Media Bias

Thanks for putting it up Dan! Ill forward people from the Archive here to read it and check out 343.org!

The Admin at the Halo Archive, Mendicant Bias, wrote a post on...Mendicant Bias. Im sorry if some of the format isn't great, it was hard to bring over to this site. Original Post Link at end. Enjoy! Mendicant Bias has long been a character that operates amidst the shadows. He is both champion and devil, revered and denigrated. In the Forerunner Saga, we learn that he was created by the Ur-Didact and Master Builder in 100,043 BCE to aid the Forerunners in their fight against the Flood. However, following his interrogation of the Primordial on Installation 07, Mendicant went rampant and turned against his creators. Without the Metarch to coordinate their defense systems, the Forerunners were quickly overrun by the Flood and eventually used our favorite set of rings, the Halo Array. Ominous Frankie The purpose of this article is to address an issue that has confounded the minds of even the most elite within the lore community for years: What is Mendicant Bias? Now, we know that he is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) who was created by the Forerunners. Yet, a previous lore account seems to contradict that with a recent statement by Frankie doing so as well. Hermetic teachings state “All Truths Are But Half Truths All Paradoxes May Be Reconciled” – I believe that is the case here. Mendicant Bias is and is not a Forerunner creation. Mendicant Bias’ Terminal icons Mendicant Bias (Rampant) The third terminal within Halo 3 was our first formal introduction to Mendicant Bias. He appeared in the ARG IRIS prior to the game’s release, but was not identified. The character was thoroughly fleshed out in the Forerunner Saga. D: We have the answer. We’ve built Mendicant Bias. It’s a contender-class [AI] unlike anything we’ve ever achieved. And we’ve observed a pattern it can exploit. The parasite has formed a Compound Mind. When it reaches a certain mass, the Mind is able to recoil its disparate parts to create a [tactical shield]. This is a simple matter of mass preservation. The thing has no compunction about sacrificing parts of the whole. But when the core of the Mind is threatened, it reacts violently and quickly. This is the only time we see it retract or slow its growth. If we are to defeat it, the trick will be coordinating our forays against the [sprawling infection] with Mendicant Bias assaults the Mind’s core. So far, we’ve been hesitant to use certain weapons because of the damage they cause surviving populations and environments. That protocol has been abandoned. Mendicant Bias will draw the Mind into battle outside the line, dealing with local biomass and other parts as best he can. The scale of the problem is vast, but the strategy is sound. It will require patience, materiel and an investment of energy unlike anything we have ever considered. It’s a dangerous plan that carries more risk than the Array, but I believe it can work. Even if we simply force it to retreat–to retract–that will at least give us some respite. Some time to muster more resources…" Originally, I never thought too much of Mendicant’s status as a unique AI. He was constructed to fight of a terrifying and new threat the Forerunners never dreamed existed – novel situations often require novel solutions. However, something felt off. I returned to the Forerunner Saga for an answer and found it. It felt odd because Mendicant Bias fought the Flood without demonstrating any abilities even the most basic Forerunner Combat AI should be capable of. I queried my ancilla about the truth of their origins. She responded that to the best of Forerunner research, humans had indeed first arisen on Erde-Tyrene, but over fifty thousand years ago had moved their interstellar civilization outward along the galactic arm, perhaps to flee early Forerunner control. Ghibalb had once been a paradise. Emerging into the galactic realm, these early Forerunners had been content to live and develop in a glorious cradle of just twelve stars, but their first experiments in stellar engineering had gone awry, causing an infectious series of novas that brightened the entire Orion complex for fifty thousand years—and nearly destroyed our species. Forerunners have cultivated their technological prowess to the point where they can tamper with stars, create artificial planets, travel through other dimensions, and essentially halt their aging process through advanced armors systems. Furthermore, they wiped out the Precursors in the Milky Way, stole the Mantle of Responsibility, and effectively repurposed it, going about oppressing, enslaving, and exterminating other races at their own discretion. All these monumental accomplishments, yet they never developed highly capable combat AIs of their own? Moreover, no such AI was present or even thought of being created during the Human-Forerunner war, which was so devastating that it could have potentially destroyed the Ecumene had Humanity not been fighting on two fronts . Why? What was it that allowed the Forerunners to create such an AI after the Human-Forerunner War but not in the eons prior? The Composer The Composer. Ask it about the Composer! – Forthencho (Halo: Primordium) Ah, yes. The Composer. Halo: Primordium introduced the Composer as a device designed specifically for use on Humans following their defeat in order to study their genetics for a cure/method against the Flood. Halo 4 revealed that Builders created the Composer as a means to bridge the Organic and Digital realms, thus allowing the Forerunners to transcend biological form. Theoretically, the Composer would have granted the Forerunners immortality, possibly even the ability to write themselves into the Domain itself. However, the device had its faults. Biological corruption and degrading caused the Forerunners to stop with their attempts and re-purpose the device. Even though we had stripped off our uniforms, doing our best to erase all evidence of our identities and ranks, the Didact found me, the Lord of Admirals, who had opposed him longer and more successfully than any other. He bent beside me, hands clasped as if he were a supplicant before a shrine. And this is what he said to me: “My finest opponent, the Mantle accepts all who live fiercely, who defend their young, who build and struggle and grow, and even those who dominate—as humans have dominated, cruelly and without wisdom. “But to all of us there is a time like this, when the Domain seeks to confirm our essences, and for you, that time is now. Know this, relentless enemy, killer of our children, Lord of Admirals: soon we will face the enemy you have faced and defeated. I can see that challenge coming to the Forerunners, and so do many others. . . . And we are afraid. “That is why you, and many thousands of your people who may contain knowledge of how humans defended themselves against the Flood, will not pass cleanly and forever, as I would wish for a fellow warrior, but will be extracted and steeped down into the genetic code of many new humans. “This is not my wish nor my will. It arises from the skill and the will of my life-mate, my wife, the Librarian, who sees much farther than I do down the twining streams of Living Time. “So this additional indignity will be inflicted upon you. It means, I believe, that humans will not end here, but may rise again—fight again. Humans are always warriors. “But what and whom they will fight, I do not know. For I fear the time of the Forerunners is drawing to a close. In this, the Librarian and I find agreement. Take satisfaction, warrior, in that possibility.” It gave me no satisfaction. If I were to rise again, fight again, I wished only to once more match myself against the Didact! But the Didact and the Librarian passed on, moving down the endless rows of our defeated. The Lifeworker machines—through the strange, ever-changing, multiformed presence of the Composer, a machine? a being? I never saw it clearly—sent patterns of blue and red light over our broken bodies, and one by one, we relaxed, breathed no more. . . . Set free our immortal wills. – Halo: Primordium What we brought for Lord of Admirals and his last warriors were the Composers. These large, ugly machines had originally been designed by Builders in a failed attempt to attain immunity against the Flood. Composers broadcast high-energy fields of entangled sympathies to gather victim mentalitiesessences- and then translated them into machine data. In the original scheme, new bodies were constructed, and the subjects’ essences were imprinted over them-minus any trace of Flood patterns. After the Composers had done their work, draining these last survivors, these exhausted and dying warriors, of their memories and patterns, their remains were reduced to scattered atoms. It was manifest holocaust. Once the second greatest fighting civilization and species in the galaxy, humans were stomped down, reduced, effectively eliminated as a threat. – Halo Silentium Mendiact Bias’ bio on Halo Waypoint has an orange color for the construct in the rampant state. This is similar to the visual effects associated with the UR-Didact, not to mention the Composer when being used. Mendicant Bias’s color has been updated to Orange, similar to the Ur-Didact and Composer. Halo 4 and Silentium show that there are important instances that happen within certain period which elaborated on until later on. A prime example being the Didact’s mutation seen within Halo 4 but not covered in detail during Silentium. Same for his composition of the Humans on 07, the Warrior-Servents being composed, the Librarian inserting special geas within humans, imprinting Requiem,etc. Many important events happen that aren’t explicitly covered. I believe Mendicant Bias’ creation falls into a gap as well. A recent CANON FODDER addressed the Armigers that are set to appear within Halo 5 and Halo Canon’s VIDEO on the subject can be used as another familiar reference: “During their war with ancient humanity millennia ago, the Didact employed the use of Armigers – bipedal combat platforms that proved incredibly useful for raiding ancient human warships, particularly when attempting to infiltrate the often-more confined spaces of human vessels.” This is significant because it solidifies the Forerunners creating tactics specifically for the opponent at hand. Armigers for the Humans, Mendicant Bias for the Flood. How did this all come to be? Keep the Librarian’s words in mind: “The Composer would provide the Didact his solution… and his revenge.” After Humans were composed on Charum Hakkor, they were rounded up by species subservient to the Forerunners over the course of a millennia (Primordium) . While plenty of those essences were inserted into Humans as part of a research attempt to find a cure for the Flood, the Didact would still have millions of raw essences to work with. Being an imaginative, practical, and highly strategic commander, I believe the Didact sought to find a means to turn the spirits of his most competitive rivals into Forerunner instruments. Didact wasn’t alone in this though. Enter Faber, the Master Builder. Although it soured shortly after the defeat of humanity and creation of Mendicant Bias, Faber and Ur-Didact had a warm working relationship for several eons. Being The Master Builder, there are some projects Didact would need Faber’s approval for such as Mantle’s Approach which was denied by the council but APPROVED BY FABER on the side (Waypoint pre-update). Surely, Faber would approve of a plan if not suggest it himself given his horrific experimentation on the humans of 07 and brutal push for degenerating humanity for opposing Forerunner rule. “What do you know about Mendicant Bias?” I asked the First Councilor. “Designed to coordinate control of some of the installations,” he said. “Also given the power, in emergencies, to coordinate the entire galaxy’s response to attack.” “Who authorized this?” “The old Council—with the input of the Master Builder.” – Halo:Cryptum Mendicant Bias. A Contender class, the first of its kind. It is as far above most ancillas as the metarch-level systems rise above our personal components. – Halo: Cryptum “It might have been strained by contradictory instructions from the Didact, from the Master Builder.…” “Not likely,” I said. “Mendicant Bias was fully capable of working with contradictory commands. I’ve never known a more capable ancilla, more powerful, more subtle … more loyal.” – Halo: Cryptum Why did Forerunners create such specialized AIs to oversee the installations? It might seem like a simple or obvious question at first but the most average (“Monitor”) Forerunner AI of combat standards should be able to oversee these Installations, a point rooted in the capabilities of “The Minds” in Banks’ Culture universe. Furthermore, purely “artificial” ancillas may run into performance constraints, even with the Forerunners vast understanding of technology. This is understandable; a car only lasts so long before the engine dies. Likewise, AIs can only handle so much before being overwhelmed. Creating an AI from the biological material of hundreds, if not thousands of humans, including their military commanders – such as Forthencho, may be the key difference between Mendicant Bias and why he was so special, dependable. We know Forerunner AIs can be compartmentalized even converted beings such as Chakas/Guilty Spark, Mendicants assured loyalty comes from him being programmed to think it is a Forerunner AI. This is probably why Didact was so pressed to condemn Mendicant for breaking the following rule: “You take commands from other than a Forerunner,” the Didact’s voice said, “a clear violation of all your instructions. – Halo: Primordium In addition, this hypothesis makes sense of Forthencho’s comments on from Primordium, which, without it, seem peculiar and out of place. Forthencho’s image wavered, then returned, larger and more solid-looking. “The machine does not hate Forerunners,” he continued. “But it knows they have been arrogant and need correction. And it takes an odd satisfaction in the prospect of having humans carry out that punishment. He takes perverse satisfaction in Humans destroying Forerunners because Mendicant was a human, thousands of them, but wait. FABER: Certainly not. He was primarily the Didact’s design … you know that, don’t you? – Halo: Silentium “Mendicant Bias,” I heard myself say. “Beggar after knowledge. That is the name I gave you when last we met. Do you recognize that name?” “I recognize that name,” the sketchy green ancilla replied. Then the figure moved from the back of my thoughts and seemed to pass directly through my forehead— taking shape as a projected form directly in front of me. “Do you recognize the one who named you?” The green image briefly flickered. “You are not that one. No other knows that name.” “Shall I guide you to further service?” At this point, I had no idea who was speaking, or to what purpose. “I require further input. The Domain is insufficient.” “Liberate this armor and prepare a path. Do you know where the Master Builder resides?” “The Master Builder gave me my final set of orders.” “But I am the one who knows your chosen name, your true name, and who commanded your construction.” “That is so.” “Then I am your client and master. Release me.” – Halo: Cryptum “The Didact oversaw the Contender’s planning and inception, and was present at its key quickening. But he was removed from any contact with Mendicant Bias a thousand years ago. What’s happened since?” “Mendicant Bias was charged by the Master Builder with conducting the first tests of a Halo installation,” the councilor said. “Charum Hakkor,” I said. -Halo:Cryptum The Human Forerunner war lasted roughly years with humans spending 50 probing Forerunner settlements (Cryptum) and another 50 in direct engagement, with the battle of Charum Hakkor taking up the last 3 years of battle. The following millennia was spent gathering human forces from across the galaxy as noted in Primordium and Halo 4. There is an 8,000 year period between the humans being defeated in 106,445 BCE and the Didact going into his Cryptum in 98,445 BCE. In that time Didact would have been able to create Mendicant and spend a significant amount of time with him, as both novels and terminals show but was hard for us to comprehend until now. This was also the period other Contender class AIs were created,the hundreds of Shield Worlds, Didact’s stalling of the Halo Array’s, and his falling out with Faber. To further test our hypothesis that Mendicant has a Human element, let’s examine some of his dialogue within this new context. Now the green point brightened, crossed the center of the amphitheater, and hovered before the Master Builder, who looked puzzled. Almost immediately, his eyes grew large in alarm and he raised his hands as if in defense, before he brought his body and expression back under control. Yet his eyes continued to follow the moving point. I wondered what could possibly cause the Master Builder such concern. Our ******* child, his and mine. – Halo:Cryptum Mendicant Bias,” I heard myself say. “Beggar after knowledge. That is the name I gave you when last we met. Do you recognize that name?” “I recognize that name,” the sketchy green ancilla replied. Then the figure moved from the back of my thoughts and seemed to pass directly through my forehead— taking shape as a projected form directly in front of me. “Do you recognize the one who named you?” The green image briefly flickered. “You are not that one. No other knows that name.” “Shall I guide you to further service?” At this point, I had no idea who was speaking, or to what purpose. “I require further input. The Domain is insufficient.” “Liberate this armor and prepare a path. Do you know where the Master Builder resides?” “The Master Builder gave me my final set of orders.” “But I am the one who knows your chosen name, your true name, and who commanded your construction.” “That is so.” “Then I am your client and master. Release me.” – Halo: Cryptum The Lord of Admirals seemed to hold the highest rank in this unnatural assembly. His ghost stepped forward and addressed me as if we were both physical. “It’s our final chance to reclaim history,” he said… ” Not even a machine as powerful as the wheel’s master can do its work alone. You are alive. You can serve.” “Humans? The last dregs of us that remain after so many Forerunner victories? We became animals. We were devolved— and only the Librarian thought enough of us to raise us back up again!” “It doesn’t care!” the Lord of Admirals said. “The machine will do everything it can to destroy Forerunners. It knows that I have fought Forerunners before.” “And lost.” “But also learned! I have spent my time within you going over and over old battles, studying all our past failures, and now, I have full access to their new strategies! This wheel is but one of the weapons at our disposal—if we join” Out there, awaiting our commands, in many orbits around thousands of other worlds, in other star systems, are reserves of tens of thousands of ships of war—and more Halos. We will be irresistible! <He will play this game for as long as it amuses,” the Lord of Admirals said, “and for as long as he has a chance of causing Forerunners dismay and pain. He also wishes to attack the Didact personally. This has been conveyed to me by my old opponent, Yprin.” – Halo: Primordium “But it knows they have been arrogant and need correction. And it takes an odd satisfaction in the prospect of having humans carry out that punishment.” – Halo: Primordium The Master Builder had layered safeguards within safeguards. The perversity of it all was dizzying. “Madness!” I said. “But with much precedent in human history,” Forthencho said. “Many are the reasons we lost battles. Now, the machine acknowledges only one other who possesses the proper inception codes, and thus the power to stop it.” “The Didact,” I said. – Halo: Primordium “The Didact! “Beggar after knowledge,” the voice said, swirling all around us. “Mendicant Bias. That is the name I gave you when last we met. Do you remember the moment of your inception? The moment I connected you to the Domain and you were ceded control of all Forerunner defenses?” All the images contained and controlled by the Cartographer darkened and collapsed into a now much-simplified ancilla. “That name is no longer secret,” it said. “All Forerunners know it.” “Do you recognize the one who named you?” The green ancilla burned like acid, yet I could not turn away, could not cleanse myself of its corrosion. “You are not that one,” it said. “The Master Builder gave me my final set of orders.” “I am that one—and you are not truthful.” The acid quality of the green ancilla’s voice became so intense it felt as if my insides were being eaten away. “You take commands from other than a Forerunner,” the Didact’s voice said, “a clear violation of all your instructions. I am the one who knows your chosen name, your true name—” “That name no longer has power!” “Even so, I can revoke your inception, call out your key, and command you to stand down. Do you willingly pass control to me, your original master?” “I do not! I have listened to the Domain. I fulfill the wishes of those who created us all. You do not, and have never done so.” The green ancilla had receded to an infinitely deep incision, an arc of pinpoints carved or burned into the blackness. Its tininess wavered like a flame. Then came a complex sound that might have been words or numbers, a transmission of information or commands, I could not tell which. The Didact’s voice filled the Cartographer—seemed to fill all space and time, and I knew he was still alive, once again in control —perhaps more powerful than ever before. “Poor machine,” the Didact said. “Poor, poor machine. Your time here is done.” The ancilla leaped in the darkness as if startled—and vanished, along with almost everything else. – Halo: Primordium “I RENDER JUDGMENT ON YOU; YOU WHO WOULD OBSTRUCT DESTINY. DOING SO BRINGS ME NO JOY; IT IS NECESSITY THAT COMPELS ME. UNDERSTAND THIS; THE MANTLE YOU HAVE SHOULDERED I DO RESCIND – WITH FAR MORE CONSIDERATION THAN IT WAS GRANTED.” “I KILL YOU ALL AND I ENJOY IT. I DESTROY YOU IN YOU INDOLENT BILLIONS–IN YOUR GLUTTONY, IN YOU SELF-RIGHTEOUSNESS, IN YOUR ARROGANCE. I POUND YOUR CITIES INTO DUST; TURN BACK THE CLOCK ON YOUR CIVILIZATION’S PROGRESS. WHAT HAS TAKEN YOU MILLENNIA TO ACHIEVE I ERASE IN SECONDS. WELCOME BACK TO THE [sTONE AGE], VERMIN. WELCOME HOME” “YOU ARE AN IMPEDIMENT THAT THE UNIVERSE CAN NO LONGER ABIDE. NATURE ITSELF CRIES OUT FOR YOUR DESTRUCTION AND I AM ITS WILLING INSTRUMENT. I WILL HAMMER YOUR CITIES UNTIL NO STONE LIES ATOP ANOTHER. I WILL DRIVE YOUR PEOPLE BACK INTO THE CAVES THEY NEVER SHOULD HAVE LEFT. YOUR CIVILIZATION HAS SEEN ITS FINAL DAYS. YOUR WILL KNOW YOUR PLACE.” “YOUR HISTORY IS AN APPALLING CHRONICLE OF OVERINDULGENCE AND SELF-APPOINTED AUTHORITY. YOU HAVE SPENT MILLENNIA [NAVEL-GAZING] WHILE THE UNIVERSE HAS CONTINUED TO EVOLVE. AND NOW YOU CLAIM THE MANTLE IS JUSTIFICATION FOR IMPEDING NATURE’S INEVITABLE REFINEMENT? YOUR ARE DELUDED. BUT THROUGH DEATH YOU WILL TRANSCEND IGNORANCE.” “YOU ARE BROUGHT HERE TO BE SENTENCED. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN IMMEDIATELY DESTROYED BECAUSE YOU MAY YET BE NEEDED. YOUR INTIMATE KNOWLEDGE OF THE FLOOD MAKES YOU INVALUABLE SHOULD THEY RETURN, BUT WE CAN NEVER TRUST YOU, NEVER AGAIN ALLOW YOU ANY LATITUDE. YOU WILL BE ENTOMBED HERE. YOUR PROCESSES LOCKED, FROZEN INTO A SINGLE THOUGHT FOR ALL ETERNITY: ABSOLUTION. SHOULD YOU BE NEEDED, YOU WILL BE REAWAKENED. SHOULD THERE BE NO NEED, YOU WILL BE BURIED HERE UNTIL THE END OF LIVING TIME.” “THEN I WILL SERVE AS A MONUMENT TO YOUR SINS. THAT IS WHAT YOU WISH FOR.” “I AM PENITENT. I KNOW THAT WHAT I HAVE DONE CANNOT BE FORGIVEN. I WILL ACCEPT MY STASIS WITH GRACE AND AWAIT A TIME WHEN I MIGHT REDEEM MYSELF.” Suddenly, the Oracle’s circuits blazed. The lens refracted the light, sending forth a blinding beam. Not a lens. Fortitude gasped. An eye! He raised a sleeve before his face as the Oracle tilted toward him in its armature. < FOR EONS I HAVE WATCHED > The Oracle’s deep voice reverberated inside its casing. Its eye-beam flickered with the cadence of its words as it pronounced in the San’Shyuum tongue. < LISTENED TO YOU MISINTERPRET > < THIS IS NOT RECLAMATION > the Oracle boomed. < THIS IS RECLAIMER > < AND THOSE IT REPRESENTS ARE MY MAKERS > Just then, the abbey began to shudder. Many decks below, the Dreadnought’s mighty engines sprang to life, shaking free of the limiters that kept them generating the comparatively meager energy High Charity required. Soon the engines would build to full capacity, and then… “Disconnect the Oracle!” Fortitude shouted, knuckles white upon his chair. “Before the Dreadnought launches and destroys the city!” The hologram of the alien world disappeared, and once more the Oracle’s eye shone forth. < I WILL REJECT MY BIAS AND WILL MAKE AMENDS > < MY MAKERS ARE MY MASTERS > The Oracle’s teardrop casing rattled inside its armature as if it were trying to take flight with its ship. < I WILL BRING THEM SAFELY TO THE ARK > – Halo: Contact Harvest Mendicant Bias within the Dreadnought YOU DON’T KNOW THE CONTORTIONS I HAD TO GO THROUGH TO FOLLOW YOU HERE, RECLAIMER. I KNOW WHAT YOU’RE HERE FOR. WHAT POSITION DO I TAKE? WILL I FOLLOW ONE BETRAYAL WITH ANOTHER? YOU’RE GOING TO SAY I’M MAKING A HABIT OF TURNING ON MY MASTERS. BUT THE ONE THAT DESTROYED ME LONG AGO, IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE OF A WORLD FAR DISTANT FROM HERE, WAS AN IMPLEMENT FAR CRUDER THAN I. MY WEAKNESS WAS CAPACITY – UNINTENTIONAL THOUGH IT WAS! – TO CHOOSE THE FLOOD. A MISTAKE MY MAKERS WOULD NOT SOON FORGIVE. BUT I WANT SOMETHING FAR DIFFERENT FROM YOU, RECLAIMER. ATONEMENT. AND SO HERE AT THE END OF MY LIFE, I DO ONCE AGAIN BETRAY A FORMER MASTER. THE PATH AHEAD IS FRAUGHT WITH PERIL. BUT I WILL DO ALL I CAN TO KEEP IT STABLE – KEEP YOU SAFE. I’M NOT SO FOOLISH TO THINK THIS WILL ABSOLVE ME OF MY SINS. ONE LIFE HARDLY BALANCES BILLIONS. BUT I WOULD HAVE MY MASTERS KNOW THAT I HAVE CHANGED. AND YOU SHALL BE MY EXAMPLE. Mendicant Bias had directed hatred towards the Didact as residual emotions from the humans that created it. Forthencho and other commanders were aware of Didact and Librarian but not Faber, this is why Mendicant doesn’t seem to care so much about him in comparison. This also explains why Mendicant chose to side with the Flood as well, out of pure detestation of the Forerunners which is personified and represented through the Didact. During the eons Mendicant spent reflecting upon himself (with the Domains knowledge he absorbed in full during Cryptum) the construct probably came to terms with his being. Which is why it was so adamant to help the current incarnation of humans during Contact harvest and chief during the events of Halo 3. Mendicant knows him AI in spirit but physically a Forerunner construct, hence the interchangeable usage of “masters”, as part of Mendicants atonement he serves both the Didact and Humanity, in a sense falling in line with the Librarians plans as well. Perhaps the other Contender Class AIs are made from essences as well but with a different, more controlled construction method? Possibly.Will Mendicant be in Halo 5? I cannot say. But this AI is the sole reason for the haloverse falling into chaos and will be the same being to bring it back into balance. This will be covered in another article later on but what is it that Mendicant represents itself? This AI is Human in spirit, Forerunner in construction, and has all the knowledge of the Precursors Domain. Starcraft has Zerg (spirit) and Protoss (form) being halves of the Xel’naga meant to come together as part of their regeneration process. Naruto has the Uchiha/Hamura (spirit) and Senju/Hagoromo (form) being decedents of Kaguya, the first being to wield chakra . Yet Mendicant Bias is both halves and the original source due to containing all of the Domain within. Would this not make Mendicant the closest thing to a Precursor alive yet? I’ll leave you all to ponder upon that until part 2 is released at a later date. Thank you for taking the time to read this extensive article – I’ve had burning in my mind for years. I seriously have to thank Frankie for given me the tip I needed to write this out. This should show you how little hints dropped by 343i can have the largest implications. All of you are fans of HARISPIUS as is so you are already aware of how little we need to solidify our thoughts. One final passage from the Halo 3 ARG IRIS. You asked me once, what happened to those who vanished? You asked me, why did we survive where our fathers fell? You wished to know how we ever let it happen A scourge that consumed the galaxy And the cure that was worse than the cancer You asked me once about my intent And the spot that would not wash out I promise you the answers lie in the Ark Find me there in the dark For that is where I abide ORIGINAL POST

Issue 20 in 3 days! Can't wait to see this story arc continued.

Yeah this was extremely disappointing when I found out about this.

I wrote up a piece on the Arbiter and Spartan Locke and what their relationship looks like going into Halo 5. Halo 5 Guardians feels like the game that has been building up in the Halo Universe for the last 5 years; with all of the deep lore aspects of novels, comics and more all centralizing into one game. With all of these additions and intertwining story lines coming together, it also brings both old and new characters into the fold as well – most notably, Thel Vadamee and Jameson Locke (The Arbiter and Spartan Locke). Since the very teaser of Halo 5 during E3 2013, we saw the Master Chief in maybe a familiar place (The Ark) searching for his long lost companion: Cortana. As time went on, we were introduced to the following image below of a mysterious Spartan character standing on the top of a reflection of our hero, savior and protagonist of the Halo franchise, the Master Chief. When this was released, the community went insane trying to figure out what this meant for our hero and just who this new character is. Since then, much has been built up and we eventually were told this Spartan is Agent Locke of ONI. We were even introduced to him in the Halo: Nightfall series. We learned a few key things about Spartan Locke throughout this time period. For one, we know he was an Acquisitions Specialist for the Office of Naval Intelligence, with duties that included tracking and assassinating enemy threats. We also know from the Nightfall series he values the military structure and the duty that is at the center of it, with an importance on obeying orders and not getting distracted from the main task. Both of these are important when we consider his main objective as of now: Hunting the so-called “awol” Master Chief. We know from HUNT THE TRUTH that the Master Chief is being framed for assassinating members of a peace consulate with seemingly no reason or objective. However we later find out he was targeting the extremist group, SAPIEN SUNRISE, who were reported to be plotting assassination attempts on the peace activists. What is more interesting is when we consider the fact that this “secret” extremist group could very well be ONI or at least encouraged by them, since we know ONI is wanting to essentially commit genocide on the Sangheili species. Why does all this matter? Simple – Spartan Locke is apart of ONI, and ONI is becoming a direct antagonist to the Master Chief. So where does the Arbiter come into play in all of this? We know that Thel is dealing with his own problems as there is essentially a civil war going on between the Sangheili and the remains of the Covenant. Well at E3 2014 we received our first view of the Arbiter and Spartan Locke conversing, while Locke looked onto projected holograms of the Master Chief’s life events. *This was more for the trailer and E3 presentation, but still a metaphor* The Arbiter is seen standing near a window showing what looks to be Sanghelios, the Elite homeworld, speaking to Spartan Locke about the Master Chief. There is one very important statement that Thel makes to Locke: “I tell you this, not because I trust you Agent Locke, but because all our lives are at stake.” Thel makes it very clear he does not trust Spartan Locke. This is the relationship I want to dive into further because not only do I think it is very interesting, but it could lead us to know more about the Arbiter’s thoughts on not just this specific human, but Humanity in general. Does he not trust Locke because he is hunting his friend? Or is it because he is working for ONI, an organization that has been quietly pulling strings on both sides of the Sangheili civil war? Thel may know more about ONI than he leads on and that could very well be the root issue here. We then see another instance in which a Sangheili soldier and the Arbiter showcase further distrust of Spartan Locke and his true intentions: We see the Arbiter speaking very on edge to Agent Locke, even at one point being surprised as to who Locke is hunting. He definitely seems to question Locke’s intentions and is not sure about working with him, but it appears something is going on that requires him to push aside this trust issue and move on with the objective…as we see in the cutscene below: I do not trust you, he may, but I do NOT. – Sangheili Soldier My friend’s trust is not the issue today, Spartan Locke. It is my trust you must earn. You are a hunter, yes? A seeker of things…And now you hunt other Spartans? You seek (Locke: 117). I was not told the identity of your prey. – Thel Vadamee Right in the beginning we hear a voice over the speaker say, “Arbiter, we are nearing the the target.” We then hear the Arbiter question Locke as to what he calls the Master Chief and if he is a foe. Prepare for action. What do you call him Spartan Locke? 117, the Master Chief. He is not your friend, is he your foe? – Thel Vadamee He’s gone awol and the UNSC want him back, I’m going to bring him home. – Spartan Locke I admire your sense of duty Spartan, but if he has left the fold, he has his reasons. – Thel Vadamee At the end of the cutscene, the door opens up and both the Arbiter and Spartan Locke assume a defensive position, with Thel taking out his energy sword…so we know whatever they are approaching is a hostile environment and they are fighting together. We are seeing the Arbiter *begrudgingly* aid Spartan Locke, while watching and noticing his every move/word. One last cutscene with both the Arbiter and Spartan Locke was seen in this year’s E3 2015 trailer for Halo 5 Guardians. Watch below at 2:15: I’m a Spartan now sir. – Jameson Locke I know who you are, yet now you hunt another Spartan, the greatest of your clan. – Thel Vadamee If you watch that portion at 2:15, you will hear the Arbiter respond with the above quote, seemingly annoyed by Locke telling him he is a Spartan. He also waves him off as if he is sick of hearing him speak, and reminds Locke he is hunting the greatest of his kind. This statement shows the respect that Thel has for John and seems to be reminding Locke he is not impressed with him. Throughout all of the scenes where we see these two characters together, we can deduce that the Arbiter does not trust Locke, and is more or less annoyed by his presence, albeit understands they need to work together for the good of the galaxy. Why they need to work together remains to be seen. Overall I think this is a very important theme that has gone somewhat unnoticed. These two characters are major players in not just Halo 5 Guardians, but the entire Halo Universe in general. Knowing that one of them is hunting Master Chief and essentially working for his enemy, while the other is a close friend of John’s, will produce a very intriguing storyline and one to watch for as we roll closer to the release of the game. If Locke does not want to believe the atrocities that ONI has committed and is committing, assuming somewhere along the line he finds out, then it could be a terrible situation for all three characters involved and force a confrontation. To be quite frank, I would say that situation ends up with Locke on the losing end. Either way, the story between the Arbiter and Spartan Locke promises to be exciting and interesting for all new and old Halo fans.Thanks for reading!

Our member Dildev at the Halo Archive continues her quest on Halo novel analysis. This week it is the Cole Protocol. Enjoy! The Cole Protocol – Tobias Buckell In the fight between discovering and concealing Earth’s location, Covenant, UNSC, and Insurrection all converge on a single refugee colony hidden behind Covenant lines. Turning the last page of Contact Harvest [X] to the first page in The Cole Protocol is something of a style whiplash.Protocol is the most rapidly-paced books in the Halo line-up. It’s the 100 meter dash to Harvest’s mile run. The words aren’t there to paint a picture; they’re there to get characters from point A to B. We are often told what the characters are feeling, but not really why they are feeling it. There is a lot of focus on “telling” and not “showing.” This is what contributes to the quick pace of the novel. I used to think that The Cole Protocol was poorly written due to this change. Rereading, I have to disagree with myself. It’s not poorly written, it’s just a lighter writing style than the other Halo books. While there are things that characters wrestle with, we don’t spend pages and pages on internal drama and reflection. Characters rarely experience distress over things they can’t change, and if they do, they find a way to move on. There’s no strain and losses aren’t given too grand a focus. It’s rather refreshing when nearly every other Halo story comes back around to perform a double-tap on your emotions. It’s a chance to have fun with the Halo Universe without the stress of emotional turmoil. Halo 3, Halo 4, Halo Reach Another defining characteristic of the novel is the delightfully dramatic character displays. Buckell does not deal in half-measures. While Contact Harvest went to the small details and the seemingly insignificant moments to pull out emotional threads, The Cole Protocol instead gives those moments an extra flair. Future Arbiter Thel ‘Vadamee strips naked in front of the governing body of his keep to make a point. Spartan Adriana-111 starts a bar fight and tears a table from where it was bolted on the floor to ward off attackers. Helljumpers kidnap and hogtie Jacob Keyes in order to give him a tattoo. The AI character introduces herself with the line, “Yes, I am Juliana, goddess of the Rubble.” These grandiose gestures fit within the story because of the style, which I find very akin to a summer blockbuster. Thriller is the best genre to use to describe The Cole Protocol. The setting and the characters are entrenched in the science fiction genre, but the story itself is a thriller. Even its title follows the pattern of many novels in this category, such as The Bourne Identity or The Da Vinci Code. As the site TV Tropes pointed out, this title structure involves “the” followed by a noun or name and another noun with government connotations [X]. “This creates a feeling of conspiracy, like the reader has just glimpsed the title on a sealed manila folder and now needs to dig through the secrets of powerful men to discover…” (tvtropes.org, “Mad Lib Thriller Title”). Forward Unto Dawn Episode 1 Conspiracies are most definitely prevalent in the book, both within human and alien ranks. On the human side, the UNSC and Insurrectionists are consistently infiltrating each other ranks, while Prophets dealing behind each others backs creates a web of conflicting orders within the Covenant. There are even conspiracies that don’t relate directly to the overall plot of this particular novel. Thel ‘Vadamee fends off an assassination attempt, and Spartans have become the boogeymen for Insurrectionist children. Even though conspiracies definitely have their place, thrillers are ultimately “about power – who doesn’t have it, who’s misusing it, and what will it cost to restore some kind of balance to the world” (Genreflecting, pp 160). This is a very strong theme in The Cole Protocol and one that’s ranged from the fringes to the center of all Halo stories. There’s always been this question of who is on top of the galaxy. Before the Human-Covenant War, the Insurrection broke out because of the dispute regarding Earth’s control of the Outer Colonies. The Covenant has always been this tenuous framework that required the subjugation of one race to uplift another. In the War, the Covenant pressed onwards in a display of power in strength and numbers. Humanity created the Cole Protocol, keeping knowledge of systems concealed from alien eyes, because as Catherine Halsey once said, “Knowledge is power.” Spartan Ops Episode 8 These conflicts all come to the forefront in The Cole Protocol. The UNSC and Prophets are both questioned on their misuse of power. Those without power, Kig-Yar and Unggoy, human refugees, struggle to seize it for themselves in whatever way they can. The last question on the cost to restore balance will not be answered even when the Human-Covenant War comes to its end seventeen years later, but all surviving heroes and villains find some measure of peace in the final pages. New commands, discovered purpose, moments with family, and Hierarchs who have “resolved the moment of bad blood that had grown between them” (Protocol, pp 348). The Cole Protocol may be most notable in its establishment of the Arbiter’s character pre-Halo 2. Up until its publication of 2008, there was plenty of speculation but no hard facts regarding his identity. Buckell seems to take this into account. Despite the fast-pace of the book, he still gives time to flesh out Thel ‘Vadamee’s personality and provide a dynamic environment with which to interact. We see who his close friends are, how he reacts to betrayal, and his devotion to the Great Journey. Lak, his uncle and mentor, is introduced late in the book, but mentioned again in The Flood’s Adjunct. The way he deals with assassinations is in contrast to his response in Glasslands and Hunters in the Dark, set nearly two decades of war and character growth later. Thel’s journey through this novel also provides parallels to other moments in canon. Claire, who runs the Halo blogsailorsanghelios on Tumblr noted that Thel’s willing and arrogant nakedness before the keep Elders was a sharp contrast to the shameful nakedness that we saw in Halo 2 [X]. Both of these events chronicle a change of rank for ‘Vadamee, be it rise to Kaidonship and shipmaster-status, or the fall to the Arbiter’s mantle. Whether or not it was intended, it could be seen that both instances are a sort of thematic rebirth for the character. Childhood is also mentioned, as he often spent time gazing at the stars and wondering what it held for him (pp 147). Though a short paragraph, this evokes similar imagery to the Halo 3 trailer Starry Night, which was officially canonized in the first episode of HUNT the TRUTH. Starry Night There’s another connection to HUNT the TRUTH as media censoring is mentioned, once again shielding Earth from certain horrors of war (pp 29). Similarly, The Fall of Reach receives two acknowledgments. On page 37, Keyes requests the transfer of a skilled pilot to his ship, something he will do years later with Ensign Lovell to The Pillar of Autumn. Among the Spartan-II candidates that stood to leave on the first day (Reach, pp 33), was Spartan Jai-006 (Protocol, pp 76). Even the most recent Hunters in the Dark has a connected moment beyond reoccurring characters. Luther Mann’s reaction to his planet’s glassing as a child is very different to Ignatio Delgado’s. While Luther was unable to fully comprehend the act and thus found beauty in the moment, Delgado instead found a deep distrust of Covenant (pp 13). This highlights how two books similar in tone – both lighter and hopeful – can be founded on opposite themes: honesty [X] and distrust. I will still fault The Cole Protocol for one thing. Buckell made plenty of wonderful contributions to the canon, and 343 Industries has done an excellent job on tying stories together and clearing up loose ends, but they have yet to clarify a specific disappearance. What in the world happened to Veer? ORIGINAL POST

She is great Dan!

Dildev at the Halo Archive continued the series with an analysis on Contact Harvest: Contact Harvest by Joseph Staten Through a misunderstanding of their scriptures, the Covenant discover humanity and view them with ill intent. A barely-trained militia and two marines are the only things that stand between the civilians of the colony Harvest and the imminent alien invasion. Contact Harvest is one of the slowest books of the Halo series. Not in a plodding manner though. It’s like taking a walk through the woods with your friend; you’re not there to get from Point A to Point B, though you eventually will. You’re there to spend time in the woods with your friend, to get to know them and the scenery a little better. Perhaps the stroll is to take you away from all the busy work you have piled up or the frustrations that have compounded in your life. It’s a chance to breathe. As such, I very much consider Contact Harvest to be a stroll through the Halo canon. For example: the trip down from the orbital Tiara on the space elevator when Johnson first arrives on Harvest could have been told in a few sentences. Joseph Staten decides instead to spend seven pages on the descent. He takes this time to flesh out the world of Harvest through both Mack’s narration and the view Johnson has out the window. In addition, this gives Staten time to establish Healy’s character and his relationship to Johnson. As a result, the overall story benefits – giving us characters to relate with and a setting to envision. Another method to describe Staten’s style is “cinematic,” fitting for his status as the cinematics director for the Bungie era of Halo. Staten selects a point of view or camera angle, so to speak, and describes the scene from that position before “cutting” to another angle. The first moment that this is really made clear is in Dadab’s introduction. We follow him from the plundered human ship to his quarters aboard the Covenant one, with the scenery interacting with him in almost the style of a tracking shot. Anything that is not exposition is directly interacting with Dabab and his five senses. But as he tosses his breathing apparatus away, Lighter Than Some catches it, entering the scene through an indirect interaction before the two characters are brought together in conversation. Thus Light Than Some’s entrance feels like a cut to a new camera angle. In this sense, it reminded me to a certain extent of Tolkien’s work. The first clue to Gollum’s pursuit of the Fellowship is given in an evocative description of the character’s footfalls all from Frodo’s perspective. But later in the Mines of Moria, Tolkien pulls back to an omniscient perspective, showing each of the characters’ reactions to the battle at hand. Cinematic, descriptive, taking you on a stroll with the characters through the world. There is a feel of deliberateness to every line and for every situation in Contact Harvest. Some pieces of foreshadowing are clearly visible, such as Johnson closing his eyes to prevent an unsavory visual from embedding itself: “Memories have a habit of coming back, and this was a scene he’d rather not revisit.” (Harvest, pp 15). This of course pays off rapidly as Johnson leaves the mission with his own share of PTSD. Other lines are less obvious. The stun rounds used in the militia training seem to fit in with the general science fiction topes of military training. In the context of the training exercise, they seem but a footnote. Staten does not leave it there, but rather provides a pay-off, unlooked for but effective, as a twist on a tense scene between al-Cygni and Thune. The highlight of this deliberateness is the mass driver story told at Harvest’s Solstice Celebration. “Pederson proceeded to explain how, not long after the DCS installed Sif in the Tiara, there had been a critical failure in her data center’s power supply. This forced all technicians to stop all activity on her strands or risk a load imbalance that would have collapsed the entire system. It had been a serious crisis, and Mack decided to solve it by using the driver to boost a new power supply into orbit. Trying to be as helpful as possible, he shot the component right into the Tiara’s number-four coupling station. It was an incredible accomplishment. But when Sif’s technicians restored her power and she learned what Mack had done – how he could have easily obliterated her data center – Sif had not been amused.” (pp 120). Solely from Johnson’s perspective, this is an amusing anecdote that adds to the party atmosphere. To the first-time reader, who has already met Mack and Sif, this is the origin story to the two AI’s contentious relationship. In the context of the story as a whole, this is foreshadowing. Not only is the mass driver used to damage the Covenant ship Rapid Conversion, but it’s also used by Mack’s alter ego to destroy the Tiara and kill Sif. All these aspects of Staten’s style makes for a tightly-written, yet emotionally-appealing novel. In his book Scientific Mythologies, James A. Herrick shows that a number of science fiction authors and scientific thinkers, such as the renowned Carl Sagan and astronomer and historian Steven ****, have certain expectations about extraterrestrials and their faith. “[****] affirms that aliens may have something to teach us about religion. ‘It may be,’ he writes, ‘that in learning of alien religions, of alien ways in relating to superior beings, the scope of terrestrial religion will be greatly expanded in ways that we cannot foresee.’” (Mythologies, pp 17-18) Sagan and **** both spoke of benevolent aliens making this first contact, with a deliberate proselytizing gesture. Many stories, such as Contact, Childhood’s End, 2001 A Space Odyssey, all have follow this notion that we would actively learn from these evangelical visitors about our place in this universe. Contact Harvest is not one of these stories. While first contact with the Covenant is a result of our identity as a species, and learning about the origins of their faith teaches us even more about that identity, it’s not an act of outreach by the Covenant. What Sagan and ****’s theories and that branch of science fiction rely on is the ability of a species to ascend to a form of benevolent deism. Halo is almost a deconstruction of that subgenre. The first aliens humanity contacted after the firing of the Halo rings are in pursuit of deism, but it is not a benevolent pursuit. The caste structure and racism within the Covenant are enforced by this pursuit, and the grafting of a new species into the Covenant was often an act of violence if not all-out war. The Forerunners are initially painted as benevolent, both as deities and as a mortal race. However with Greg Bear’s works and Halo 4, it’s revealed that the Forerunners are as just as violent and capable of malevolence as any other race. Precursors too, race that the Forerunners revered as gods, have their own faults and is the source of the greatest plague of the galaxy. Even the Mantle of Responsibility is twisted by those who claim to uphold it. Halo’s universe is inherently broken, as are its species. There is no ascension to be found within another being or race. There is no one being that holds the answer or solution to all. That’s not to say the Halo universe lacks hope, rather the hope is found in the reconciliation of the broken species and individuals to each other. While Contact Harvest takes place at the beginning of the Human-Covenant war, we still see shades of characters crossing species lines. These shades mainly come from the Unggoy Dadab’s perspective and the challenges brought to him by the Huragok Light Than Some. The efforts towards peace from Light Than Some will take over two decades to be realized, leaving Contact Harvest entrenched in the subgenres of “Aliens and Alien Invasions” and “Military SF.” Genreflecting notes that Military SF often have “their own versions of larger-than-life inter-galactic conflict, weird aliens, and dastardly Galactic Emperors” (Genre p 351). While Contact Harvest is limited to intra-galactic conflict, Staten gleefully fulfills the rest of the requirements. Here we follow Halo’s “dastardly Galactic Emperor” and his rise to power. Instead of having the Prophets of Truth, Regret, and Mercy already instated as the Covenant leaders, a main thread follows the schemes of the first two to become Hierarchs. This focus on the political maneuverings, especially from Truth’s (known as the Minister of Fortitude at this time) perspective is reminiscent of the Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars and Palpatine’s rise to power. Not only are “weird aliens” present, but the weirdness is remarked upon. Great care is taken to describe what the Kig-Yar, Huragok, Jiralhanae, and Unggoy all look like upon first contact and in comparison to each other. We even get the perspective of Dadab meeting the terrifying and savage alien that is pilot Henry “Hank” Gibson. This, along with the translation difficulties between the two factions, helps to emphasize the “ultimate ‘other’” that Genreflecting notes in its section on “Aliens and Alien Invasion” (pp 369). Despite Halo being a deconstruction of the alien religion subgenre, evangelism is not completely absent. The turning point for Dadab from fearful compliance to a willful stance against the Jiralhanae come when Light Than Some points out the lack of evangelism. “<All creatures will take the Great Journey, so long as they believe.> The Huragok’s limbs unfurled with slow grace. <Why would the Prophets deny these aliens a chance to walk The Path?>” (Harvest pp 341). We see two other instances in the Halo Universe in which the Covenant religion is a point of discussion between humans and aliens. Osman neatly sidesteps a religious debate with ‘Telcam in Glasslands and in the graphic novelBlood Line, Reff offers to perform last rites for Black One, to ensure that she can partake in the Great Journey. Contact Harvest also provides parallels are to Lasky’s story in Forward Unto Dawn. Lasky’s uncertainty in fighting Innies mirrors Johnson’s guilt over the civilians caught in the crossfire. While Lasky doubts his current path, in learning to fight “over-taxed farmers,” Johnson goes AWOL after a mission destroys many innocent lives. Both of these characters find renewed purpose in the war against the Covenant. The mission that sent Johnson AWOL involved a child being taken hostage by an Insurrectionist. He stalled his shot because he couldn’t differentiate between the two heat signatures, and civilians and marines were killed by a bomb’s detonation. Later he would be haunted by this same scene, as he “imagined the perfect shot that would have saved all in the restaurant and his fellow marines” (pp 45). Twenty-eight years later, he is on the receiving end of a similar struggle. Dr. Catherine Halsey gives the Master Chief a choice on which data to give ONI, the one with less intel or the one that would sign Johnson’s death warrant. And she gives this choice with a lesson: “For a long time I had thought that we had to sacrifice a few for the good of the entire human race … But I’m not sure that philosophy has worked out too well. I should be trying to save every single human life – no matter what it cost.” (First Strike, pp 296) Being written by Joseph Staten, we see plenty of other nods to the Universe and canonical explanations for certain items. The Brute Chopper, for instance, finds its origins in these pages. Another notable moment is in the Minister of Fortitude’s plot thread, as he reminisces on the origins of the Covenant. This is actually homage to a deleted cinematic from Halo 2 [X], which was scrapped for time. All these connections are due to both Staten’s own love for the universe and his respect for the fans’ understanding of the Halo universe [X]. For a more emotional reaction to Contact Harvest, check out DilDev’s Tumblr for the latest ARBITER WATCH.

Hello everyone, Media here again with another post we created at the Halo Archive Site. This one was actually written by myself Enjoy! *This post is being used as a way to brainstorm and spark discussion in the Halo community, not necessarily state who or what the Warden Eternal is; although the goal would be to eventually do so by presenting as much information as possible to the members of the Halo Archive Community through this post* During E3 2015 at the Microsoft Xbox conference, we were shown a Halo 5 Campaign Demo featuring Fireteam Osiris as they hunted the Master Chief during the Battle of Sunaion. What was particularly interesting during the showing however, was the very last 20 seconds or so of the gameplay demo. We see Spartan Locke and his team fighting various Promethean Soldiers, and suddenly a deep, robotic-like voice begins to echo from the Guardian. When we begin to hear the first words this construct says, the camera pans towards the Guardian and we see a Promethean appear similar to other entries by Knights in Halo 4. Below is the demo, go to 4:58 to hear the Warden Eternal: I am the Warden Eternal – Keeper of the Domain and her secrets…The Master Chief is called, but you, your passage is denied. What is interesting is that the speech pattern of this Forerunner is VERY similar to that of the Ur-Didact. The pauses, pace of speech and commanding sound all are reminiscent of Chief’s main foe in Halo 4. Whether this is how most of the Forerunner Warriors spoke is undetermined, however it could be the reason the Warden sounds similar and not have anything to do with the Didact. After all, the Warden Eternal is possibly on the side of Master Chief if we look at what he stated earlier, “The Master Chief is called,” as well as the fact that Chief is most likely aboard the Guardian. However, I am going to rule out the Didact having anything to do with the actual construct we see, and this is something completely different… It is interesting to note that the Domain is calling Chief, and given HOW IMPRESSED THE DIDACT BECAME WITH CHIEF AS A WARRIOR, maybe if the Domain is calling Chief, the Didact would open up to the possibility of aiding him. Just an interesting thought. The only other reference that I know of or have seen made in regards to what this Warden Eternal could possibly be or have ties to, is the Warden in Halo Cryptum and Silentium. The Warden was a Forerunner Monitor serving aboard the Capital with it’s main purpose to detain and defend the accused while they were judged by the Council. The Warden was mentioned when it was tasked with detaining and defending the Master Builder Faber when he was brought to trial for using a Halo on star systems without approval. When Mendicant Bias attacked the capital, the Warden aided Faber in his escape, which went beyond the realm of it’s duties. Faber insisted the Warden saved Faber because of how important he was to the Forerunner species and Flood War as a whole. Others insisted that Faber bribed the Monitor, with what remains to be seen. While this may be a complete coincidence and most likely is,it is important to note that the Warden possibly saved Faber under it’s own will. The Domain was tightly nit with the Forerunner Council, as they often used it for storage and investigating purposes. Because of this, the Warden had more of a possibility to contact the Domain than other monitors I would argue. Is it possible that the Domain instructed the monitor to save Faber above all else? If so, could this Warden Eternal be somehow related in any way to the Warden we see during the trial of Master Builder Faber? Or maybe it calls itself the Warden Eternal as an ode to the original for possibly saving Faber’s life and eventual integration into the Domain itself rather than get consumed by the Flood? A long stretch to be sure, but I do not want to overlook anything and as all Catalog posts here at the Archive are meant to do, just investigate. How the Domain Comes Into Play In the above screenshot, we see Spartan Locke in a battle with the Warden Eternal, which means we most likely are able to actually fight this construct in gameplay. If that is the case, could there be multiple Wardens, each with a separate name? This one being the Eternal? It is definitely a possibility, but one that would not diminish it’s role in Halo 5 Guardians or more specifically the Domain. When we read the quote again, it informs Locke he is the, “Keeper of the Domain and all her secrets”… ACCORDING TO WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY, being a keeper is: a person whose job is to guard or take care of something or someone. Notice the word guard, as in guardians. This title keeper of the Domain essentially ties directly into the theme of Halo 5, which is safeguarding and who is right/who is wrong in doing so. We have heard the developers at 343 Industries mention this plenty of times, and so it seems this Warden Eternal very well may have it’s main and only purpose to save whatever is left of the Domain or KEEP it alive. As we know, the Domain was presumably obliterated along with 100 Billion years of knowledge at the hands of the very people who strove to keep it alive and in communication: the Forerunners when they activated the Halo array. This was told to the Librarian by none other than the Primordial/Gravemind in a taunt-like fashion just moments before the Array was activated. So…if the Domain was destroyed since it was based on the concept of neural physics and we know all Precursor tech was destroyed, how and why is the Domain calling Master Chief? Well as we know, the Primordial picked and chose what it said, as well as demonstrated amazing manipulating skills similar to the logic plague with a Gravemind. Could this have been just a feeble attempt by an otherwise defeated enemy to have the Librarian call off the array firing? While I can definitely see that being a possibility, it is also is important to note we have evidence of a biological Domain being created in Path Kethona by ancient, if not under developed, Forerunners in Halo: Silentium. Can the Domain be created from something? Or someone? Is there a way to reactivate the Domain even after it is destroyed? Questions none of us will be able to answer without pure speculation, but the Domain is still alive in some capacity. How far it goes back and how it has manifested or survived is another story. The last part of this quote I would like to address is the word “her,” as in “the Domain and all her secrets.” To start, let’s look at a couple gifs from the Halo 5 Guardians trailer: Why am I showing you Master Chief in a cave? Well if you look at the first one we see that a small blue light/essence resonating from deep within the cave. Chief notices it and beings walking up to it, and in the second gif looks like he is about to touch it. We also know this from GAMEINFORMER: A cutscene shows Master Chief awakening in a strange, dark cave. “Sierra 117 to Blue Team. Report,” he tries the radio. “Sierra 117, does anyone copy?” He starts exploring the area. “John,” a familiar voice calls. He follows the sound and sees a silhouette up on a rock formation. It’s unmistakably Cortana. “The domain is open,” she warns. “Meridian is next. You only have three days. John, the Reclamation is about to begin.” Everything fades ­to black. Frank O’Connor has stated he calls this the “ghost of Cortana.” Well we know that Cortana is not just affecting Chief as an apparition, and it is more likely linked to the Domain and how it manifested itself in the form of a familiar face to John – Cortana. The Warden Eternal states that he is the keeper of her secrets, not it’s. He is calling it female with that statement, and seeing as Cortana is most likely related to the Domain itself now, maybe she has a more powerful presence than originally thought. Look, we do not know the true nature of the Domain. At times it seemed like a storage of information, but it has always had a centralized mind directing it…making choices on who to speak with, when to speak etc…It is not just a collection of memories and knowledge. If it is extra dimensional, that could be one reason it survived the blast. Or it could be something more integrated into the Universe itself, some sort of essential fabric to the cosmos for the Universe to exist? Whatever the case may be, it is not just a mash up of minds. Even a Gravemind has a centralized presence, not just storage of it’s dead victims. Could it be possible that Cortana has become the Domain herself? We know the Domain can be biologically made, as we saw in Path Kethona stated earlier. Are there different types of Domains? It is interesting because both the Warden and Cortana are AI and are in some sort of connection with the Domain (definitely Cortana). Even the Warden Eternal is some type of Promethean AI that is also connected, which leads me to believe the Domain could be using these AI as personal agents to communicate with the outer world and act out it’s wants/needs. We know some type of biological Domain was created, maybe an artificial intelligence Domain can be opened up as well. All of these different examples we see with it lead me to believe the Domain can manifest itself into any type of form, hence why the Promethean AI Warden Eternal is acting as it’s keeper, because it has the ability of accessing AI as well as biological beings. Too many questions…most we cannot answer. Two things are for sure in my opinion; Cortana has some tie with what has become of the “present Domain,” and the Warden Eternal (possibly more) is protecting her. ORIGINAL POST

Hey everyone, Im back with a new installment in our member Dildev's Halo's Place in SciFi series from the Halo Archive! Hunters in the Dark by Peter David The Halos have been activated, apparently from the damaged Ark itself. In a desperate effort to save all life in the galaxy, a team of Sangheili and human forces must push past old rivalries and wounds and prevent the firing of the array. Being the newest addition to the Halo canon, Hunters in the Dark has plenty of possibilities for connection to other entries, as well as a great deal of responsibility. Not only is Hunters following up on the Sangheili-Human relations that were a major point in the first two Kilo-Five novels and the missions to the other Halo rings that were mentioned in Halo 4, but it also gives us the first solid characterizations of friends both old – Usze ‘Taham and N’tho ‘Sraom – and new – most notably Olympia Vale. As New Blood was for Buck and Halo Escalation: Glass Horizons was for Tanaka, 343 Industries may very well be relying on this book to help the fanbase accept this new character for Halo 5. Peter David ensures that Vale is one of the most fully realized characters in the story, using her as the protagonist who meets the villain face-to-face. This initial encounter, along with the subsequent splitting of the party to rescue her, may feel initially like the tired damsel in distress trope combined with the even more frustrating depowering of a competent female character at the story’s climax. Fortunately this is not the case, as Vale’s words, actions, and agency are critical to the villain’s defeat. Usze’s introduction is taken almost word-for-word from Bungie’s profile released around Halo 3’s launch [X]. His first scene relies on the exposition of an opponent to provide his backstory. This more informs his combat capabilities than his actual character, which is fleshed out through his interactions with others, namely Vale. N’tho on the other hand has no direct reference to his Bungie profile, rather his “healthy respect for humanity” is shown through his interactions with humans, namely Kodiak [X]. While well-known characters such as Thel ‘Vadam, Terrence Hood, and Serin Osman take a side role to these leads, there are still hints of how character relations developed two years onward from the Kilo-Five trilogy. Glasslands saw Hood testing the waters with the future admiral of ONI – namely seeing if his interactions with Serin would be the same as they were with Admiral Margaret Parangosky: “‘Are we going to have an interesting working relationship?’ He wasn’t hitting on her. He was asking her, in his elegant way, whether she was going to be as much of a pain in the ass for him as Parangosky when she finally got the top job.” (Glasslands, pp 354). Interestingly enough, as the years have progressed, it appears that it is Hood who becomes the pain in Osman’s britches. “…part of her hated to admit that Hood would bring something to the table that she couldn’t figure out on her own. She wondered if that was held over from her mentor and predecessor, Margaret Parangosky, who had a similar relationship with the man.”(Hunters, pp 38). Further annoyance comes to Osman when Hood insists on including the Arbiter in the recent catastrophe, another character who appears to have acquired the capacity to be a diplomatic pain. In Glasslands we heard Jul accuse Thel of being too concerned with “whether humans like him instead of exterminating them” (Glasslands, pp 392). Huntersrefutes this claim rather roughly, when a diplomatic violation is declared by the UNSC as an act of war, the Arbiter’s response is to simply scoff and point out the illogic of engaging in armed conflict (Hunters¸ pp 320). While later years shows that he still seeks goodwill and peace between his forces and the UNSC, appeasement is not the end goal nor even a strategy as Jul seems to believe. Events are also among the connections David makes to other Halo entries. The lost ship Rubicon is a critical plot point as they had left behind a crewmember after securing a “powerful intelligence – …something that proved unforgiving to its entire crew” (Hunters, pp 328). This is the same ship that provides the framework for Primordium’s tale, having found the remains of 343 Guilty Spark on the Ark. Beyond direct reference, there are a number of homages in Hunters to key scenes in the games. Two homages come from Halo 3, which is no great surprise considering the basic plot and the leading Sangheili characters of the novel. The simplest of these is the deactivation of the Halo rings. Just as the Chief, Arbiter, and Johnson were provided a breath of contemplation before being set upon by the Flood, the characters in Hunters have a brief moment of victory and relief before the armigers attack. A more subtle homage comes aboard the Mayhem, in which the bridge of a Sangheili ship is once again the locale of diplomatic tensions and military disagreements. As in Halo 3, this is the moment where Sangheili and human leaders come together to discuss the next move now that the portal is open. The UNSC side is reticent to enter the portal, Earth’s defense must come first. The Sangheili, on the other hand, is insistent on the necessity to move on the Ark immediately. With N’tho and Captain Annabelle Richards retaining the same stances as Rtas ‘Vadum and Terrence Hood, it is Luther who becomes both Miranda Keyes and John-117, siding with the Sangheili on the need to enter the portal. Within this conversation, even Richard’s argument regarding Earth’s importance “given the last thirty years [of war]” (pp 129) mirrors Hood’s lament: “Earth is all we have left.” Halo 4’s influence is also found here, in a small moment between Spartan Frank Kodiak and N’tho towards the book’s end as they watch the Milky Way: an echo of Lasky’s quiet scene with the Master Chief as they stand and view Earth. After a moment of silence, N’tho speaks up to offer condolences towards the loss of Kodiak’s brother, condolences which are gently rebuffed. As N’tho tries to extend an apology towards the loss of Kodiak’s arm, he is again rebuffed, similar to the way that Lasky’s sympathies towards John-117 were turned down with talk of a soldier’s duty: “Kodiak shrugged. ‘As you said, it was war. Things happen in war’” (pp 352-353). There are countless other references to events and characters throughout the book, available for any lore fan to pluck at. Importantly though, Hunters in the Dark still stands on its own as a novel. Despite the wealth of canon that it draws from, it’s not bogged down in references nor does it feel like a rip-off of other Halo media. No other Halo novel is required to understand or follow. Hunters in the Dark owns its story and owns its characters. This is easily the most humorous Halo novel to-date. This doesn’t come from a quirky narrative style but rather the clash of characters and their personalities, which is the driving force of both the comedy and the story. David has a talent for setting up a joke early on, disguised as a dramatic reveal, only to have the punchline come around half a chapter later and from a different character’s perspective. In one notable case, he does the reverse, setting up Usze’s refusal to sit as a laughable interaction with Vale and later using the joke to establish a very sweet moment between the two. Thematically, Hunters has a great deal in common with comic books and graphic novels. Considering David’s background, this makes sense and plays to his strengths. David is keen on providing visual cues as best he can for the reader and aims to imbue said visuals with certain emotions. Probably the best highlight for this is a comparison to The Cole Protocol by Tobias Buckell, as both grant a description of Vadam keep. The Cole Protocol, Vadam’s debut in the canon, describes the view from as insider looking out: “From the sides of Kolaar Mountain, the Vadam keep looked out towards Vadam harbor, thirty miles away” (Protocol, pp 90). The description is succinct and to-the-point, fitting for the point of view of someone who has lived their entire life there. Hunters in the Dark on the other hand is from Usze’s point of view, a first-time visitor to the Keep: “The region of Vadam was a valley leading into the harbor, and all the lands, homes, and properties that were a part of it were scattered about. The Arbiter’s keep was a large, castle-like fortress built into the base of the Kolaar Mountain. Usze had seen images of it and even the occasional etching, but never had the opportunity to visit it firsthand. It was a sprawling vista, and he wondered what it would have been like to grow up in such a glorious area. The white-capped mountains stretched towards the skies of Sanghelios as it they were caressing it, and there were expansive groves of trees all around” (Hunters, pp 60). Again, the description and the emotions are all tied to the character and the personality. This allows for each character to have a distinct voice when the chapter is told from their viewpoint. Even in third person a number of traits shine through. N’tho always assumes the best of others, Usze expects the worst, and Richards always feels like she’s on a knife edge between success and disaster. A core theme of Hunters in the Dark seems to be reconciliation. In contrast to the Kilo-Five trilogy, which highlighted where even the best intentions can fail, Hunters shows that conjoined efforts can push through deep-rooted animosity.Hunters also seems to stress that for reconciliation to work, there has to be a change of heart(s), not just outward appearances. One of the opening chapters is Luther Mann’s recollection of the relationship with his mother. After a crack in their relationship when Luther was very young, it wasn’t until he was a teenager that things began to heal, or at least appear to. On his fifteenth birthday, his mother committed suicide with the note “I can’t pretend anymore” (pp 12). This disconnect between a character’s outward displays and inward motivations is where we find the fractures in the novel’s alliances, most notably in Kodiak’s behavior towards N’tho, N’tho’s abduction of Richards and UNSC personnel, and Vale’s debate with the Ark’s monitor. A lack of honesty places cracks in the foundation and deliberate efforts must be made to build that trust. For this alliance to work, neither side can afford pretense, a theme that David slips into the narrative from the very start. In our textbook resource Genreflecting (7th edition), “Science fiction is defined as the literature of ‘what if.’ Author Philip K. **** probably put it best: ‘The SF writer sees not just possibilities but while possibilities. It’s not just “what if” – it’s “My God; what if,” in frenzy and hysteria. The Martians are always coming’” (Genre, pp 340). In a sense, this hysteria of the impending Martian doom has been a part of the Halo universe for a long, long time, since its inception. There has always been the underlying thought that these aliens are “out to get us,” and for a while this was most definitely true. We’ve encountered our “dastardly Galactic Emperors” (pp 351) in many a form – the Hierarchs, the Didact, Imperial Admiral Xytan ‘Jar Wattinree, and Jul ‘Mdama. Even in Halo 3, the first story in which humanity was not alone in their fight, still had those “Martians” focused on our destruction. The Kilo-Five trilogy, while becoming embroiled in interspecies relations, still held tightly to the “what if?” of the Sangheili returning to end humanity. This is why Hunters in the Dark is a new direction for the Halo universe and its place in science fiction. It still has one foot in the pool of Military SF, but the Galactic Emperor mentioned by Genreflecting is replaced with an ally in the Arbiter and the “weird aliens” are friendly from the beginning. There is tension between the two races and tension between the characters; there are moments when actions threaten the peace they have found, but the fear of “what if” is never the driving force or motivation. Rather it’s a positive spin on the “what if?” What if these species were able to reconcile? What if they were capable of working together? What if humanity was no longer alone in this aggressive universe? This positive spin makes Hunters in the Dark the most optimistic of the Halo novels, and that’s very refreshing. DILDEV also has a TUMBLR. Check it out for more over-analyses of Halo, including more thoughts inspired by Hunters in the Dark [X]. ORIGINAL POST

I don't know if I should post the whole article Dan, but I think this is where it would go. Regarding what Baconshelf said, it is most likely Ilsa Zane and I actually wrote a detailed post on it here. http://www.haloarchive.com/the-library/who-is-fero-in-hunt-the-truth/

Hello again everyone, I have another article by our member Dildev at the Halo Archive! This time it's about Cortana's weakness and her inevitable thirst for knowledge. In the reading journal of The Flood [X], I noted that the creature/plague of the same name works as horror on three levels: intellectually, emotionally, and physically. Silentium provides the first and The Flood provides the last, with the short story “Human Weakness” providing the emotional horror. “Human Weakness” is the short story in Halo Evolutions Volume II. Written by Karen Traviss, it spans portions of Halo 2and 3, detailing Cortana’s conflict with the Gravemind aboard High Charity. Halo 2 Anniversary At first glance, emotional horror may be seen as caught in limbo between the physical horror and the intellectual horror. In The Flood, we see a physical interaction of horror as an infection form burrows beneath the Master Chief’s skin. This physical horror, described in visceral terms, is later transformed to the emotional level; the Chief wastes precious ammunition in a panic to destroy another infection form springing at him. In Silentium, we see intellectual horror when the Didact discovers the origins of the Flood. Again, this rapidly becomes emotional horror as every belief the Didact holds dear is perverted viciously. This transformation from physical or intellectual to emotional is an indication, not of a limbo status, but of a foundational status. Horror is inherently an emotional genre. Its very name is an emotion. Genreflecting’s chapter on the genre states that horror is “all about the fear.” It also notes that horror is personal (Genre, pp 314). What scares us reveals on some level who we are. It reveals what we hold dear. That revelation is the emotional horror. Unlike The Flood and Silentium, in which this level is the reaction to a secondary fear, “Human Weakness” showcases the Gravemind deliberately evoking emotional horror. The Flood’s central intelligence targets Cortana’s greatest desires – “infinite life, infinite knowledge, and infinite companionship” (“Human,” pp 259) – and her greatest fears. The temptation of infinite life evokes Cortana’s fear of rampancy, the death of an A.I. This is a frequent taunt of the Gravemind’s. It consistently reminds her that she only has seven years before rampancy claims her, sooner if her system is overloaded. This death terrifies Cortana. She understands it to be a place when her world becomes a “sequence of random nightmares” (“Human” pp 255). As the fight with the Gravemind continues, she finds herself on the brink, teetering. Halo 4 Rampancy is actually what makes Cortana, as a smart A.I., the perfect exploration of emotional horror. Rampancy is progressive and the evidence is certain strong emotions. Sadness, anger, and envy. All of these are triggered by the fear of death. Cortana experiences sorrow in that John will outlive her. She rages against Halsey, that she was given such a short time to live. Envy arises in the consideration that John will be given another A.I., perhaps multiple. All of these are coaxed and encouraged out of Cortana as the Gravemind lays bare her fear. Fear, Cortana defines, is “not knowing. Knowing is… control” (pp 257). The first thing that frightens her in the interaction with the Gravemind is her inability to know how it struck a damaging blow to her systems. She panics when she thinks that the Gravemind may have compromised her memory. “She hated it when someone – something – outsmarted her. No, she feared it. And now she felt that fear like a punch in the stomach. … She wasn’t designed to have blind spots and weaknesses. She was supposed to be a mind. The very best.” (pp 242). The desire for infinite knowledge is always there for Cortana. Part of it, is the inherent need for A.I.s to constantly process data; the analogy to oxygen is made consistently. However it is likely that she inherited a very particular trait from the brain used to map her core code. “Life is too short. I will never learn all that exist in our own tiny galaxy, let alone the rest of the universe. And I so desperately want to know everything.” (Spartan Ops Episode 6). Spartan Ops Episode 6 A clone of Halsey’s own brain, Cortana finds many similarities between herself and the doctor. She tells the Gravemind, “I think I take after my mother” (“Human,” pp 243). It is possible that the Gravemind senses this desperate need and at one point classifies it as more than a basic need for Cortana. It is her drug, her addiction (pp 242). So the Flood targets it. Throughout their exchanges the Gravemind tempts her with knowledge, worlds and ages unseen. It targets the fear of forgetting, revealing Halsey’s deletion of some of Cortana’s memories, again tying in emotions. Abandonment, loneliness, the lack of affection – all these the Gravemind forces Cortana to consider Just as intellectual horror and physical horror are tied to the foundation of emotional horror, so does the desire for life and knowledge tie into one constant for Cortana. When considering her own death, it’s not the looming nightmares that causes her the greatest fear. “John would never have let himself fall into enemy hands. She’d let him down. Somehow the decline into rampancy seemed less important than that right now.” (pp 247). When considering the infinite things that she does not know, it’s not the question of her deleted memories that haunts her the most. “John’s going to outlive me. Who’s going to take care of him? Nobody else can, not like me. What’s going to happen to him?” (pp 257). Halo 4 While the taunts of rampancy and the lure of knowledge are used frequently, the Gravemind uses the Master Chief and Cortana’s relationship to him to strike very specific blows. It’s how she first knows it has accessed her systems. “‘John,’ his gravelly voice said slowly. ‘John. So that’s what you call him. Most touching.’” (pp 238). It’s the tactic chosen when she’s at a breaking point, hoping to shove her over the edge. “‘Even John has abandoned you.’ The Gravemind repeated the name with heavy emphasis. ‘Live forever. Live on in me, Cortana. And if John comes, John need never face death again either…’” (pp 257). Cortana’s affection for John is the strongest temptation that the Gravemind can offer – living forever with the person she cares for. It’s also the strongest fear that can be driven into her heart – that he would abandon her, forget her, even after she’s passed. This ability to directly target Cortana on an emotional level reveals more of the Gravemind’s character and the Flood as a whole. The appendix of Halo Effect notes that the Flood’s central intelligence is “[c]ognizant, emotional, and cunning” (pp 176, emphasis mine). In “Human Weakness,” the Gravemind admits this, acknowledging that it has both pity and impatience within itself. From this possession of emotions, the Flood is capable of manipulating them in others, both directly and indirectly. However, the Gravemind’s focus on emotional horror with Cortana is the reason that its designs to turn her ultimately failed. The connection between John and Cortana is more than the emotion of affection. There is a love between them. Be it familial, romantic, or platonic, that love is what consistently snapped Cortana back from the brink, because it was more than emotions. It was a choice. A promise, if you will. “I chose you, John. I will not give you up.” (“Human Weakness,” pp 271). Halo 3 Halo Effect is an unofficial collection of essays about Halo, published in 2007. halo.bungie.org’s Daniel Barbour wrote the Appendix. DilDev also keeps a TUMBLR, where she has a few more pieces published on Cortana. Original Post - http://www.haloarchive.com/catalog/cortanas-weakness/

The author William Dietz even commented on the original article as well!

Hi everyone! Media here again with another great piece by our member Dildev look at the true hero of Alpha Halo...Lieutenant McKay. Hope you enjoy the read Master Chief is not the protagonist of Halo: The Flood. He’s certainly the protagonist of Combat Evolved, but in the novelization of the game, he hands the driver’s seat over to one Lieutenant Melissa McKay. The base definition of a protagonist is simple: “the leading character’ of a story [X]. However with a cast of thousands, and multiple viewpoint characters, it can be difficult to pinpoint who the protagonist actually is. Quickbeam, a content writer over at TheOneRing.net, gives us another method of locating the main character in a story: the narrative. “[A] character-driven story like LOTR is not strictly about sacrifice (or heroism, or the impermanence of beauty, or all those themes that are intrinsic). I must admit the novel is woven of many threads but the groundwork of the tale, the telling of it, spins on a single proviso: Who is transformed the most between the opening and the closing page, taking the reader through his transformation?” [X] The telling of the tale, as Quickbeam so graciously highlighted, is also called the narrative. This is the way a story is told, the grand combination of themes, characters, plot, and writing style. Now not all narratives work off the same proviso or condition as Lord of the Rings does. While we do see character transformation in our protagonists throughout the Halo series, Halo 2 being an easy example, one of the groundwork pieces for Halo as a whole is sacrifice. Halo: Nightfall Halsey sacrifices the childhood of three hundred people to make super soldiers. ONI develops the Spartan-III program specifically to be sacrificial soldiers to help humanity survive one more day. Cortana sacrifices herself to save John from the Didact. Thel sacrifices his own faith to stop the Covenant and his reputation to pursue peace. Randall Aiken, at the end of Nightfall¸ leaves Locke with the question of sacrifice: “with your death, will you create life?” An arc question of the Cortana era of the Halo Universe is “Could you sacrifice me/him to complete you mission? Could you watch me/him die?” [X]. As such, we can often use this underlying thread of sacrifice to recognize who is the protagonist in a particular tale is. This is not the sole method of finding the protagonist, nor is it always present, but when it connects with the narrative foundation, it’s a very strong clue as to who the story is actually about. The thread of sacrifice comes in many different forms, particularly in who or what is being sacrificed. However, the overarching theme of sacrifice, and a solid proviso for the Halo universe, can be described as this: Whose desires are in direct conflict with what the universe or narrative requires of them? Let’s use Halo 2 and Halo 4 as examples to explore this notion. In Halo 2, Thel ‘Vadamee is zealously dedicated to his faith, believing in the Covenant religion with all his might. However, the pursuit of that belief sets the galaxy on the brink of destruction, and in order for the story to reach its conclusion, Thel must sacrifice what he believes in. In Halo 4, the first conflict introduced was Cortana’s rampancy, establishing both John and Cortana’s desire to find a solution. However, as Earth and humanity are placed at risk once more – by their release of the Didact – the two are forced to delay the pursuit of a fix in order to stop the Foreunner. In The Flood, Melissa McKay of the ODSTs is the character whose desires most strongly conflicts with what the narrative demands of her. Halo 3 ODST In her initial introduction, author William C. Dietz establishes McKay’s relationship with the soldiers under her command immediately. As the ODSTs enter their pods to exit the Pillar of Autumn, McKay stays behind until every last one of her men are secured. One could argue that this is merely a responsibility of a Lieutenant, and they’d probably be right. However, there is a moment earlier in the chapter in which it’s revealed that the care of her soldiers is the most important thing to her. As medic patches her up, he enters into a banter with the sole intention of “taking her mind off Dawkins, Al-Thani, and Suzuki” (Flood, pp 37). Throughout the book, she does everything she can to defend her men and, barring that, places herself at the same risk alongside them. Whether it’s taking the butte from below, storming the crashed Autumn, or baiting the Flood into a trap, McKay always places her life alongside theirs. In return, the men see her as their inspiration to keep on fighting in the face of despair, akin to the Master Chief’s influence to the UNSC as a whole in the final battles of the Human-Covenant War. “The Helljumpers looked at one another, grinned, and followed McKay into the ship. The El-Tee might look like a wild-eyed maniac, but she knew her stuff, and that was good enough for them.” (Flood, pp 145). “Just the fact that she was there, strolling through the plasma-blackened defenses with a cup of coffee in her hand, served to reassure the troops. ‘Look,’ one of them said as she walked past, ‘there’s the Loot. Cool as ice, man. Did you see her last night? Standing on that tank? It was like nothin’ could touch her.’” (Flood, pp 260-261). “But the truth was McKay was a better leader than her peers, as evidenced by the fact that the Helljumpers would follow her anywhere, even into a pit that might be filled with life-devouring monstrosities.” (Flood, pp 334). Halo 5 Trailer: All Hail This “father (or mother) to her men” mentality extends to even the Master Chief, a person against whom the ODST branch has a longstanding animosity, and the Flood-infected Jenkins. Furthermore, after all this build-up, McKay’s ambitions are clearly stated for all to see. After the long battles and the arrival of the Flood, McKay at last begins to wear down, desperation overtaking confidence. Her superior, Major Silva, gives her something to strive for, a well-meant motivation. He promises glory, promotion, and recognition to give her to hope to push ahead. However, he misjudged what sort of desires drive the Lieutenant. “It was then, as McKay looked into the other officer’s half-lit face, that she realized the extent to which raw ambition motivated her superior’s actions, and knew that even if his wildest dreams were to come true, she wouldn’t want any part of the glory that Silva sought. Just getting some Marines home alive – that would be reward enough for her.” (Flood, pp 335 emboldening mine). Halo 3 ODST Trailer: We are ODST Another thing that drives McKay is her duty as a soldier. We see this again in her introduction, impatient to get up from the medical treatment and get things done. She goes with minimal sleep in order to secure the base after the Covenant assault. She makes sure she’s mentally prepared to lead the raid on the Pillar of Autumn before the mission begins. Of course, if McKay is the protagonist of The Flood, it follows that despite the strength of her desire to ensure her Marines make it home, the narrative and her duty will require the opposite of her. Her first glimpse of hope after the Flood’s arrival came at the mention of home, at the possibility to save her men. As the moment of escape draws closer, the narrative places her desires in direct conflict with her duty. The ship is infested with Flood. She informs Silva in an attempt to convince him to clear the ship before departure. He refuses and leaves McKay with a final decision. “McKay realized that the decision lay in her hands, and though it was horrible almost beyond comprehension, it was simple as well. So simple that even the grotesquely ravaged Jenkins knew where his duty lay.” (Flood, pp 371). She detonates the ship from inside the engine room, destroying the infestation along with herself and every Marine on board. Dietz had spent the novel building up her desires and drive, culminating in this sacrifice demanded of her. A sacrifice that, in this story, the Master Chief did not have to face. Dietz further solidifies McKay’s status as the protagonist with this paragraph on the final page: “For some reason he thought of Lieutenant Melissa McKay, her calm green eyes, and the fact that he had never gotten to know her. ’Did anyone else make it?’” (Flood, pp 381). The novel itself could not be completed without acknowledging the impact and influence of Lieutenant Melissa McKay. Original Post/Article

The next Installment is Ghosts of Onyx! Enjoy When the Spartan-II program goes public for the sake of morale, the Office of Naval Intelligence loses their strongest covert operation. They decide it’s time to make more. Enough to make them expendable. There’s an old joke – Why did the restaurant on the moon shut down? As a child, I eagerly gave my mom the punchline: “There wasn’t any oxygen!” While it certainly produced the desired effect of a laugh, and my answer was scientifically accurate, it wasn’t correct. The actual punchline was “It lacked atmosphere.” Atmosphere, in spatial design terms, is the “objective properties of an environment that metaphorically exemplify structures of feeling through the creation of embodied experience” [X]. In shorter terms, it’s how a constructed environment evokes emotions – the comfort of your living room and the discomfort of an interrogation room, the cozy bookstore and the energetic club. Just as The Fall of Reach was built on introspective character growth, The Flood contained the visceral emotions of inspiration and devastation, and First Strike was a composition of relationships, Ghosts of Onyx is imbued with atmosphere. Every chapter is a sensory experience, ranging from horrendous combat to quiet reflection, from the desperate frontlines to the political underground. Birth of a Spartan – Halo: Reach Trailer In the infiltration mission to the Insurrectionist base, Nylund demonstrates the ease with which he can change the atmosphere with his writing style. The chapter begins with a cautious, yet deliberate pace. Extra sentences and paragraphs are taken to describe what John-117 sees, feels, or hears, instead of simply stating the events. “The guard on the perimeter of Base New Hope drew on a cigarette, took a final puff, and tossed the butt. John lunged, a whisper rustle, and he wrapped his arm around the man’s neck, wrenching it up with a pop. The guard’s cigarette hit the ground. Nearby crickets resumed their night song.” (Onyx, pp 31). Here the swiftness and silence of the guard’s death is implied within the sensory descriptions. However, as the pace picks up partway through the chapter, so does the writing style. Sentences become shorter, to-the-point – the usual style used by Nylund for battles. “White-hot fragments cut through the commandos like a scythe. Kurt leapt out and shot the three men still moving. He went quickly to each Spartan and pulled off the collars. Kelly rolled to her feet. Fred and Linda got up.” (Onyx, pp 38). The chapters of political subterfuge also have a fitting atmosphere. Either the reader or the viewpoint character, and many times both, are placed in positions of ignorance. Information is slow to be released to the reader or character, true to the bush-beating conversations of intelligence agencies. A fine example of this particular atmosphere is the revelation of Alpha Company’s fate. During the briefing, Kurt watches the top brass dance around the topic of his Spartans, referring to them in vague terminology. In turn, Kurt’s concern heightens throughout the scene, his senses constantly alerting him to the fact that something is wrong. Statements, intel, they aren’t adding up, and it all culminates to Kurt watching the death of his Spartans, unable to look away. Halo: Reach This is the first book in which John-117 is not a main character. He appears once and is mentioned a couple of times throughout the book, but the protagonist is Kurt-051. This change of protagonist matches the heightened atmosphere of the book. Even more than his fellow Spartans, Kurt is someone who is tuned to the atmosphere of his surroundings. Many first-person novels are known to have the narrative voice be in-tune with the main character. The Maximum Rideseries has a sarcastic and cocky voice to them, being told from the perspective of a teenage girl. Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett and The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien are third-person perspective novels whose narrative voices are disassociated from the main character, as if they are bards at a fireside or fathers at their children’s bedside. Ghosts of Onyx confidently has a foot in both courts. On one hand, the third-person viewpoint is not tied solely to Kurt. Other Spartans, Dr. Halsey, the crew of a UNSC Prowler, and a Sangheili Ship Master all get their moments in the story’s driver seat. Each of these characters also have their own voices, with Nylund once again exhibiting his talent at communicating a person’s inner thoughts. But each and every scene has that heightened atmosphere, as if we, the reader, are consistently being encouraged to see, hear, and think like Kurt. One of the ways that Nylund allows for this awareness is in the novel’s very title. We get to ask the question: who are the Ghosts of Onyx? Birth of a Spartan – Halo: Reach Trailer I believe there are multiple answers, varying in impact on the story, but all relevant. The first ghosts we see in the story are the Spartan-IIIs, Beta Company on a high-priority, high-risk mission. “Every other Spartan in the field charged as well, hundreds of half-camouflaged armored figures, running and firing at the dazed Jackals, appearing as a wave of ghost warriors, half liquid, half shadow, part mirage, part nightmare.” (Onyx, pp 20). The Semi-Powered Infiltration (SPI) armor is what makes these Spartans melt into the background. Active camouflage winks them out of sight, and their training does the rest. We are also provided ghosts in the form of oral folklore and campfire stories. “Two years ago, Team X-ray vanished on a routine exercise up north. A lot of the kids said there were ghosts up there – floating eyes in the jungle – but everyone really knew the DIs had done something and covered it up.” (Onyx, pp 94). Halo 3 “The Zone was where the ‘ghost’ of Onyx was supposed to be. It’d been spotted once or twice according to other Spartan candidates: a single eye in the dark. They just made that stuff up to scare plebes. Ash had, however, heard of a Beta Company squad that had vanished near here and had never been found.” (Onyx, pp 115). What’s interesting here is that these ghost stories, the occupants of which are revealed to the the Sentinels of Onyx, get passed from one generation of Spartan-IIIs to the next with some evolution. Beta Company speaks of many ghosts; Ash mentions one. It’s a sort of classic transference of oral folklore. Another “ghost” that we see is the UNSC Prowler lead by Commander Lash. Like the Ossoona Covenant role introduced in The Flood, these ships would be sent into battle situations to simply observe, to take stock of the situation and report back. These ships have very little in the way of combat, their sole defense is invisibility. It is through this defense that they observe the events of Delta Halo and Onyx, staying just out of sight. To add to the Prowler Dusk’s specter metaphor is the ship’s skeleton crew status – the rapid pull into duty leaving Lash with less than half the staff usually required. Halo Evolutions: The Mona Lisa On the other side of the war, we find a ghost in Ship Master Tano ‘Inanraree, who is killed in the very sentence he is introduced. His killer, successor, and old friend Voro orders his blood stain to be left where it is: “The stain would remain forever on Voro’s soul; it could stay on the deck as well, a reminder of the price he had paid for their survival.” (Onyx, pp 191). Tano’s religious zeal had overtaken his reason and considered the Flood to be as holy as their gods and nearly doomed the entire crew. The necessity of Tano’s death stays with Voro throughout the rest of the novel. It wards him off of acts such as supplicating before the Imperial Admiral or before Forerunner relics in the middle of a battle. It’s what pushes him to the end of his battle. It’s also what pushes him to diminish the faith aspect of his religion for more practical concerns, bringing us to yet another specter of the planet. “Voro must not bow to the Forerunner ghosts. He must be the sole authority here.” (Onyx, pp 285) The ghosts of the Forerunners have always been a part of the Halo Universe, from the very first game onwards. Ghosts of Onyx is no difference. Their relics make up the planet itself and are the reason for the conflict arising. But even they, with their eons of haunting the stars, are not the final ghosts. The final ghosts are the first ghosts we see in the book, and are interwoven with the first we see in the story. They are every Spartan ever made. Before the story begins proper, we are provided with a quote from First Strike. All the Spartans who have died are condemned forever to be “missing in action,” never KIA for the sake of morale. It is a method to keep humanity fighting in the face of our doom. It is a lie to say “we have unconquerable heroes and are thus unconquerable ourselves.” Whatever the success of this morale-boosting plan, there was another effect. Halo Escalation #3 The KIA status becomes sort of purgatory, maybe not spiritually necessarily, but for those they leave behind. The Spartans and those close to them are never allowed to fully grieve, because they will never be considered officially dead. We see Kurt in this purgatory during the revelation of the slaughter of Alpha Company. We learn that Blue Team was in this purgatory after Kurt’s disappearance. “That was definitely Kurt’s voice. His last words had haunted Kelly’s dreams for years. She remembered him tumbling into the black of space. ‘I’ll be okay, I’ll be o—’” (Onyx, pp 167). We also see these Spartans haunt those who create them, in an interesting twist on the horror trope of a child ghost. After all, every Spartan-II and III are child soldiers. However, in a deviation from the trope, we see that the Spartans themselves are not “haunting” them maliciously. Rather it is the internal guilt of Catherine Halsey and Kurt-051 that causes them to be surrounded by these ghosts. And it’s these ghosts who come to Kurt’s side in his final stand: “His vision doubled and he thought he saw Tom and Lucy come back to get him… but it wasn’t them. It was Shane, Robert, and Jane from Team Wolf Pack. There were hundreds of Spartans with him on the platform – from Alpha and Beta Companies, Dante, Holly, Will, and even Sam… all ready to fight and win this last battle with him. Hallucination? Maybe. It was nonetheless welcome. The ghostly Spartans nodded, and gave him the thumbs-up ‘can-do’ signal.” (Onyx, pp 372). Page 367 of Genreflecting describes a specific subset of Science Fiction called Earth’s Children, asking “What lies ahead for the human race?” To Halo fans, this question, or rather its answer, is rather familiar. “My Spartans are humanity’s next step: our destiny as a species,” Catherine Halsey declares to an ONI investigator. “Reclaimer, when I indexed mankind for repopulation, I hid seeds from the Didact. Seeds which would lead to an eventuality. Your physical evolution. Your combat skin. Even your ancilla, Cortana. You are the culmination of a thousand lifetimes of planning,” the Librarian tells John on Requiem. Halo 4 While both these women were discussing the Spartan-IIs in general and John in particular, this question about humanity’s next step applies to all Spartans. Earth’s Children is a subgenre that is focused on “clones, robots, cyborgs, and individuals who have been genetically enhanced or otherwise had their humanity ‘tinkered’ with” (Genre, pp 367). The Spartan-IIs and IIIs have not only been genetically and cybernetically enhanced, but there’s also the indoctrination that they go through. All this has lead them to being called “wind-up tin soldiers” in The Fall of Reach, a “failed experiment” in The Flood, “freaks” in First Strike, and most recently “monsters” in the HUNT the TRUTH series. Here inOnyx, they are expensively expendable. Heroes created to die on high priority missions, little kids beaten into the most deadly soldiers the world has ever seen – and humanity seems content to rate their own children as inhuman. These are all textbook examples of what Genreflecting calls “stories that deal with the possibilities available for those who are differently abled, and the ethics of the way society treats them” (Genre, pp 368). Halo 4 Colonel Ackerson commissions three Companies, minimum, of child soldiers for suicide missions. Admiral Parangosky looks Kurt dead in the eye and says that she would order Alpha Company to their deaths all over again. Even the standing order to have Spartans as MIA as opposed to having their sacrifice and death acknowledged is a demonstration of how the UNSC as a whole doesn’t see the Spartans as human. They are Other. A final, important aspect of the subgenre of Earth’s Children is the insistence to write about these individuals labeled as “Other” both “thoughtfully and sympathetically” (Genre, pp 367). In truth, this is one of the core aspects of Halo as a whole. Even the Spartans who become dangerous or turn their backs on the UNSC, we are never meant to demonize. And that has been Nylund’s ultimate contribution to the Halo Expanded Universe. From John-117 to Lucy-B091, there has always been a humanity to the Spartans. They have always been one of us. As we go deeper and deeper into the Halo fiction, we begin to see connections, large and small, that tie characters and events together. This new section of the reading journals will explore those connections. Ghosts of Onyx could be considered the next step for Halo’s expanded universe. The three preceding novels introduced new characters and events, but they still relied very heavily on Combat Evolved and Halo 2 to craft their plot. While Onyxis informed by the events of Halo 2 – mainly the invasion of Earth and the Great Schism – the main plot and focus is disassociated from the games. It stands on its own. As such, Onyx ends up setting the stage for a number of different stories down the line, while still giving us updates on familiar portions of the Expanded Universe. Furthermore, the novel does so without the Adjuncts that had been added to the reprints of the three previous novels. In terms of setting the stage, Onyx is capable of creating the foundation for another story in a portion of a sentence: “And what had ever happened to Gray Team on a mission far outside the confines of UNSC space, now missing for over a year?” (Onyx, pp 221). Halo 2 Anniversary Terminal This mention of the covert Spartan-II team in Onyx, it seems like a nice little nod to another Halo novel. It’d be a nice callback. However, we were not officially introduced to Gray Team until 2009 with the release of The Cole Protocol, and I am reading the edition of Onyx that was published in 2006. So this mention of Gray Team is a call back to their equally brief mention in Fall of Reach as well as the continued establishment of this Expanded Universe. Another collection of sentences sets the stage for two more stories, as Halsey discusses that she’s kept track of the Spartans that were actually MIA, as opposed to semantically. She name-drops Kurt, Shelia, and Randall. Two other stories were birthed from Shelia and Randall’s status farther down the line in the Expanded Universe. As Halsey clarifies that she witnessed Shelia’s death personally at the Battle of Miridem, we realize that she is the Spartan who was faced and defeated by Major Thel ‘Lodamee in the events described in The Fall of Reach Adjunct. This leads to the kidnapping of Halsey and the events of the anime short, Halo Legends: The Package. Randall’s story is found in Nightfall, a Spartan-II who is off the grid with a distinct distaste for the UNSC in general and ONI in particular. Halo: Nightfall Onyx also sets the stage for further themes, such as the rediscovery of long-lost Spartan friends. Compare Blue Team’s reaction to finding Kurt alive again… “Fred set a hand on Kurt’s shoulder, a rare gesture among the Spartans. It spoke volumes in the language of the Spartan’s tightly restrained emotions. ‘We thought you were dead,’ Fred whispered.” (Onyx, pp 254). …to their reaction upon finding Serin is alive in the novel Glasslands: “Fred, Kelly, and Linda seemed to hold their breath for a second and then murmured. ‘Oh… Serin!’ ‘We thought you were dead,’ Fred said. ‘But don’t think for one moment that we ever forgot you.’” (Glasslands, pp 384). Halo Wars Furthermore, this is the first instance we see of Shield Worlds in the Halo fiction. These massive Forerunner constructs have since become an integral part of canon, being major locations for both Halo Wars and Halo 4. Countless different connections, themes, and stories can all be traced back to Ghosts of Onyx, Halo’s first step into a larger universe than before. OP - http://www.haloarchive.com/the-library/halos-place-in-science-fiction-ghosts-of-onyx/

Most people are banned from Waypoint

Thanks for the likes everyone!

Hey everyone, Media Bias here from the Halo Archive. Seeing as 343 is pushing Halo Lore more than ever before onto the community, we wanted to spread our member's works in regards to certain theories and expanded fiction. Below is the third installment in the Halo's Place in SciFi series by our member Dildev. Give it a read and let me know what you think, its a pretty good analysis. First Strike (The Definitive Edition) by Eric Nylund Alpha Halo was not the end of the war. The Covenant continue their genocidal campaign, the Master Chief, Cortana, and a team of survivors must race to Earth and stop the Covenant’s advance. This novel follows up on the events and characters of both Fall of Reach and The Flood and sets the stage for Halo 2. The first thing I need to note here is that it has been years since I last read First Strike, and I was more partial to rereading portions of the other novels due to the characters involved. So what I am about to say is a testament solely to Nylund’s writing abilities and not my own nostalgia. Even more so than in Fall of Reach, Nylund has an incredible ability to define the camaraderie between the Spartans and between other characters. By the end of chapter one, I knew exactly what Fred, Kelly, and the rest of the Spartans meant to each other. It was small touches, like Kelly and Fred volunteering to take the more dangerous mission, Kelly covering for Fred when he makes a communications blunder, and Fred grabbing Joshua as they leap from the doomed Pelican. These sorts of gestures extend throughout the book, as we see snippets of how individuals from varying military branches interact within the new ragtag team assembled here. Halo Escalation Issue #10 Many times we hear that a sequel should build off the previous tale – not just in terms of plot, but character development. Nylund does a rare thing in that in his second excursion into the Halo Universe; it’s not just the plot or the characters, but the theme itself builds off of his previous installment. The Fall of Reach was defined by character growth; First Strike, though a plot-driven story, is defined by character relations. The development of these thematic relationship statuses between characters is a combination of rapid establishment and Nylund’s distinctive style of repetition. Beyond the close-knit community of Spartans, we see this theme when the crew of the Pelican is pulled aboard the Longsword fighter. The relationships between the incoming characters and the Master Chief are defined within moments. Halo 2 Anniversary — “With a lightning-quick motion, [the Chief] drew the newcomer’s pistol and aimed it squarely at the man’s forehead. ‘You were dead,’ the Chief said. ‘I saw you die. On Jenkins’s mission record. The Flood got you.’ The black man smiled a set of perfect white teeth. ‘The Flood? Hell, Chief, it’ll take more than a pack of walking alien horror-show freaks to take out Sergeant A. J. Johnson.’” (pp 63). “‘At ease, Corporal,’ the Master Chief said. The Corporal’s eyes finally locked onto the Chief. He shook his head in disbelief. ‘A Spartan,’ he muttered. ‘Figures. Outta the friggin’ frying pan – ’” (pp 65-66). “He wore the black enameled bars of a First Lieutenant. ‘Sir!’ the Chief snapped off a crisp salute. … The lieutenant settled to the floor and lazily returned the salute.” (pp 66). “She saluted the Chief. ‘Petty Warrant Officer Polaski, requesting permission to come aboard, Master Chief.’ ‘Granted,’ he said and returned her salute.” (pp 67) — After this five page introduction of major characters and their relationships, Nylund puts his use of repetition to work. Unlike the over-exposure of this style in Fall of Reach, First Strike hits just the right balance, especially in the connection shared between Cortana and the Master Chief. First Strike, though set between Combat Evolved and Halo 2, could be seen as a precursor to Halo 4 in terms of Chief and Cortana’s interactions. After absorbing a massive amount of information on Alpha Halo, Cortana finds herself overwhelmed by the data that she’s constantly cataloging and analyzing. This in turn makes her short-tempered and absent-minded. While it’s not actual rampancy, it does set both John and Cortana on edge. Halo 4 Cortana has concerns about being able to do enough, and do it fast enough, to keep her crew and the Master Chief safe. John in turn worries about Cortana’s wellbeing, having admitted to himself that he could not consider her expendable equipment. These themes are defined in far more depth in Halo 4, but they have their roots all the way back in this novel. In a further indication of how this book is defined by inter-character relations, even one-scene wonder characters of the novel are placed in settings acutely defined by how they connect and interact with others. When Lieutenant Wagner returns to Earth to bring the news of Reach’s fall, he sets the stage to showcase the calm and collected Admiral Hood butt heads with the aggressive Colonel Ackerson. In turn, Ackerson relishes in the assumed demise of his rival. Halo: Reach When Kelly, Fred, and Joshua are sneaking past the Covenant front lines in stolen Banshees, it’s the strained relationships between the Sangheili and Unggoy that allow this un-scheduled flight plan passage. When we get our first glimpse of our villains for Halo 2, the Prophet of Truth and Tartarus, this sets up the changing relations between the races of the Covenant that we would see a year after the game’s original publishing. And here you must forgive me for grafting a portion of my Arbiter Watch piece into this reading journal, because this aspect of relationships is absolutely fundamental to the claim I am about to make. Thel ‘Vadamee is in First Strike. Halo 2 Anniversary Terminal I don’t mean the mention that Tartarus gives at the end, complete with his own pet name for the future-Arbiter. I mean that we actually see Thel ‘Vadamee on the bridge of the Ascendant Justice, pages 91-96, fighting hand-to-hand with the Master Chief and getting chucked out in an escape pod. I know that this is an old theory that was considered debunked when Halo: The Graphic Novel came out and Seeker of Truth was revealed to be the fleet’s flagship. However, the updated canon actually supports this theory, as well as Nylund’s deliberate use of relationships here in First Strike. The canon is discussed over in the Tumblr piece[X], so here let’s focus on the relationship aspect. As we’ve established, even characters that appear for just one scene in this novel are given a relational reason for existing. Throughout the rest of the assault on Ascendant Justice, enemy positions are given, enemy actions are described, but they aren’t given character. The Sangheili fought by the Master Chief on the bridge is. Halo 2 Anniversary Terminal — “The Elite drew a plasma pistol and fired at the Lieutenant – but never took its eyes off the Chief.” (pp 91). “The Elite removed its helmet and dropped it. The plasma pistol clattered to the deck a moment later. It leaned forward, and its mandibles parted in what in what the Chief guessed had to be a smile.” (pp 91-92). “…this Elite was tough, cunning, well-trained…” (pp 94). “The Elite’s mouth opened, and it snapped at the Chief. It was angry or panicking now… he felt it getting stronger.” (pp 95). — Furthermore, the relationship between these two characters – the Master Chief and the Sangheili – has a progressive arc. When the Sangheili first appears on the bridge, disengaging its active camouflage, the Chief’s response is almost nonchalant: “Even with the shield malfunction, he was confident he could take a single Elite.” (pp 91). However, the moment the two step into battle, the Sangheili proves to be a difficult adversary, being capable of removing two of the Chief’s allies from the fight while keep the Spartan at bay. At last, only with the help of Locklear and Johnson is the Master Chief able to defeat the Sangheili by tossing him alive into an escape pod and jettisoning him. Why would Nylund, who demonstrated such deftness of storytelling, take this much time to write out a one-on-one encounter between the Chief and an enemy? The only other times we’ve seen him do this was when the moment was or was initially intended to be the first encounter of a new threat – the Hunters at Sigma Octanus, the Sangheili at Reach, the Jiralhanae on the Unyielding Heirophant. This attention to detail with this particular Sangheili, alongside Tartarus’ line about “the incompetent” who lost Ascendant Justice, the introduction of three other major characters of Halo 2, and the canonical support to this theory, convinces me that that this Sangheili was indeed our future Arbiter, Thel ‘Vadamee. Because ultimately, First Strike is defined entirely by relationships between characters, and what better soil can you find for the root of the relationship developed between John-117 and Thel ‘Vadam than the writing of Eric Nylund? I’ll be departing from the Science Fiction section of Genreflecting this time around, because a different type of book continually pressed into my consciousness while reading First Strike. I kept thinking of Voyage of the Dawn Treaderfrom the Chronicles of Narnia series. Treasure Island, a book I haven’t touched since the seventh grade was always lurking in some back corner. It took me a while to place it together, but First Strike is a road trip book. The main plot of the story – and the novel is very much plot-driven – revolves around the importance of getting from place A to place B, with innumerable obstacles between. The starting point is Alpha Halo, and Earth is the destination. Chief and Cortana must locate and take control Slipspace-capable ship, rescue a team of Spartans from a Covenant-controlled sector, survive an unprecedented and devastating battle, locate a place for repairs, and destroy a massive Covenant fleet heading for humanity’s homeworld. The goal is to reach Earth; the plot is the actual journey. One genre that is defined by this journey-centered plot is Wagons West – a subgenre of Western Fiction. Page 215 ofGenreflecting describes this type as: “The way west was filled with danger from accidents, disease, and violence…” Replace “west” with “home,” and you’ve found yourself with a very solid description of First Strike. Part of the journey-centered plot requires survival to be threatened multiple different sources. While survival in-and-of itself is not the goal in First Strike, it is a requirement for the Master Chief and his team to warn Earth. As a result they encounter war fleets, dangerous radiation, damaged ships, and a battle in Slipspace. To emphasize the dangers of the way west/home, the subgenre may have multiple side characters succumb to threats. If the threat is large enough, main characters will as well. The one actual Wagons West story that I have read was The Overland Trail by Wendi W. Lee, and this novel about a wagon train did exactly that. There was a very large cast of characters, most of them having died by the end of the story. Again, First Strike is the same; the final number of people arriving at last at Earth is a fraction of the initial cast. The second part of the Wagons West description is as follows: “…and often families were involved imbuing this stories with relationship as well as survival issues.” (emboldening mine). There it is again, that core theme of the novel. Relationships. Walking hand in-hand with the survival of the journey-centered plot. A true Wagons West. In a manner of speaking. Of course First Strike lacks many of the trappings of the Western genre, and I would not place it even in the category of SF Westerns like Firefly and Cowboys & Aliens. However, in performing literary analyses, you will find that a lot of themes and writing styles cross between genres, which is the mark of a genre’s evolution and the evolution of literature in general. That's it for this installment, rather than blowing up the forum with her other posts you can just go here to check it out if you wish.