WhiteRabbitEXE
Member
Stinkles is too busy with his main job, browsing Off Topic.
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Halo Lore Thread
- Thread starter Korten
- Start date
Stinkles is too busy with his main job, browsing Off Topic.
7DollarHagane
Banned
so the only halo book i read was Fall of Reach and the adaptation of the first game "the flood" which was absolutely dreadful.
I do love the series and the stories. Which are worth reading up on? There are a LOT of books..
I do love the series and the stories. Which are worth reading up on? There are a LOT of books..
I'm re-reading the entire series again to catch up in time for Halo 5.
The Fall of Reach was excellent and The Flood was a more straightforward adaptation. I recommend following through and reading First Strike, which is the next book released after The Flood (follows the surviving Spartan-IIs on Reach and what they did while Master Chief was at the first Halo ring). Terrific book.
From there, it's fair-game to go for Contact Harvest, The Cole Protocol, or continue where First Strike left off with Ghosts of Onyx, also an excellent book if I recall correctly. The former two are set in-between, starring separate protagonists in different places and eras (Sgt. Johnson and Gray Team, respectively).
I haven't read beyond Ghosts of Onyx but I've heard good things about Grasslands and the Forerunner trilogy.
Btw, are the 2010/2011 Tor reprints of the original three books worth getting, for anyone that's got them and seen the differences/additions?
WhiteRabbitEXE
Member
The differences in the books themselves are completely negligible, but the added short stories are worth a read I'd say. They're not particularly substantial, but they're good reads and open up some interesting doors. Including one a story that introduced Petra Janecek (of HuntTheTruth and Halo: Escalation) with an intriguing note about the Ark/Array that has yet to pay off.
wesleyshark
Banned
Cryptum
Primordium
Silentium
Broken Circle
First Strike
Ghosts of Onyx
Glasslands
The Thursday War
Mortal Dictata
Hunters in the Dark
--Halo 4 happens here--
Saint's Testimony
SmartWaffles
Member
Went to a launch party of sorts for the Chinese version of MCC, Frankie was there, he
confirmed that Saint's Testimony will have some ties with Hunt the Truth Season 2.
Captain Zyrain
Member
o rly??
Could see an AI potentially helping someone outside of ONI?
Or
BB
wesleyshark
Banned
Holy shit... Just read Escalation 19 and 20...
...could it be
?
Majorly Spoilery Links: http://imgur.com/7Dg7hcn
http://imgur.com/bg0t0lw
...could it be
Offensive Bias
Majorly Spoilery Links: http://imgur.com/7Dg7hcn
And compare that to Mendicant Bias:
Notice the lack of glyph in the Escalation image and color of the eyes.
Captain Zyrain
Member
wesleyshark
Banned
Two very solid issues. Escalation has continued to improve over time, and it's really picking up steam as The Absolute Record arc begins. And Holy shit at that last panel.
Captain Zyrain
Member
Seriously.. I think I pondered that OB could have been sent to the Absolute Record a few pages back. Since he wasn't on the Ark (where I'd realistically assume he'd be stationed), he had to either go somewhere else important or with the remaining Forerunners out of the galaxy.
Really excited to see how this ties into what we know about Halo 5. Either they're going to break or unleash something...
wesleyshark
Banned
A side by side comparison (spoilery to the latest Escalation issue): http://imgur.com/qDKon3X
Captain Zyrain
Member
I read somewhere that the symbol on the new monitor was of 'the Mantle' but I'm not versed enough in my glyphs to know if that's correct or not.
It kind of looks like half the Janus key.
It kind of looks like half the Janus key.
wesleyshark
Banned
It's an eld for the Mantle of Responsibility- and yep- each half of the Janus key is the same shape as the center of the eld.
Like-a-so: (courtesy of Haruspis):
Captain Zyrain
Member
It seems backwards on the new character.. wonder if that's significant or just an artistic mistake or reflection/etc.
I suppose I could see it being a new character.. but it sure would be cool to get some Silentium payoff
Edit.. for posterity.. if it happens, I TOTALLY CALLED IT(TM)!
I suppose I could see it being a new character.. but it sure would be cool to get some Silentium payoff
Edit.. for posterity.. if it happens, I TOTALLY CALLED IT(TM)!
Ooooh.. maybe Offensive Bias resides in the!Absolute Record
Samurai G0SU
Member
wesleyshark
Banned
Can't help but wonder if whatever happens at the Absolute Record will be tied into what Cortana tells Chief about the Domain being open. Perhaps this will also be what causes the Guardians to awaken?
Captain Zyrain
Member
That would make sense.. I suppose. At least regarding the Guardians. If the Absolute Record can show the location of every remaining Forerunner machine, it stands to reason it could activate them as well perhaps.
How it ties into the Domain.. who knows. I suppose if they find something that lets them tap into it like the Forerunners did, it could be revealed that the Domain just closed itself to Forerunners, and has been waiting for humanity to make contact.
The whole idea about why the Forerunners were dooming themselves to destroying the Domain was that it was embedded into the neural physics of the Precursor structures themselves; and since the Halo array disrupts that and annihilates Precursor structures, so too went the Domain.
If they bring it back in some form, I expect they're going to have to explain exactly how it survived when it would seem its very storage medium was destroyed, and whether the Domain and the knowledge of the Graveminds is in fact a distinction without a difference, or they operate by different principles.
Captain Zyrain
Member
I imagine they COULD say that the Forerunners intimate knowledge of the Precursor technology.. and thus the Domain wasn't extensive enough to really 'know' how it works exactly. Perhaps the Domain is eternal, but the Precursor structures merely acted as 'receivers' to attenuate the Domain into our Galaxy or something.
I am still going to be very curious how they work getting access to it again.. and how humans get access to it, since I don't think that has ever been done before. I assume the two issues will be tightly related.
Really learning everything we know about the Domain made me think the Forerunners were as dumb as a bunch of rocks. You are using a device of unknown origins that does not actually store your information correctly, objectively, or even for long periods of time stably. And you found your courts and society on this? It's like we stored all of our history on hard drives that would randomly flip bits and turn the Declaration of Independence into a cat video, and shrug and say "hey, it's sacred."
Captain Zyrain
Member
Haha exactly!
I remember they mentioned somewhere in the Forerunner trilogy that all the information about the Forerunner/Precursor war was 'buried' and inaccessible by people of that time. I wonder who did that?
Perhaps the ancient Forerunner had a better control over the Domain, or a better link to it?
Then all the descendants just took it for granted. Kind of like how we'll start doing with the internet I'm sure.
wesleyshark
Banned
LordOfChaos
Member
Do I need to read the two before those? Couldn't get into them at first. Is it more or less self-contained, so I can start back at 19 to continue with Halsey and co?
Captain Zyrain
Member
Really you should read:
Escalation 13-16 "Janus Key" arc
then
Escalation 19-24 "Absolute Record" arc
But we're only to 20 now so you have time!
Artwork for issue 23...
LordOfChaos
Member
Check, that's what I was wondering, if 17 and 18 were skippable. I've read all of them before them, but when they started a new arc it didn't grab my attention in the 30 seconds my attention span gave it, lol. I just wanted to get right to the Absolute Record.
Captain Zyrain
Member
17 & 18 introduces Spartan Tanaka who is in the next arc, and Halo 5, but it's nothing critical just character backstory really.
wesleyshark
Banned
Librarian yessss
Stinkles is in Shanghai at chinajoy.
This post comes to you from Occidental Topic.
LordOfChaos
Member
To justify it in my head-canon I went with convergent technology, just like convergent evolution. Maybe they both rely on crystals for high speed processing, and so they were compatible in that way, and as for the physical shape of the port maybe the covanant one could just adapt to any insert to accomodate legacy tech as well as other covanant species tech.
Captain Zyrain
Member
AI data chips made of Playdough.. confirmed!
wesleyshark
Banned
I've always chalked that off to simply being a player-friendly animation sequence. *insert Cortana into console* *she does stuff* For me, I never really need a good explanation as to how or why- it seemed to be a more simple way to handle it without having to surround it with exposition, etc.
LordOfChaos
Member
But think about if we always had this stream of magical information, from the time we were just becoming a society. I think we may just find it sacred as well, and unlike real world religions of today, there would be an unrefutable collective experience of it to constantly reinforce it.
The covenant are a good analogy - finding Forerunner tech when you're already an advanced society like the humans is one thing. Growing up on plains with it when you're banging rocks together and flinging poop (or whatever ancient Sangheili and San'Shyuum did) is quite another, and the covenant ended up thinking of them as sacred, while we didn't.
I think it would be similar.
And things being flipped to cat videos? Have you SEEN the internet? We would definitely find that sacred!
In other news, done Escalation issue 20 - dat last panel indeed.
LegalEagleMike
Member
Excited to see how the Halo Wars 2 story takes shape.
Damn that looks awesome.Really you should read:
Escalation 13-16 "Janus Key" arc
then
Escalation 19-24 "Absolute Record" arc
But we're only to 20 now so you have time!
Artwork for issue 23...
We will see. I don't think you can disregard it until we actually have the game in-hand. But they certainly were more like non-canon trailer hype pieces than normal cinematics.
Who says Forge is returning? The guy in the trailer looked like a Spartan without his helmet.
Kev Kev
Member
I've read all the novels except Broken Circle, New Blood, Hunters in the Dark and Saints Testimony. I plan to catch up on reading those but I've haven't touched Initiation or Escalation.
From what I can tell, Initiation doesn't contain a whole lot of important info as far as understanding the current state of Halo's lore, but I'd be more than happy to read them if they do. Now, Escalation seems to super important so I will certainly be checking those out before Halo 5 comes out. Don't get me wrong, I want to read all of the books/comics because I'm a Halo nut, but I'm sort of running out of time here.
So I was hoping someone could help me out deciding which novels/comics are most essential to having a solid understanding of the events and plot points leading up to Halo 5. I'm just not sure that with my busy schedule I'll have the time to read trough all of them. I'm just looking to read the most important ones first, and read the rest if I can find the time to do so before H5 comes out. Thanks!
From what I can tell, Initiation doesn't contain a whole lot of important info as far as understanding the current state of Halo's lore, but I'd be more than happy to read them if they do. Now, Escalation seems to super important so I will certainly be checking those out before Halo 5 comes out. Don't get me wrong, I want to read all of the books/comics because I'm a Halo nut, but I'm sort of running out of time here.
So I was hoping someone could help me out deciding which novels/comics are most essential to having a solid understanding of the events and plot points leading up to Halo 5. I'm just not sure that with my busy schedule I'll have the time to read trough all of them. I'm just looking to read the most important ones first, and read the rest if I can find the time to do so before H5 comes out. Thanks!
Captain Zyrain
Member
I'd say to get the most out of Halo 5.. you should have a firm knowledge of:
Halo 4
The Kilo 5 Trilogy
The Forerunner Trilogy
Halo: Escalation
* Issues 8-10 "The Next 72 Hours"
* Issues 13-16 "The Janus Key"
* Issues 19-24 "The Absolute Record"
* The other issues are good, but likely not ESSENTIAL.
Hunters in the Dark
New Blood & Saints Testimony will likely add color to the overall Halo 5 experience but if you've played ODST and are comfortable with the idea of Buck as a Spartan, you can probably do without, but I'd still wholeheartedly recommend both of those.
Halo 4
The Kilo 5 Trilogy
The Forerunner Trilogy
Halo: Escalation
* Issues 8-10 "The Next 72 Hours"
* Issues 13-16 "The Janus Key"
* Issues 19-24 "The Absolute Record"
* The other issues are good, but likely not ESSENTIAL.
Hunters in the Dark
New Blood & Saints Testimony will likely add color to the overall Halo 5 experience but if you've played ODST and are comfortable with the idea of Buck as a Spartan, you can probably do without, but I'd still wholeheartedly recommend both of those.
Killer Queen
Banned
I haven't been into Halo lore since like, 2011/2012 and after Halo 4 had very little payoff I kinda gave it up for a while but things seem to be getting interesting and I'm considering picking it back up in my free time, but, where do I even start? The books I have are:
Fall of Reach
Forerunner trilogy
Ghosts of Onyx
Glasslands
Though I haven't read ghosts of Onyx(someone left it at my house and I expected them to come get it, but they live on the other side of the country now) and I couldn't finish Glasslands or Silentium because they were kinda boring. I know before that the current day military stuff and the forerunner stuff wasn't very heavily connected so it wasn't hard to read one without the other, is it still that way and is there new material that focuses on those aspects of the Halo universe more than "modern day" stuff or is it all largely connected now?
Fall of Reach
Forerunner trilogy
Ghosts of Onyx
Glasslands
Though I haven't read ghosts of Onyx(someone left it at my house and I expected them to come get it, but they live on the other side of the country now) and I couldn't finish Glasslands or Silentium because they were kinda boring. I know before that the current day military stuff and the forerunner stuff wasn't very heavily connected so it wasn't hard to read one without the other, is it still that way and is there new material that focuses on those aspects of the Halo universe more than "modern day" stuff or is it all largely connected now?
Captain Zyrain
Member
I... I.. uh.. I ...
Read Silentium. It's important, and amazing. Super Duper likely to be important going forward.
So is Ghosts of Onyx.
Everything is mostly connected at this point, at least stuff is being referenced a lot more.
But seriously.. Silentium. Now.
Was this ever posted? Sorry if it was.
Thought it would be useful for some.
That's a great chart. Was that an official image from the Halowaypoint site?
I got it from Halopedia but I think it might be from Halo Intel as when I google search the image, multiple links go to that website.
Honestly Forge was the least interesting character in the series, so there's no point trying to come up with a convoluted reason (I guess it would involve "I randomly picked the portal that lead out of the shield world" or something. You can replace him with any sarcastic renegade Marine.