Hᴜᴍᴘsᴛʏʟᴇs

Victory, according to the Trilogy, Prometheans were manufactured in a "factory". The Composer ostensibly picked up a large number of human essences after the New Phoenix incident, and the UrDidact is only assumed dead. I think we'll see them again. And on the topic of the Flood, there is no doubt whatsoever that we will see them in H5. I was skeptical at first, but after reading the Forerunner Trilogy, it only makes sense.

With the introduction of the Prometheans and the UrDidact, the Flood are 100% confirmed to return. Those Prometheans were made by the UrDidact to purposefully combat the flood. We all know how he used it on the space station of scientists, and also on New Phoenix in H4. Well before any of that, 100,000 years ago before he was put inside his Cryptum on Requiem, he used it on his own Forerunners, in an act of insanity, to ensure the Flood couldn't absorb them.

Ryu, Not sure if you read the Forerunner Trilogy...but here's a spoiler related to what you just said: Good guess.

The Primordial has been described too many times in the book to get the image out of my head. A flat head concealing sleek, diamond eyes, with a sea scorpion tail extending from behind. 4 appendages coming from the torso, including many tiny arms as that of a omanyte. This sketch of yours looks more of a Forerunner which has been infected by the Flood, but the Flood chose to keep its body intact instead of absorbing it into a Gravemind. Maybe a new approach to a combat form. Also maybe this is what a fully-restored Precursor actually could look like. We're never going to fight the Primordial, or a Gravemind for that matter. Those are the intellectual bases of The Flood, where all information is transferred via psychokinesis to Flood spores and other types, which is also known as hive-mind. The most we will do with Graveminds is blow them up in a cutscene. I'm 90% that the UrDidact (the one that got was imploded by a Pulse grenade and fell off the bridge), will be the main villain again, with the Flood being a secondary villain. I think that the story is going to cover the bases of 100,000 years ago, after the Forerunner-Human war, when the Flood became involved / Mendicant Bias under control of the Primordial, etc.

I'm so happy you quoted the book. The Timeless One is right. The Flood used the humans as a weapon; they infected them, backed off, and allowed the humans to develop a cure which the Forerunners sought after. This is why the Composer retained all of humanity's conscious memories and history, to scower their thoughts for the cure to the Flood. The Flood is no doubt returning...the Flood (being the Precursors) ties Forerunners and humanity together. "sentient life being mercilessly hunted" means the Flood absorbing whatever living beings it can to become larger and smarter, to further engulf all living beings.

They're merely worms, you could just step on one of them. They need to be united as a network of intelligence to behave in combat.

His surroundings are believed to be The Arc. The UrDidact was probably transported wherever the Portal was guided, but I do not believe he's dead. I'm more interested in the IsoDidact making a return, since he saw things differently that the UrDidact. The giant robot-bird thing that arises before Chief is most likely a Forerunner Seeker, a combat flight module used by Forerunners in war; I believe it's protecting one of Mendicant Bias' shards, which is what Chief is searching for to resurrect Cortana, since Mendicant Bias also was once a Metastable A.I.

AsquithMike, I agree with everything you've said in this thread so far, except for this. The Domain was thought to be a purely Forerunner-created realm to access ancestors, history, pathways for the Forerunners. As it turns out, the Domain is acutally the Organon, which was created by the Precursors. Once the first Halo fired, it completely severred all ties to the Domain/Organon. The Librarian unlocked MC's geas, which makes him immune to the Composer. A geas is a genetic imprint that the Librarian leaves on every being in the galaxy before distributing them. Humans are her favorite creature, which is why she is "against" the Ur-Didact. The reason he's the only one who can hear the Didact is either because: 1. The Didact has telepathic powers and was speaking to only the Chief himself. 2. Cortana is going through Rampancy and ascending to Metastability, making her much more human and physical, disabling her from hearing his voice.

Mendicant Bias isn't just an AI, he's a meta-ancilla class monitor. He wouldn't "fit on a chip". The chip that Chief is holding isn't for actual usage, it's for hope, perseverance, and faith. A good comparison would be a Marine holding his fellow comrade's dogtags. I think that your reasoning is right that he wants to find Mendicant Bias, but for different reasons: Mendicant Bias is the only other A.I. to successfully transgress through all stages of Rampancy and become Metastable. This is also what happened to Cortana at the end of Halo 4 (her ability to contain data becomes limitless, and she becomes a physical entity, restraining Didact to the hardlight bridge). After Offensive Bias successfully defeated him with military strategy, Mendicant was commissioned, his soul fragmented across the galaxy, and left to only Atonement for his sins. Chief needs Mendicant Bias for information on how to revive Cortana. Mendicant Bias will help him, but this will leave room for the IsoDidact, and quite possibly the Timeless One (the Primordial) to make an entrance, since they have been related in the past. Also coming into play with be the Librarian (who held Cortana and can activate geas), and Halsey (who had Cortana digitally emulated from her neural patterns). As far as Campaign/storyline go, I think these next 2 Halos are going to be incredible.

Beside Mendicant Bias, Cortana is the only other A.I. who has achieved the Metastability stage of Rampancy. This was seen when she became a physical hardlight avatar of herself, restrained the Didact to a hardlight bridge, and also touched Chief's chestplate.

Beside Mendicant Bias, Cortana is the only other A.I. who has achieved the Metastability stage of Rampancy. This was seen when she became a physical hardlight avatar of herself, restrained the Didact to a hardlight bridge, and also touched Chief's chestplate. Yes, she was blown to smithereens by a HAVOK nuke. Yes, the ship was disintegrated through the atmosphere. Yes, she says that she must "go". I, for one, am not encouraging her return; I just believe that it is certainly feasible. Let me divulge: 1. Mendicant Bias' Compound Mind was fragmented and sent away. After appx 100,000 years, he returned to a stable state and assisted the fight against the Flood in 2553. Now, if educated rumors are true, the giant Forerunner-esque bird in the 'Halo on Xbox One' trailer is guarding Mendicant Bias, or rather a fragment. It seems as if he would shed some light (no pun intended) on Chief's trivial situation. 2. Halsey is going to be a key player in H5, and Cortana was digitally emulated from her essence (or something along those lines). She's also a brainiac; although everyone hates her, she knows what she's doing. 3. The Librarian...the Lifeworker, the one whose job is to catalog and repopulation the entire universe of sentient life, has had Cortana in her realm. If she could calibrate and unlock an ancient geas in Chief's genetic composition, you better believe she has a back-up flash drive. 4. The introduction of the Composer, Ancillas, and Forerunner artifacts. All interesting, all involving Forerunners, all beyond current human technology. Once again, they populated the entire f'ckn galaxy. I think that each and every main character, protagonist or antagonist, is going to go through serious moral dilemmas of what is right and wrong. Friends will become foes, and foes, friends. Characters will have changes of heart, or internal struggles that will give them more depth. Every character is somehow related to another. Chief -> Cortana -> Halsey -> Jul M'Dama -> Didact -> Librarian -> Chief. I also think that with 2 more games in the Reclaimer Trilogy, that there is ample time to reintroduce Cortana when least expected. If 343 plays their cards right, they might have created the perfectly chaotic maelstrom that will convulge all at the right time down the storyline - then, and only then, will Cortana return.

This is vaguely similar to CTF on Sandtrap; having 2 Elephants which provided defensive/offensive power and also a flag to return to your respectful Elephant.

To be honest, I don't think that this subject will be touched for quite some time. Halo 4 ended with the supposed death of the Didact (which I'm pretty sure everyone can now assume he's still alive), and Jul seeking revenge with Halsey pertaining Forerunner artifacts/weapons/whatever. And as far as the novels go, Silentium barely touched on Precursor whereabouts or even existence (other than The Flood, of course). I'm sure that plenty, and maybe all questions about the Precursors will be answered in H5 and H6, and if not, in the next saga H7, H8, and H9 for sure. I don't even know if there is another book being produced. To answer your question, I don't think we're supposed to know, for now.

Once Mendicant was detained, he was "reprogramed" with only one thought process: atonement. This basically voided out his rampancy, although it has been said that Mendicant Bias's level of A.I. has the ability to descend from rampancy on it's own. I think the giant Forerunner bird in the Halo on Xbox One trailer is guarding his cryptum (or whatever they locked him away in).

Thank you for the correction; you understand the gist of what I was trying to convey. Now in the post-Silentium world, I'd like to refer to The Flood and Precursors as one entity, simply split by eons. I.E. We were ignorant before, unknowing that The Flood has naturalistically evolved from the remnants of Precursors (and powders which caused insanity/cannibalism), but now we know, both in the canon of the books and in our real life knowledge of what The Flood is. Although The Flood's origin is merely a side story to what we're talking about in this thread, I definitely believe they'll reappear in Halo 5, and that Mendicant Bias will possibly be at the helm. I believe in the "Halo on Xbox One" teaser, that that Forerunner tech is either an outdated merged War Sphinx, or a newer Seeker, which is guarding Mendicant's exile. Do you think these predictions are semi-accurate, Victory Element?

What both of you are forgetting is that the Flood is/are the Precursors. Once a certain amount of Flood-infected hosts acquire a certain mass, it becomes a Gravemind, which has the hivemind capabilities of controlling all other Flood. Telekinesis allows one single thought process throughout multiple forms. Some Graveminds are young and small, where others are quite the opposite. This is why a number of human scientists committed suicide after what The Timeless One / The Primordial told them. It takes milenna for the Flood to evolve back into a Precursor.

I definitely pick up what you're saying, but I don't think 343i would want that to happen in the game. Every Halo player is made to believe that Chief is always right in his beliefs, and having him wipe out 2 platoons of SPARTANS seems a bit reciprocated. Imagine playing Call Of Duty, and you, as an individual, have to massacre your own side's troops just because you think something different (don't flame me for the CoD, just needed a reference). I definitely think that maybe MC could kill 1 or 2, as if they go Rogue and try to kill Chief on their own accord (almost with what you said about the 2 Hornets coming in to wipe him out whilst he's distracted in the firefight). But I couldn't see Chief just gunning down people he's known, interacted with, and especially felt emotions of. ... ALSO, something else you're majorly forgetting is how the Primordial and Mendicant Bias are most likely going to play a huge role in Halo 5 due to the return of the Flood. The Primordial, also known as the Timeless One, is in actuality a Precursor, just not completely reformed yet (I think). Since Mendicant Bias defected to his orders, I believe they are going to be huge contenders in H5. Also 343GS will probably make a reappearance to aid Chief as the Reclaimer he is.

Very strong questions. I think 343i has their hands full with the amount of emotion and personal feelings involved with that triangle you're speaking of. They each play a very strong role, which is why I think Bornstellar Didact should make a reappearance, whether it's in the Reclaimer Saga or not.

Not bad at all. Definitely a wild spin using Crimson and Majestic on Chief himself. I don't think they'd be so willing to execute him.

Incinerary Grenade!

To tie in what both of you said, I think the key word you're missing is "deluded". The Covenant were deluded by the Prophets about The Great Journey, just as Ur-Didact is deluded that the Mantle isn't earned, it is taken by force. This is why he is unleashing an attack on humanity, just as the Covenant did (kinda). I think in H5, Ur-Didact (yes, I believe he's still alive), is going to come to his senses because the Flood will return. With his decimated numbers of Prometheans, he's not going to stand a chance against them. Either this, or Bornstellar will return and teach Ur-Didact a thing or two about common courtesy. Someone once said that the Humans, Covenant, and the Forerunners will eventually need to join forces to face something more devastating than themselves. I think the only thing that could be are the Precursors (in Flood form, of course), with Mendicant Bias at the helm. I thought that Bornstellar was the one that activated the Array himself? Isn't that where his famous line "Forgive us" comes from?

I hate to say it, but I haven't played Halo 4 since January for way more reasons than you just listed. It just isn't the same. The overwhelming feeling of nostalgia sinks deep when thinking about Halo 2 and Halo 3 multiplayer. Halo 4 just didn't hit the nail on the head for me. Also, I'm getting tired of coming to these forums and seeing forum member _______ list their top 5 things they want tweaked in the game. It's not going to happen. I used to make lists of things that could be improved as well, but lo and behold, 343i is in it for themselves.That was proven when Halo 4 was created, in hopes of attracting "casuals" who were defaulting to CoD for careless play. I care too much to even contribute my ideas towards the better of Halo. In addition, it's overly impossible to custom-tailor a video game for one's personal preferences (this is why adaptation is necessary). Call me selfish (for lack of a better word), but after becoming increasingly angry with this game due to its lack of addictive properties, I believe it was merely the 1-50 skill levels which had me to compelled to play Halo and be a member of the community. Halo 5 campaign will be one for the record books, but I truly hope its multiplayer pulls me back into the Halo scene - for good. Might just take your offer m8

As someone said earlier, I just hope it's either a segue to either the Ur-Didact or the isoDidact to stay on course with the rest of the story. Heck, I'd even let it be Faber, although I'm pretty sure he's been dead for eons.

Not sure if someone already said this, but the Gravity Hammer was recovered from a Sanghelios/Jiralhanae battle and reinvented using Covenant technology; the Sanghelios straight up stole their idea and made it their own.

I think this is where Bornstellar (the isoDidact) will make his appearance, and the two Didacts will face off. isoDidact & UNSC vs. Ur-Didact & Storm faction.