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	<title>Comments on: The Terminals III</title>
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	<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/</link>
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	<pubDate>Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:51:25 +0000</pubDate>
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		<title>By: DooFi</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-1257</link>
		<dc:creator>DooFi</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jul 2008 09:09:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-1257</guid>
		<description>The only other game series with a comparatively epic story would be Half Life. And they are both told in an awesome, immersive way, which also keeps major elements secret and mysterious, leaving players wondering and craving for more. My favourite game-stories of all time, given that Portal is included in Half Life and Monkey Island is out of their league ;)


On a more related note: If the flood (and the gravemind?!) came from a different galaxy (which is kinda hard to believe for me, i mean, superluminal travel and slipspace is one thing, but distances between galaxies are just inconceivably VAST and pretty much empty of useful resources afaik) then wouldn't there be more where where it came from? A greater Gravemind? One that has already got hold of an entire galaxy? Or did it arrive in the milky way because it was expelled elsewhere?


And by the way, did Mendicant Bias die on the ark? I bet it could have easily stowed away in the UNSC ships.


To invalidate any Bible-Theories: Do not forget that all information source about the forerunners humanity/the covenant has is written in the ancient forerunner language. It is extremely likely they had words that are nonexistent in english and thus can only be translated using metaphors or by paraphrasing it. This happens in the RL too. Also the forerunners probably had their own fairy tales, myths, religious allegories, ect. which influenced their language in forms of idioms, proverbs, metaphors or even entirely new words. This has happened to any RL-language of this very planet, too, and leaves things untranslatable.

Example time:
I'm not sure how common this expression is in the english language, but I looked it up and it's pretty much the same as in German:
"to be as rich as Croesus"
Croesus was an ancient king (~2600 years ago) who was especially famous for his wealth. Today we losely compare ourselves or others to him to stress how rich or poor they are. Languages that developed elsewhere in the world, were probably not influenced by this guy who lived somewhere in Turkey. Take native american languages for example. Now if they wanted to translate "Bill Gates is as rich as Croesus", they would either do it carelesly and say something like "He's totally rich" or they would find a similar simile in their own history or mythology, or they would use a special word that expresses extreme wealth.
So the term "ark" may have been chosen by translators (most likely programs) either because it sounds particularly classy rhetoric-wise or because the forerunners used a term for which the english vocabulary had no equivalent.
Also, there are lots of references to mythology in Halo. For example the Mjölnir Armor the chief wears or the name Cortana. This is a common thing in the Sci-Fi or fantasy genre.


woot my first post in any halo community. ahoy.

It's a great site you're running here. keep up the great work. I'm going to read the rest of your articles now and I might drop some comments occasionally :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The only other game series with a comparatively epic story would be Half Life. And they are both told in an awesome, immersive way, which also keeps major elements secret and mysterious, leaving players wondering and craving for more. My favourite game-stories of all time, given that Portal is included in Half Life and Monkey Island is out of their league <img src='http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_wink.gif' alt=';)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
<p>On a more related note: If the flood (and the gravemind?!) came from a different galaxy (which is kinda hard to believe for me, i mean, superluminal travel and slipspace is one thing, but distances between galaxies are just inconceivably VAST and pretty much empty of useful resources afaik) then wouldn&#8217;t there be more where where it came from? A greater Gravemind? One that has already got hold of an entire galaxy? Or did it arrive in the milky way because it was expelled elsewhere?</p>
<p>And by the way, did Mendicant Bias die on the ark? I bet it could have easily stowed away in the UNSC ships.</p>
<p>To invalidate any Bible-Theories: Do not forget that all information source about the forerunners humanity/the covenant has is written in the ancient forerunner language. It is extremely likely they had words that are nonexistent in english and thus can only be translated using metaphors or by paraphrasing it. This happens in the RL too. Also the forerunners probably had their own fairy tales, myths, religious allegories, ect. which influenced their language in forms of idioms, proverbs, metaphors or even entirely new words. This has happened to any RL-language of this very planet, too, and leaves things untranslatable.</p>
<p>Example time:<br />
I&#8217;m not sure how common this expression is in the english language, but I looked it up and it&#8217;s pretty much the same as in German:<br />
&#8220;to be as rich as Croesus&#8221;<br />
Croesus was an ancient king (~2600 years ago) who was especially famous for his wealth. Today we losely compare ourselves or others to him to stress how rich or poor they are. Languages that developed elsewhere in the world, were probably not influenced by this guy who lived somewhere in Turkey. Take native american languages for example. Now if they wanted to translate &#8220;Bill Gates is as rich as Croesus&#8221;, they would either do it carelesly and say something like &#8220;He&#8217;s totally rich&#8221; or they would find a similar simile in their own history or mythology, or they would use a special word that expresses extreme wealth.<br />
So the term &#8220;ark&#8221; may have been chosen by translators (most likely programs) either because it sounds particularly classy rhetoric-wise or because the forerunners used a term for which the english vocabulary had no equivalent.<br />
Also, there are lots of references to mythology in Halo. For example the Mjölnir Armor the chief wears or the name Cortana. This is a common thing in the Sci-Fi or fantasy genre.</p>
<p>woot my first post in any halo community. ahoy.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s a great site you&#8217;re running here. keep up the great work. I&#8217;m going to read the rest of your articles now and I might drop some comments occasionally <img src='http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /></p>
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		<title>By: K</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-887</link>
		<dc:creator>K</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:47:32 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-887</guid>
		<description>To 24 - it's not weird, it's a brilliant stroke of storytelling by Bungie. If the events of Halo were real, and the Forerunners really did save humanity from the Flood via the Ark 100,000 years ago, it makes sense that the memory of that event would be passed down to surviving generations, evolving over many millenia into the Biblical story we know today. In fact most of the world's religions have some kind of flood myth, leading historians to speculate they might all be based on a real, global event. Obviously Bungie planned these references to give the Halo story depth and realism.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>To 24 - it&#8217;s not weird, it&#8217;s a brilliant stroke of storytelling by Bungie. If the events of Halo were real, and the Forerunners really did save humanity from the Flood via the Ark 100,000 years ago, it makes sense that the memory of that event would be passed down to surviving generations, evolving over many millenia into the Biblical story we know today. In fact most of the world&#8217;s religions have some kind of flood myth, leading historians to speculate they might all be based on a real, global event. Obviously Bungie planned these references to give the Halo story depth and realism.</p>
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		<title>By: Fimalo</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-474</link>
		<dc:creator>Fimalo</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 07:04:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-474</guid>
		<description>To 23, They were all on the ark when Gravemind helped MC escape, as in they all just left Earth.

And to bigsean (7), I don't think GM's telepathy was about controlling others motor skills but rather fooling them into doing what it wants. It took years to convince MB. So even if the link went 2 ways it wasn't a way for any AI to help. But thanx for trying to help me. It's the best answer I've heard yet.

Oh and I think the Librarian was the male, seeing as Humanity previously knew him as Noah. Maybe Bungie actually brought a piece of the Bible into their story. Or 25 is right.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>To 23, They were all on the ark when Gravemind helped MC escape, as in they all just left Earth.</p>
<p>And to bigsean (7), I don&#8217;t think GM&#8217;s telepathy was about controlling others motor skills but rather fooling them into doing what it wants. It took years to convince MB. So even if the link went 2 ways it wasn&#8217;t a way for any AI to help. But thanx for trying to help me. It&#8217;s the best answer I&#8217;ve heard yet.</p>
<p>Oh and I think the Librarian was the male, seeing as Humanity previously knew him as Noah. Maybe Bungie actually brought a piece of the Bible into their story. Or 25 is right.</p>
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		<title>By: joe</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-469</link>
		<dc:creator>joe</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 May 2008 03:32:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-469</guid>
		<description>you know what i think the forerunners are an extremly advanced race of humans that got killed by the flood berfore they could activate the halo and thats that dude calls master chief the reclaimer</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>you know what i think the forerunners are an extremly advanced race of humans that got killed by the flood berfore they could activate the halo and thats that dude calls master chief the reclaimer</p>
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		<title>By: jamez buk</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-393</link>
		<dc:creator>jamez buk</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 13 May 2008 22:45:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-393</guid>
		<description>All the flood on earth were killed by the elites when thy glassed half of africa, the rest on the ark. all the covenant were on the ark, they were all there ( i find this hard to belive seeing as the covenant has a huge population consisting of many races). in conclusion everybody died save the elites and humans and the master chief. anyway great analysis i really enjoyed reading it i have always loved exploring the buildings of the forerunners the designs are always amazing. great job you deserve recon</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>All the flood on earth were killed by the elites when thy glassed half of africa, the rest on the ark. all the covenant were on the ark, they were all there ( i find this hard to belive seeing as the covenant has a huge population consisting of many races). in conclusion everybody died save the elites and humans and the master chief. anyway great analysis i really enjoyed reading it i have always loved exploring the buildings of the forerunners the designs are always amazing. great job you deserve recon</p>
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		<title>By: Jebisis</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-376</link>
		<dc:creator>Jebisis</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 11 May 2008 03:07:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-376</guid>
		<description>Oh, okay, that helps. but another thought came up after I posted that last question. Regarding: Earth was still under seige off of the ark. So when the new Halo was fired on the ark - destroying everything including high charity and the gravemind - then would the Flood still be present on earth, and also still in the remaining 5 Haloes in the Galaxy? or would the flood on Earth on the other side of the portal die as a direct consequence of the Gravemind dying?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Oh, okay, that helps. but another thought came up after I posted that last question. Regarding: Earth was still under seige off of the ark. So when the new Halo was fired on the ark - destroying everything including high charity and the gravemind - then would the Flood still be present on earth, and also still in the remaining 5 Haloes in the Galaxy? or would the flood on Earth on the other side of the portal die as a direct consequence of the Gravemind dying?</p>
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		<title>By: Nick</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-373</link>
		<dc:creator>Nick</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2008 22:39:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-373</guid>
		<description>In regard to question 26, no, it wouldn't. The new Installation 4 wasn't yet completed - by starting the firing sequence, it was simply destroyed, as opposed to operating as intended.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In regard to question 26, no, it wouldn&#8217;t. The new Installation 4 wasn&#8217;t yet completed - by starting the firing sequence, it was simply destroyed, as opposed to operating as intended.</p>
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		<title>By: Jebisis</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-366</link>
		<dc:creator>Jebisis</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 10 May 2008 06:06:18 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-366</guid>
		<description>What I dont get about the conclusion to Halo 3 is that: wouldn't firing the new Installation 04 trigger the other 5 still remaining inside the galaxy. Thus erdadicating all the flood and other sentient life forms there?

Please answer, I much enjoyed your three part review of the background story of Halo.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>What I dont get about the conclusion to Halo 3 is that: wouldn&#8217;t firing the new Installation 04 trigger the other 5 still remaining inside the galaxy. Thus erdadicating all the flood and other sentient life forms there?</p>
<p>Please answer, I much enjoyed your three part review of the background story of Halo.</p>
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		<title>By: HitokiriX1985</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-363</link>
		<dc:creator>HitokiriX1985</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 May 2008 18:58:45 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-363</guid>
		<description>Indeed, this is what sets the Halo series apart from all others. Much like a real life situation, there is the surface story, which indeed takes precedence, but there is also an underlying story. One that you can only find if you look deep enough for it. You know, a "They were here before. How did they mess up, so I don't make the same mistakes," kind of deal. Ascendant Justice, you're my hero(s). 

And, as for Fiend62o, if you haven't noticed, there are a lot of religious references to the game. In fact, for the most part, it nearly parallels Christianity completely. Think of John117 as a Christ figure. 343 betrayed him in his final hour. The Gravemind tempts him repeatedly. Basically, from my point of view, all of the Forerunner exploits are similar to the Old Testament and all of the UNSC exploits run pretty parallel to the New Testament.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Indeed, this is what sets the Halo series apart from all others. Much like a real life situation, there is the surface story, which indeed takes precedence, but there is also an underlying story. One that you can only find if you look deep enough for it. You know, a &#8220;They were here before. How did they mess up, so I don&#8217;t make the same mistakes,&#8221; kind of deal. Ascendant Justice, you&#8217;re my hero(s). </p>
<p>And, as for Fiend62o, if you haven&#8217;t noticed, there are a lot of religious references to the game. In fact, for the most part, it nearly parallels Christianity completely. Think of John117 as a Christ figure. 343 betrayed him in his final hour. The Gravemind tempts him repeatedly. Basically, from my point of view, all of the Forerunner exploits are similar to the Old Testament and all of the UNSC exploits run pretty parallel to the New Testament.</p>
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		<title>By: Fiend62o</title>
		<link>http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-333</link>
		<dc:creator>Fiend62o</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 07 May 2008 04:01:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://blog.ascendantjustice.com/2008/04/30/the-terminals-iii/#comment-333</guid>
		<description>Anyone notice the similarity between the forerunner’s ARK and Noah’s ARK?? I’m not a religious person but wasn’t he trying to use his ARK to save every species from a FLOOD?? Weird...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Anyone notice the similarity between the forerunner’s ARK and Noah’s ARK?? I’m not a religious person but wasn’t he trying to use his ARK to save every species from a FLOOD?? Weird&#8230;</p>
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