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[Rickenslacker]

Something that's bothered me is Chief's armour. Frankie said something about it being changed for a reason, implying it would be elaborated on in the game. There was no mention of it, in fact the intro video has other Spartans wearing the same armour so it's a standard suit. I guess it's the same Mark VI armour he was cryo'd with but the change was just an aesthetic one because of the studio switch? Though the Mark VI you can unlock for multiplayer looks more faithful to what it was and looks a lot better, so it's all kinda weird.

 

[Doodis]

So I think I just figured out what happened with Cortana saving Chief at the end.

Right when you get into the main last chamber/room of Midnight, Cortana says something along the lines of "The window to escape will be pretty slim once you prime the nuke", implying that the nuke won't go off instantly. I think that when Chief hits the button, Cortana teleports him to a hardlight shield/box she generated near the ship and they have their conversation.

Then after she backs up into the hardlight, you hear the rumble of a muffled explosion. I assume that's the nuke going off then, because that's the first time you see the debris in the background, behind Chief, and you also see a bunch of light above Chief, in the direction the debris are flowing from. From there, the destruction of the ship kills the hardlight bunker he is in, then he is left floating in space.

This makes way more sense to me.

This makes sense. I was wondering what in the hell happened during this part.

 

[Inferno313]

I'm not sure why this isn't being brought up, but I believe the man interrogating Dr. Halsey in the intro is the Master Chief. I'm thinking this is actually a scene after the events of Halo 4. He is back on Earth and takes off his armor...is going to see Halsey on his way?

And sure, Dr. Halsey knows what he looks like but he's kinda in the shadows and who knows how the Librarian's mutation affected John's appearance. The voice and tone is very much like John's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1rYHczBMtE

Anyway, loved the campaign but I agree with the consensus that 343i should really flesh out the story in the game and not have us rely on the outside material. Having terminals viewable on waypoint only was really a stupid decision, imo (unless there wasn't disc space?) I love the books; and really enjoyed Cryptum so having the terminals show us bits and pieces of the forerunner history was great. It's a lot more than what Bungie did with their lore in the game. So props for that. The potential to have an incredible campaign story within the game is there, and sometimes exposition dumps aren't a bad thing if it's the only way to present it; like the librarian scene with MC.

I'm sorry but that's crazy talk.

"Do you believe the Master Chief succeeded because he was, at his core, broken?" "What does John have to do with this?"

That line makes 0 sense if she's talking to Chief.

 

[kittens]

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.

Something that's bothered me is Chief's armour. Frankie said something about it being changed for a reason, implying it would be elaborated on in the game. There was no mention of it, in fact the intro video has other Spartans wearing the same armour so it's a standard suit. I guess it's the same Mark VI armour he was cryo'd with but the change was just an aesthetic one because of the studio switch? Though the Mark VI you can unlock for multiplayer looks more faithful to what it was and looks a lot better, so it's all kinda weird.

lol you wrong

New Chief design is best Chief design.

 

[LiK]

I'm sorry but that's crazy talk.

"Do you believe the Master Chief succeeded because he was, at his core, broken?" "What does John have to do with this?"

That line makes 0 sense if she's talking to Chief.

i agree, it's not John in that room. besides, i think Halsey could tell if he was from the Spartan program cuz all those dudes are like 8 feet tall.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.


lol you wrong

New Chief design is best Chief design.

Didact fell into a slipspace portal that was powering the Composer.

 

[kittens]

Didact fell into a slipspace portal that was powering the Composer.

Oh, I thought that was a giant fireball of death.

What about Cortana? The Librarian mentioned something about merging digital and organic life -- is that a possible hint at a way to save Cortana?

 

[LiK]

Oh, I thought that was a giant fireball of death.

What about Cortana? The Librarian mentioned something about merging digital and organic life -- is that a possible hint at a way to save Cortana?

Didact was speaking in the after credits cutscene so i expected him to live. as for Cortana, i hope it wasn't a real death. no Cortana is just wrong to me.

 

[Tashi]

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.


lol you wrong

New Chief design is best Chief design.

Yea we don't really know what's going to happen next. My guess is that Didact is not dead and Cortana will be around but who knows what form she might take. (Remade one by Halsey or OG one somehow, someway)

However, I think there's more to Chief's new ability he gets from the Librarian than just being immune to the Composer. That might be something that comes up again big time in Halo 5

 

[LiK]

Yea we don't really know what's going to happen next. My guess is that Didact is not dead and Cortana will be around but who knows what form she might take. (Remade one by Halsey or OG one somehow, someway)

However, I think there's more to Chief's new ability he gets from the Librarian than just being immune to the Composer. That might be something that comes up again big time in Halo 5

aw yea, you're right. kinda excited to see what they do with his new potential with his altered body for the next game.

 

[exYle]

I'm really disappointed with the Light Rifle =(
I loved it in campaign, but it just isn't cutting it in MP.

 

[DopeyFish]

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.


lol you wrong

New Chief design is best Chief design.

Well from the front, new chief is best chief

The back? Fucking hideous.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Didact was speaking in the after credits cutscene so i expected him to live. as for Cortana, i hope it wasn't a real death. no Cortana is just wrong to me.

She said there were fragments of her left, maybe we get another clone of Halseys brain and collect the fragments of her.

 

[Havok]

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.


lol you wrong

New Chief design is best Chief design.

Here's what I'd like to believe happened. By falling into the portal, the Didact was himself Composed, and now is essentially immortal by way of digitizing his consciousness. Cortana, having uploaded herself to the Domain at the last second, continues to fall into rampancy, starts screwing around with Forerunner systems, and will be a blubbering mess by the time we find her in Halo 5, finally capitalizing on what Halo 3 failed to do so hard.

That's not really what I think happened, but it would be a better setup for future games than "they're both dead, new threat I guess!" I'll write fanfiction based on it when it turns out none of it is accurate. Cortana is too important to kill, I think, especially given that the entire game is a series of failures by the Chief to protect her and a huge setup for them actually dealing with the rampancy issue and sidestepping it at the last second. It's like a movie about a person finding out they have cancer, going through steps to accept the process and move forward with some hope, but then getting hit by a bus at the end of the movie right before chemo starts.

 

[LiK]

She said there were fragments of her left, maybe we get another clone of Halseys brain and collect the fragments of her.

yea, or better yet, maybe the Librarian somehow made a copy of her without her knowing. *hopes*

 

[wwm0nkey]

Here's what I'd like to believe happened. By falling into the portal, the Didact was himself Composed, and now is essentially immortal by way of digitizing his consciousness. Cortana, having uploaded herself to the Domain at the last second, continues to fall into rampancy, starts screwing around with Forerunner systems, and will be a blubbering mess by the time we find her in Halo 5, finally capitalizing on what Halo 3 failed to do so hard.

That's not really what I think happened, but it would be a better setup for future games than "they're both dead, new threat I guess!" I'll write fanfiction based on it when it turns out none of it is accurate.

If he fell into the beam then I would believe he would be composed, I think he just got sent to another part of the galaxy and is stranded.

 

[Havok]

If he fell into the beam then I would believe he would be composed, I think he just got sent to another part of the galaxy and is stranded.

Like I said, not necessarily what I thought actually happened, more my own hopes.

I think the idea of an enemy that cannot truly be killed by something as simple as a shitty QTE and whose new, rad robotic body you can face and destroy multiple times across the game, one who pops in at just the right moment multiple times, is infinitely more interesting than a simple Big Bad that only makes an appearance in gameplay once. There's a way to do it that isn't complete garbage like Harbinger was in Mass Effect 2.

 

[Tashi]

If he fell into the beam then I would believe he would be composed, I think he just got sent to another part of the galaxy and is stranded.

Was the Composer built just for humans? Does it work on Prometheans?

 

[Havok]

Was the Composer built just for humans? Does it work on Prometheans?

Yeah. The original Prometheans, which were Didact's Forerunner warriors, were Composed and turned into the first Knights. Watch the terminals, there's very important stuff in there.

 

[wwm0nkey]

Was the Composer built just for humans? Does it work on Prometheans?

Yes, in the terminals the original Prometheans were willing to be composed.

 

[Tashi]

Yeah. The original Prometheans, which were Didact's Forerunner warriors, were Composed and turned into the first Knights. Watch the terminals, there's very important stuff in there.

Yes, in the terminals the original Prometheans were willing to be composed.

Ahh ok. Is there somewhere I could watch the terminals without unlocking them? I don't think ever watched a single terminal lol

 

[wwm0nkey]

Ahh ok. Is there somewhere I could watch the terminals without unlocking them? I don't think ever watched a single terminal lol

Here you go

Really should have been in the game.

 

[kittens]

Cool, thanks for the clarification and speculation. I'm starting to understand the possibilities a bit more.

 

[Tashi]

Here you go

Really should have been in the game.

Oh fantastic. Thanks.

 

[Hypertrooper]

The terminals are great but disappointing too. They aren't really showing the new stuff. (Except how the Didact betrays the Librarian)

I am kind of curious if Halsey is still on the Infinity at Halo 4. Because this could be an interesting conflict between the Chief and ONI. He searched for her and thought she had been solar systems away but at the end, she was so close in Infinity and could have saved Cortana or at least fix her somehow. And no one told the Chief about it because Parangosky or Osmar forbid Halsey to meet her Spartans II.

At the end Halo 4 has some very subliminal teases. First at all, Cortana mentioned the Chief may get a new Cortana. (which I think it will likely happen in Halo 5.) The stuff the Librarian did to the Chief can't be only "immune" to the Composer. The slipspace stuff which Cortana mentioned at the beginning of mission 8. Etc. etc. I am curious which parts Spartan Ops is going to tell. I am expecting that one big reveal plot of SpOps is the Didact has survived.

And still, Halo 4 hasn't given us an answer of the unknown ship which had been shown in Anniversary's terminals.

 

[wwm0nkey]

The terminals are great but disappointing too. They aren't really showing the new stuff. (Except how the Didact betrays the Librarian)

I am kind of curious if Halsey is still on the Infinity at Halo 4. Because this could be an interesting conflict between the Chief and ONI. He searched for her and thought she had been solar systems away but at the end, she was so close in Infinity and could have saved Cortana or at least fix her somehow. And no one told the Chief about it because Parangosky or Osmar forbid Halsey to meet her Spartans II.

At the end Halo 4 has some very subliminal teases. First at all, Cortana mentioned the Chief may get a new Cortana. (which I think it will likely happen in Halo 5.) The stuff the Librarian did to the Chief can't be only "immune" to the Composer. The slipspace stuff which Cortana mentioned at the beginning of mission 8. Etc. etc. I am curious which parts Spartan Ops is going to tell. I am expecting that one big reveal plot of SpOps is the Didact has survived.

And still, Halo 4 hasn't given us an answer of the unknown ship which had been shown in Anniversary's terminals.

Episode 3 of Spartan Ops is called "

Spoiler

Catherine

"

 

[Tashi]

Before I watch the terminals, are there direct Cryptum spoilers in there?

 

[Head of Vengarl]

I really like how the ancient humans had some physical differences to us. I couldn't get high quality shots, but here you can see their teeth were more fanged, and they had a slight under-bite:

Not to mention the face markings. I wonder what that was all about.

And here — although it is pretty hard to see — it appears that they had patches of hair on the top of their hands:

Do you think this was because we were devolved by the Forerunners, and thus evolved in a slightly different way this time around?

 

[Flipyap]

The didact looks like a rejected gears of war model. I actually laughed when he revealed

I thought he looked like Dracula's inbred redneck cousin.

he looked badass with the helmet on tho.

Are you serious? That's some serious Army of Two shit.
If there's one thing I always imagined the Forerunners as, it's monster people who would wear FUCKING SKULL HELMETS. No. Just... no.

Okay, so, is the Didact dead? Is Cortana dead? Was this meant to be a cliff hanger? I don't get it. It feels like the Reclaimer Saga is already done and resolved.

They have to be. Deaths in Halo are already enough of a running joke, undoing every character death from their first game would push it right into self-parody territory and make everything they tried to accomplish with the Cortana plot feel like emotional manipulation; and undoing a boss's death feels like taking away your accomplishment (though I guess that would sting less, since you just had to press one button to "defeat" him).
"Thanks for trusting us... oh, but about those two most important, climactic plot points in the game... yeah, we were kind of bullshitting you. Sorry about that."

 

[Zeouterlimits]

They have to be. Deaths in Halo are already enough of a running joke, undoing every character death from their first game would push it right into self-parody territory and make everything they tried to accomplish with the Cortana plot feel like emotional manipulation; and undoing a boss's death feels like taking away your accomplishment (though I guess that would sting less, since you just had to press one button to "defeat" him).
"Thanks for trusting us... oh, but about those two most important, climactic plot points in the game... yeah, we were kind of bullshitting you. Sorry about that."

Whatever about the Didact (because it's hard to care about him either way, as unbelievable as he character now is), Cortana has to stay dead. It's a saving grace of the game that they killed her.

 

[evanswolves]

Cortana gone... 343 GS floating around the systems of an ONI ship without his actual "body" ... if the dates match then perhaps 343 GS to replace Cortana in Chiefs suite (if she doesnt come back), 343 GS knows the Didact from when he was Chakas...

Probably not, but fun to speculate

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Killing the only actual character they had left was a dumb decision imo.
better return.

 

[Flipyap]

Killing the only actual character they had left was a dumb decision imo.

Makes you wonder if they actually think that Sergeant Blandness and Off-Brand Female Shepard are going to be able to carry the story going forward.

 

[Petrichor]

Cortana gone... 343 GS floating around the systems of an ONI ship without his actual "body" ... if the dates match then perhaps 343 GS to replace Cortana in Chiefs suite (if she doesnt come back), 343 GS knows the Didact from when he was Chakas...

Probably not, but fun to speculate

That would be excellent - but I think the likelihood is that we'll get a "new" cortana model that has no recollection of the events from halo1-4 (well she'll have read the file)

 

[Razgriz-Specter]

Makes you wonder if they actually think that Sergeant Blandness and Off-Brand Female Shepard are going to be able to carry the story going forward.

Hope not, and doubt they'd use the ODST characters again besides cameos.

 

[Hypertrooper]

Episode 3 of Spartan Ops is called "

Spoiler

Catherine

"

Where is that from? Did episode titles leak?

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

Holy crap just thought about an amazing plot idea for Halo 5. Because of the Chiefs new advanced physical form via the Librarian, ONI is either going to want to use him as a means of experimentation to further enhance and augment Spartan IV's and possibly more of Mankind. His gene plan is now further along then ANY of mankinds, he is beyond everyone. This could create an amazing conflict for Halo 5's story. Chief rejecting to submit to being a science experiment for ONI could lead to him becoming their enemy. Just something I was thinking about last night.

 

[Biggzy]

Holy crap just thought about an amazing plot idea for Halo 5. Because of the Chiefs new advanced physical form via the Librarian, ONI is either going to want to use him as a means of experimentation to further enhance and augment Spartan IV's and possibly more of Mankind. His gene plan is now further along then ANY of mankinds, he is beyond everyone. This could create an amazing conflict for Halo 5's story. Chief rejecting to submit to being a science experiment for ONI could lead to him becoming their enemy. Just something I was thinking about last night.

I am pretty convinced we haven't heard the last of the chief's new physical form.

 

[HollovVpo1nt]

Holy crap just thought about an amazing plot idea for Halo 5. Because of the Chiefs new advanced physical form via the Librarian, ONI is either going to want to use him as a means of experimentation to further enhance and augment Spartan IV's and possibly more of Mankind. His gene plan is now further along then ANY of mankinds, he is beyond everyone. This could create an amazing conflict for Halo 5's story. Chief rejecting to submit to being a science experiment for ONI could lead to him becoming their enemy. Just something I was thinking about last night.

Never going to happen, especially after what Chief said to Laskey at the end of the game (cutscene).

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

Never going to happen, especially after what Chief said to Laskey at the end of the game (cutscene).

What he said? Being a machine? Duty is to protect mankind? I'm not sure I follow. And you have to remember, ONI is bad news. They honestly don't give a shit about Laskey and Chief, and they definitely don't care about their relationship.

 

[dragonelite]

What he said? Being a machine? Duty is to protect mankind? I'm not sure I follow. And you have to remember, ONI is bad news. They honestly don't give a shit about Laskey and Chief, and they definitely don't care about their relationship.

Im pretty sure that for oni to get MC it would be easy.,

 

[ArchedThunder]

The didact looks like a rejected gears of war model. I actually laughed when he revealed

I thought he looked more like a mass effect character.

 

[senador]

I absolutely do not want Cortana to be permamently dead. I like that duo too much and future games would lose a lot without her.

Since we heard her voice after she had gone, I'm wondering if she somehow fused into the suit or even Chief himself. Maybe she becomes his geas it whatever it's called.

I hated Didact's face but loved his armor and helmet. Definitely looked like Forerunner warrior to me.

 

[squidhands]

Im pretty for oni to get MC would be easy.,

Uh, what?


I don't think Cortana's dead. There has to be something more to her splitting herself into so many pieces other than to just drop RAAM's younger brother Didact's shields.

 

[Einchy]

Uh, what?


I don't think Cortana's dead. There has to be something more to her splitting herself into so many pieces other than to just drop RAAM's younger brother Didact's shields.

Yeah, agreed. There's no way 343 gets rid of the second main character with their first game.

I absolutely do not want Cortana to be permamently dead. I like that duo too much and future games would lose a lot without her.

Since we heard her voice after she had gone, I'm wondering if she somehow fused into the suit or even Chief himself. Maybe she becomes his geas it whatever it's called.

I hated Didact's face but loved his armor and helmet. Definitely looked like Forerunner warrior to me.

Cortana and Chief is my favorite part of Halo's singleplayer. I was really annoyed how long it took to get them back togher in Halo 3 and was super excited that since 2004, we were finally getting a full game where the Chief and Cortana were a due again. We'll probably get her back at the end of Halo 5 or something but that means another Cortana-less Halo. :/

WHY DO YOU KEEP TAKING HER AWAY FROM ME, BUNGIE/343!?

 

[Presco]

So where was Guilty Spark? After the end of Primordium I was fully expecting him to play a role in Halo 4. It's been quite a while since I read it (listened actually, audiobook was great) but I thought he sort of commandeered a UNSC ship and was headed to Requiem.

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

So does anyone else feel that the beginning of Primordium, with ONI questioning Chakas Monitor about the Didact and Ancient Humanity takes place after Halo 4? I've felt that this is true for a while now. At the end of Primordium, we hear Chakas Monitor stating that he now knows where to find the Librarian. How this plays into future Halo games, I am unsure.

 

[dragonelite]

So where was Guilty Spark? After the end of Primordium I was fully expecting him to play a role in Halo 4. It's been quite a while since I read it (listened actually, audiobook was great) but I thought he sort of commandeered a UNSC ship and was headed to Requiem.

We still have Spartan ops

 

[Flipyap]

So does anyone else feel that the beginning of Primordium, with ONI questioning Chakas Monitor about the Didact and Ancient Humanity takes place after Halo 4? I've felt that this is true for a while now. At the end of Primordium, we hear Chakas Monitor stating that he now knows where to find the Librarian. How this plays into future Halo games, I am unsure.

It should be before or more likely during Halo 4, unless it follows a particularly clueless team of ONI goons.

"SCIENCE TEAM LEADER: [...] What in hell is this ‘Composer’? We’ve never heard of it before."

 

[MaximumFlipFlop]

It should be before or more likely during Halo 4, unless it follows a particularly clueless team of ONI goons.

"SCIENCE TEAM LEADER: [...] What in hell is this ‘Composer’? We’ve never heard of it before."

In the Thursday War, wasn't it Jul who mainly learned of the Didact and his hatred for humans, not ONI? I am asking because I can't quite remember.