Post-Credits Cutscene
“Chief? Can you hear me?” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
The Chief’s helmet lights cut on and he looks around. All is dark and there appears to be no gravity – debris floats around.
“I thought I lost you, too.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
He presses his hand against a wall and pushes off, spinning himself enough to be able to look out through the massive hole at the end of the ship.
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure. When Halo fired, it shook itself to pieces. Did a number on the Ark. The portal couldn’t sustain itself. We made it through just as it collapsed.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
Cortana explains the situation as the Chief reaches the hole in the ship.
He looks out to find that they are floating through the emptiness of space. Earth is nowhere in sight.
“Well… some of us made it.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
It is a miracle that the Chief survived. Apparently, the firing of the Halo caused the Ark to rip apart, which disabled the portal – splitting the Dawn in half as it attempted to pass through. How the Chief survived the Halo’s pulse is a mystery – perhaps the Dawn was completely inside of the portal as the Halo fired and the portal collapsed – so that the entirety of the Dawn wasn’t transported, but the portal shielded the back half of the ship from the Halo’s blast. The complete emptiness of space coupled with the blue cloud in front of the Dawn suggests another theory, however – the portal collapsed as the Dawn was inside, and one half of the Dawn was sent to Earth, while the randomness of slipspace caused the latter half to be transported elsewhere. Perhaps another set of coordinates associated with the portal, or simple somewhere completely random.
“But you did it. Truth and the Covenant, the Flood – it’s finished.”
“It’s finished.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
In a symbolic gesture, the Chief takes a last look at his AR and then places it in a holster on the wall.
“I’ll drop a beacon, but it’ll be a while before anyone finds us.”
“Years, even.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
Cortana watches the Chief as he silently climbs into a cryo-chamber.
Since he doesn’t respond, Cortana tries again:
“I’ll miss you…” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
As the lid closes on the chamber, the Chief finally says:
“Wake me when you need me.” [Epilogue, Halo 3]
Cortana looks at him for a moment longer, almost in sadness, as her expression changes to one of solemn understanding. In this scene, it seems as though she wants something from him – a remark, or a kind word – something to fill the longing that she has – whatever that longing may be. Their words to each other are testaments to what this war has required them both to become – Cortana, an artifical intelligence, has become more human than any other UNSC AI, because of her interactions with the Gravemind. She appeared to have been near rampancy, and was brought back by the Chief.
And the Chief himself – whatever he was as a child is no more. The UNSC has turned him into a near-machine – since he has not been totally isolated from other humans, he is not completely alien: he gets angry, he makes jokes, he has emotions like anyone else. But when it comes down to it, he is simply a servant of the UNSC. Bred to fight the Insurrectionists – before humanity’s encounter with the Covenant – war is all he has ever known. And so now, with the war over, he does the only thing that makes sense to him to do in times of peace – he waits. He waits for the UNSC to call on him again.
The camera pans out to give us a wider view of the area. Cortana stands motionless, and then hangs her head. The Chief’s pod lies next to another just like it, a nod back to the beginning of the series, when we first saw the Chief emerge from his cryo chamber on the Pillar of Autumn (see here).
And so the Chief’s story ends the same way it began – he lies, asleep, in a UNSC cryo-chamber.
Or is this the end?
After an undetermined passage of time, the Dawn floats toward a speherical object. A source of light rises behind the planetoid… As this light floods the screen, the planetoid itself is lit up, revealing something…
Numerous glyphs can be seen on surface of what appears to be an artifical world. Joseph Staten spoke of these glyphs in an interview with Gametap in 2007:
“There is a crazy planetoid floating out there. Who knows? If you look really, really carefully at the lights on the planet, though, there is something to be seen in those lights.” [Joe Staten, Gametap, 2007 (original article no longer online)]
The symbol that he is probably speaking of can be seen here (the Marathon logo can also be seen on the planet, so he may have been referring to that, as well).
The symbol we’ve highlighted in that link has appeared many, many times throughout the Halo series, and in various places. If you’re interested in reading more about this topic, I’d like to point you toward an extensive article that Vociferous has written and published here at Ascendant Justice.
I believe that halo 4 will be on “Onyx” and that it will tie in with “Halo: The Ghosts Of Onyx” but bungie announced that halo 3: ODST will be the last halo based game bungie will make. Perhaps halo 4 will be made by someone else
Matt Thomas
Comment by Matthew Thomas — December 17, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
Onyx was destroyed… There is no way the new game can be on it.
Comment by Wildcard1992 — December 17, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
Comment by Matthew Thomas — December 17, 2008 @ 1:29 pm
“bungie announced that halo 3: ODST will be the last halo based game bungie will make.”
No they didn’t, they said it’s the last that that particular group of people working on Halo 3: ODST (a rather small group mind you) will not make another Halo game after ODST.
Besides, they’ve lied before. Bungie claimed that they weren’t working on Halo 2.
Oh, and I don’t remember Onyx being destroyed. In fact I’m pretty sure it wasn’t.
And I’d like to point out that I believe that the Chief’s cryosleep parallels the legend of King Arthur, how he is sleeping until “England needs him.” It could be said that the Chief is sleeping until “Humanity needs him.”
Comment by EldritchWarlord — December 17, 2008 @ 2:00 pm
Sorry Warlord, Wildcard is right. On page 377-378 of The Ghosts of Onyx it says the drones(sentinels) were underneath the entire surface and the fired their beam weapons outwards. I would assume that since they were under the surface the planet would be destroyed.
Comment by Skitzo Sven — December 17, 2008 @ 4:03 pm
Matt is probably referring to the Micro Dyson Sphere which is at the core of Onyx. The outer shell, which was composed of Sentinels, is gone, but the core of Onyx remains. This is just semantics, really; we all know what we’re talking about here.
Comment by Cocopjojo — December 17, 2008 @ 4:08 pm
I find a parallel between Cortana’s opening phrase and her opening phrase in Halo CE after the life-boat crashes onto Halo as well as in Halo 2, after the Pelican crashes in New Mombasa (in that one she can say one of several things, only one of which is parallel to this). Both of these times she speaks it is after cinematics, while in Halo 3 it is during cinematics.
Comment by Mark Swenson — December 17, 2008 @ 4:30 pm
It is possible of course that Onyx was not completely destroyed, but even minor damage would have left the planetoid’s surface in a worse state than that of the image. My theory is that it is another Shield World, and that there will be a series of games based on these strange structures. Hopefully we will be given more insight into the Forerunners themselves.
Comment by porkstein — December 17, 2008 @ 4:43 pm
I’ve just had another theory. If, as most believe, the rear end of the Frigate had entered the portal above The Ark, but not emerged from the portal above Voi when The Ark was destroyed, that would mean Master Chief was in Slipspace when the portal collapsed. This could have left him trapped in Slipspace, in which case the planetoid is most likely the Micro Dyson Sphere itself.
Comment by porkstein — December 17, 2008 @ 4:51 pm
The micro dyson sphere wasn’t nearly as large as this thing. And Onyx had an ordinary planet surface so if this is a shield world I don’t think it’s ready built yet. Maybe it’s a replacement for Onyx that some other titanic forerunner structure built or it’s onyx being rebuilt by remining/other sentinels.
Comment by IMOMXJ — December 17, 2008 @ 5:16 pm
I agree with pork, but who knows… bungie is full of suprises… as for Onyx… the surface of it was destroyed based on what the book said… but I’m sure the sentinels are still covering the planit and guarding it (that could explain why there is little glow from the strange planit’s surface…)
Comment by Nameme99 — December 17, 2008 @ 5:19 pm
Interesting theory porkstein but i dont think MC is in slipspace, there are stars in the background, showing that hes in normal space. Plus the rear end of the Dawn is floating, not travelling at any kind of light speed.
I think its possibly another Forerunner planet/structure either in our galaxy or another one. The Ark may have had the co-ordinates stored in its databanks and by some fluke, the rear end was sent there through the portal, maybe as mentioned before it continued on through until it reached its destination. Not telling us how much time has passed gives Bungie a good starting point for any potential new game involving MC, he could be anywhere! But wherever he is is most certianly going to reveal more about the Forerunners, and maybe even what the symbol means!
Comment by Greasea — December 17, 2008 @ 5:49 pm
Here is another theory: In the skybox of the Trench Run you see a odd, spherical thing in the pit that the the Halo came out of, right? But, in the MP map Isolation, which is on the Ark, if you fly up to the invisible celing of the map and look out, you see that the pit is empty. I believe this sphere to be the thing that creats materials for the Halos, which the sentinels then build Halos out of. What if, because Cortana said the Ark was badly damaged, Mendicant Bias, who was on the Ark during the events of H3, jettisoned the sphere when Halo fired.
What if that sphere is what Master Chief is about to land on?
Merry Christmas!
Desert Rat 852
Comment by Desert Rat — December 17, 2008 @ 6:16 pm
I’m so disappointed in the Halo community. Those of us that are out there, who really cared about the story, will recognize what Staten was talking about- That symbol at the bottom, that looks like a small star in a series of concentric rings? That’s from the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) for Halo 3 that took place this summer. It’s as informative as the terminals in some places, but people disregard it, for the most part. Anyway, the symbol is an avatar for a Forerunner AI, (I cannot remember the name right now- I’ll try again later.) similar to the one Spark uses in the Terminals. Therefore, for those privy to deeper Halo Lore, the planetoid may be the Maginot Sphere.
Comment by Roflsalad — December 17, 2008 @ 6:23 pm
The planet the Dawn is drifting towards could be a Forerunner planet and the glyphs could be lights from a Forerunner city, like the one described in Ghosts Of Onyx.
Comment by Adrenaline123 — December 17, 2008 @ 8:46 pm
Roflsalad, the AI’s name was Adjutant Reflex, or something like that.
For those who don’t see it, it’s the circle-y thing at the bottom, a good bit of it is cut off by the bottom of the screen.
Comment by Moose King — December 17, 2008 @ 8:54 pm
The name Roflsalad is referring to is Adjutant Reflex, the supposed monitor of the Ark. (previously speculated)
Comment by xMORIDARx — December 17, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
Damn beat me to it. 😛
Comment by xMORIDARx — December 17, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
“And so here at the end of my life, I do once again betray a former master. The path ahead is fraught with peril. But I will do all I can to keep it stable – keep you safe. I’m not so foolish to think this will absolve me of my sins. One life hardly balances billions. But I would have my masters know that I have changed. And you shall be my example. ” -Mendicant Bias to John-117
I think that the Chief was shunted through slipspace to a distant location that was the site of the last and possibly still remaining forerunner colony after abondoning the milky way. The path ahead represents the slpispace portal, and he references “keeping it stable.” MB also indicates having his masters knowing that he has changed.
Comment by Thomas — December 17, 2008 @ 10:15 pm
Excellent job Coco, seriously. Excellent job.
On what the planetoid is…we have to consider the possibility that it’s a Precursor planet. A relic left behind that the Forerunners knew about, which would mean Mendicant Bias, who was still on the Ark at the time of the Halo’s firing, would know about. If he redirected the portal after the Arbiter’s half went through, sending Cortana and the Chief to that Precursor planet…then we might finally get to see a Forerunner. Also, Roflsalad, the Maginot Sphere is just a defense grid around former Forerunner space. It is was destroyed when the Flood assaulted it with several million ships.
Comment by Arachnidus — December 17, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
I agree with Thomas, maybe Mendicant Bias purposfuly shut down the portal or screwed with it in some way that sent the Master Chief to a place where Bias thought the Forerunners may have survived, to prove to them that he has changed from his team killing ways and so Master Chief could tell them about everything that happened, maybe triggering a return of the Forerunners, if any survived, in which case Bias really screwed the Chief up…
Comment by Divine Plan — December 17, 2008 @ 11:32 pm
Since technically the Halo installations are “finished” wouldn’t that mean that any game that Bungie could make after this would still be a continuation of the story but they could call it something other than “Halo.” So they wouldn’t be making any more “Halo” games but the story is still the same.
Comment by ColorfuLlama — December 17, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
Onyx’s surface was destroyed guys. But, the crust of the planet was covering the real core which was made up of sentinels much larger than the ones seen in any Halo game. At the end of Ghosts of Onyx, there was also a single UNSC frigate operational, hovering around Onyx’s moon. The Marines on it saw that the planet was now filled with lights and almost completely made up of the sentinels.
Come on people, think! It couldn’t have been some vague unknown planet not mentioned in the Halo universe, Bungie doesn’t work that way. Stop trying to over think it and realize it has to be a more obvious planet, namely Onyx. Everything in the Halo series is linked, Bungie isn’t going to come out of left field with some new made up place and automatically label it a shield world. If they did that, then Ghosts of Onyx wouldn’t have never been written because then it would have no importance.
Comment by MC Warhammer — December 18, 2008 @ 1:29 am
“And so the Chief’s story ends the same way it began – he lies, asleep, in a UNSC frigate.”
Technically not true, the Autumn was a light cruiser.
Comment by Kennon — December 18, 2008 @ 1:41 am
Fix’d.
Comment by Cocopjojo — December 18, 2008 @ 2:11 am
Wort,
Great article, well thought through. Thanks to Ascendant Justice and Bungie.
Personally, I have several ideas as to what it could well be. One thing I am considering is that the Ark, being able to create the Rings, might also have a special way to transport them to their previous location, which would explain the Chief’s new location.
Of course, this means he’s back in the milky way again. I would agree with Thomas that Spark showed remorse and worked to stabilize the portal, sending chief to one of the Forerunner construct’s destinations. Also, I wonder if the Ark had the ability to remake other installations besides the Halo rings…what about the Shield worlds? If that is so, then Chief could well have arrived at either Onyx or another Shield world…or another type of installation altogether.
Teh M.E.
Comment by The Master Elite — December 18, 2008 @ 1:22 pm
I look at the planet and at the top I see what looks like to be a top of a cross, seeing as how Halo is a semi-religious story it could be a cross. What game made by bungie includes crosses?
Comment by Centru — December 18, 2008 @ 3:43 pm
To bad they changed the planet in snowbound to not show the lights that it had in the BETA, Im pretty sure that is the same planet, why take it away otherwise? ^^
http://media.teamxbox.com/games/ss/1353/1177986678.jpg
Comment by Misho — December 18, 2008 @ 9:27 pm
I think the portal collasped while the back half of the Dawn was still in it. So this makes me think that the Dawn ended up floating in space about half way between Earth and The Ark. And this sphere is either the Dyson Sphere the other Spartans are in at the end of the book Ghosts of Onyx or this sphere is some kind of half way station between Earth and the Ark.
Comment by Trooper117 — December 18, 2008 @ 10:20 pm
Great writeup, and I very much responded to the comment about the Chief asking to be woken when he is needed as parallel to the Arthur myth. It’s the perfect ending for the Master Chief, the events of Halo can’t kill him, and he’ll be back. When we need him the most.
One connection you missed is Cortana echoing her final lines from Halo 1. She says how you destroyed a Covenant Fleet, the Flood and Halo and that it’s finished. The Chief replies that it’s just beginning. And now, at the end, when she says it’s finished the Chief can only agree. Great callback letting us realize Halo is done.
Bungie’s right. After ODST they’re done making Halo games. But I don’t think they’re done with the Chief. They do love to take things literally…
Comment by Steffs — December 19, 2008 @ 1:53 am
well i like all of the ideas and i love the halo series but i think that while it is probably a previously mentioned planet i don’t think it would be as obvious as onyx, but then again, correct me if im wrong, could it be a setup for a movie? chief could rescue the squad from ghosts of onyx by traveling to the sphere thingy, i dont know but we should find out soon enough and most likely we will all be surprised!
Comment by xavier — December 19, 2008 @ 3:41 am
“The micro dyson sphere wasn’t nearly as large as this thing. And Onyx had an ordinary planet surface so if this is a shield world I don’t think it’s ready built yet. Maybe it’s a replacement for Onyx that some other titanic forerunner structure built or it’s onyx being rebuilt by remining/other sentinels.
Comment by IMOMXJ”
Well seeing as there is no real way to tell how close the chief is the this thing, there is no real way to tell how big it is either.
But let us not forget that the micro dyson-sphere was twice the size of Earth’s distance to the sun, 2 astronomical units, roughly 292 million km from one end to the other. I don’t even wanna try and calculate the surface area of that thing. Let’s just say that is not small at all, infact it is friggin huge. The halos were only something like ten thousand km from end to end. The micro dyson-sphere was a simulated solar system, with it’s own sun inside it and everything, not just a simulated world like the halos or the ark.
And Misha, please don’t tell me Halo 4 is going to be on stupid ******* snowbound. >_<
Comment by Noxy — December 21, 2008 @ 12:41 am
Noxy, the size that you are stating there is inside the sphere, while it is enormous inside… the whole purpose of it is to be small on the outside, the small part that is outside is the only part of it acctual in regular space and probably the part that contains the portal.
Im not saying Halo 4(which isnt gonna happen) is going to be on Snowbound, its just that it seems odd to me that they chose to take away the texture of the planet from the BETA and just put in a empty surfaced planet.
Comment by Misho — December 21, 2008 @ 7:50 pm
The sphere can’t be the Dyson sphere because the Dyson sphere is in slipspace. The only way to reach it is through the small gate way that is similar to the one found on Earth. So, no one would be able to see it.
Remember, Bungie likes to get its core fans thinking and wants them to find reasonable connections, not obscure thoughts like, “it’s another shield world or installation” Stay within the known Halo universe and away from theoretical stuff, and you will find the answers you seek…
Comment by MC Warhammer — December 23, 2008 @ 12:29 am
I am also of the opinion that it is Onyx. If you re-read “Ghosts of Onyx” you will see that the planet is not destroyed, just it’s surface, as countless Sentinels are deployed. Now, think about it: why would so many sentinels be deployed upon the closing of the portal at the planet’s core? Obvious answer is to protect it from any possible outside threats (for example, if the rings firing failed to completely destroy the flood). However, is it so wrong to assume that there is still a support structure maintaining the slipspace field that holds the dyson sphere? Is it further so wrong to assume that such a support structure would be the size of the planet?
Now, think about this. Obviously, as Onyx originally appeared when humans found it, there would be no lights or patterns to show it to be an artificial or possibly inhabited planet, or otherwise the humans would have gone nuts over it. Only after the biosphere part of the surface was removed due to the sentinels becoming active did the forerunner structures and symbols become apparent.
At least, that seems one plausible explanation which would fit with the picture we see at the end of Halo 3.
Some possible difficulties with this:
At first appearance, the place where the stern of the Dawn is seems to be the Pleiades. This would make it a reasonable distance from Earth to be considered outside of UNSC controlled space, but near enough to reach via slipspace jump in a timely manner. However, in “Ghosts of Onyx” the system in which Onyx is located is the Zeta Doradus system.
Now, the only Doradus system I am aware of is outside of our Galaxy located in the Tarantula nebula in the Large Magellanic Cloud. This would also seem to fit the setting in the cut-scene. However, it makes it unlikely that the humans had an outpost there, because if they were traveling to the LMC, then they could have traveled pretty much anywhere in the Milky Way as well, and with slipspace travel taking some time, it would take far too much time to get there, considering the timing of events that unfold there.
So, I guess the biggest question might be, where exactly is Onyx?
Comment by mamoru — December 28, 2008 @ 6:57 am
Here’s my thoughts for and against the planetoid being the Micro Dyson Sphere. Some are problems that this would cause with the story, others are more technical problems with the Sphere itself.
Facts agaisnt it being the Micro Dyson Sphere:
A Dyson sphere’s habitable surface is on the inside. The sphere itself would not work if there was a hole. How the hell is the chief going to get inside the sphere?
Sure chief could be in slipspace due to the portal shutting down but that doesn’t make any sense. The entrance to slipspace that a regular ship makes closes far before it comes out the other side.
Who says the portal is a slipspace portal at all? Some of the things we’ve learned about slipspace don’t agree with this portal. First of all, even with the forerunner dreadnought it still took quite a bit of time to travel somewhere, while the portal was an instantaneous jump to a place outside the galaxy. Second of all a slipspace portal of of that size would be near impossible to hold open for such a length of time. On Onyx, the portal was big enough for a person or two to go through, and it only stayed open for a short time.
Facts for it being the Micro Dyson Sphere:
The thing that was really small was the slipspace bubble, not the Sphere itself. The size of the sphere worked like this: Imagine the orbit of the earth around the sun, take that average distance away from the sun, and build a sphere around a star at precisely that distance. That is about what they said in the book (I was paraphrasing a bit, I’m too lazy to look it up), and it would be thousands of thousands times bigger than the earth.
The surface of the planetoid lends itself to the Dyson Sphere idea because it looks all artificial, kind of like the backside of the halo rings. A Dyson sphere is basically one of those, only it’s a complete sphere and infinitely bigger.
If the Portal closed with part of the dawn inside of it, it makes more sense that it brought the Chief into that slipspace bubble then some random place in the galaxy.
whew… that was a mouthful. I’m sure I’ll think of more later, but for now that’s all.
Comment by Ak-Akari Obachu — December 29, 2008 @ 12:54 am
I am very impressed with the theories provided by the community. I do not wish to support the theory that the planet is Onyx however. I would like to support that comment earlier, mentioning Mendicant Bias’ quote to the Master Chief. I’d like to believe that Mendicant Bias sent the Chief to a shield world or a surviving Forunner colony.
Comment by Chaz — January 1, 2009 @ 10:43 pm
Whatever MC went, Bungie knows it and they will either a)never tell us, b) tell us, or c) make a game on it, providing more answers.
Comment by Zappedman43 — January 5, 2009 @ 5:52 pm
Well hows this for explanation isnt the “real” onyx in some kind of slipspace thing (correct if im wrong) making some sort of weird tardis thing with an entire solar system inside it. Now if thats in slipspace and the chief at the end of halo 3 was in a ship that was split in 2 after going into slipspace good chance he’s still in there. Think i can leave the rest to your imagination same as bungie do (although most effort done by yours truly lol). Again could be wrong about some stuff from onyx book not read fully yet. And tbh could be anywhere within slipspace so knowing forerunners could build stuff inside slipspace could be anywhere including were the forerunners that were left on the ark could have gone to (im sure the iris stuff/cortana letters or something mentions things after halo ring activation which would mean someone survived to write about it)
Comment by ck1984 — January 22, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
A colony, shield world, or some other artifact? Maybe, but I think that the truth is far more prosaic and anticlimatic than that. Where did he go?
The most likely answer: there is no answer; its a mystery. As someone here already pointed out, Bungie loves ambiguity in their stories and they love leaving huge gaps in their stories. What’s more, they like getting the hardcore fans speculating endlessly on every little tidbit of information, and making up their own stories and theories.
I’d say that there is no true answer to this question, for at this point, the Halo Story is over. True, we’ll eventually have Halo Wars, Chronicles, and ODST, along with new comics, but these are fill-in material, things that have already happened. Now that the Covenant are beaten, the Flood wiped out, and the Rings neutralized, there is nothing left to accomplish.
His story is over, and with it the chronological story of Halo. Even if he does go to some Forerunner or Precursor place to tell them what happened etc., Bungie would never actually have that depicted or even written. They deliberately had the Forerunner be mysterious and vague, so revealing them fully would destroy their appeal and mystique.
Seriously, the story is over, dead as a doornail.
Comment by Random Furby — February 16, 2009 @ 12:54 am
I have read all of the previous postings and have enjoyed everyone. I have a few theorys, firstly in highly doubt that bungie is over with the halo series. Sense it broke records in the number of games that it sold in 24 hour and all of the awards that they have garnered “ie” Game of the Year” it doesn’t make sense. The millions of die hard fans that sit on the edge of their seats waiting with baited breath for even the slightest bit of new info on the story line. Its hard to beleive they would walk away from that.
My second point is with the Ark being destroyed. Cortana states that the “ring shook it’s self to pieces and did a number on the ark” tells me that the ark was damaged or disabled, but remember all the priority task or drones that were at the ark remaking the Halo ring the Master chief destroyed. As soon as the they could they would start to rebuild and repair the ark. that is their main purpose to maintain this structurse or build new ones. The Dreadnought was still on the surface of the planet, it has already servived one halo ring fireing what is one more.
The Forerunners were fairly smart folks they would have had a fail safe just in case the portal collapesed prematurely or somthing went wrong, they would have had an escape route planned, so the planet that the Master Chief is floating toward is hardly a coinscidense. The Forerunner librarian said that they had tried to gather as many differnet “species” as they could, so to meet at the Ark, as a gathering point. But they couldn’t stay their so they would of had to go threw the portal to some shield world, safe place or somthing. if they would have stayed on the ark they would have all been kill by the lighting of the rings.
lets not get started on the Flood, the local infestation may have been destroyed but remember the Forerunners ran into them on some planet GS125 or somthing like that. they described them as some kind on galactic Parasite, so my question is where did they come from or where have they been, the flood was an intelligent parasite it would have found a way to survive. you would think it would learn from its failures in some way, but i highly doubt we have seen the last of the Flood.
I think the Master Chief is on his way to a Forerunner city of some kind, but who knows, I beleive we will find out soon enough.
Comment by marshhog117 — February 18, 2009 @ 1:03 pm
way to point out the obvios marshhog.
the halo story wont end any time soon
thanks to bunjie for making a most excelent story and game:)
Comment by yeyeye bro117 — April 25, 2009 @ 4:10 am
Another important thing to remember about Bungie is that they like to reference other games of their own creation within other games (The obvious instances being the marathon symbol and ONI). So, in your deductions, don’t forget to include the mythos surrounding their other games. They could very easily tie in the Marathon story line (much earlier, however, seeing as how Marathon occurs 300-400 years post-Halo) or even Pathways, if they were feeling particularly ridiculous.
I personally feel that the evidence does not point toward Onyx (that blue gas cloud does not exist within the milky way), but some wholly extra-gallactic location. This could lead to a story (and series of games) explaining the origins of the flood, as the forerunners believed them to not have originated within the milky way. This leads me to believe that the next game featuring the master chief will not involve the halos at all (hence the “no more halo games” claim), but something more along the lines of a spiritual successor to Marathon. I do not have enough space in this box to discuss the similarities between the stories of John-117 and the cyborg protagonist of the Marathon series (I forget his name), but my knowledge of both games and their lore has led me to this conclusion.
Comment by DenimDan312 — May 7, 2009 @ 2:38 am
This can’t be Onyx, unfortunately.
To quote Dr. Hasley, “this sphere resides in the center of the planet, encapsulated and protected by a Slipspace bubble of compressed dimensionality”
“Externally, this space may only be a few meters in diameter within the center of Onyx, but internally, it’s compressed dimensionality gives it a surface area many times the surface of the Earth.”
Comment by Echo199 — May 30, 2009 @ 12:18 am
holy crap its the DEATH STAR!
LOL BUT YA it could be onyx who knows???
Comment by haloguy — May 30, 2009 @ 5:10 pm
Another brilliant article, opening up speculation where before there was little, and most of it in completely the wrong direction. On the planetoid, the portal and the Dawn? The Forerunners were too advanced to forget things or have bugs in the system. They tried to plan for everything. The portal can´t have glitched and sent them somewhere random. Too much coincidence. IMO, it was either a failsafe or Mendicant Bias who did it. With the portal collapsing, the priority would have been to keep the passengers of whatever vessel safe. So, it sent them to Forerunner-controlled space, and one of their structures, possibly a shield world, possibly Onyx. But more than likely, this is somewhere we´ve never been, something we´ve never seen. Something from a Bungie employee´s alcohol-fuelled hallucination 😉 . This isn´t the end of the Chief, he will be back and we will eventually find out what this thing is.
Comment by Sin of Rage — June 6, 2009 @ 2:28 pm
I don’t know much about the Halo universe (frankly, I paid more attention to Cortana and MC than to Halo’s huge, tangled mess of a plot), but Noxy’s description of the Dyson Sphere as a solar system gave me an idea.
Is it possible that the Dawn was sent inside the Dyson Sphere?
Comment by Quentin7079 — June 30, 2009 @ 8:09 pm
If you read into it all the Prophets evolved on a dead forerunner planet. This could mean many things. Possibly it is a forerunner planet. And people according to the whole scheme it could be a sheild worlds or micro dyson sphere because we only get descriptions of them and all when a halo array fireing fails. it could change and the forerunner cities beneath the ground could rise. same in the way the arks arches or arms could close at some point.
Comment by Journey'sEnd — July 6, 2009 @ 4:41 pm
and its not onyx the core of onyx would be too small and the outer shell of onyx was destroyed.and even if it survived it would be on worse shape.
Comment by Journey'sEnd — July 6, 2009 @ 4:42 pm
it looks like Reach look at the teaser trailer for Halo Reach it looks similar though maybe I’m wrong
Comment by jay — July 13, 2009 @ 3:22 pm
great article, very detailed.
But I have another theory for what happened to MC, stretched out as it may seem, I still find it plausible.
Remember Nicole, that spartan from DOA4 sent back in time through some glitch in the ship she was in? Well what if that glitch was reproduced when the portal was damaged and the MC is in Onyx, BEFORE it was destroyed? that way we would be able to have something to play with, like MC trying to prevent Onyx’s destruction this time. Like I said, this is stretched out, but who knows?
Comment by mcplay — July 26, 2009 @ 6:51 am