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Halo 4 Story Spoilers and Speculations

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Could you figure out whats going on with the Brutes? While they are obviously rebelling against the Elites how to they stand with humanity?

Humanity destroyed the Brutes only chance they had to be a prominent species in the Covenant and the galaxy.

Although it's far more likely we'll see the Brutes and the Elites fight for the next few years (see The Return mini story in Evolutions). They've never really liked each other before the Schism, and afterwards, less so. Especially when you consider the blame being levied on the Brutes on Sanghelios for the cowardly bombings at the end of Glasslands.
 
Im just wondering, with the inclusion of a Gravity Hammer in Halo 4s SP and confirmation that we will not fight them if the Brutes may ally themselves with humans occasionally. While I do not think its likely, I wouldn't find it completely unbelievable either, especially if those Brutes had a bone to pick with the Elites and had equal reason to fear the Didact.
 

Vire

Member
Im just wondering, with the inclusion of a Gravity Hammer in Halo 4s SP and confirmation that we will not fight them if the Brutes may ally themselves with humans occasionally. While I do not think its likely, I wouldn't find it completely unbelievable either, especially if those Brutes had a bone to pick with the Elites and had equal reason to fear the Didact.

They'd have an awful hard time selling me on that one...
 
So, I wonder if there will be native ancient humans on Requiem:

Halo4_sketch2_sized.jpg

"This last image was for a concept in which an ancient technology sitting undisturbed for eons is finally discovered by a young native boy"

I also noticed that looks a lot like the Didacts Cryptum in that ruin.

They'd have an awful hard time selling me on that one...

Well, if they share a common enemy and feel threatened enough I could by a temporary allegiance, despite Brutes being...well, Brutes. They seem to have less pride than Elites, and if the Elites can ally themselves with humans, I could buy Brutes doing it.
 

Biscuits

Member
One thing that I've realized from this thread is how cohesive the Halo story is now, now that 343 is at the helm. The novels really feel much more integrated into the games, and this dedication 343 has in the narrative has really renewed my interest in the franchise.
 

raindoc

Member
Kelekos is NOT Requiem.
If you search Thursday War for it and The Didact it is stated that Requiem cannot be reached and the Didact (on Requiem) needs to be left alone, but Kelekos can be reached....
They are two different places.
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Kelekos is NOT Requiem.
If you search Thursday War for it and The Didact it is stated that Requiem cannot be reached and the Didact needs to be left alone, but Kelekos can be reached....
They are two different places.

Yup, was some confusion when updating the OP.

Kelekos could be the destroyed planet with the nearby Halo, seen in both the Halo 4 menu and in one of the Halo 4 cutscenes.

And with the Forerunner and Didact attachment - could it be where the Librarian is?
 

raindoc

Member
could it be where the Librarian is?

could be. in fact, i currently can't come up with anything/anyone else of similar importance that would fit.
Requiem's purpose became pretty clear once you read the name, but Kelekos... i did some good old googling, because it sounds greek to me i hoped there was some mythological reference to a place or being called Kelekos... but nothing.
it could be anything really, 343 did a good job in keeping me confuzzled as eft...
 

TheOddOne

Member
So, I wonder if there will be native ancient humans on Requiem:

"This last image was for a concept in which an ancient technology sitting undisturbed for eons is finally discovered by a young native boy"

I also noticed that looks a lot like the Didacts Cryptum in that ruin.
I wonder if Spartan Ops will focus on more smaller scale stories (Remember Josh saying on Giantbomb that people will die in the series) like this. More internal things going on in Requiem.

Halo 4 of course will focus more on the blockbuster type story.
 

monome

Member
Suggestions about the whereabouts o the Librarian take me back to Primordium's ending.

We know 343GS² is going back to her, accompanied by a UNSC ship that was in the mist of a space battle. Where to? Kelekos, why let herself be found when Didact is unreachable?
And those ble Knights from trailers? Bornstellar Didact or Librarian controlled?


Can the Abiding Truth Covie Zealots have already amassed enough ships so they can engage in space warfare?

Also, how come Onyx is full of Didact's secrets? Guy would go back into a cryptum (which drains the fuck out of you while keeping you semi-conscious) on his own, never to return...and leave graffitis of his posse all over the universe?

Finally I hope I'm given a satisfying reason to fight against a protagonist who, with all due respect, appears to have flipped to crazy.
Didact is supposed to have seen all possible kind of shit :
Human destruction
Human devolution
Flood destruction
Flood return
Forerunner destruction
and with the Domain active before he went to a Crytpum, he probably saw his peers kicking some Precursor's ass.

why bother, again?
better give me a good reason and a good ennemy.

oh, and a nice Play arts Didact figurine, pretty please.
 
So should I read Halo: Glassland's to know what the hell is going on? Haven't read a Halo book since First Strike, which I read in one day!
 

monome

Member
So should I read Halo: Glassland's to know what the hell is going on? Haven't read a Halo book since First Strike, which I read in one day!

Crytpum>Primordium>Glasslands

and Thursday War has a nice recap from what I've read on Amazon, so you can directly jump in if you don't feel like reading too much Halo stuff.
 

raindoc

Member
Where to? Kelekos, why let herself be found when Didact is unreachable?


oh, and a nice Play arts Didact figurine, pretty please.


(1) One of the Didacts was locked away because somehow the FR thought he was/would be very dangerous (the other activated the Halos). That's why Requiem is hidden - it's a max security prison. there's no reason for the Librarian to be prosecuted just because her hubby went bonkers and hence her location isn't as thightly guarded as Requiem (probably, we only assume that she's on Kelekos).

(2) we have not seen the Didact yet. If you're referring to the large PromKnight from the ViDoc - that's just an old model for, well, a PromKnight.
 

monome

Member
(1) One of the Didacts was locked away because somehow the FR thought he was/would be very dangerous (the other activated the Halos). That's why Requiem is hidden - it's a max security prison. there's no reason for the Librarian to be prosecuted just because her hubby went bonkers and hence her location isn't as thightly guarded as Requiem (probably, we only assume that she's on Kelekos).

(2) we have not seen the Didact yet. If you're referring to the large PromKnight from the ViDoc - that's just an old model for, well, a PromKnight.

Really don't think there is any Forerunner left that can make the Didact kneel, especially when you have two of them. So I'll bet the back to Cryptum is his of his own choosing.
Possibly as a penitence for using the Halos, and similar to the "wake me when you need me" our famous green man pulled, albeit more dramatic.

Didact shall be awesome, and certainly not like the Knights. And He shall watch me play some Halo from his chosen place on my shelf. And we do have descriptions of him from Crytpum.
4m, greyish skin, muscular, regal yet subdued armor, "alien" face yet good looking, a mane instead of hair, overall very strong martial figure.
and he rides Sphinxes like I drive my car to work, like a boss.

Please don't kill Cortana :(

with two didacts, two 343GS already in the Halo lore, I'm not worried about Cortana's fate, neither should you.
 

L1NETT

Member
Alright, I really need to re-read Cryptum...I can't remember a thing!

The two Didacts, which one is on Requiem? Also, why is he angry at humans (Anni Terminal- temper his rage?)

Also, I have a sneaky feeling the Composer might make Cortana a person (can he do that?, as I thought he could make humans into AI monitors)

Because I really hope Halsey doesn't do some magical Cortana fix (off and then on again in true IT Crowd style) That would really blow.

Bah so confused :/
 

raindoc

Member
Really don't think there is any Forerunner left that can make the Didact kneel, especially when you have two of them. So I'll bet the back to Cryptum is his of his own choosing.
Possibly as a penitence for using the Halos, and similar to the "wake me when you need me" our famous green man pulled, albeit more dramatic.

Nope, i don't agree. A Warning not to wake the Didact comes along with Requiem, but the Didact has "Long since dreamed of this Day, Reclaimer", so he didn't issue that warning himself.
He may've been the most powerfull Warrior-Servant, but he is not invincible. He's been had before and now there's even a duplicate of him.
 

monome

Member
One thing I don't see stated enough, and I'm obviously the craziest dude posting on Halo story threads is HALO is not a Bungie game anymore.
It's a Microsoft Product, just like Office, Windows etc...

343i has to bring three mainline games in exchange of their funding, but, OBVIOUSLY, there is someone there whose job is to pull as much ideas out of his mind to get the franchise running for decades, not just three games.

So...
I'm mostly interested in what the end game for the most iconic characters, Chief & Cortana, will make the IP evolve.

Whether Cortana dies, the Chief reclaims etc...what does it say about the Halo Universe?
What do Iyou want to see? what can make the series go beyond the goodwill it has amassed during the course of its ten years.

Halo lore is already spanning over millions of years, and yet all games are played in the course of 30 years.
what stories can be relevant once the Chief is dead? should he die? or shall every single story revolve around him?

I was very excited by the Didact characterization, but the snippets we got of him in Halo 4 make it seem he's very dumbed down from the books. Hopefully 343i works on that. Because introducing more Forerunner things in Halo is both a responsibility but also the easisest card to play when moving the franchise forward. And they are clearly taking their sweet time by starting the Reclaimer trilogy with the Didact threat when the books already point to much bigger threats from Beyond.


that said, I'm EXCITE.

Nope, i don't agree. A Warning not to wake the Didact comes along with Requiem, but the Didact has "Long since dreamed of this Day, Reclaimer", so he didn't issue that warning himself.
He may've been the most powerfull Warrior-Servant, but he is not invincible. He's been had before and now there's even a duplicate of him.

my personnal view :

Didact cannot stand to see humans reclaiming the Mantle. His DNA is programmed for the task, and his motivation is in fact beyond his own will.
So, yeah he's eager to meet the Chief because the guy is stealing his raison-d'-être. because the Precursors decided so.
Didact's Life = protecting the Mantle. this comes first even as he loves the Librarian.

but Silentium points towards the Didact making a very bad yet necessary choice, so we'll probably get a great spin from greg Bear about what happens when one person launches a strike against an entire galaxy, even if it's to protect it.
I can't decide if he silences himself or is silenced but I do believe his return to a Crytum is motivated so he does not talk.
Master Builder was the top dog, and even he could not kill the Ur Didact.
Maybe the love triangle between the Librarian and two Didacts will make some shit rain all ove the galaxy. Don't know if free love exists in Forerunner society.

what's interesting is that the Chief, unknowingly, achieves in a few days, what the Didact could not do in the span of thousands of years.
Do you think the Didact likes beingbossed by a "barely" revolved human? that's a strong motivation for enmity. that said, the script pages and the nasty voice from the trailer point towards a less sublte than I wished Didact.
Being jalous and pretty much out of a job is a good enough reason to cause mayhem!!!! no need to make him nasty to justify kicking some Forerunner's ass. that's too easy too pull.


I really wish he would have been included in halo 4 in a not so in your face manner.
I would have much preferred for his actions to mesh with those of the Chief rather than be a mean to drive the Chief's actions. Hopefully Halo 5 gives me that.
 

raindoc

Member
Didact cannot stand to see humans reclaiming the Mantle. His DNA is programmed for the task, and his motivation is in fact beyond his own will.
So, yeah he's eager to meet the Chief because the guy is stealing his raison-d'-être. because the Precursors decided so.
Didact's Life = protecting the Mantle. this comes first even as he loves the Librarian.
Second, Master Builder was the top dog, and even he could not kill the Ur Didact.
Maybe the love triangle between the Librarian and two Didacts will make some shit rain all ove the galaxy. Don't know if free love exists in Forerunner society.

The Librarian let go of the Mantle and the "unbound" State of the Didact may also hint to just that.
Faber did CHOOSE to not kill the UrDidact, he put him where he thought the Didact would be "most useful" to him.
And last but not least: my previous. If he hides himself and issues threats to anyone who might disturb him, he means it that way and doesn't dream about someone coming by and disturbing his sleep.
 

monome

Member
The Librarian let go of the Mantle and the "unbound" State of the Didact may also hint to just that.
Faber did CHOOSE to not kill the UrDidact, he put him where he thought the Didact would be "most useful" to him.
And last but not least: my previous. If he hides himself and issues threats to anyone who might disturb him, he means it that way and doesn't dream about someone coming by and disturbing his sleep.

Chief is not just anybody. there is clearly some lore building right now about who the Chief is beyond a military experiment.

Faber may simply have lost control before he could excecute him or see him dead for good.
Turning an old ennemy to the Flood was too good of a Bond villain plan to simply dish him through a space airlock ;-)

and people stating something while wanting something else is very common.
a masochistic take on the Didact needing to be alone yet wanting to be found is good enough for me.
 

raindoc

Member
Chief is not just anybody. there is clearly some lore building right now about who the Chief is beyond a military experiment.

Faber may simply have lost control before he could excecute him or see him dead for good.
Turning an old ennemy to the Flood was too good of a Bond villain plan to simply dish him through a space airlock ;-)

and people stating something while wanting something else is very common.
a masochistic take on the Didact needing to be alone yet wanting to be found is good enough for me.

I Don't See what Chief has to so with the reason for didact's imprisonment/Exile and the warning that comes along with it. I agree that the whole "humans bear the mantle" deal could've been a motive for the conflict, but the animosity is much older.

Faber says what i put in Quotes earlier on, it was his plan all along (not to kill the Didact)... but what are you trying to say anyway? That the Didact couldn't be overpowered by combined FR forces? because that makes absolutely no sense at all.

And People =/= the Didact. He isn't a Teen who cuts himself, begging for Love... Even if the Didact exiled himself on Requiem, someone else had to issue the warning.
 

Flipyap

Member
the Primordial/Timeless One/Prisoner of Charum Hakkor is not a Gravemind, but something "beyond" (quote Frankie from Halo A-Z).
Late reply, but I finally rewatched that video. The "beyond" part comes from the description of the many forms Graveminds take, beyond the biggest Gravemind we've seen.

One thing that I've realized from this thread is how cohesive the Halo story is now, now that 343 is at the helm. The novels really feel much more integrated into the games, and this dedication 343 has in the narrative has really renewed my interest in the franchise.
I don't know, I kind of liked it when each book told a specific story, unlike the current vagueness (I guess you can call it "worldbuilding") with an occasional wink and a nod at some connective tissue.
 

monome

Member
Late reply, but I finally rewatched that video. The "beyond" part comes from the description of the many forms Graveminds take, beyond the biggest Gravemind we've seen.


I don't know, I kind of liked it when each book told a specific story, unlike the current vagueness (I guess you can call it "worldbuilding") with an occasional wink and a nod at some connective tissue.

this.

I'm curretly rereading Glasslands. And it's fucking boring. In retrospect the only thing that got me giddy was the building up to Halo 4.

Bear Books are fine on second readings though. I love the mystification he brings to his stories. Timeless.

And Raindoc, I don't know shit about who/why/when. I'm just happy to indulge in HALO reverie.
All I'm saying is you a have a character who longs for contact but has to stay alone. Think of a nice vampire for example.
It's possible the Didact knows he will unleash shit if he's free to do so, and thus agreed to be imprisoned.
His captors dead, and his solitude a millenia old, maybe he's alerted of current events through humans playing with forerunner toys on Onyx, and decides it's time to slap those little brats one last time.

apart from other Didact and Librarian, I don't see anybody forerunner who can imprison him, or maybe Faber paved the way for this.


although I'm eager to point at the stupidity of seeing the Didact fight the Chief, so far the fight is very limited in scope if we barely see any other place than Requiem (that Halo4 menu screen says no...), and the first chapter of the Reclaimer trilogy may end up looking like a mere bar brawl between two hotheaded strangers when the full story is over.

What Im very afraid of is that 343i gave Bear enough freedom to build his characters so he gets the job done with pride, only for them to end up where 343i wanted them to when he could have taken them much further.
Franky has implied Bear will stay aboard the Halo universe post completing his trilogy and his work on halo 4 terminals.
Doesn't mean it's not already too late to retcon some ideas 343i insisted on early in the writing process.

If Cryptum-Primordium-Silentium was built with the intention of creating a strong nemesis to Chief, I'm CRY, because I would rather play as him as the Chief.

I can only hope the Didact's backstory and love interest will help drive his story in a not so Arbiter direction.

Still, hats off for pulling things like bringing a book prior to a gaming event, and having the sequel acknowledge the gaming event has occured so that you can inform readers at a speedier pace since you've already filled them with complementary and hype inducing info.
 

DopeyFish

Not bitter, just unsweetened
Didact is one of the good guys; same with librarian

Precursors intent is unknown (outside handing the mantle to humanity)

Master Builder, Mendicant Bias, 343 Guilty Spark appear evil (343 is still out there, in some form)

Cortana is on the path to becoming evil

Too many moving parts

Ur-Didact and Bornstellar Didact are friendly to humanity, despite having waged war with them. Didact keeps taking the higher ground with humanity and even realized humanity was hostile only because the flood. Wants them to learn from their past mistakes and recognizes them as the next keepers of the mantle.

There is missing pieces though.

Across the trilogy, flood will almost assuredly return.

I just don't see didact being the main enemy... Maybe in H4 but not the trilogy. Dude is like the promethean master chief

We may be seeing humanity vs flood vs precursors vs covenant vs prometheans/forerunners vs AI

Aiyeee
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Why Does IGN Think The Ur-Didact Is The Main Bad Guy? Isnt Faber (Master Builder) the main bad guy and Didact being the protagonist but becomes allies with the Chief? At least how I see it after observing these leaked scripts, which btw Thank you soo much for capping and finding them "Slightly Live"!

We know that the Chief and Cortana fight Didact. We just don't know why.

I suspect Didact, Ur-Didact more specifically, was sent to Requiem to locked away. He'll be half infected with the Flood - maybe even driven crazy.

We don't have enough information to connect the dots. Yet.
 

Flipyap

Member
Why Does IGN Think The Ur-Didact Is The Main Bad Guy? Isnt Faber (Master Builder) the main bad guy and Didact being the protagonist but becomes allies with the Chief? At least how I see it after observing these leaked scripts, which btw Thank you soo much for capping and finding them "Slightly Live"!
If it all comes down to "Master Chief versus Master Builder"... I... uh... if anyone asks, I don't know what this "Halo" is. Oh, the nerd shame.

I don't like the idea of there being a "nemesis" to begin with. The Covenant was good, because even once its non-singular leadership fell apart, there wasn't a single "boss" whose defeat would bring the whole thing down. Having a "main bad guy" makes more in a game/medium that allows the protagonist to deal with them personally. Halo hasn't been that, so far.
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
If it all comes down to "Master Chief versus Master Builder"... I... uh... if anyone asks, I don't know what this "Halo" is. Oh, the nerd shame.

I don't like the idea of there being a "nemesis" to begin with. The Covenant was good, because even once its non-singular leadership fell apart, there wasn't a single "boss" whose defeat would bring the whole thing down. Having a "main bad guy" makes more in a game/medium that allows the protagonist to deal with them personally. Halo hasn't been that, so far.

Halo 2 and 3 had Gravemind, Tartar Sauce, GS and the Prophets - plenty of antagonistic bad guy bosses.
 
Good post Dopey. What we haven't encountered (Not including Didact) which can be in this new trilogy, Precursors, Master Builder, MB, Flood Controlled Technology (human, covenant, and forerunner).

We know that the Chief and Cortana fight Didact. We just don't know why.

I suspect Didact, Ur-Didact more specifically, was sent to Requiem to locked away. He'll be half infected with the Flood - maybe even driven crazy.

We don't have enough information to connect the dots. Yet.
We need Halo 4 and Silentium. Some leaked scans of Silentium was found which is all I know. Also remember that scene in the Part 1 ViDoc with the Cryptum activating? Silentium most likely gaps his reasons being there after the events in the next novel.
 

Flipyap

Member
Halo 2 and 3 had Gravemind, Tartar Sauce, GS and the Prophets - plenty of antagonistic bad guy bosses.
Yes, it did, and this huge ensemble of often competing antagonists is very different thing from a single leader-type "nemesis".
They were also dispatched by indirect means (death by cutscene), a gimmicky event or serve as a cautionary tale about bosses in first person shooters. Tartarus is probably the closest we got to a nemesis (of a secondary character), and he was just a pawn.

The Gravemind is the closest to a singular irreplaceable leader, but he's a tricky one, for they are many. Making the Flood less verbose would be the only thing you'd achieve by "killing" the figurehead. Man, I miss that guy, someone should organize a Forerunner aquarium raid and start gluing the sea monkeys together.
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
Yes, it did, and this huge ensemble of often competing antagonists is very different thing from a single leader-type "nemesis".
They were also dispatched by indirect means (death by cutscene), a gimmicky event or serve as a cautionary tale about bosses in first person shooters. Tartarus is probably the closest we got to a nemesis (of a secondary character), and he was just a pawn.

The Gravemind is the closest to a singular irreplaceable leader, but he's a tricky one, for they are many. Making the Flood less verbose would be the only thing you'd achieve by "killing" the figurehead. Man, I miss that guy, someone should organize a Forerunner aquarium raid and start gluing the sea monkeys together.

I'm 100% certain there are Flood still remaining - just look at Halo Wars. Plenty of potential Seymore moments.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
The Elites shown in the Halo 4 trailer are rogue. Let's say some factons did not agree with joining the humans in the fight.
Is it possible that maybe some Elites will fight with the UNSC and some against?

It would be cool if sone Elites actually joined the UNSC and started using modified UNSC weapons, vehicles, new armor etc.

Likewise it would be cool if some Elites allied with the Promethians and used their tech as well.
 

TheOddOne

Member
Is it possible that maybe some Elites will fight with the UNSC and some against?

It would be cool if sone Elites actually joined the UNSC and started using modified UNSC weapons, vehicles, new armor etc.

Likewise it would be cool if some Elites allied with the Promethians and used their tech as well.
Could be a possibility. Glasslands depicts them as having internal struggles themselves, so don’t expect them to don any responsibilities this soon.
 
Humanity destroyed the Brutes only chance they had to be a prominent species in the Covenant and the galaxy.

Although it's far more likely we'll see the Brutes and the Elites fight for the next few years (see The Return mini story in Evolutions). They've never really liked each other before the Schism, and afterwards, less so. Especially when you consider the blame being levied on the Brutes on Sanghelios for the cowardly bombings at the end of Glasslands.

Sorry for being a bit behind here, but where did the speculation about Brutes teaming up with humans come from?
 

Fuchsdh

Member
Glass Harder aka The Thursay War also has Telcam's group presumably being the Storm guys we meet on Requiem, so perhaps in the few years between those times humanity and the friendly Elites get their shit together and realize the universe is big enough for all of them.
 
Is it possible that maybe some Elites will fight with the UNSC and some against?

It would be cool if sone Elites actually joined the UNSC and started using modified UNSC weapons, vehicles, new armor etc.

Likewise it would be cool if some Elites allied with the Promethians and used their tech as well.

I assume the Arbiter may still have some respect for the UNSC after ONI try to get him killed, and he may still ally himself and other Elites with humans.. Unless does Thursday War cover this at all?
 

Flipyap

Member
Did anyone bring up the fact that the Prom Knights' pointless little inner arms are unmistakably human? Unless the Greg Bear novels again omitted some details, causing further confusion, the number of fingers doesn't match that found on a Forerunner hand (depending on their rate/mutation - six or seven). What this could mean is that the Knight is a machine not likely to have been designed by a Forerunner.


Furthermore, all of the early Prom Knight concept art shown at PAX featured a humanoid figure embedded inside it - in one design the figure was clearly in a horizontal position, lying face-down. The final Prom Knight's back bulge is still big enough to fit a person inside it in that configuration, with their hands sticking out just like they do in the majority of those concepts ("person" meaning human or a Forerunner... of a rate other than an actual Promethean, as they were described in Cryptum).


So, what's up with this thing? Is it still, as described at the PAX panel, "essentially an AI-driven dude in an armor suit, a combat skin"? Considering the age of these things, it would require some cryptum-style magics to keep anything inside it pickled for so long - clearly too much effort for something that needs to exist in great numbers and ready to go... unless it's an evolution of the combat skins designed to halt and control the Flood infection (as "seen" in Primordium).

Or is it an enitrely inorganic robot dude with hand morphology that doesn't match its implied creators'? That could make it some (super)ancient human technology assimilated by the Forerunners. A big stretch for sure, but hey, suddenly not fitting in with the rest of the Forerunner design language would make perfect sense and it could add to the mythical douchiness of the Forerunners.

Or is it just a design screw-up that will be remedied by adding one more finger configuration to the wild west of Forerunner biology? This move would also make the visuals from Halo Legends closer to being canonical, causing great sadness all around the world.
 

IHaveIce

Banned
Did anyone bring up the fact that the Prom Knights' pointless little inner arms are unmistakably human? Unless the Greg Bear novels again omitted some details, causing further confusion, the number of fingers doesn't match that found on a Forerunner hand (depending on their rate/mutation - six or seven). What this could mean is that the Knight is a machine not likely to have been designed by a Forerunner.



Furthermore, all of the early Prom Knight concept art shown at PAX featured a humanoid figure embedded inside it - in one design the figure was clearly in a horizontal position, lying face-down. The final Prom Knight's back bulge is still big enough to fit a person inside it in that configuration, with their hands sticking out just like they do in the majority of those concepts ("person" meaning human or a Forerunner... of a rate other than an actual Promethean, as they were described in Cryptum).



So, what's up with this thing? Is it still, as described at the PAX panel, "essentially an AI-driven dude in an armor suit, a combat skin"? Considering the age of these things, it would require some cryptum-style magics to keep anything inside it pickled for so long - clearly too much effort for something that needs to exist in great numbers and ready to go... unless it's an evolution of the combat skins designed to halt and control the Flood infection (as "seen" in Primordium).

Or is it an enitrely inorganic robot dude with hand morphology that doesn't match its implied creators'? That could make it some (super)ancient human technology assimilated by the Forerunners. A big stretch for sure, but hey, suddenly not fitting in with the rest of the Forerunner design language would make perfect sense and it could add to the mythical douchiness of the Forerunners.

Or is it just a design screw-up that will be remedied by adding one more finger configuration to the wild west of Forerunner biology? This move would also make the visuals from Halo Legends closer to being canonical, causing great sadness all around the world.

Yep noticed it, and it is a interesting detail, especially after it was said that the
Timeless One
(potential spoiler regarding Cryptum and Primordium, so I spoiler it just in case) has also withered/crippled humanlike limbs on his body, the concept art looks also really close to his description.
 

Bizazedo

Member
Please don't kill Cortana :(

Part of me would not be surprised at all if, at the end, the Chief has to kill her.

And not in an end boss kind of way (maybe leading up to it), but in an assisted suicide way.

..at least that's how it should be done imo, but it probably won't end in a way that could end spacebucks for Microsoft.
 

Flipyap

Member
Yep noticed it, and it is a interesting detail, especially after it was said that the
Timeless One
(potential spoiler regarding Cryptum and Primordium, so I spoiler it just in case) has also withered/crippled humanlike limbs on his body, the concept art looks also really close to his description.
I see what you mean, though I think those parts simply described the Flood's morphology. Then there's the whole issue of scale, where a human-like limb would be so comically small, it would be hardly worth mentioning.
Since it was revealed to be a Gravemind, considering the way those things are created and constantly changing, I don't think there's any point in paying any attention to that thing's description, until proven otherwise.
 
Did anyone bring up the fact that the Prom Knights' pointless little inner arms are unmistakably human? Unless the Greg Bear novels again omitted some details, causing further confusion, the number of fingers doesn't match that found on a Forerunner hand (depending on their rate/mutation - six or seven). What this could mean is that the Knight is a machine not likely to have been designed by a Forerunner.



Furthermore, all of the early Prom Knight concept art shown at PAX featured a humanoid figure embedded inside it - in one design the figure was clearly in a horizontal position, lying face-down. The final Prom Knight's back bulge is still big enough to fit a person inside it in that configuration, with their hands sticking out just like they do in the majority of those concepts ("person" meaning human or a Forerunner... of a rate other than an actual Promethean, as they were described in Cryptum).



So, what's up with this thing? Is it still, as described at the PAX panel, "essentially an AI-driven dude in an armor suit, a combat skin"? Considering the age of these things, it would require some cryptum-style magics to keep anything inside it pickled for so long - clearly too much effort for something that needs to exist in great numbers and ready to go... unless it's an evolution of the combat skins designed to halt and control the Flood infection (as "seen" in Primordium).

Or is it an enitrely inorganic robot dude with hand morphology that doesn't match its implied creators'? That could make it some (super)ancient human technology assimilated by the Forerunners. A big stretch for sure, but hey, suddenly not fitting in with the rest of the Forerunner design language would make perfect sense and it could add to the mythical douchiness of the Forerunners.

Or is it just a design screw-up that will be remedied by adding one more finger configuration to the wild west of Forerunner biology? This move would also make the visuals from Halo Legends closer to being canonical, causing great sadness all around the world.

Good point, I forgot that the Forerunners would have more fingers than 5, so Im curious whats up with the little goblin thing in the suit. TBH I'm not that fond of it, whatever it is.. it looks more like a generic fantasy creature inside of a suit, so unless it was designed to look like that and intimidate humans... I dunno. I do wonder, if there are native humans on Requiem if the Promethean AIs require biomass to operate..and if so, maybe they harvest the humans for the suits?
 

Flipyap

Member
Good point, I forgot that the Forerunners would have more fingers than 5, so Im curious whats up with the little goblin thing in the suit. TBH I'm not that fond of it, whatever it is.. it looks more like a generic fantasy creature inside of a suit, so unless it was designed to look like that and intimidate humans... I dunno. I do wonder, if there are native humans on Requiem if the Promethean AIs require biomass to operate..and if so, maybe they harvest the humans for the suits?
That's a terrifying thought! I like it! I simply imagined they could have gathered enough subjects during the Human/Forerunner-Flood wars.
Either way, I really like the idea of the Knights requiring something living and irreplaceable to function. Faber or whoever was in charge of this project could have gathered countless subjects in his time, enough to pose a real threat to the civilizations still operating in the galaxy, but not having an infinite, replenishable supply of them adds some value to their existence and importance to the act of shooting them in their robotic faces. Importance that wouldn't be there if you were just shooting robots coming straight out of a magical space factory.

What I'm not fond of, though, is the idea of any part of them being designed to scare their opponents. If creepy little arms and parlor tricks are the Forerunners' idea of psychological warfare, the Didact will probably show up wearing a suit covered in rubber spiders. That prankster.
 

Slightly Live

Dirty tag dodger
I'm not really sure about the Promothean designs. The little amrs thing and the silly human skull thing.. dunno. And the orange and blue Tron juice. It's probably some techno organic thing.

What's important to remember, is that these things and their weapons, were designed to fight against the Flood.

I wanted the Flood to come back in part because I wanted a damn Infection mode where people turned into Flood!

I remember seeing the Infection playlist having a larger population than Team Slayer and my own thought was "Why did Bungie invest time and resources into something like Invasion when the community obviously just wants to play Zombies?"

If there are other Halos, there is more Flood, right?

The Flood will return. Just look at Halo Wars. There's more out there.
 
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