proxi 9

HOW CAN I FORGET ABOUT SGT JOHNSON?! Still not the best in my opinion, but he definitely should have been mentioned!

I have not written in quite a while, however, something has grabbed my attention. Some leaked footage from Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been put on the internet, and it was an added cutscene to the Halo 2 Level, Heretic, to bridge the gaps from the Halo 2 storyline to that of Halo 5: Guardians. It appears to take place in a Lynch. Trust is brought up, and the Arbiter tells Locke that he must earn his trust. Arbiter clarifies that Locke is a spartan hunting other spartans. Locke corrects him by telling him that he hunts "The Spartan." It is fairly obvious that he is referring to our beloved Chief. Two things that I caught my attention: 1. There appears to be other spartans with Locke. One of the spartan's armor looks very similar to that of Locke, however, the details are red rather than blue. My guess: these guys are spec. ops. 2. Saving the best for the last. In a holographic display is what appears to be what was seen in the Halo 5: Guardians trailer back at E3. This brings a few questions to mind. Does the Arbiter know where Chief is? Does the Arbiter know what that thing is? A little bit off topic, but may be important: where is this conversation taking place? Sangheilios (most likely place)? The Ark? Please leave your thoughts in the comments below, and if you need to see the video check it out here: https://vid.me/GJg Proxi 9 out!

There is zero doubt that he would have died in Halo 4, I was talking about after the events of Escalation.

Going off of what P34nut said, Valhalla and Ragnarok are also references to Norse mythology.

Yeah, thanks for looking out for me!

This is a different 30 Day Challenge. I'm sorry, I should have been more specific XD

I remember a while back HaloFollower did a video on a symbolic reference to the 4 Horseman and his theory about it. (http://youtu.be/LoX3q6LUSK4) Symbolism does not always have to be an allusion to mythology or religion. Because of this, symbolism exists in almost every scene. If you are interested in this kind of symbolism, check out this analysis: http://haruspis.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/halo-4-level-by-level-analysis-prologue/. However, if you are looking for some religious allusions or symbolism, you can also check out that link because it talks about that, and I can bring up a few things. One thing that really sticks out to me is the constant references to fire. The Ur-Didact references this in Halo 4 (check out Haruspis's analysis of "Shutdown" and he will talk about everything I will in more depth), Halsey talks about the Promethan Knights and fire in Spartan Ops. Mendicant Bias and the Primordial also talk about fire. In all of these cases, fire is a symbol for the Mantle. And I am going to explain to you my theory as to why the Prometheans are called what they are. In Greek mythology, Prometheus took fire from the titans and brought it to the gods. How does this apply to the Prometheans? The Forerunners, more specifically the Warrior-Servants, attacked and would eventually kill the Precursors because of the Mantle. The Mantle is fire, the Forerunners are the gods, and the Precursors are the titans (because they created the universe, life, the Mantle, ect.). I think that the reason the high ranking Warrior-Servants are called Prometheans is because (I'm going to reference the Gravemind here :3) it is a monument to their sins. The Promethean Knights in Halo 4 were merely called Prometheans because the original Knights were the Didact's Prometheans who volunteered to be Composed. There is a lot more symbolism, I just found this particular piece of symbolism to be very intriguing and so I decided to only talk about this one.

I've made it to the fourth day in the 30 Day Halo Challenge. The topic of the fourth day is one's favorite weapon. One of the great things about Halo, I think, is its weapon balance. What I mean by this is that there are many weapons, each unique in its own way. This is something many first person shooters lack. Each weapon in Halo is different and is used differently, which brings a whole new level to competitive gameplay. When I think about the best weapon, I do not think about which is the most destructive, or the coolest looking, or the most entertaining. I look for something that can be used in every situation and on every enemy type, either player or AI. So, with those things considered, I'd say the Battle Rifle is the most effective at everything, and what I mean by that is that it's well rounded. You can use it on practically anything, and (at least in campaign) ammo can be found quite often. A weapon that is almost as good as the BR is the Sniper Rifle. Slightly harder to aim with, however, it can take out players and some campaign enemies in one shot. It also has much better range than the BR. It's a fun weapon to use, and when I see one, I dash for it. However, that is its downfall. It's a somewhat rare weapon, at least compared to the BR, and ammo is usually scarce. Also, in campaign, I would hate to use the sniper rifle on smaller enemies such as grunts or crawlers. If ammo was infinite, this would probably be my favorite weapon. So, the best overall weapon combo, in my opinion, is the Battle Rifle backed up with a Sniper Rifle. This is not the best in all cases, however, it is for general use. All in all, the Battle Rifle is my favorite weapon because it is the most practical and effective in general cases, and the Sniper Rifle is close behind in second place.

I actually think that the stuff they have added into gameplay has made the game tremendously better, however, it has been getting away from that Arena Style gameplay from Halo 2. On the bright side, H5G's multiplayer will be very similar to Halo 2's, just with more stuff. I am really excited to here about this, because Halo 2 probably had the best multiplayer gameplay, just with outdated weapons and graphics.

I really think they will flesh that out. The Primoridial's prohpecy pretty much said that the Flood would return and humanity will rise and stuff like that. Plus, 343i has done a pretty good job bringing aspects from the books into the game.

I actually didn't know I could do that. I just pasted the link and put it in parenthesis XD

As some of you guys may have noticed, Halo Waypoint has been down the last few days. However, Halo Follower just released a new video showing the new and improved Waypoint. Also, it's up right now, so go take a look! There are plenty of new and awesome features they've added. Let me know what you think!

Yes, I would love to see more of those characters! Definitely the Gravemind, there's almost no doubt about that. As for Jul, I think we're just getting started with him. And Takanuva?!

So we know of a few characters that will definitely be returning in H5G. Obviously John, also Jameson Locke, Thel 'Vadam, and in some form the Didact (pretty sure that 343i was referring to the Ur-Didact in the XBox Magazine, but you never know). Lasky will probably return, however, we are not 100% sure about that. What characters would you like to see return? I think that I would like for Blue team to show up somewhere, and that is highly likely because Fred's armor was seen in the Halo 5 Guardians multiplayer trailer. I'll make another post about Blue team, I have quite a few things to say about them. Also, I'm hoping for Chakas to appear sometime soon. Anyway, please comment who you want to see (maybe they haven't been in a Halo game yet) and if you want to why you want them to appear. See you on the other side!

Looks fun! Challange accepted!

You guys pretty much pointed out all of the main points. My opinion: it's a somewhat well balanced vehicle. What I mean by that is that if you know how to use it, the Mantis could be your key to victory, however, if you do not, it is a walking death trap. Sadly, a lot of people (at least people who I play against) know how to use it well and it becomes a more difficult advisory. It could also use some tweaks.

Day 3: Favorite Member of the Covenant This one was kind of hard considering that I liked very few Covenant characters. I mean there were excellent characters like Thel 'Vadam, Rtas 'Vadum, and Jul 'Mdama, but still, not too many to choose from. IF I had to choose, however, I would choose Thel 'Vadam. He is widely accepted by the community as a fan favorite, and too be honest, he is a little too over rated. By that I mean, too many people do not see him for who he is (than again most people don't even know what the Mantle is XD). I see him as a great character, and his character arc was at its best in Halo 2. He, as well as the entire Covenant, went through a lot of change in that game. He was being forced to look at their so called religion as a lie, and his leaders as traitors and liars. Everything that he stood for and everyone else before him had turned out to be a lie. He eventually came to realize this. An amazing scene for Thel was at the end of Halo 2, where despite what Tartarus has done, Thel offers him forgiveness and knowledge. He wants Tartarus to learn the truth, however, he is not open to it. There's an awesome battle, and Tartarus is defeated. But it was this moment that stands out for me the most in Thel's story. The best part about his story is that it is not over. Not only is he going to return in H5G, but his past (which was also explained a little bit in the books, which was another part of his story that I liked) will be explored in Halo 2 Anniversary's terminals. I look forward to seeing more of this character!

Today is the second day of the 30 Day Halo Challenge for me, and it's all about my favorite member of the UNSC. There were many fantastic characters that were members of the UNSC. There were great leaders like Thomas Lasky and Jacob Keyes, there were bad leaders like Andrew Del Rio, and there were heroes like Kurt-051 and John-117. My personal favorite goes to Vasily Beloi, a member of Kilo-5. Vaz was a very interesting character. He served for 8 years as an ODST in the Human-Covenant war. He had a strong hate for Sangheili, and had a strong idea of morality. However, his sense of morality was tested, and he showed compassion and care for his other team-mates, especially Naomi. He eventually felt sympathy for Steffan Stentzke and was forced to make a decision. Ultimately, he did what he thought was right and made a deal with Stentzke. His character arc ended when he received a package in the mail revealing that Stentzke was still alive and grateful for what Vaz did. Vaz, as well as the rest of Kilo-5, kept their promise to him and did not tell ONI about Stentzke. Vasily was an awesome character, and although I very much doubt this would happen, it would be amazing to see this character reappear in the future of the Halo franchise.

So I'm going to do the 30 Days of Halo Challenge in preparation for the Master Chief Collection! Day 1: Favorite Character The Halo universe is filled with many fantastic characters, and I have had many favorite characters over time, because I would change my mind quite a bit. I have enjoyed the trials of Chakas, the humor of Black Box, the nobility of Kurt-051, and the hardships of John-117. However, my personal favorite character is the Ur-Didact. There are many tragedies within Halo on various levels, however, the Ur-Didact raised the bar. Shortly after being awoken from his meditation in his Cryptum (the first time) by Bornstellar, the Didact was captured by his political enemy Faber (aka the Master Builder). This was the same guy who developed the Halo idea, which the Didact opposed. He, and some fellow Prometheans, attempted to delay the production of the Halos, and the Master Builder then convinced the Ecumene to exile him into his Cryptum. Anyway, after being captured by Faber, the Didact is stranded in a Burn (a Flood controlled system) for about a year, encapsulated in a stasis bubble. In this time, the rest of the Forerunners believed him to be dead, so he was sort of replaced by the IsoDidact. He wakes up due to power failure, and finds several other Forerunners including a Catalog. The Didact (soon to be titled Ur-Didact, "ur" meaning original in German) and Catalog cover an escape for the rest of the Forerunners that were abandoned there by the Master Builder. The Ur-Didact and Catalog were then captured by the Flood. Here's where things get spiced up. The Gravemind, who shares the same consciousness as the Primordial who the Didact encountered many thousand years before, mentally tormented the Didact, driving him mad. He was then released back to the Forerunners, as the Flood turned the once great warrior into a mindless pawn. "Humans drowned out entire civilizations with the Flood. They brought this horrific parasite to our people. Had we acted quicker, had we taken what was rightfully ours, we could have cut off the infection at its source. Know this: the universe will now be turned star by star, world by world, organism by living thing, into even more of a tortured mockery than it already is. Look what it's done to me! Everything it touches is afflicted with madness. It has touched me. I am myself mad!" He refuses to give up on his alternate solution to the Halo Array. His solution was based off of his Star-Hopping strategy, and he believed that the construction of Shield World fortifications would be the key to stopping the Flood. However, with this new passion, this new madness, he becomes paranoid with the Flood, and experiments with himself to find a solution. This only worsens his mental state. As one of his Promethean comrades points out, the only option remaining is the Composer. The Ur-Didact cannot be composed due to his experimentation on himself, however, his Prometheans volunteer for the job. They are composed and turned into Promethean Knights, however, they were too small in numbers. Not that it matters, his strategy was futile at this point. "This quest to fulfill the Mantle has haunted me my entire life. And for countless millennia, we have failed to realize the one truth that could have saved us from the beginning. The Mantle isn't to be inherited by the noble, it is to be taken by the strong." The Ur-Didact goes to Installation 07, where the Humans were being held to be cataloged, and composed them for his army (thankfully a few ships carrying human specimen got away, so we're not extinct). The Librarian, his wife who was already horrified at what he had become, was furious. She followed him back to Requiem, and with the help of Endurace, incapacitated the Ur-Didact, and put him into his Cryptum. Within the Cryptum, one's mind is connected to the Domain. The Librarian had done this with the hopes that the Domain would heal what the Flood did to her husband's mind, and he would one day awaken and lead the Humans to victory (with his knowledge of the Mantle as well as the Janus Key). However, the Flood soon informs the Librarian about the truth of the Domain, how it is a Precursor technology, and that the Halo Array (which is being fired at this point) would destroy it. Instead of healing the Didact, his time (the next 100,000 years) in the Cryptum left him only to think of his betrayal and meddle on his madness and rage. So, if that's not sad, I don't know what is. All in all, the Ur-Didact had an awesome character arc, which is definitely not over, and is my favorite character in the Halo Universe.

Yeah I agree, if they're going to kill the Didact, it's going to have to be in a game.

Thanks guys!

Probably spoilers: RvB Season 12 ended a few weeks ago with an interesting plot twist. First off, a plot twist was expected, because RvB will always end a season with a plot twist, unless that season is the final season in that saga (example: Season 5, Season 8, Season 10). This season's plot twist was that Agent Maine's helmet was revealed to be in the crate from the ship. The Chairman being the true identity of Control was also a plot twist, but that was not the final note Rooster Teeth ended us on. What do you guys think about Maine's helmet? Now, we all thought that Maine died in Season 8 by being strapped to a car and having that car thrown off a cliff. I always knew that he wouldn't have died from that, but I also always thought that it would be too cheesy to bring him back. I was proven wrong. So, I believe that Maine didn't die because the cliff fed off to an ocean or large body of water. Yeah, that's a long fall, and yeah, it's literally freezing cold, but if anyone can take something like that, it's Maine. Remember, in one episode alone in Season 9, he took a sniper round to the chest, 9 magnum rounds to the throat, and was hit by a huge truck and thrown off the highway. He BARELY made it, but he still made it. So I think that he survived the cliff. Also, what was Charon Industries doing in Season 12 with the Freelancer tech? They were mass producing it (as well as advanced weaponry, but that's not as important right now) as well as making the equipment usable without the use of an AI. How is this important? Remember Maine a few seasons back taking all of the equipment from other Freelancers, but eventually all of his AI's were destroyed? Yeah, he still has that equipment. And now, he won't need an AI to run them. Also, Grif said "that's what the UNSC said when they took the Grifshot!" Now, that was a pretty funny joke, but it may be more than a joke. I think it's hinting at Maine still being alive, because it was actually the Chairman and his committee that took the Grifshot from him, and I think they're gonna give it to Maine. ALSO, in Season 11, when Felix was talking about him being a merc, he said something about being 3 of them. When we found out about Felix's betrayal, we either forgot about it, or disregarded it as a lie. However, expert liars often base their lies on some sort of truth. So what I'm proposing is that the three mercs he's refering to are Felix, Locus, and Maine (probably). If I'm right, things are about to suck for the Reds and Blues. I may be COMPLETELY wrong, and they just have his helmet for the sake of the equipment (however, they have plenty of that, and considering that the Chairman was pleased about the arival of the crate, I think that its more than just the sake of having the equipment). Anyway, I want to hear what you guys have to say!

Just kidding, I'm not Guilty Spark. However, I am new to the forums! And Chakas (not quite Guilty Spark) is one of my favorite characters. I love to critically analyze Halo, but more importantly, I love to hear what people have to say and hear their opinions. My ultimate goal is to apply at Halo Follower, however, I'd like to come here first to establish myself, to listen to what wonderful things other people have to say, and to have fun! I look forward to future discussions and I hope I have a good time here on the forums! - proxi 9

SPOILER ALERT: In the newest Halo: Escalation Issue ("The Next 72 Hours Part 3"), the Ur-Didact supposedly dies when a piece of Installation 03 was hurled at a planet. It even shows him being decimated by the explosion. So everyone who's seen this is probably comfortable with his death, I mean, he's not really important to the story anymore, is he? What I'm wondering, is if he's really dead. Halo: Primordium is set in 2559 on the UNSC Rubicon when it discovers something on the Ark. What is this something? It's 343 Guilty Spark, however, it's his original personality, Chakas (who's the human that the Iso-Didact composed in order to save his life, and ultimately became the monitor of Installation 04. The Forerunners repressed Chakas's memories and personality when he became Guilty Spark because he knew way to much. It would be extremely dangerous for a monitor of a Halo Installation to know as much as Chakas did.). The humans begin to ask him questions about the Didact. This is about two years after the events of Halo 4 as well as "The Next 72 Hours Part 3". Why after so long, and after he supposedly died, would they be asking about the Didact? So maybe, if you've made it this far, you're still dismissing this. Maybe they're just trying to gain more information on this previous enemy, in case they were to be attacked by other Forerunners or Prometheans. But wait, there's more! Near the end of the book, Chakas says something interesting: "You and I are brothers in many ways, not least in that we faced the Didact before, and face him now, and perhaps ever after. This is combat eternal, enmity unslaked..." Emphasis on the "face him now." However, you could still argue that maybe Chakas says this because the humans were asking about the Didact and assumed that he was still alive. In the Official Xbox Magazine it says that "the Didact is guaranteed to show up." This could just mean a flashback, or in Terminals, things like that, however, with all of this evidence stacking up, I think the Didact may not be dead after all. What do you guys think?