kaindraken

Cortana is much too popular with fans and far too integral to Halo for 343i to kill her off permanently. I expect her back no later than halfway through Halo 5. I also expect later episodes of Spartan Ops to give some clues that she is still out there. I also expect the Didact to come back. They didn't show him die. They just showed him fall into a portal. He's far too cool of a villain and 343i has put too much effort into his back story with the books to just kill him off in the first of their "Reclaimer" trilogy. We heard his voice after the credits and his words speak of reclaiming. Those piles of ash show that he accomplished at least part of his task and now has an army. He'll be back and Cortana will come with him. Her final scene was very open-ended. She said most of her was "down there" and that she held some back to save the Chief. She didn't say that she was going to die. It seemed more like she had no way to return than no way to live. I was so certain that she'd be back I didn't consider the ending any sadder than Halo 2's farewell. But this time it seemed like Cortana was the one leaving the Chief behind instead of the other way around.