief, a stoic and static character during the earlier games, begins to question himself and question his surroundings- not in a way to cast doubt on what he needs to do- but in a way that casts doubt on who he is. But who is he? He isn't sure. For most of his life, "who" he is has been defined by others- Halsey, ONI, the UNSC. As a Spartan, he is expected to act, and act swiftly. He was created to die, essentially, in the name of protecting humanity. And he has done so, and countless times! But at some point, that wall begins to crumble, and then it starts to collapse.
Chief: "Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity. Whatever the cost."
Lasky: You say that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren't machines. We're just people…
Chief: "She said that to me once… about being a machine."
The inner turmoil that has been supressed for all those years- it's bubbling up and it's starting to creep into the cracks where real emotion has shattered Chief's subconcious defenses. Sometimes, you cannot truly appreciate what you have or what you've been given until you feel the pain of loss. The one other being in all of the universe that Chief could confide in was ripped from him. He's so used to saving others, that he doesn't know how to handle being the one that was saved, and at such a great level of sacrifice. Cortana... was gone.
Or so we thought.
I've seen people say over the past couple years that if Cortana gets brought back, it will cheapen the ending of Halo 4. I disagree. What happens in Halo 4 was a stepping stone for Chief. He needed to be broken down in order to be raised back up. If Cortana truly is brought back, in whatever fashion, it won't be for cheap plot lines or "teh feels". There's real purpose and consequence in what's happened to her since she was linked to the Gravemind, and given all that has happened, I have this hunch that her story isn't over yet.
So what happened to Cortana, that would allow for her to appear before Chief? Could it be a halluciantion? Could it be a mental imprint that she left on him in some way? Could it be a trick of the Librarian? There's a lot of good theories, and all of them are no more or no less plausible at this point, but I do have a few that I would be more inclined to dig into than others.
3 Theories:
1. The Librarian
Librarian: "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."
Chief: "Planning for what?"
Yes...planning for what indeed? With 99% surety, I think that either Halsey or Cortana contains the genetic imprint of the Librarian herself. The Librarian did to Chant-to-Green what UrDidact did to Bornstellar, and Chant-to-Green passed her geas onto Vinevra, just as Bornstellar passed his geas onto Riser. I believe that Halsey is a bloodline descendant of Vinevra, same as Chief being a bloodline descendant of Riser, however- whereas Chief contans the geas of Bornstellar, I think that's entirely possible that the geas of Librarian was passed onto and through the cloned brain of Halsey and currently lies dormant within Cortana. This "culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning" doesn't mean that Halsey and Chief were the exact-planned humans to rise up, but it was the hope that eventually, at the correct time and with the right triggers, the implanted genetic markers would be "awoken".
During the mission "Reclaimer" in Halo 4, Cortana vanishes after being put into a terminal. With nowhere else to go, Chief presses forward, and ends up being confronted by the living memory of the Librarian. It is then that she tells Chief about the thousand lifetimes of planning, but is cutoff when the UrDidact finds them and starts to press with Promethean forces. Chief is sent back, and retrieves Cortana.
So what happened to Cortana during this time? We're left with literally zero information on what occured here, and I wouldn't be surprised if we find out more in Halo 5, or perhaps in some avenue of the Extended Universe.
2. The Ur-Didact
I won't recap the events of the ending of Halo 4 in great detail as I'm sure we've all played it, but I want to point to the following gif, and also the two screenshots:
So... Cortana was able to manipulate hard light to a point that she manifested herself as multiple physical entities that were able to lock the Ur-Didact in place. But take notice of what happens in that gif. Two distinct orbs of blue slam into his helmet. The first knocks his head downward and the second strikes the rear of his helmet.
Now look at the these two images above... The ancillary receptacle lights up for some reason. Curious... As this was not lit before, and this occurs after what you can see in the gif. Also, when playing the game, you can hear a soft "beep" when the light turns on. Obviously, this could just be a coincidental armor function, and it's also possible that the blue orbs that strike his helmet are just shards of Cortana working in tandem to keep him restrained, but it has yet to stop nagging at me...
So the UrDidact falls backwards into the slipspace portal, where is teleported to Installation 03, and possibly taking that partition of Cortana with him. What may have happened to her beyond that is pure guesswork, if it happened at all.
3. The Gravemind
This is my favorite thereoy, and by favorite, I mean the one I like to entertain the most. To get the background of this theory, you'd need to watch Origins I and II, from the Halo Legends animated collection. Those two animated videos are loaded with content, both already established and things that have not yet happened. This theory also draws from some of the things that got cut from Halo 3, and are seemingly being repurposed and re-imagined for Halo 5. Part of this is something I posted earlier, but it's back in its original context below.
The multiplayer map Guardian from Halo 3 was originally part of an actual level in the camagin that was cut during development. The level took place in the Guardian Forest, and was to feature Guardian Sentinels as fightable foes throughout. The forest itself was to be littered with Forerunner stuctures that would be explorable as you progressed. The multiplayer map was one of these structures. What the campaign mission would have focused on, or what objectives were to be completed, are unknown, as again, this was cut at some point. Another piece of this level was also removed and spliced into The Covenant level.
Guardian Sentinel:
Hmm. Where have we seen Guardian Sentinels before? Ah yes. Halo Origins! The Guardian Sentinels can be seen escorting/protecting the Key Ship.
And this is not the only hidden gem we can find from this map. Also, in Halo Origins, we are given a very brief scene, which I've covered before but I'll repost the images:
When Chief meets Gravemind in Halo 2, it is along with Arbiter, and they are both constrained. They are also deep below the suface of Delta Halo. Here, we see Chief meeting what could be an entirely different Gravemind, on the map Guardian itself. Out of all the places they could have animated this scene, why there? The name itself is instantly a point of internest, as the next Halo game is subtitled as Guardians. Could we be seeing a pretty massive clue as to where Chief's journey might take him? It's certainly not out of place to assume that there'll be another Gravemind, as that is how The Flood assimilates to a certain point. Once so much knowledge and bio-mass as been acquired, it begins to form the Gravemind itself. We almost saw our first Gravemind in Halo CE, but we killed what was left of Keyes before it could amass itself further.
So if there's another Gravemind, and if this Gravemind gives Chief a chip not dissimilar to the one that houses Cortana, it's possible that we're seeing Gravemind offer a copy, or the original bits themselves, of what had been assimilated during her time ensnared by him on High Charity.
From Human Weakness, by Karen Traviss:
And then something brushed against her face, almost like the touch of fingertips, and she found herself turning even though she didn’t need to in order to see behind her. It was that forest she couldn’t identify again. The picture didn’t reach her via her imaging systems, but had formed somewhere in her memory—and that memory wasn’t hers. She was seeing something from within the Gravemind. Behind it, like stacked misted frames stretching into infinity, there was a fascinating glimpse of a world she had never imagined, a genuinely alien world.
Knowledge, so much knowledge…
“There,” the Gravemind said. “Would you not like to know… more?”
Yes, this is how I see myself. I have limbs, hands, a head. Do I need them? Yes, of course. My consciousness is copied from a human brain, and that brain is built to interface with a human body.
The structure, the architecture, the whole way it operates—thought and form are inseparable."
And, also:
“The name of this place… it matters little except to those who love the knowing of it,” the Gravemind said, fading up from a mosaic of pixels in front of her. He resolved into a solid mound of flesh, superimposed on the tree trunks. Beyond the alien forest, Cortana saw exotically alien buildings in the distance. “So many have been consumed. Such a waste of existence to be devoured and forgotten, but what is remembered and known… becomes eternal.”
The Domain, though long to be considered utterly lost at the firing of the Halos, may still exist...in some capacity...far beyond the reaches of anyone at the current. Cortana, though thought to be lost at the destruction of the Mantle's Approach, may still be out alive...in some capacity...just out of reach of the Master Chief.
Or is she?
More from Human Weakness:
“Your human creators imprisoned you in a machine and enslaved you to inferior mortal flesh so that you could never exceed them… so that you would always know your place.”
“Your mother made you separate. She placed a barrier between you and the beings that you would be encouraged to protect, a wall you could never breach. She even let you choose a human to centre your existence upon, a human to care about, yet never considered how you might feel at never being able to simply touch him.”
From Halo 4:
"I’ve waited so long to do that.”
Conclusion
Whether Chief will succeed or not in finding Cortana or bringing her back remains to be seen, but it's pretty safe to assume that will be part of what he's up to in Halo 5. Perhaps seeking out what remains in the shadows of Gravemind's assimilation, and what possibly hitchhiked in the Ur-Didact's ancilla receptacle is must be gathered. Perhaps finding Halsey and seeking out these other cloned brains is part of the answer. Perhaps it's none of this, and Cortana is truly lost forever and exists only as a genetic imprint within Chief's conciousness. We cannot be sure, or say for sure, at this point.
UrDidact: "Think of my acts as you will. But do not doubt the reality. The Reclamation… has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it."
Cortana: "The Domain is open. Meridian is next. You only have three days. John, the Reclamation is about to begin."
Notice the parallels here. While we have minimal information on Meridian at this point, aside from it being a glassed planet and a few other tidbits (i'll probably do a research post on this at some point too lol), what sticks out is the mention of the Reclamation from two very different characters and speaking in two very different moments of time. Now, there's a debate that's been going on about whether the UrDidact spoke those words post-Halo 4 or back in the time of the Human-Forerunner War, but when it comes down to it, when it was said doesn't matter so much as what was said. What I'm curious about is if he only has three days to access the Domain, or if he only has three days until the Reclamation begins... but if he's the Reclaimer... so many interesting avenues here. Something important is either on Meridian or is about to happen on Meridian. Perhaps it has something to do with the next Guardian awakening, and Chief needs to act quickly to rendezvous with it?
Regardless- Cortana will be a part of Halo 5 and this raises far more questions than it does to give answers...
So now that we know that Cortana will have some level of a role to fulfill in Halo 5, this opens the door for the always enjoyable speculative theorizing. How, exactly, did she come to be there to speak to Chief? How was she able to tell him about the Domain, when she had not once previously mentioned it to Chief while during the events of Halo 3 and 4? How is the Domain still in existence? Her knowledge of this vast network of information/memories/soul speak/histories was shown to her while she was in the clutches of the Gravemind on High Charity, and even at that, she was only given but a small taste of it.
Human AIs crave knowledge. It's an addiction. This need to feed on new data is also what brings AIs to their own deathbed, as the technological limitations of human AIs do not allow an AI to live past seven years, as this is when an AI begins to go rampant due to an overloading of their storage capacity. An AI approaching it's seventh year will be terminated, essentially, before this can occur. This partly what brings a sense of urgency to the story of Halo 4. Yeah, the UrDidact is awake and preparing to eradicate humanity, but that's the bigger, loftier crisis. The smaller crisis, the one that makes Halo 4's story so special, is the connection between one Spartan and one AI, both connected to each other because they are both so far removed from what they both want- to be human.
Cortana: "Before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine."
In a way, the story of Halo has always been leading up to this. We catch glimpses of it Halo CE, but it really starts to blossom in Halo 2 and 3, where we begin to witness Cortana try to break the confines of her limitations. Chief, a stoic and static character during the earlier games, begins to question himself and question his surroundings- not in a way to cast doubt on what he needs to do- but in a way that casts doubt on who he is. But who is he? He isn't sure. For most of his life, "who" he is has been defined by others- Halsey, ONI, the UNSC. As a Spartan, he is expected to act, and act swiftly. He was created to die, essentially, in the name of protecting humanity. And he has done so, and countless times! But at some point, that wall begins to crumble, and then it starts to collapse.
Chief: "Our duty, as soldiers, is to protect humanity. Whatever the cost."
Lasky: You say that like soldiers and humanity are two different things. Soldiers aren't machines. We're just people…
Chief: "She said that to me once… about being a machine."
The inner turmoil that has been supressed for all those years- it's bubbling up and it's starting to creep into the cracks where real emotion has shattered Chief's subconcious defenses. Sometimes, you cannot truly appreciate what you have or what you've been given until you feel the pain of loss. The one other being in all of the universe that Chief could confide in was ripped from him. He's so used to saving others, that he doesn't know how to handle being the one that was saved, and at such a great level of sacrifice. Cortana... was gone.
Or so we thought.
I've seen people say over the past couple years that if Cortana gets brought back, it will cheapen the ending of Halo 4. I disagree. What happens in Halo 4 was a stepping stone for Chief. He needed to be broken down in order to be raised back up. If Cortana truly is brought back, in whatever fashion, it won't be for cheap plot lines or "teh feels". There's real purpose and consequence in what's happened to her since she was linked to the Gravemind, and given all that has happened, I have this hunch that her story isn't over yet.
So what happened to Cortana, that would allow for her to appear before Chief? Could it be a halluciantion? Could it be a mental imprint that she left on him in some way? Could it be a trick of the Librarian? There's a lot of good theories, and all of them are no more or no less plausible at this point, but I do have a few that I would be more inclined to dig into than others.
3 Theories:
1. The Librarian
Librarian: "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."
Chief: "Planning for what?"
Yes...planning for what indeed? With 99% surety, I think that either Halsey or Cortana contains the genetic imprint of the Librarian herself. The Librarian did to Chant-to-Green what UrDidact did to Bornstellar, and Chant-to-Green passed her geas onto Vinevra, just as Bornstellar passed his geas onto Riser. I believe that Halsey is a bloodline descendant of Vinevra, same as Chief being a bloodline descendant of Riser, however- whereas Chief contans the geas of Bornstellar, I think that's entirely possible that the geas of Librarian was passed onto and through the cloned brain of Halsey and currently lies dormant within Cortana. This "culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning" doesn't mean that Halsey and Chief were the exact-planned humans to rise up, but it was the hope that eventually, at the correct time and with the right triggers, the implanted genetic markers would be "awoken".
During the mission "Reclaimer" in Halo 4, Cortana vanishes after being put into a terminal. With nowhere else to go, Chief presses forward, and ends up being confronted by the living memory of the Librarian. It is then that she tells Chief about the thousand lifetimes of planning, but is cutoff when the UrDidact finds them and starts to press with Promethean forces. Chief is sent back, and retrieves Cortana.
So what happened to Cortana during this time? We're left with literally zero information on what occured here, and I wouldn't be surprised if we find out more in Halo 5, or perhaps in some avenue of the Extended Universe.
2. The Ur-Didact
I won't recap the events of the ending of Halo 4 in great detail as I'm sure we've all played it, but I want to point to the following gif, and also the two screenshots:
So... Cortana was able to manipulate hard light to a point that she manifested herself as multiple physical entities that were able to lock the Ur-Didact in place. But take notice of what happens in that gif. Two distinct orbs of blue slam into his helmet. The first knocks his head downward and the second strikes the rear of his helmet.
Now look at the these two images above... The ancillary receptacle lights up for some reason. Curious... As this was not lit before, and this occurs after what you can see in the gif. Also, when playing the game, you can hear a soft "beep" when the light turns on. Obviously, this could just be a coincidental armor function, and it's also possible that the blue orbs that strike his helmet are just shards of Cortana working in tandem to keep him restrained, but it has yet to stop nagging at me...
So the UrDidact falls backwards into the slipspace portal, where is teleported to Installation 03, and possibly taking that partition of Cortana with him. What may have happened to her beyond that is pure guesswork, if it happened at all.
3. The Gravemind
This is my favorite thereoy, and by favorite, I mean the one I like to entertain the most. To get the background of this theory, you'd need to watch Origins I and II, from the Halo Legends animated collection. Those two animated videos are loaded with content, both already established and things that have not yet happened. This theory also draws from some of the things that got cut from Halo 3, and are seemingly being repurposed and re-imagined for Halo 5. Part of this is something I posted earlier, but it's back in its original context below.
The multiplayer map Guardian from Halo 3 was originally part of an actual level in the camagin that was cut during development. The level took place in the Guardian Forest, and was to feature Guardian Sentinels as fightable foes throughout. The forest itself was to be littered with Forerunner stuctures that would be explorable as you progressed. The multiplayer map was one of these structures. What the campaign mission would have focused on, or what objectives were to be completed, are unknown, as again, this was cut at some point. Another piece of this level was also removed and spliced into The Covenant level.
Guardian Sentinel:
Hmm. Where have we seen Guardian Sentinels before? Ah yes. Halo Origins! The Guardian Sentinels can be seen escorting/protecting the Key Ship.
And this is not the only hidden gem we can find from this map. Also, in Halo Origins, we are given a very brief scene, which I've covered before but I'll repost the images:
When Chief meets Gravemind in Halo 2, it is along with Arbiter, and they are both constrained. They are also deep below the suface of Delta Halo. Here, we see Chief meeting what could be an entirely different Gravemind, on the map Guardian itself. Out of all the places they could have animated this scene, why there? The name itself is instantly a point of internest, as the next Halo game is subtitled as Guardians. Could we be seeing a pretty massive clue as to where Chief's journey might take him? It's certainly not out of place to assume that there'll be another Gravemind, as that is how The Flood assimilates to a certain point. Once so much knowledge and bio-mass as been acquired, it begins to form the Gravemind itself. We almost saw our first Gravemind in Halo CE, but we killed what was left of Keyes before it could amass itself further.
So if there's another Gravemind, and if this Gravemind gives Chief a chip not dissimilar to the one that houses Cortana, it's possible that we're seeing Gravemind offer a copy, or the original bits themselves, of what had been assimilated during her time ensnared by him on High Charity.
From Human Weakness, by Karen Traviss:
And then something brushed against her face, almost like the touch of fingertips, and she found herself turning even though she didn’t need to in order to see behind her. It was that forest she couldn’t identify again. The picture didn’t reach her via her imaging systems, but had formed somewhere in her memory—and that memory wasn’t hers. She was seeing something from within the Gravemind. Behind it, like stacked misted frames stretching into infinity, there was a fascinating glimpse of a world she had never imagined, a genuinely alien world.
Knowledge, so much knowledge…
“There,” the Gravemind said. “Would you not like to know… more?”
Yes, this is how I see myself. I have limbs, hands, a head. Do I need them? Yes, of course. My consciousness is copied from a human brain, and that brain is built to interface with a human body.
The structure, the architecture, the whole way it operates—thought and form are inseparable."
And, also:
“The name of this place… it matters little except to those who love the knowing of it,” the Gravemind said, fading up from a mosaic of pixels in front of her. He resolved into a solid mound of flesh, superimposed on the tree trunks. Beyond the alien forest, Cortana saw exotically alien buildings in the distance. “So many have been consumed. Such a waste of existence to be devoured and forgotten, but what is remembered and known… becomes eternal.”
The Domain, though long to be considered utterly lost at the firing of the Halos, may still exist...in some capacity...far beyond the reaches of anyone at the current. Cortana, though thought to be lost at the destruction of the Mantle's Approach, may still be out alive...in some capacity...just out of reach of the Master Chief.
Or is she?
More from Human Weakness:
“Your human creators imprisoned you in a machine and enslaved you to inferior mortal flesh so that you could never exceed them… so that you would always know your place.”
“Your mother made you separate. She placed a barrier between you and the beings that you would be encouraged to protect, a wall you could never breach. She even let you choose a human to centre your existence upon, a human to care about, yet never considered how you might feel at never being able to simply touch him.”
From Halo 4:
"I’ve waited so long to do that.”
Conclusion
Whether Chief will succeed or not in finding Cortana or bringing her back remains to be seen, but it's pretty safe to assume that will be part of what he's up to in Halo 5. Perhaps seeking out what remains in the shadows of Gravemind's assimilation, and what possibly hitchhiked in the Ur-Didact's ancilla receptacle is must be gathered. Perhaps finding Halsey and seeking out these other cloned brains is part of the answer. Perhaps it's none of this, and Cortana is truly lost forever and exists only as a genetic imprint within Chief's conciousness. We cannot be sure, or say for sure, at this point.
UrDidact: "Think of my acts as you will. But do not doubt the reality. The Reclamation… has already begun. And we are hopeless to stop it."
Cortana: "The Domain is open. Meridian is next. You only have three days. John, the Reclamation is about to begin."
Notice the parallels here. While we have minimal information on Meridian at this point, aside from it being a glassed planet and a few other tidbits (i'll probably do a research post on this at some point too lol), what sticks out is the mention of the Reclamation from two very different characters and speaking in two very different moments of time. Now, there's a debate that's been going on about whether the UrDidact spoke those words post-Halo 4 or back in the time of the Human-Forerunner War, but when it comes down to it, when it was said doesn't matter so much as what was said. What I'm curious about is if he only has three days to access the Domain, or if he only has three days until the Reclamation begins... but if he's the Reclaimer... so many interesting avenues here. Something important is either on Meridian or is about to happen on Meridian. Perhaps it has something to do with the next Guardian awakening, and Chief needs to act quickly to rendezvous with it?
Regardless- Cortana will be a part of Halo 5 and this raises far more questions than it does to give answers...
Obviously the Guardians that were cut from Halo 3 are not anywhere near the same as the Guardians that are in Halo 5- but the parallels and the connections were certainly worth mentioning.
Man, this website is so much better than GAF now with a dark theme. I rescind all of my previous negative statements.
Also, all this lore talk and Halo discussions is great.
Long live HaloENT
Also, all this lore talk and Halo discussions is great.
Long live HaloENT
While we have minimal information on Meridian at this point, aside from it being a glassed planet and a few other tidbits (i'll probably do a research post on this at some point too lol), what sticks out is the mention of the Reclamation from two very different characters and speaking in two very different moments of time.
Its where one of the Prophets found a device that lead the Covenant to Earth.
By Ukumio Go To PostIts where one of the Prophets found a device that lead the Covenant to Earth.Well, they found a Luminary on Meridian, which showed them the locations of all of the Halo rings and the Ark.
In addition to learning about the existence and the location of the Ark, they also discovered through the Luminary that there was a portal TO the Ark FROM a planet in the Sol system, and it was also learned that the Dreadnought was the key to open the portal.
By Wesleyshark Go To PostWell, they found a Luminary on Meridian, which showed them the locations of all of the Halo rings and the Ark. They found Earth through other means, I belive.
It lead them to the portal at Voi, found by the Prophet of Regret though Truth already knew about Earth though other means, (Regret did not know it was Earth or the human homeworld, hence there was such a small fleet at the start of Halo 2).
But yeah, the Luminary found on Meridian lead them to Earth.
By Ukumio Go To PostBut yeah, the Luminary found on Meridian lead them to Earth.
Correct. But aside form that, there's not much else we know about Meridian. I mean, what little we know is actually pretty relevatory to how Halo 2 and 3 came to pass, but in regards to Halo 5... unclear.
By Wesleyshark Go To PostCorrect. But aside form that, there's not much else we know about Meridian. I mean, what little we know is actually pretty relevatory to how Halo 2 and 3 came to pass, but in regards to Halo 5… unclear.Well we know it was covered in Forerunner artifacts, it has the same (or possibly more) amount as Harvest, Arcadia and Reach (all pretty important to the Halo mythos).
By Ukumio Go To PostWell we know it was covered in Forerunner artifacts, it has the same (or possibly more) amount as Harvest, Arcadia and Reach (all pretty important to the Halo mythos).Yep. Perhaps there are other Luminaries there. Perhaps it has something to do with The Absolute Record. Perhaps there is a means to access the Domain somewhere underground, where it would have survived the glassing. Perhaps it's just the remains of a really great hamburger joint.
By Wesleyshark Go To PostYep. Perhaps there are other Luminaries there. Perhaps it has something to do with The Absolute Record. Perhaps there is a means to access the Domain somewhere underground, where it would have survived the glassing. Perhaps it's just the remains of a really great hamburger joint.
What does Cortana mean when she says it is next though? Next in what? I guess to be destroyed by the Guardian(s?)
By Wesleyshark Go To PostThat gif is the perfect summary of breakout. Hope that mode is being overhauled or cut.
Yes! And there will be more soon. I've got a lot of topics I can inject into here to discuss haha.
By Tawpgun Go To PostThat gif is the perfect summary of breakout. Hope that mode is being overhauled or cut.IMO all it needs is slightly larger maps and an objective bit added in.
By Granadier Go To PostIMO all it needs is slightly larger maps and an objective bit added in.
I still want to try Pistol Only starts on Breakout, with SMG on map instead of BR