Halo 4 Story (spoilers inside)

[BadTB25]

OK wtf.

I didn't want to accidentally spoil it for anybody, so I started a new thread.

For those that have finished the campaign, this had better not be the end of Cortana.
That ending was worse than the Halo 2 cliffhanger in that I wanted so much more and I want it now.

The cutscenes did a masterful job of bringing out the emotions. I'm actually a little sad and pissed in a way that no other games has really accomplished before.

I really enjoyed the campaign, but Cortana better not be gone for good. I hope 343i is well into the development of Halo 5 because I want to see how this story unfolds.

Added Terminal vids:

 

[NRP]

I agree. I was kind of depressed at the ending too. She's as much a part of the story as he is.

 

[Rangers]

As I posted in the other thread I think it's clear 4/5/6 will be the Cortana trilogy.

5 and 6 will be Chief going around picking up her pieces and otherwise saving her imo.

Speaking of depressing, it just hit me how depressing the Halo games are, and I'm not sure I like it. Think about the incredibly downbeat music that defines the series. Super sad stuff.

 

[BadTB25]

Started a runback on Heroic this time.

Going to try and unlock all the Waypoint vids. So far it gives a good amount of backstory regarding the Didact.

 

[NRP]

I don't think Cortana is coming back. The Didact's ship was totally obliterated, so there is literally nothing left of her. Besides, the last mission is called "Midnight". Yesterday is gone.

In the Cryptum novel, it seems the Forerunners devolved humans after they defeated them. The Librarian in H4 must have done something to the Chief to undo that "devolvement". Since the Didact is dead, I'm guessing that's what 5 and 6 are going to be about.

But who knows?

 

[Acert93]

I like how they worked Laskey in. Some quick takes:

* Dr. Halsey and Laskey will be there to help MC in his next adventure.

* Dr. Halsey will be tantamount to reclaiming Cortana. A lot of options here. The Diadact was talking at the end and seeing as there is a biological-digital bridge--and all we saw was the Diadact fall, nothing more (remember, this guy is so powerful he can pick up MC with his mind)--so he may have her. She may be lost in some scraps. She could be with MC in that he has changed and was hearing the Diadact when Cortana could not. All kinds of oddness happening here.

* The Librarian changed MC. The Legendary ending shows different eyes which, based on the Forerunner back stories of metamorphosis, could very well be the crux of the next game. My prediction? Humans turn on MC. MC, with Laskey, has to find Cortana and get her to Halsey. Problem? MC will not only have to fight the Storm and Prometheans but also HUMANS, and worse yet, the new Spartans. They have already set the tablet for MC disobeying directives, now that he may not be human, @#$@# will hit the fan.

* MC will be pushed to the edge and have to go it alone... MC will have have no Cortana, Laskey will get killed, humans have turned on him, the Storm and Prometheans have forged an aliance, and it will get worse: the flood will return and the Covenant-Brute alliance will rear it's head. I predict Halsey will die saving Cortana and the major twist in the story will be the return of MIA Spartan-IIs. MC's old friends.

* We may even see a "Halo ODST" style gap filling game about the missing Spartans and how they worked together to regroup with humanity and come to MC's aid. I would also expect the Arbirture to play into this now that the Storm have aligned with the Prometheans.

I know some people don't like the story twists but I think there are plenty of options for what happened to Cortana--whatever it is will play a big role in rescuing her. They have a cast of characters, both good (Laskey, Halsey, the Arbiture, missing Spartans, the Librarian), some antagonistic (the ruffled General, the Diadact and Prometheans, the Covenant, the Storm, the flood) and some where we don't know where they will stand in a divided conflict (humans and new Spartans).

What we do know is something is wrong with MC and it probably is so bad he will need Cortana and the Librarian to get him out of this mess--and all the usual suspects (flood, Covenant, Prometheans, maybe some humans) will now stand in his way.

I like the story direction -- I like how MC is built up in the prologue. Oh, and the variety of LARGE sandbox gameplay pieces and gameplay evolution I found spot on. No complaints from me so far. I thought Reach really got away from the "here is an open play field, you choose where you go and how you beat everyone" whereas Halo 4 built on and above Halo 3. Heroic is hard and the gun variety and balance is cool--me and Castaway found we liked totally different weapons.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

The Didact isn't dead. The grenade didn't kill him and then he just fell into a slipspace portal.

The evidence is his monologue at the end - he clearly refers to events in the game's story, especially with his last sentence about how the Reclamation has begun. But also notice that the cinematic shows the Spartan 4 armory bay on the Infinity when he's talking about humanity being the greatest threat in the galaxy and that they have to be eradicated. This wouldn't make sense if the speech was meant to be spoken 100.000 years ago, it only works if he's in front of the remaining Forerunners who question his attack on Earth.

Cortana may have been copied while she was interacting with the Librarian's essence on Requiem. Both she and the Didact has been talking about the AI being something special so there might be some follow up later, perhaps only in Halo 6 though.


As for where the story might be going... Spartan Ops takes place 6 months after the main campaign, I haven't played it yet but as far as I know nothing really important has happened with the Chief or the Forerunners. The separatist Covenant faction still exists, Requiem still exists and the Prometheans are still active on it. But Halo 5 will probably not return there, I'm expecting another Halo to be the center piece. After all, the next Xbox may be able to do some truly stunning stuff with that setting.

I also expect to see the Flood again. The books suggest that the Precursors may also appear again and it seems the Flood itself was their work.


The real interesting stuff which I hope to see 343 to get into is Chief's psyche. The prologue heavily hinted at mental instability and other possible issues with Spartans; and also about post-human evolution. Loosing Cortana may be enough to push John over the edge and combined with his evolved abilities the results could be extreme. Like going totally renegade to hunt down the Didact and take revenge, for example... Halo could perhaps benefit from such a radical change and the fifth chapter would be the best choice for it.

And let's not forget that this is the Reclaimer Trilogy, after all

 

[BadTB25]

I hope they commission your team again for the next Halo Laa-Yosh....masterful job.

I guess if anybody would have insight into the next chapter aside from 343i, it would be your team.
For me, Halo is all about MC AND Cortana. It's not really Halo without both in the end.

It's like a Bigmac without Fries.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

* Dr. Halsey and Laskey will be there to help MC in his next adventure.

Halsey might appear in Spartan Ops, one vidDoc had a mission called 'Catherine' so it may happen within a few weeks. Lasky is now the captain of the Infinity and will be a main character in Spartan Ops as far as I know.

(remember, this guy is so powerful he can pick up MC with his mind)

In this case I'd say it was just some sort of advanced tech and not magic or the Force or telekinesis.
Interestingly enough, we have never seen the Didact wield any weapons at all, neither in the game nor in the Terminal movies. I wonder how he actually does his fighting.

The Legendary ending shows different eyes

His eyes are still completely normal*, it's just that 343 wanted them to be in shadow. Don't make up any complicated theories about this one

* apart from being bright blue because of the augmentations, as seen in FUD on Fred and Kelly

My prediction? Humans turn on MC.

That might be a possibility, we'll see if Spartan Ops has any hints on what he's been doing for six months.
The LE of the game also has an Infinity briefing booklet from a Spartan IV and he scribbled some notes on the back about '117' and how he's a mystery, so the new recruits sort of look up to him. Also notice Palmer's behavior in the epilogue, she's acting pretty sympathetic but not as able to express it as Lasky.

SII's should appear though, 343 has made the first steps in setting them up with FUD.

* We may even see a "Halo ODST" style gap filling game about the missing Spartans and how they worked together to regroup with humanity and come to MC's aid.

That would be a nice game! But so far the games have not adapted any of the novels and as far as I know most of their actions were described there. Even Reach was a complete retcon of the 'Fall of Reach' novel, although that was Bungie and not 343.
Also, there are plans to expand the franchise even further beyond the second trilogy, and maybe not just in games and web series.

What we do know is something is wrong with MC and it probably is so bad he will need Cortana and the Librarian to get him out of this mess--and all the usual suspects (flood, Covenant, Prometheans, maybe some humans) will now stand in his way.

The Librarian is dead. What appeared in the game was basically a recording of her personality, stored in a computer. It's unlikely that this essence can do anything more for the Chief, although it should still be there on Requiem. Maybe the SIVs will find it in Spartan Ops?

 

[Laa-Yosh]

I hope they commission your team again for the next Halo Laa-Yosh....masterful job.

Thanks again in the name of the whole team! And I would really like to return to Halo's universe, too

I guess if anybody would have insight into the next chapter aside from 343i, it would be your team.

Don't think so, we haven't seen much either. Almost all the reference material we got is now public in some form (like, it's in the game or the art book) and there were absolutely no indications for future directions.

This is also why I feel free to theorize - if I had any knowledge I'd have to keep my mouth shut so that I wouldn't accidentally reveal something and get myself into trouble

 

[BadTB25]

Thanks again in the name of the whole team! And I would really like to return to Halo's universe, too



Don't think so, we haven't seen much either. Almost all the reference material we got is now public in some form (like, it's in the game or the art book) and there were absolutely no indications for future directions.

This is also why I feel free to theorize - if I had any knowledge I'd have to keep my mouth shut so that I wouldn't accidentally reveal something and get myself into trouble

I see.

I know they just released Halo 4, but I hope that they are deep in development of Halo 5 and figured you'd be involved if so. The cutscenes were so well done, that I can see 343i chossing your team again.

I don't get how MC was saved by Cortana from a nuke detonation in the end. How does she shield him when his hands are on the nuke itself when he sets it off.

 

[Acert93]

The terminal videos should be in the OP and required viewing, along with FUD, to comment in this thread.

@ Laa-Yosh: I could be wrong, but how I took the Librarian's "injection" into MC was a Forerunner Mutation (brevet mutation). I could be wrong but that is my guess. As for the Librarian herself, what was shown was some construct but it was more than a simple message as it observed and interacted. We have been told all the Forerunners (and the Precursors before them??) are all dead except the Didact, but it would not be the first time with a surprise. You >>>> Me in undersanding the Haloverse, just my 2cent guesses

 

[BadTB25]

I added the Terminal vids.
At least I think I did.

 

[Acert93]

I added the Terminal vids.
At least I think I did.

Try this code:

[media=youtube]TaNtTanHrO0[/media]

 

[BadTB25]

Try this code:

[media=youtube]TaNtTanHrO0[/media]

Tried it and it's still not showing without the

 brackets right..  I also reviewed the embed sticky and still not working on my end.

 

[warb]

I don't get how MC was saved by Cortana from a nuke detonation in the end. How does she shield him when his hands are on the nuke itself when he sets it off.

I had the same question. Nuke resistant shields? Beamed away? It wasn't clear. There should've been a hint as the screen went white, like a blue flare or something.

I've only seen the ending once, may have missed something.

 

[function]

The nuke blast was repelled by bloom.

Actually, I think that Cortana might have taken him into that encoder thing. Will speculate more after taking in all the additional Halo 4 material!

 

[dragonelite]

I see.

I know they just released Halo 4, but I hope that they are deep in development of Halo 5 and figured you'd be involved if so. The cutscenes were so well done, that I can see 343i chossing your team again.

I don't get how MC was saved by Cortana from a nuke detonation in the end. How does she shield him when his hands are on the nuke itself when he sets it off.

She said after the nuke is primed and detonated there is a small window to get away.
She shielded the chief in a hard light box??

 

[ultragpu]

The ending was so sad, now when I look back when Chief promised to fix her and Cortana said "Don't, make a girl a promise if you can't keep" really sends emotion to you. I think she knew there's no way she can be fixed but was simply giving Chief hope and make him to succeed the mission. Also like the part when Cortana touched Chief's chest in her flesh form and said "I've waited so long to do that", shows the true feeling she has for him.
I don't think Cortana is coming back any time soon otherwise it would lessen the impact felt here, the series must find new ways to move forward without her though I do miss her.

 

[Laa-Yosh]

Sooo, Spartan Ops... Apparently ONI has managed to perfect the Spartan augmentation process significantly, because fireteam Majestic is different from the Chief: they do have

Spoiler

sexual drive.