Halo 4 Ending + Saga Discussion [Spoilers]

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bigfatcarp93

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I'm amazed that I haven't seen anyone else complain about the REALLY antinclimactic "Final Boss Battle", which consists of defeating an IMMENSELY POWERFUL, TELEKINETIC ENEMY! ...With a few QTE's. Yikes.
 
Nov 11, 2012
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The only thing I did not like was how short the game was on Legendary... Still like a "good book" it could be 2,000 pages long but you would read it in what would feel an hour because how much you love it.

Anyhow; I have a few theories as to why some of the stuff happend:

1. Why "kill" Cortana; first I dont think they killed her... They are just keeping her off "Human" hands (since Halsey is imprisoned). Remember that Cortana has all that information from Reach from the Forerunner thing they found back in Halo Reach, she has all that information from Gravemind from back when MC left her at the end of Halo 2, and finally she now has all this information from running on that shell planet's systems. Still she has not been back in Human hands since the fall of Reach so they can Download the information from her. Maybe a moment after Halo 1 and just before 2 but Halsey was not with her and Cortana being as secretly as Halsey (being her clone and all) she would have probably not shared much. So giving her up to Humanity right now would pretty much be the end of "discovering" for Humanity.

2. I believe the new games will involve probably a civil war. 343 are giving a twist to the story where MC is not viewed by everyone as the single most incredible soldier; the New Spartans are shorter and less formal that the Spartans 2 (from where we get MC). And the fact that they are BBQing Halsey, the one person that saved Humanity, with all this "moral" thing about childrens, clones, machines, blablabla, are just setting the stage. Much like MC going against a direct Order back in Infinity.

3. Also what exactly did Didact shoot at earth? Apparently It has to do with evolving or something related to changing earth/humanity. On Legendary's ending
you see a Recon troop come up to a city where apparently there is no one (probably all dead because of what he shot which was different from that instant flash thing he shot at the station; this was a constant beam) but they see something and pic up something on the sensor thing he has on his hands that he apparently can't explain. Also The fact that Didacts monologue coincides perfectly with MC walking (specifically where he says "...so here I Stand alone...") and by the end of the monologue shere he says the "... The Reclamation has begun..." And they give us a MC close ul of his eyes (dont forget that the Librarian did somethig to MC involving "speed evolving him" that we still dont know what it did.
 
Nov 11, 2012
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Oh and 4th,

About the Romantic/Love Arc thing, which was done subtle... Before going on and on about MC and Cortanas Love tree remember 2 things:
1. Marines like all other Arms Force share bonds with their fellow soldiers. Remember "no man left behind" and sort. They share this Bond and are thought to think this way because at the end of the day your life is in you fellow marines hands. So you have to protect each other.
2. Remember that Halsey has a special connection with John. Even though she loves all her Spartans, John is special to her; probably more so than even her own daughter... And Cortana having been created from a Halsey's flash clone, some of it if not all of that special sentiment might have rubbed off to her.
 
Nov 11, 2012
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And another thing, Didact was actually impressed/scared by Cortana's new ability to manifest physically from the Bridges' energy... Why is that for such an advanced specie?
 

Spartan16

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I am very interested to see where the 'Reclamer Trilogy' will take us next, Halo 4 was a complete game in its own way. Cortana Problem solved (although I believe it is safe to say that she is not dead and will be back in Halo 5, the flow/game/Master Chief would not really work right without her plus we need her and Chief's love arc finished), Didact/Composer threat stopped, Flood and Covenant war already ended in last trilogy, the ending tied everything up nicely, so I am really excited to see where the trilogy will take us, Master Chief, Cortana and the rest of the Characters next.

I thought that the legendary end might have a hint in as to where the story would take us next, outside of the Man vs Machine theme. But that was conclusive too.

I hope Spartan Ops will fill the void and infer/imply whaere the trilogy is going next. At the very least we get to see more of Lasky and Palmer who I loved and did not think that they were in the campaign enough. Not a big fan of Majestic though, too marine like and not Spartan enough in their behaviour. But it works in a story continuation as the SPATANS-IV was marines, not bread to be Spartans the MK-II or MK-III SPARTANS.

I hope that they sort the fate of the Spirit Of Fire in the 'Reclamer Trilogy' too, that has been bugging me since finishing Halo wars, an entire ship with Dr. Halseys protégé and 3 SPARTANS-II on board drifting lost in space for 10+ years. Plus they would be near another Forerunner shield world. I would also like to see the ODST's form Halo3: ODST fature in the rest of the trilogy too, being as their fate after the game was not concluded and their apparent expertise. It goes without saying that the Arbiter should return riding the Shadow Of Intent

Love Halo 4, Campaign and Multiplayer/Spartan Ops but...... Lots of questions with few answers right now, Where will Halo 5 and 6 take us?
 

KissmahArceus

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bigfatcarp93 said:
I'm amazed that I haven't seen anyone else complain about the REALLY antinclimactic "Final Boss Battle", which consists of defeating an IMMENSELY POWERFUL, TELEKINETIC ENEMY! ...With a few QTE's. Yikes.
I saw it as an interactive cutscene, Halo tried boss battles before in Halo 2 and they kinda sucked, I was glad they kept it simple and cinematic
 

Rooster Cogburn

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Master Chief always had a lot of personality (relatively speaking). Especially when paired with his foil, the Arbiter (who should NOT have been removed), it becomes very obvious. Dont believe me? Meet another character with "no personality":

Think about it.
Now they've just made his personality very unsubtle and explicit so even MovieBob can't miss it. I'm not really for it or against it. But it is a change. I guess I'm against it, but it's not the worst thing in the world.

I actually thought there were some really neat science fiction ideas flying around in the story, something this series badly needs. And there was also a strong element of personal loss, with Cortana's impending doom. Easily my favorite moment of the game was the juxtaposition of the two. Cortana protesting that the identical A.I. that replaces her " It won't be me. You know that... right?" was both painful and raised interesting philosophical questions, which is one hallmark of good science fiction. It's a much more subtle and entertaining way for Cortana, a computer program, to more-or-less scream, "I am an individual and there is value in my existence!":MORE OF THIS. It's very unfortunate they didn't take the time to flesh out moments, ideas, and feelings like this more than they did. Also, notice Master Chief's exaggerated dialog and body language. Thanks a lot MovieBob, this is obviously so much better then the same thing just less hamfisted. It's not actually that bad, but MovieBob just really grinds my gears sometimes lol.

The whole story felt like a long string of good ideas that were glossed over and not put to good use. They should have gone with a smaller story with a tighter focus, like in Halo: CE. Or, they should have done more with all the elements they introduced. It seems like they decided to introduce all the shit in the first game, and I'm guessing they will bring them into focus more later. I think they should have done the opposite. Also, explaining the Forerunners too much was a bad idea. Sometimes it works because it's a mystery. In writing, sometimes the question is more about the question than the answer. Despite my complaints, I at no moment felt like my intelligence was being really insulted, which puts Halo 4 head and shoulders above the competition in terms of story.

EDIT: Oh, 343 deserves praise for not giving us a shitty cliff-hanger where the writers say "fuck it, we'll just resolve the plot of this game in the next one. Now you have to buy that too, you assholes!" They brought this story to a conclusion while establishing the premise for the next one. That's how you do it.
 

Otterz

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I think it is pretty obvious after the final cut scene that there is a love between Cortana and the Chief. I think anyone here who can still deny that after watching it is either trying desperately to hold on to a colder version of the chief(why?, IDK), or has the emotional depth of a turnip.

You can try to say that it is platonic, but again if you are being honest with yourself you cannot really believe that after the final scene and all the lead up to it.

As so many people have said, Cortana is the "Human" aspect of John. This is really quite a touching story because as they mentioned in the prologue John is "broken" all of the tinkering they did to him made him less than human and incapable (or unaware) of emotions like love. Cortana is the one thing that John has ever cared for beyond his duty as a soldier, she "completes" him, fixes him, he retains his humanity because of her. Now how amazing is that, this is why Cortana can't stay dead, it is why the love is more than just a mother or a sibling.

I suspect that Cortana will, at least come back, but will likely return in a more significant way. This could mean she has a human body, or any number of things but whatever it is it will narrow or remove the boundaries between her and the chief. This brief "removal" of Cortana is just a way to give chief a chance to stand on his own. They said Halo 5 will be "darker" and I think that is because John must regain his humanity without Cortana, he is alone. However, in the end he will have a new found appreciation of his feelings for her.

Now I am not saying there will be some kind of crazy "love" scene in Halo, (cortana is already naked what more is there to show anyway?) but I do believe Cortana and the Chief are very much "romantic". Its like star crossed lovers to the extreme, and I really hope 343 doesn't back down on the obvious precedent they have set just because some kids can't deal with chief having a love interest.
 

Otterz

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3. Since the composer can switch data between digital and biological, and Cortana dropped the rather obvious hint that her mind was a copy of Dr. Halsey's neural tissues, We can predict that over the course of this new halo saga, cortana will go thorugh rampancy into metastability and then probably be converted into a human. With that said, I really hope they don't turn her relationship with Chief into a love interest. One of the biggest reasons for why the Cortana-Master Chief duo was so succesful in my opinion was because Bungie took great care in avoiding the classic love arc tropes that would have ruined the maturity of the series; so it worries me to see 343 go switch into such a different direction right off the bat.

I don't necessarily agree, I think that a big part of this story is chief accepting that he is human and he has a right to be happy. It is all about how chief "isn't" a machine, and therefore he is allowed to put his own personal feelings before protocol and regulation. I think that when John takes off his armor at the end (the first time since the beginning of halo 2) it is symbolic of him unveiling his true self, his human self. He is no longer a mindless soldier, a machine, he doesn't always have to put his duty to others before his duty to himself and to those that he loves most. If anything it adds maturity to the series because finding oneself is a real life issue we all face, but fighting alien races is not.

If you can't handle the romance then then you have a perfectly good trilogy that is already released, but as for the new trilogy shit just got real.
 

Spartan16

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Otterz said:
I think it is pretty obvious after the final cut scene that there is a love between Cortana and the Chief. I think anyone here who can still deny that after watching it is either trying desperately to hold on to a colder version of the chief(why?, IDK), or has the emotional depth of a turnip.

You can try to say that it is platonic, but again if you are being honest with yourself you cannot really believe that after the final scene and all the lead up to it.

As so many people have said, Cortana is the "Human" aspect of John. This is really quite a touching story because as they mentioned in the prologue John is "broken" all of the tinkering they did to him made him less than human and incapable (or unaware) of emotions like love. Cortana is the one thing that John has ever cared for beyond his duty as a soldier, she "completes" him, fixes him, he retains his humanity because of her. Now how amazing is that, this is why Cortana can't stay dead, it is why the love is more than just a mother or a sibling.

I suspect that Cortana will, at least come back, but will likely return in a more significant way. This could mean she has a human body, or any number of things but whatever it is it will narrow or remove the boundaries between her and the chief. This brief "removal" of Cortana is just a way to give chief a chance to stand on his own. They said Halo 5 will be "darker" and I think that is because John must regain his humanity without Cortana, he is alone. However, in the end he will have a new found appreciation of his feelings for her.

Now I am not saying there will be some kind of crazy "love" scene in Halo, (cortana is already naked what more is there to show anyway?) but I do believe Cortana and the Chief are very much "romantic". Its like star crossed lovers to the extreme, and I really hope 343 doesn't back down on the obvious precedent they have set just because some kids can't deal with chief having a love interest.

I Agree 100%

THe final scenes of Halo 4 were amazing, anybody who is denying a love between Master Chief and Cortana are in serious denial for the worst, their relationship compleates eachother. One without the other wont work, from both a stroy, character and gameplay side.

John also shared a special bond with Dr. Halsay, she 'loves' all her Spartans, but John holds a special place in her heart, more so than her own daughter. John and Dr. Hlasay dont share the same bond/relaionship as John and Coratan, who is modled after Dr. Halsay so similar feelings are likley to be present from the start and evolve.

Those who claim that John and Cortana's relationship is just platonic and is a will have a negative impact on the charactrs are just plain wrong, it is quiet the oposits. Chief and Cortana's supposed 'final' moments together and Chiefs reaction to her loss are some of the best moments in the franchises history.

Now i am exited to see how Cortana will be braught back in Halo 5 (it cannot be a new Cortana model AI, as she states to John, in wont be her and if she is not braught back i will be questioning 343's ability to take the halo universe forwards). Wolud not want it to turn too obvious though and have it like a Mass Effect LI romance, that is not Halo or John/Cortana style.
 

Buizel91

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skywolfblue said:
I agree she's probably not going to stay dead. Either Halsy does some tinkering and mixes some cortana remnants from orbit with a new cortana clone to make a fresh AI with all the old memories, or they straight up find a backup copy somewhere (Requiem, Ring 3, or the remains of diadect's ship).


I felt the Quick Time Events were kinda out of place. They weren't "bad", they made sense, but it didn't feel very "Halo-y". I wonder why they didn't just make it a cinematic instead.

But 'dat trench run Star Wars style, that was awesome!

Scipio1770 said:
With that said, I really hope they don't turn her relationship with Chief into a love interest. One of the biggest reasons for why the Cortana-Master Chief duo was so succesful in my opinion was because Bungie took great care in avoiding the classic love arc tropes that would have ruined the maturity of the series; so it worries me to see 343 go switch into such a different direction right off the bat.
I think the already crossed the "love interest" line at the end of Halo 4. That was waaaay too intimate for friends.

Not related to the ending but:

Why doesn't the Infinity have an AI of it's own?

- I thought most UNSC cruisers and above carried their own AIs. Wouldn't a ship as big and important as the Infinity need one all the more? It would have been interesting to see Cortana have a short verbal sparring match or cooperation with another AI, I'm kinda sad they missed that chance.

Also, why doesn't the Infinity have a fleet of smaller ships with it?

- I guess "Plot" but putting all your naval eggs into one basket just begs for it's weaknesses to be exploited.
Watch the Spartan Ops episode, The Infinity does have it's own A.I, can remember his name, but he looks like a military guy.

And it does have it's own ships, again in the episode we see multiple ships (similar to Forward unto Dawn) deploy from the bottom of the ship. :p
 

SilverUchiha

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I only played the first Halo and some multiplayer of the others when over at a friend's place, so take my opinions whichever way you like.

First, I like the idea of showing the Chief's face, even part of it. He's sort of a boring character anyway (from what I've seen and read). So at least letting us see his face and giving us a better look at his humanity might help get rid of his bland cardboard cutout personality that's kept me from really wanting to try the series again.

Second, Cortana as a love interest wouldn't necessarily kill it, but it would distract from the "plot" of the games enough to probably alienate or annoy some of the fans who are just there to kill aliens. I think what would be more interesting is to give Cortana a robotic body to inhabit instead of making her human. Have her be a character that participates in the action more. Course, this whole Metastability discussion does smack a bit of borrowing ideas from RvB. I know how odd that statement sounds, but they did introduce the idea of AI in Halo gaining metastability PUBLICLY before Halo 4 was even released. And I still like RvB's story revolving around it better too. :p

That's just my thoughts on the matter. Again, not a Halo fan in the slightest, but just an outside opinion based on what I've seen, read, and heard.
 

Rooster Cogburn

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Before Halo 4, I would have said there was no romantic interest between Master Chief and Cortana. You can care about someone you don't even want to wiggle your noodle in. It seems like they shoehorned the Pinocchio thing in literally in the last moments of the game with no build up so they could have a touching moment of romantic love between the two. I wouldn't say it ruined the tragedy of the moment, but it detracted from it. It should have been a time for the two old friends to reflect on how far they have come and look forward to the agony of absence, and how intolerable it really is. Cramming an implied romance in there probably made a lot of fans cream their pants, but I think a discerning palette will find it pretty unsatisfying.

Sometimes, writers has to know when to restrain themselves. Plus, I liked it when we exploring the practical implications of a truly intelligent man-made machine. Not when Cortana was bleating "I'm a real boy!"

EDIT: For the record, stop letting close-minded know-nothings frame the issue over whether Master Chief should be "cold". He's a man who was turned into a machine. That's some Clockwork Orange shit right there. We should be exploring that character and the issues surrounding it, not having drawn-out melodrama with Chief boohooing like it's Devil May Cry or something.

If you find yourself agreeing with MovieBob, it's a good idea to seriously reevaluate your opinion.
 

Korten12

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arc1991 said:
skywolfblue said:
I agree she's probably not going to stay dead. Either Halsy does some tinkering and mixes some cortana remnants from orbit with a new cortana clone to make a fresh AI with all the old memories, or they straight up find a backup copy somewhere (Requiem, Ring 3, or the remains of diadect's ship).


I felt the Quick Time Events were kinda out of place. They weren't "bad", they made sense, but it didn't feel very "Halo-y". I wonder why they didn't just make it a cinematic instead.

But 'dat trench run Star Wars style, that was awesome!

Scipio1770 said:
With that said, I really hope they don't turn her relationship with Chief into a love interest. One of the biggest reasons for why the Cortana-Master Chief duo was so succesful in my opinion was because Bungie took great care in avoiding the classic love arc tropes that would have ruined the maturity of the series; so it worries me to see 343 go switch into such a different direction right off the bat.
I think the already crossed the "love interest" line at the end of Halo 4. That was waaaay too intimate for friends.

Not related to the ending but:

Why doesn't the Infinity have an AI of it's own?

- I thought most UNSC cruisers and above carried their own AIs. Wouldn't a ship as big and important as the Infinity need one all the more? It would have been interesting to see Cortana have a short verbal sparring match or cooperation with another AI, I'm kinda sad they missed that chance.

Also, why doesn't the Infinity have a fleet of smaller ships with it?

- I guess "Plot" but putting all your naval eggs into one basket just begs for it's weaknesses to be exploited.
Watch the Spartan Ops episode, The Infinity does have it's own A.I, can remember his name, but he looks like a military guy.

And it does have it's own ships, again in the episode we see multiple ships (similar to Forward unto Dawn) deploy from the bottom of the ship. :p
The AI's name is Roland:

"based on Roland Beamont, a British fighter and test pilot for the Royal Air Force during and after World War II.[1]"

http://www.halopedia.org/Roland_(AI)
 

Otterz

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Rooster Cogburn said:
Before Halo 4, I would have said there was no romantic interest between Master Chief and Cortana. You can care about someone you don't even want to wiggle your noodle in. It seems like they shoehorned the Pinocchio thing in literally in the last moments of the game with no build up so they could have a touching moment of romantic love between the two. I wouldn't say it ruined the tragedy of the moment, but it detracted from it. It should have been a time for the two old friends to reflect on how far they have come and look forward to the agony of absence, and how intolerable it really is. Cramming an implied romance in there probably made a lot of fans cream their pants, but I think a discerning palette will find it pretty unsatisfying.

Sometimes, a writer has to know when to restrain themselves. Plus, I liked it when we exploring the practical implications of a truly intelligent man-made machine. Not when Cortana was bleating "I'm a real boy!"

EDIT: For the record, stop letting close-minded know-nothings frame the issue over whether Master Chief should be "cold". He's a man who was turned into a machine. That's some Clockwork Orange shit right there. We should be exploring that character and the issues surrounding it, not having drawn-out melodrama with Chief boohooing like it's Devil May Cry or something.If you find yourself agreeing with MovieBob, it's a good idea to seriously reevaluate your opinion.
I understand what you are saying, but I think the romance is there it is just very subtle (facing mortality has a way of speeding up these things).

In Halo:CE the relationship was that of childhood friends, they joked and teased but they hadn't really developed any deeper relationship. In Halo 2 they had gone through a lot in the previous game and develop more of a "confidant" relationship, the trust each other like no one else. This is further reflected when the Chief leaves Cortana and promises to come back, further playing up the "trust" thing. In Halo 3 I think it makes a definite movement towards the romantic, first of all chief starts hallucinating and seems to be incomplete without Cortana. The Chief/Cortana story arch in this game climaxes with Chief coming like a knight in shining armor to save his damsel in distress. You also notice that Cortana starts becoming a little more "friendly" in her dialogue with the chief. She says "I do know how to pick them" this is not something a Mother, or sister says (I am aware that she literally picked him out of the spartan program but there is a symbolic meaning as well) you can't pick your family but you can pick "companions". Lastly when they are escaping the Ark and chief almost falls out of the ship, Cortana doesn't look afraid like you would expect from two soldiers looking out for each other, she looks like someone who almost say her whole life just fall into oblivion. When she says "if we don't make it" and the chief cuts her off you know she wanted to say something besides "its been an honor serving with you" but just couldn't muster it, and chiefs response made it clear he wasn't ready for it.

If you go back and look at all the games with this new point of view you will see all the little nuances you didn't notice before. It was clear that Bungie was developing this relation ship (ever so slowly) before 343 got in on it, but they just hadn't made a decision where to take it. 343 made that decision, and by putting Cortana's life on the line they made the acceleration of the relationship believable.
 

Rooster Cogburn

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Otterz said:
I understand what you are saying, but I think the romance is there it is just very subtle (facing mortality has a way of speeding up these things).
None of that went over my head. I just never interpreted it as you do. Any of those those things could mean there is a romantic connection, but they could also mean the two have developed a close bond of friendship. Or maybe it's more than that, maybe they're inseparable, like family. I think the latter is both more strongly suggested and a better choice for the characters' relationship. Even "I know how to pick 'em" could be interpreted as a joke. Actually it's exactly the kind of joke you might expect someone to make to a close friend of the opposite sex. After all, between them they're a one-liner-machine-gun.

But you know what, I don't have internal documents proving my case. I admit your interpretation is as likely as my own.
 

Rooster Cogburn

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Spartan16 said:
Now i am exited to see how Cortana will be braught back in Halo 5 (it cannot be a new Cortana model AI, as she states to John, in wont be her and if she is not braught back i will be questioning 343's ability to take the halo universe forwards). Wolud not want it to turn too obvious though and have it like a Mass Effect LI romance, that is not Halo or John/Cortana style.
Oh man, I don't agree. I thought about this and it blew my mind. Based on this outing, I doubt 343 wants to touch anything as dark and thought provoking as this with a 20 foot pole. No, no, a 25 foot pole. But just imagine the tension between the Chief and the new "Cortana". What would he say to her? And she to him? How does Chief cope with this jarring course of events, and what is his relationship with the new "Cortana" like? How is the relationship complicated by the memories he has and sense of loyalty he feels for his dead friend? Does he feel that he has betrayed his friend? Does he view the new "Cortana" as an usurper? What does this practice of replacing A.I.s imply about their role in society? How do they feel about it? How should they feel? How should we?

And what does any of this even mean to a human who is somehow... less than that?

Halo was pretty dark right from the start. This isn't a love story, although it may contain romance. It is science fiction. I don't know if it should be quite that dark, because this ain't exactly Dune. But I for one would probably go bonkers for it if they did that idea well. As I said earlier in this thread, Cortana's plea of "It won't be me!" was my favorite moment of the whole game. But the reason it was so poignant is exactly why they should do it. The implications are so thought-provoking, and it's bursting with drama and heartache. If they actually did replace Cortana, the sadness and significance of her pathetic plea would explode off the chart. I miss her already.

If I was writing Halo 5, I'm pretty sure that's what I would do. Fortunately for you if you don't like my version, I'm not lol. The current writers seem to just want bizarre backstory that's somehow convoluted and abbreviated at the same time and melodrama. *sigh*

We're veering dangerously close to Duncan Idaho territory.
 

Daget Sparrow

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Scipio1770 said:
Alright so my friends and I finished the campaign yesterday and were left a bit confused on a few points:

1. What exactly happened to make the Covenant and Humans at war again? 4 years isn't that long, I doubt that the entire prophet and brute races were wiped out that fast. Especially considering the fact that the Arbiter would still be alive at that point and would obviously be against war with the Humans.

2. The nuke thing, was Chief teleported away at the last second? surrounded by some lightbridge shield? digitized and then purged? How exactly did Cortana physically touch him otherwise?

3. Since the composer can switch data between digital and biological, and Cortana dropped the rather obvious hint that her mind was a copy of Dr. Halsey's neural tissues, We can predict that over the course of this new halo saga, cortana will go thorugh rampancy into metastability and then probably be converted into a human. With that said, I really hope they don't turn her relationship with Chief into a love interest. One of the biggest reasons for why the Cortana-Master Chief duo was so succesful in my opinion was because Bungie took great care in avoiding the classic love arc tropes that would have ruined the maturity of the series; so it worries me to see 343 go switch into such a different direction right off the bat.

4. For those of you who didn't finish it on Legendary, you actually see the upper half of Cheif's face in the end of the epilogue cutscene. I think that was a mistake. I realize they're trying to play this new 'Man or Machine' theme for the new saga, but it's still too early into the story for John's face to get kind of effect they're looking for. Unlike samus aran, there really isn't a shock value to seeing John's face: We already know his age, gender, race etc. Sure, you make him seem more human, but you also take away a huge mystery factor from his persona, so I think that move was net negative.
1. That was the point of the two new novel series; to explain things and flesh out the story without rendering said story useless on its own. In this case; the Covenant fought in the game are a radical splinter group who went to Requiem to find one of their Gods. Their leader attacks the Forward Unto Dawn presumably to prevent the UNSC from finding out where they are and what they're up to.

I had to guess this one myself, but I'd say Cortana used a hard-light body from the light bridges aboard The Didact's ship. As to how Chief escaped, I'm at a loss, but I'll assume that Cortana utilised Forerunner portal tech aboard said ship to teleport him to safety.

Hate to break it to you, but Cortana's dead. Unless they find a way to bring her back, that's not likely to happen.

4. ...I haven't finished the game on Legendary. I should probably go do that.
 

Compatriot Block

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God damn, listening to the Chief's last few lines to Cortana was brutal. Major kudos to 343, they really nailed the heartstrings there.
 

Spartan16

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Rooster Cogburn said:
Spartan16 said:
Now i am exited to see how Cortana will be braught back in Halo 5 (it cannot be a new Cortana model AI, as she states to John, in wont be her and if she is not braught back i will be questioning 343's ability to take the halo universe forwards). Wolud not want it to turn too obvious though and have it like a Mass Effect LI romance, that is not Halo or John/Cortana style.
Oh man, I don't agree. I thought about this and it blew my mind. Based on this outing, I doubt 343 wants to touch anything as dark and thought provoking as this with a 20 foot pole. No, no, a 25 foot pole. But just imagine the tension between the Chief and the new "Cortana". What would he say to her? And she to him? How does Chief cope with this jarring course of events, and what is his relationship with the new "Cortana" like? How is the relationship complicated by the memories he has and sense of loyalty he feels for his dead friend? Does he feel that he has betrayed his friend? Does he view the new "Cortana" as an usurper? What does this practice of replacing A.I.s imply about their role in society? How do they feel about it? How should they feel? How should we?

And what does any of this even mean to a human who is somehow... less than that?

Halo was pretty dark right from the start. This isn't a love story, although it may contain romance. It is science fiction. I don't know if it should be quite that dark, because this ain't exactly Dune. But I for one would probably go bonkers for it if they did that idea well. As I said earlier in this thread, Cortana's plea of "It won't be me!" was my favorite moment of the whole game. But the reason it was so poignant is exactly why they should do it. The implications are so thought-provoking, and it's bursting with drama and heartache. If they actually did replace Cortana, the sadness and significance of her pathetic plea would explode off the chart. I miss her already.

If I was writing Halo 5, I'm pretty sure that's what I would do. Fortunately for you if you don't like my version, I'm not lol. The current writers seem to just want bizarre backstory that's somehow convoluted and abbreviated at the same time and melodrama. *sigh*

We're veering dangerously close to Duncan Idaho territory.

I have thought about it too. As you said it would be very dark and thought provoking, the implications for A.I.s role in society. All very, very interesting stuff. Just not for these character. To implement something like this with Master Chief would demand a major change in his personality. He is a Spartan-II, he would use the tools at hand and begin his next crusade for defending humanity at all costs. There is no question he would resent the ?new Cortana? in so many ways, but he is the ?strong, silent? type to actually make this work in an engaging way. John already has his own personality, he does not need a reboot to have character development, he needs Cortana back to continue fleshing his personality. Halo is an action game/franchise and a FPS, but with a romance at its core with the 2 core characters if you ask me.

I do agree that some of the best moments of the whole game if not franchise was the "It won't be me!" along with John and Cortana?s supposed ?final? moments together. In one of my earlier posts too.

For me though we have to have Cortana back, the actual Cortana. She completes John and the story. The implications of their love for each other and bonds of their relationship is crucial for the development for both of their characters. Master Chief disobeyed a direct order from a superior for the first time for her in on the Infinity bridge during their confrontation with Del Rio. That should just be scratching the surface.

Halo 4 was a master piece (despite the relatively short campaign), it was even complete in the ending, that could have every easily been the end of the trilogy and it would have been plausible and exceptionally well done???.. Thankfully for us, Cortana and John it is only the start on a new trilogy though.

So again I will state I am really excited to see how Cortana is brought back/saved (I can?t help but feel it will have something to do with the Librarian and their encounter on Requiem). If 343i does make her death in Halo 4 final, it will, despite how great Halo 4 is, show me that they are not capable of stewarding the Halo franchise. Roll on Halo 5 now though, further development of John, finding out some of what H4 left unanswered a new threat the return of the Arbiter to fight alongside John, Spartans Kicking ass, the continuation of John and Cortanas relationship/Love arc and the return of Cortana right??