The Halo 3 Discussion Thread!

[deathshead2]

Could you post links to the Cortana letters and your other sources?

BTW, look at the volume two soundtrack again. There's a track listed as "Road to Voi." This is Voi, Kenya. It sits on the equater. Will there possibly be a Halo burried under the earth's crust?

Maybe theres a rumor of it going around so its possible. Dang I hope theres more Halo books.

 

[THE LIZARD#1]

Thats what a fan wrote to Bungie and what they got from the Cortanna letters and it leads to some speculation about the Halo 3 story line just because Bungie has claimed that they decided to encompass what this fan got out of the letters.

It looks like I sent it to some Hamish Sinclair guy, i dunno where I was (what site) hmmm sorry for the confuision, here goes. I should edit this to what I know now, but I don't know much more than I did before. I have doubts towards the whole Story page/ Marathon mumbojumbo. From the things I've been reading on these items, everything is interconnected to past events and Stories. I wonder if I'm the only confused one.

Furthermore, I wrote this message not knowing what the hell Cortana was. And looking at the posted message at the Hamish site, I'm not so sure that Cortana is the sender. I wrote this thinking that it was a Covenant message to the Terrans or the PoA.

This is my view/translation on the first Cortana letter, line by line:

I have walked the edge of the Abyss.
I have been to the edge of space. In other words, all ends of the known universe
I have governed the unwilling.
I have been powerful enough to force control over people, despite their wishes
I have witnessed countless empires break before me.
I have battled many wars against many enemies, and have never lost
I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.
{Complementary to the previous.} Despite the might, courage, or ambition of an enemy, I prevail.
[I was there with the Angel at the tomb]
(Most interesting line) Angels have Halo's.

In the book "Forever Peace" [Joe Haldeman] an immense particle accelerator is constructed in the orbit of Io [Jupiter's volcanic moon]. The accelerator had the power to mimic the state of the early universe. durring the book, the main characters discover that this will create a chain reaction. The reaction would lead to the creation of a new universe, which would expand outward from the ring with unimaginable speed and power (that of a Big Bang), obliterating our universe in the process.
I think that within the world of Halo resides a similar device. The line also indicates that the speaker survived the devices effect. If you look at it from the "Universe Creation Device" point of view, he was present at the end of one universe (i.e.[tomb]).

The 'Angel' might have been the devices' creators, the device user, or another A.I.. Prehaps the AI witnessed something that happend to the "Angel", the user of Halo.
I have seen your future.
The speaker saw the future of race 'X' (most likely Terrans) in the previous universe.
And I have learned.
The speaker learned from the mistakes made by race 'X' (most likely Covenant) in the previous universe, relative to their dealings with humans.
There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.
The speaker (or his race as a collective) will never again suffer sadness or anger due to the Terrans. The speaker will not envy the humans.

-->Prehaps the speaker's race were angry and envious at the technological and military victorys achieved by the Terrans (SolCore) in the previous universe.
I HAVE WON.
Important in it's simplicity. I think it means that, this time around, the speaker (or his race, collectively) will emerge victorious over the Terrans (SolCore).
Oh, and your poet Eliot had it all wrong:
THIS is the way the world ends.
I remember a old poem from English IH last year. The poet proclaimed that the universe would end quietly (i.e. no Armageddon event). If the universe creation theory holds true, the universe would certainly NOT end in a whimper. A second 'Big Bang' would not be very quiet, methinks.
a friend of a friend
No relevance to the rest of the poem. Prehaps a friend of a friend who works at Bungie? Someone said that this was Cortana speaking about things another AI learned. I dunno


I would have to speculate quite a bit to fill out the details for a quick summary. This is my best guess:

In the previous universe, Covenant dominated everything and everyone. They were the 'Master Race'. They had utter control over many species, and had withstood the test of time. Even the most brave races fell before them. Then came the Terrans. We were new and unique, compared to the challenges Covenant had fought in the past.. The Terrans progressed through technologies much faster than Covenant would have anticipated. We improvised when we needed and moved on. We were still extremely 'out-gunned' when compared to the power of Covenant, but we had a chance. Covenant tried to dominate the Terrans as it had with the other races. They had many victories, but they had waited too long. The Terrans progressed faster and faster, and began to defeat the Covenant. They were sad at their loss, Angry at our victory, and envious of our ability(s). As a last ditch effort, Covenant activated the proposed device in Halo. They hit the proverbial "Cosmic Reset Button".

A new universe allowed for a second chance. This time they would strike first, before SolCore had progressed to it full power. But, because they had been the loosers in the previous universe, they still had no idea of Earth's location. Even then, it would only be a matter of time before the Covenant completely destroyed the human race. And here the story begins, with the Terran corvette escaping to a uncharted world...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


This is only my 'two-cents'.

Ah, there are more letters, how did I miss that...hmmmm, i'll read them and reply in order. {edit: actually, no I won't. The other letters are pretty straight forward}

Oh yes, IF by some incredible stroke of fleeting luck this point of view seems to make sense, I would ask that you check with the Bungie guys. {edit: aren't you the bungie guys?} I would hate to ruin the surprise of a good story. With any luck, I'm waaaaaay off.
=)

P.S. Here's a couple more ideas. I don't know what you intend to do with this, but it's fine if these are placed seperatley according to topic.

Another device concept might be that Halo is a sort of a piece of an imemnse machine. Maybe the moon Basis was meant to 'fly' through Halo towards the Threshold. I wonder about this due to the dot in the center of the O in HALO. It's probably nothing, just using the old Gothic O structure.

About the "He said I send not Peace but a Sword..." quote. Perhaps it is something like:

He said, "I send not Peace, but a Sword to fight your way to It" It being peace.

'When no single human brick lies atop another, then will we be satisfied with your destruction.' This sentance was sent to ALLCH (SC)

It's probably already been said, but I think ALLCH (SC) means All Channels; Sol Core. So that message was basically telling the 'empire' of Terrans that Covenant is pissed, and SolCore is gonna pay for it.

'"These are the tygers of wrath."' -PoA to PoA

This is a comment on the destructiveness of the Covenant, along with their previous messages.

Also, the Cov messages sent to the defending ships seem alot like a calm, calculated, battle- cry.

Gravitational effects on Halo. The gravity from Basis and Threshold would be cancelled out if Halo is holding in a LaGrange point.

Halo itself could have a substantial gravity as long as it was thicker, like a doughnut; rather than being thin like a rubberband. With the added effect of a rotation (which adds night, below) Halo could have a fair amount of gravity, enough to hold an atmosphere.

Do we ever see a marine without a mask? No, so the atmosphere could be a heavy one. It might be toxic to all save plants, but it would not bleed into space very easilly.

As for Night and Day on Halo, If you have the ring rotate (like a car tire) at an angle, the part that is lower and furthest from the star will be in day, while the end that is 'higher' and closer to the star end will be facing away from the light, although it will still recieve quite a bit of ambient reflected light.

There will also be longer day/night effects as Halo orbits Threshhold.

 

[THE LIZARD#1]

And then a link to all six cortana letters....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortana_Letters

 

[*Id*]

Halo 3 Teaser Making of Documentary here. Watch it.

 

[Phaser]

After watching Bungie and IGN's trailer documentaries of Halo 3, I think there should be no doubt as regards to what was cut from Halo 2 is mostly (if not all) ending up in Halo 3. The IGN documentary points out a very interesting observation that the Halo 2 OST vol.2 has a track named "The Road to Voi", which is one of the closest recognizable points to Mombasa on a world map (by the way, Voi also happens to fall between Mombasa and Kilimanjaro, which is speculated to be the mountain you see in the background in the Halo 3 teaser). "Mombasa" is sure to ring a few bells with those of you who have a good memory, but for the ones scratching their heads - Mombasa (or more specifically "New Mombasa") was the playable single player level from Halo 2 that was demonstrated at E3 2002 but was unfortunately cut from the game.

My guess is that as Halo 2 ended with UNSC forces engaged in a heated battle with the Covenant in the Earth's outer rim with Master Chief dropping in for good measure, the first levels of Halo 3 might involve the Chief boarding a major Covenant battlecruiser (wreaking all kinds of havoc ala Truth and Reconciliation from the first Halo) and perhaps even skirmishes with Covenant on the moon, complete with low-gravity and all (yet another planned idea for Halo 2 that didn't make it into the game).

Following which, the Chief would land in New Mombasa where the situation should be at least vaguely similiar (but probably a lot more grand thanks to the 360's increased musclepower) to what was shown at E3 2002. Sometime, if not immediately after Mombasa, I am most definitely convinced that there's going to be a huge battle (I mean massive, gigantic, epic) in the desert between Humanity and the Covenant shortly before the events depicted in the teaser, which seems to be showing the aftermath of the battle.

If you've watched the documentaries, you'll see that both IGN and Bungie bring up the Master Chief's battle-weary armor. But no way is it just some next-gen aesthetical addition. I'm most definitely sure he got all those dents and scratches from the desert-campaign against the Covenant that I talked about earlier. And this quote from the Bungie documentary very much gives it away - "He has been through some horrific battle..." which clearly implies something singular and specific rather than what was presumed to be just an additional detail that is supposed to be a consequence of his previous encounters. And that quote also reinforces my theory about the scale of the desert confrontation. Oh and, the Halo 3 teaser was NOT the first time we've seen the Chief's armor all battered up like that.

Concept art from Halo 2 (or a tease of what's to come in Halo 3?):

My prediction is that humans will face a crippling defeat in the desert war with devastating losses. Because the tone of the teaser (especially in the first minute and a half or so) is downright grim and very much depressing. It's very reminiscent of the kind of technique many filmmakers use to depict the state of the defeated after the outcome of war. Martin O' Donnell speaks of trying to capture the "emotions" of the moment in the teaser - the music and the vocals give off a sense of gloom and tragedy.

The visuals also depict a common theme of despair - all of the surrounding area seems barren, destroyed and lifeless, littered with pieces of rubble and debris. The way in which Covenant forces amass near the Forerunner facility in the teaser sure as hell doesn't like they've just gotten their asses kicked. They surely must have decimated the human forces on the way as mankind is the only thing standing between The Covenant and the Forerunner facility they seek. The Master Chief walking as a lone warrior through the desert might have a lot to do with the possibility that there was no one or nothing left to back him up. Then there are those scrambled Cortana transmissions. The Forerunner facility is undoubtedly The Ark, and alongside the Chief, could be humanity's last hope in their stand against the Flood and The Covenant.

I'm sure I'm not the first or the only one to get such an impression, as many of the hints appear to be fairly obvious. Just thought I'd share it with you folks regardless.

Anwyays, those of you who have not yet watched the documentaries, please do so. The IGN one has some good insights, especially concerning the connection with the Cortana letters and Bungie's speaks of the goals the team is shooting for with Halo 3 and what we can expect from the game.

 

[HUMAN]

One thing I noticed when I was re-reading The Fall of Reach book is that Cortana is described as a "smart" AI. Due to her enhanced abilities, her processors will deteriorate quicker because she absorbs knowledge a lot faster. She is said to only last seven years. Now I don't recall how long she existed before this description in the book (2552) or how many years separate Halo and Halo 2. But could it be possible with her downloading a massive amount of knowledge from the Halo, then High Charity, and now being infiltrated by Gravemind that she is finally dying?

 

[HUMAN]

Good post, Phaser! Need to fix your image, though.

 

[MoviesKickAss]

After watching Bungie and IGN's trailer documentaries of Halo 3, I think there should be no doubt as regards to what was cut from Halo 2 is mostly (if not all) ending up in Halo 3. The IGN documentary points out a very interesting observation that the Halo 2 OST vol.2 has a track named "The Road to Voi", which is one of the closest recognizable points to Mombasa on a world map (by the way, Voi also happens to fall between Mombasa and Kilimanjaro, which is speculated to be the mountain you see in the background in the Halo 3 teaser). "Mombasa" is sure to ring a few bells with those of you who have a good memory, but for the ones scratching their heads - Mombasa (or more specifically "New Mombasa") was the playable single player level from Halo 2 that was demonstrated at E3 2002 but was unfortunately cut from the game.

My guess is that as Halo 2 ended with UNSC forces engaged in a heated battle with the Covenant in the Earth's outer rim with Master Chief dropping in for good measure, the first levels of Halo 3 might involve the Chief boarding a major Covenant battlecruiser (wreaking all kinds of havoc ala Truth and Reconciliation from the first Halo) and perhaps even skirmishes with Covenant on the moon, complete with low-gravity and all (yet another planned idea for Halo 2 that didn't make it into the game).

Following which, the Chief would land in New Mombasa where the situation should be at least vaguely similiar (but probably a lot more grand thanks to the 360's increased musclepower) to what was shown at E3 2002. Sometime, if not immediately after Mombasa, I am most definitely convinced that there's going to be a huge battle (I mean massive, gigantic, epic) in the desert between Humanity and the Covenant shortly before the events depicted in the teaser, which seems to be showing the aftermath of the battle.

If you've watched the documentaries, you'll see that both IGN and Bungie bring up the Master Chief's battle-weary armor. But no way is it just some next-gen aesthetical addition. I'm most definitely sure he got all those dents and scratches from the desert-campaign against the Covenant that I talked about earlier. And this quote from the Bungie documentary very much gives it away - "He has been through some horrific battle..." which clearly implies something singular and specific rather than what was presumed to be just an additional detail that is supposed to be a consequence of his previous encounters. And that quote also reinforces my theory about the scale of the desert confrontation. Oh and, the Halo 3 teaser was NOT the first time we've seen the Chief's armor all battered up like that.

Concept art from Halo 2 (or a tease of what's to come in Halo 3?):

My prediction is that humans will face a crippling defeat in the desert war with devastating losses. Because the tone of the teaser (especially in the first minute and a half or so) is downright grim and very much depressing. It's very reminiscent of the kind of technique many filmmakers use to depict the state of the defeated after the outcome of war. Martin O' Donnell speaks of trying to capture the "emotions" of the moment in the teaser - the music and the vocals give off a sense of gloom and tragedy.

The visuals also depict a common theme of despair - all of the surrounding area seems barren, destroyed and lifeless, littered with pieces of rubble and debris. The way in which Covenant forces amass near the Forerunner facility in the teaser sure as hell doesn't like they've just gotten their asses kicked. They surely must have decimated the human forces on the way as mankind is the only thing standing between The Covenant and the Forerunner facility they seek. The Master Chief walking as a lone warrior through the desert might have a lot to do with the possibility that there was no one or nothing left to back him up. Then there are those scrambled Cortana transmissions. The Forerunner facility is undoubtedly The Ark, and alongside the Chief, could be humanity's last hope in their stand against the Flood and The Covenant.

I'm sure I'm not the first or the only one to get such an impression, as many of the hints appear to be fairly obvious. Just thought I'd share it with you folks regardless.

Anwyays, those of you who have not yet watched the documentaries, please do so. The IGN one has some good insights, especially concerning the connection with the Cortana letters and Bungie's speaks of the goals the team is shooting for with Halo 3 and what we can expect from the game.

 

[Phaser]

Good post, Phaser! Need to fix your image, though.

Better now?

 

[Phaser]

A few more assets from Halo 2 that didn't make it into the final game:

Various cancelled Warthog concepts from Halo 2 that can possibly be seen in Halo 3. The White one was intended to be used on snow and ice surfaces while the one in the right was for troop transport.

The ATV was planned to be a quick one-man transport vehicle. It had no weapons, but it was fast, mobile and able to scale different terrain a lot more effortlessly than the Warthog. This one also has a good chance of ending up in Halo 3, considering the game is supposed to have vast, lush vistas like the first game and obviously you won't be crossing it all on foot.

 

[HUMAN]

Better now?

Yes, very. I can't believe I didn't remember that concept art. I remember it vividly in October '04. That would be an awesome portion to play in Halo 3. Especially if you got to lead the calvary with an ATV with two forward mounted machine guns!

 

[Phaser]

Hmm, watching Bungie's documentary more closely - I think Cortana is speaking under the influence of the Gravemind's control. Since it's very much common knowledge that the Gravemind has a big connection to the Flood in some significant way. He could be the originator, the source or their leader or something like that. Now watch the segment in Bungie's documentary that speaks of Cortana's surreal transmission and you'll hear the music that plays in the "343 Guilty Spark" level from the first Halo...when you first see the dead remains of human and Covenant forces massacred by the Flood.

Coincidence? Not if you know of Bungie's notoriety for giving away subtle hints for the fans to chew on.

 

[*Id*]

That would be an awesome portion to play in Halo 3. Especially if you got to lead the calvary with an ATV with two forward mounted machine guns!

I think it would be better (and funnier) if the ATV does not have any guns. With the increased maneuverability of the ATV, it would be infinitely more fun to just go road rage on the Covenant's ground forces.

 

[HUMAN]

Here's some good news. This comes from wikipedia.

Ghosts of Coral is the working title of the new Halo novel that is scheduled to be released on October 31, 2006. Eric Nylund is the author of the book.

Little information is known about the contents of the novel, other than it may deal with the planet Coral, which was mentioned in the "Conversations from the Universe" booklet included with the Halo 2 Limited Edition game. An archaeological expedition to the planet had found a suspected Forerunner artifact underground and were investigating them with an ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) team. In more detail, it was found during routine quarrying and explosives were used and blasted a huge hole. The rock and dirt around the enormous protruding structure were vaporized, but the structure wasn't even scorched. It was over 30 meters tall, and from what they currently knew, it was just "the tip of the iceberg" so to speak.

It should be noted that "Ghosts of Coral" is merely the working title of the book, and that Bungie Studios has noted that the title does not, in fact, give away any critical plot elements, meaning all of this is speculation until more is revealed about the novel.

Eric Nylund is back!

I wonder if this will tell us how the Covenant found out about the earth/Ark without knowing humans were going to be present? Should be cool! Hopefully we'll get to see some Helljumpers kick some ass.

 

[Horrorfan]

There was an awesome Halo Trilogy guide released with a UK X360 mag- it goes into terrific detail with everything and has interviews and articles including one with the guy who voices masterchief (his son apparently kicks his ass at Halo and has a shirt saying 'Master Chief is my Beyatch').

It says that in the trailer, you hear Cortana's AND Gravemind's voices intermingled, so it looks like you're right phaster. Also in the background of the arc, you can see the destroyed remains of the orbiting space station as well as what little is left of New Mombessa.

 

[GoldGoblin]

You think this will be the last game for sure?

 

[Horrorfan]

Yes, at least untill Halo 4.

 

[Zenien]

Hmm, watching Bungie's documentary more closely - I think Cortana is speaking under the influence of the Gravemind's control. Since it's very much common knowledge that the Gravemind has a big connection to the Flood in some significant way. He could be the originator, the source or their leader or something like that. Now watch the segment in Bungie's documentary that speaks of Cortana's surreal transmission and you'll hear the music that plays in the "343 Guilty Spark" level from the first Halo...when you first see the dead remains of human and Covenant forces massacred by the Flood.

Coincidence? Not if you know of Bungie's notoriety for giving away subtle hints for the fans to chew on.

And the first line she says in the trailer is overlayed with the Graveminds voice.

 

[HUMAN]

You think this will be the last game for sure?

The official Bungie answer:

"This is the end of this story arc."

 

[HUMAN]

HALO 3 ENDING LEAKED!!!

http://halo3ending.ytmnd.com/

 

[WhatsHisFace]

The official Bungie answer:

"This is the end of this story arc."

And as I'm sure you've figured out, that means it won't be the last Halo.

I think it will be the last Halo Bungie does for a while. Maybe they'll get back to making strategy games, or maybe even resume work on "Project Phoenix" for the mean-time.

However, we'll probably see a "Halo: Insert Title Here" and you'll probably play as Master Chief too. It just won't be the story about "how do we destroy Halo?" as much as it's "How do we destroy the Covenant?"

 

[Master Chief]

They're probably going to kill off the Chief. He just seems like the type of hero who's gonna end up sacrificing himself. Hahah. If it does happen and I don't cry I'm going to kick whoever wrote it in the testicles.

 

[Sabretooth]

They're probably going to kill off the Chief. He just seems like the type of hero who's gonna end up sacrificing himself. Hahah. If it does happen and I don't cry I'm going to kick whoever wrote it in the testicles.

If they do kill him off,hopefully they won't show his face or have him take off his helmet for some reason during the game.

 

[Master Chief]

Definitely. I hope he has to die deactivating the ark or something. And it's the last level and it's f**kin' epic.

 

[HUMAN]

Well, either 117 or Cortana will die along with a critical mass of humans. That's pretty much guaranteed. Since they're aiming for a "Return of The King" feeling, Im sure it will be both tragic and triumphant.