lore-and-universe

[unique rune]

he’s a dead guy who killed people

[stoic hamlet]

And aliens. Don’t forget the aliens~

[whole bear]

The aliens are people

[prisma sierra]

Aliens 👽

[whole bear]

Xenocide

[whole bear]

The killer became the killed, and almost made me cry

[prisma sierra]

Six is not dead he's hiding in a cave somewhere

[whole bear]

We saw him get jumped by three Elites

[serene warren]

Six is so dead that nothing exists but his helmet

[whole bear]

I think that’s cool, honestly

Made it hit so much harder

[serene warren]

Reminds me: speedrunning that mission is so fast, I only lasted half a second playing it… on legendary. Further proves that six can be defeated quite easily

[whole bear]

Under the right circumstances

[prisma sierra]

Yes you can fix your diamond sword

[serene warren]

I don't think that's relevant to halo lore

[exotic horizon]

Neither do I lmao

[spark pivot]

Cursed halo lore, maybe, normal halo lore, doubtful

[carmine sleet]

You know, it's just a small thing, but I do like that in Halo 3, we hear some Elites adopting Spark's usage of "Reclaimer" for when they referring to Chief

[empty bloom]

That's actually supposed to indicate Chief is a Forerunner, much like Spark's iconic line. Look it up.

[hot zodiac]

Obviously, by "reclaim," they're simply referring to humanity's right to be tested for the Mantle of Responsibility as bestowed to them by the Librarian at direct conflict with the Ur-Didact, of course.

I like when they say "Spartan" myself.

[carmine sleet]

I do like that too

It would make sense that some Elites from the SoS would adopt using that to refer to what they once called "Demons"

[unborn patrol]

Tbh I think they could continue using demon

Since for SoS that has lost all religious meaning now that they dont believe in the holy journey

Now its a title of war. Even Thel says it was use as deragatory but one with a modicum of respect.

[carmine sleet]

Plenty still do, out of habit

It's not like all of them would easily just change what they called the soldiers that were so good at fighting them after calling them demons for so long

[stoic hamlet]

A lot of them do still believe though. Just a different interpretation of it.

[unborn patrol]

Really? Kind of backwards

But I guess it just shows the long lasting damage some cults can have

[unborn patrol]

Yeah only makes sense

Especially since theres a god in every spartans ear telling them they are a demon when they kill enough things

[thorn ember]

I mean, one of the multiplayer Spartans in Wars pretty much made it a norm. "War is hell, and I'm the devil!"

Even the soundtrack for Anniversary made it roll off the tongue with it's version of devils monsters renamed to demons and heretics.

[obsidian thistle]

So it seems the idea of the cosmos/domain might have originated from Iris of all places. At least in concept

Mendicant Bias said the following in 2007.

Can you feel it?
Beating at the heart of the Universe.
Skin too thick to be sure.
It's alive though.
I'm certain.
What do I do with life?

Kinda was always the most "out there" thing it said

Goes hard also. The writers really did a good job with them

[fair hazel]

Any greg bear interviews where he talks about it

[runic wharf]

What happened to Green Team? Kurt n nem? I never got into the comics

[gusty star]

They’re also in the books

[carmine sleet]

The S-II team compositions are fluid and often changed, members of Green could be on Red or Blue Teams depending on the mission

Though it was most common that you'd see a Red Team and a Blue Team in most operations involving IIs

[runic wharf]

I knew that

I mean as in Kurt's main team
Like Blue Teams main people being Chief, Linda, Kelly, Fred, Sam ect.
Did Kurt not have a set squad ?

[carmine sleet]

Also ONI faked Kurt's death, he went on to train S-IIIs and died on Onyx in 2552

[runic wharf]

There's a few Spartans that are popular but I don't know much about

[carmine sleet]

In 2517, Green consisted of Kurt, Solomon, Malcom and Anton

[runic wharf]

What happened to the rest of them

[carmine sleet]

Dead

[runic wharf]

And there's my ultimate answer

[carmine sleet]

There was another Green Team later in the war in 2552 led by Linda but they were folded back into Red and Blue Teams for the Fall of Reach

[runic wharf]

Yea, those 2 seems to be a jumbled mess

Is there anything special about Omega Team? Do they have anything other than a side appearance in Halo Wars?

[carmine sleet]

They got a short story when their gear was added to Infinite

And the unnamed members that we saw in HW1 on Arcadia are Riz, Kai and Vannack from the Silver timeline's Silver Team

But those three since left Omega

[runic wharf]

Assuming other than that there's not much to them other than being named Spartan 2 "side" characters

[carmine sleet]

Not too much, relatively speaking, they're a newer team in the lore from a real world perspective

Especially since Omega's role is to be a fast reaction unit

[runic wharf]

Halo Infinite seems to like to drop more lore for characters like them. Kinda like what they did for Rose

[carmine sleet]

Aye

[runic wharf]

Which explains why they're deployed the way they are

All 3 of them kinda just rocket down and assist

[carmine sleet]

Aye

Though they are still just as capable of reconnaissance and assassination as seen in the short story we have about them

They also helped test the Breach attachments seen in H2A's multiplayer

[runic wharf]

So is Roseline canon now?

[carmine sleet]

Aye

Well she's been canon since a brief mention back during Reach's marketing regarding Emile and how he would need to be rotated out of Noble if they were fighting Innies

But the short story we got with her in gave us more info about her

[runic wharf]

So she's canon just not Noble?

Correcting my mistake, her names Rosenda. I said Roseline my b

[carmine sleet]

She was Noble, she was reassigned at the end of 2551 after a mission to do something else

But she did survive the war and reach out to Jun

[runic wharf]

So technically speaking, there are 2 surviving members of Noble

At least former members

[carmine sleet]

Correct

[runic wharf]

So is Silver Team also kinda canon in the main timeline?

[carmine sleet]

Aye, a version of the team exists in the main timeline

Though we only know they were formerly members of Omega Team

[runic wharf]

Is there a reason why Jorge was on a team of Spartan 3s?

[carmine sleet]

We don't know the details how Jorge ended up with Noble Team

[runic wharf]

I guess there really aren't any restrictions on what gen goes with who

It's just strange how everyone on Noble, current and former, were all 3s and Jorge is the only 2

[stoic hamlet]

I wouldn’t consider them a jumbled mess, myself. If anything, it makes far more sense that - if possible - you’d switch out the numbers and compositions of your teams for the missions at hand, rather than have static, set in stone members, especially because Spartans are supposed to be incredibly capable warfighters.

There’s far more flexibility in having your roster be fluid and ever changing, rather than having it be static and set in stone.

[whole bear]

Let’s say a marine was given Spartan armor, how effective would he be

I don’t mean game wise

[carmine sleet]

Not effective at all, the marine would be crushed by the suit reacting faster than their own body

[versed helm]

Without augments? Getting into the suit alone would kill him. Chief at 10 years of age slaughtered a group of ODSTs soldiers like nothing. He snapped their bones like twigs.

[carmine sleet]

That happened when Chief was 14, just after his augmentation

[whole bear]

What if someone with Olympian levels of endurance, strength, etc. was given a suit

[carmine sleet]

Like Superman?

[whole bear]

Someone who naturally has peak performance

[carmine sleet]

I don't think someone that strong would need Mjolnir armour

[whole bear]

He’s an alien

[carmine sleet]

Oh, peak performance would also be killed. The augmentation process the Spartans go through is needed to use Mjolnir

[whole bear]

Okay, so a specific suit modified to work with a “normal” peak performance human. Would things like self repair, shields, most of the Infinite Tertiary weapons be possible?

[carmine sleet]

You can only carry two weapons at a time in Halo

[whole bear]

Things like the Grappleshot

Threat sensor

Drop wall

[carmine sleet]

That's equipment

[whole bear]

Still

Would all of that be possible in a downgraded suit

[carmine sleet]

A threat sensor ain't exactly something exclusive to Mjolnir

[whole bear]

I mean the regenerating part

There’s always another on the way

Plus self repair

[wispy pewter]

The only armor that the average marine can wear is the SPI armor

Doesn't require augmentations

[stoic hamlet]

Nightfall as well.

[tropic forge]

Not exactly. MJOLNIR has safeties to prevent what happened to that poor guy from Fall of Reach....and later in the timeline they've gotten to the point where you don't need extensive augmentation to use "high-performance combat exoskeletons"

[last anchor]

The only piece of equipment that you NEED MJLONIR to use is the Grappleshot because its tuned for augmented muscles.
We saw what happened to the last unaugmented human to use it.

Threat Sensor, Drop Wall, Repulsor, Thrusters, those are all addon packs to existing kit

[obsidian thistle]

Not that it matters to anyone here in a major way. But...

http://www.halopedia.org/Spartan-002

I got it sorted that every Spartan on Halopedia that has a name can be searched via their Spartan tag

http://www.halopedia.org/S-002

Also their service number... xD Though no one is EVER gonna search that

[whole bear]

Spartan 343?

[obsidian thistle]

At least 2 of em

But alas

None were Spartan-IIs

So it would be...
•SPARTAN-A343
•SPARTAN-B343

Closest Spartan we have to that is Rosenda-A344

[latent olive]

Why are the marines in halo CE different compared to the marines in halo2/3?

[obsidian thistle]

In what way?

[latent olive]

Design and appearance

[obsidian thistle]

Oh chances are its just what the Pillar of Autumn had.

Though reasonably they had the CE and CEA armor

As how I reason it. Unless its unique. The CE and CEA graphics depict things during the games events

[latent olive]

I completely forgot about that game

[obsidian thistle]

So there was M90 and M45E shotguns to use a lighter example.

Now if the thing is unique the Anniversary version holds (unless said otherwise)

A Halo 2 example is that the Gravemind doesnt look like a plant from Little Shop of Horrors

It looks like the Anniversary version

[latent olive]

See they used halo reach models for halo CEA, but in the lore, I want to know if what they had of installation 01 in CE, are the same suits in h2A.
Again, speaking within the lore.

[latent olive]

Yes, it’s more based on the final form from halo 3.

[obsidian thistle]

In Halo CE/CEA its Installation 04 (Alpha Halo)

[latent olive]

My bad

[obsidian thistle]

Ah nae worries!

[latent olive]

But are they the same used in h2A? That’s theres no actual armor change, just better graphics and redesigns.

[obsidian thistle]

Actually how I reason it the CE armor doesn't have a name

Maybe the helmet might have. But the armor outright no

The Halo 2/3/Reach/CEA marine armor set I'd say are more variants of a named thing

And the Wars/H2A is a thing we just cant say.

And the only reason we know the 2/3/ODST/Reach/CEA armor are named is thanks to in-game crates AND the 2009/11 Encyclopedia (plus a small tad the Og EVG)

[stoic hamlet]

Reach’s marines specifically (the ones at the end of PoA) had their variant named in Halo Oblivion.

[obsidian thistle]

Hard to say they are 1 to 1. We know there is numerous variants of the CH252 helmet

BUT

Yes

The POA helmet in Reach was a CH252.

I'd more say the Oblivion helmet more is a ECH252. But alas 🤷‍♂️ Nae my call to make

You know

If I had any say I'd make the CE helmets the RK-I heavy combat helmets that Rockeye was based on

But make it the pre-2552 variant

[versed helm]

Ah. I personally took the question in mind with reference to the older and stockier models such as Mark IV or older.

[versed helm]

Honestly whenever I think of that question my mind immediately jumps to Spartan-043 (William). The only Spartan in history to engage a Hunter in hand to hand combat and win. Sadly, he was obliterated :((

[carmine sleet]

You still can't slap a marine in Mjolnir and expect it to go well

[last anchor]

Uhhhh. Chief killed a Mgalekgolo with a grenade during the fall of CAMS, if that counts.

[tribal trench]

Is Hardlight translucent or opaque? Cortana in Halo 5 is opaque but a lot of hardlight in other games (most notably Halo 4) is translucent

[stoic hamlet]

Owen-B096 fought one as well and also lived.

[last anchor]

Fairly certain its modular and can be either depending on what its being used for.

Cortana specifically would want to appear more solid to give the impression of her presence and power, whereas something like a light bridge can be seethrough

[tribal trench]

Are there any IRL locations that have similar geography as Sanghelios in the level Swords of Sanghelios from Halo 5?

[wispy pewter]

Africa

[tribal trench]

Big place

anywhere in particular?

[wispy pewter]

I am not sure I just thought of Sand and Africa

[dusk jetty]

Arches National Park maybe

Gobi desert

[tribal trench]

Maybe

feels more like that one part in Halo Reach

[dusk jetty]

Well maybe Petra

It’s got the sandstone structures

[shy wave]

I just found out that 343 guilty spark used to be a human

[wispy pewter]

Ancient human. Called the Lord of Admirals

And some dude named Chakas apparently

[last anchor]

Only the latter.
He did have the geas of the Lord of Admirals though.

[versed helm]

Doesn’t really count (very impressive) by William-043 straight up grappled with the 13 foot tall beast

But to be fair, killing 40 brutes in close combat is an equally insane feat

[last anchor]

Chief climbed on the back of his and rammed a grenade in, Id say that counts as grappling.

[versed helm]

He didn’t kill it with melee combat. The grenade killed it not the Chief. All Chief did was implant it

[last anchor]

His grenade, his kill

[carmine sleet]

Yeah, it is Chief's kill since he used the grenade to kill it

Though I like to think Chief lies and attributes that kill to Lasky

[last anchor]

There's a difference between lying and giving credit to someone else.
War heroes do the latter all the time.

Its called modesty

[tropic forge]

MJOLNIR is a little ill-defined to say that so broadly, especially in regards to the more modern canon.

[empty bloom]

I'd argue the opposite, actually.

Mirage IIC and Hazmat are pointedly the only two cases of MJOLNIResque tech we know of that work for normal humans-and it's made extremely clear by tech blurbs that both armors are consistently downgraded to work with human operators.

[stoic hamlet]

Mirage IIC doesn’t work with normal humans. You do need some augmentations to use it. Your point stands with OSTEO though.

[empty bloom]

Ah. May have misinterpreted the lore blurb of Extender and Belus.

[latent junco]

Mirage needs roughly ODST level augs (I believe)
Not normal humans, but also you don't need to be a full Spartans

[orchid kettle]

this seems strange to me because SPI doesnt require augs

[carmine sleet]

I'd assume components from Mirage would be compatible with just standard SPI

[empty bloom]

ODST augs are just PED's.

They don't get actual augs.

They're no more augmented than a Navy Seal.

[orchid kettle]

nor would one assume the ORION Exoframe that apparently informed SPI, as the encyclopedia claims that the ORIONS didnt really get that many benefits from their augs and were otherwise pretty normal

[latent junco]

Eh, still, Mirage doesn't need Spartan level augs, but it can't generally be used by normal humans

[empty bloom]

EXTENDER helmets can be used by unaugmented pilots and spacecrew, but only Spartans of one type or another can make safe use of its high-bandwidth machine interlink mode.

BELUS helmets are all-purpose combat helmets being evaluated for use by unaugmented Army personnel. Naphtali is more than willing to take advantage of Spartan combat testing during the current crisis, while it evaluates future marketing plans.

Both of those read to me like Mirage is, albiet uncommonly, used by humans.

Of course

[stoic hamlet]

Extender can be used by unaugmented personnel, but Mirage itself cannot.

MIRAGE IIC helmets compromise the full range of GEN3 capabilites to significantly reduce cost, complexity, and operator augmentation requirements compared to the Mark VII baseline.

MIRAGE IIC armor builds on the foundation of the GEN1 Mirage and Semi-Powered Infiltration (SPI) armor program to create low cost, multi-role powered assault armor that meets baseline GEN3 Mjolnir standards.

[orchid kettle]

yeah best I can interpret the text is that when the blurbs say "This armor lowers operation augmentation requirements"

"Zero" is lower than "any at all" lol

[empty bloom]

Well, there goes my render idea.

[orchid kettle]

It may have just been awkward wording because the writer was trying to fit "cost and complexity" and aug requirements into the same sentence

there's always gonna be some cost, some complexity, but there doesnt have to be augs

[empty bloom]

Also, it's... Weird that the two contradict eachother here. So it sounds like it's saying GEN3 reqs are significantly lower than Keystone's.

[stoic hamlet]

Technically it depends on what one considers to be “mirage” (well, MJOLNIR) and just “armour”.

All the supplemental stuff can be worn by anyone.

[empty bloom]

The other part that made me believe that Mirage was totally useable by nonhumans was humans using Mirage Mk1, not Mk2c.

Or SPI or whatever.

[stoic hamlet]

Mirage and SPI are weird.

Because occasionally they’re treated as the same thing, other times they’re different.

[empty bloom]

Huh. TIL Mark IV, Cavallino, and Mark V are the three most used helmets in Infinite, respectively.

[orchid kettle]

I also assume Mirage not using the magic liquid crystal to enhance the wearer is what makes it cheap

[stoic hamlet]

It’s an evolution of SPI.

Using it as a baseline, kind of thing, but it’s an iteration.

[orchid kettle]

then again MJOLNIR cost has never really made sense when people try and break down what part is actually costing a small fortune

[stoic hamlet]

It’s notably fully powered, unlike SPI.

[empty bloom]

I always figured the bulk of the cost went into the extensive RND that goes into making literally anything new for MJOLNIR.

[orchid kettle]

is there a definition of full powered and semi powered

[empty bloom]

Kind of like the F-35 program or something. Even small changes cost a huge load.

[orchid kettle]

because I feel like Nylund just wanted to call it the "spy" armor

[stoic hamlet]

That’s also apparently why Mirage is “IIC” from an out of universe context, or so I’ve heard.

IIC = “to see”

[empty bloom]

Fun with acronyms; The armor

[dusty ferry]

I mean it’s possible Mirage IIC itself is like, part of a program related to moving people from non Mjolnir (or Gen 3/ augmentation requiring) powered armor to Mjolnir

Because it is very distinctly related to power armor we do know doesn’t need augmentation

That is of course assuming the UNSC is still working on non augmented personnel power armor which we only vaguely know to be true with Osteo

It’s more likely the UNSC is either trying various other augmentation methods due to the lower requirements stuff you see here and there, or is working on making Spartans more wide spread with there being a variant of a set for combat engineering solely for Spartans (presumably. I don’t recall anything suggesting that there is an Osteo variant for spartans specifically)

Moral is, Mirage IIC could be both low cost and possibly a trainer style armor set like Athlon

We just don’t know because the lore is entirely from like a couple hundred lore tabs instead of something that can actually say this full on

[earnest niche]

I just finished listening a certain chapter from The Cole Protocol. Peter Bonifacio got annihilated.

[wispy pewter]

Yeah because even ODSTs are covered head to toe with titanium armor

I assume it's the tech suit that costs a lot. The nano machines and self healing and repair, the complex gel layer stuff and the reactor

But those are the later variants of Mjolnir

You're telling me the engineering feats of a small space craft costs less than armor.... Hhmmm very Sus. Are they money laundering?

[dusty ferry]

It could just be a miniturization issue, we only get smaller computer chips once its economical

maybe Mjolnir's built in tech is just not economical when its at its most expensive

[stoic hamlet]

Not necessarily. There’s likely different levels of armour. We have more than a few examples of MJOLNIR being further up-armoured with Titanium-A, and cost repeatedly comes into the discussion when looking at the various lore blurbs.

There’s also a specific shoulder for Mirage (the TacUp-A22) that’s said to be “overkill for the Mirage II system”.

So more than likely not everyone’s got titanium, some probably have simple ceramics or other composite metals.

[last anchor]

Lowered augmentation specifications means we might soon see the UNSC deploying 100% augmented forces.
No normal humans, transhumanism all the way.
Im down.

[wispy pewter]

I see.... Maybe the Mjolnir is just Titanium A. Since it weighs like 300 kilograms

[wispy pewter]

Ther e already the Spartan IIIs augmentations which didn't kill a single person

The chemical augmentations could easily be mass produced

There's no short of war orphans....

They need to tell us what happened to Delta company

[dusty ferry]

Delta never got recruited to our knowledge

and they have the much more effective S-IV augs which don't require children

[wispy pewter]

Can someone tell me if a Spartan gets severely injured with broken bones will the bones heal augmented or natural

[last anchor]

Spartan bones dont break

[stoic hamlet]

Those augmentations also required a very specific genetic set and a specific age range. Remember the III’s weren’t just random orphans.

In Ghosts of Onyx, for example, a Kurt and Mendez identify 375 candidates for Beta Company in 2537, but by 2539, they have only another 43 children that meet the required markers, and Gamma had even less candidates, at 330.

[orchid kettle]

It makes sense to me that at the very least, the breastplate is Titanium-A or something, if only because it'd explain why Spartans love attaching it to their own suits

[wispy pewter]

I must read Kilo 5 again because I swear I remember Halsey saying her Spartans are superior

I feel like they forgot that Spartans required specific genetic sets. Because the IVs definitely don't.

[wispy pewter]

Idk about that

[stoic hamlet]

What Halsey says and what's actually true aren't the same thing, remember her ego is massive.

[gilded mason]

also

kilo-5

[orchid kettle]

or maybe its the helmet that's the strongest material, considering the Rookie cosplay guide apparently claims its the thing most likely to survive if the drop pod suffers a catastrophic crash

otherwise though it's pretty noncommittal about the exact composition, just stating that the plate carrier and shoulders are "made of metal"

[orchid kettle]

Silent Storm though has Chief say that the Black Daggers don't have titanium-alloy armor outright

so I guess it aint

[empty bloom]

They do.

It's just that theirs are still significantly less strict, like the IIIs, and don't delve into whatever eugenicist crap Halsey spouts.

[wispy pewter]

they seem to pick any random marine or ODST. Perhaps they just follow some physical requirements.

because what are the chances the entire alpha nine company has the required genetic profile if there is any

[empty bloom]

Well, because most people who manage to do great at special forces-enough to have a name specifically built around how competent they are-are going to be genetically capable and have minimal issues with it.

Honestly, it's common sense.

You won't have a ton of genetic issues if you're a top 1%'er in terms of military performance.

[empty bloom]

Also, it's not "Some". It's "So damn grueling that seasoned ODST veterans literally considered "Good enough that they're practically a Spartan" and have literally killed two Hunters in solo combat without explosives, still found it to be more difficult than anything they've ever encountered in their careers"

I'd honestly wager that they have a huge amount of legwork going into even getting people onboard, and even then I imagine they have a lot of physical-stage washouts.

[wispy pewter]

I wonder how Gretchen did it since she has no legs

then again you have ex engineers like Tanaka and a literal diplomat spartan like Vale.

maybe it's easier after they receive augmentations

[carmine sleet]

Prosthetics exist

And she only lost one leg

[carmine sleet]

Am I misremembering something or did Bungie say there was a lore reason for Zealots not riding in vehicles in Halo 2?

[empty bloom]

She wore prosthetics before the augs. Normal humans have combat grade prosthetics too.

Tanaka was a combat engineer. She stacked bodies and hanged with ODSTs well enough to get a recommendation over other ODSTs.

Vale... Vale is an odd woman out.

[high elbow]

Isn’t Vale more of a translator and explorer than anything else?

[wispy pewter]

she was a diplomat. Last heard of her she was on Sanghelios and then Netherop

[stoic hamlet]

She was a Xenologist and a SIGINT officer, tbf, not just a diplomat.

[orchid kettle]

I believe she's only missing one

at least in the Hannaford artwork, only one leg is a robot limb

[orchid kettle]

Vale is really funny because her first book implies that her headbutting a cyborg is what earned her her Spartanhood

[wispy pewter]

a what now

[orchid kettle]

and when fans were understandably not satisfied with that alone, they wrote a waypoint article that said she also participated in a big cross branch war games training sesh where she got top marks

and that's what really sealed the deal

[wispy pewter]

that seems like a lazy retcon

atleast Palmer had some ODST heroics

[carmine sleet]

I was fine with Vale's headbutting a cyborg

[orchid kettle]

Personally I think itd make sense if we just had Musa say something to the effect of "In the Spartan Branch, we need more than meatheads who blindly follow orders."

Thus explaining Spartans like Vale who don't really have much combat experience to speak of

especially if Spartan handlers are a thing, for whatever reason

and that seems to just be a desk job

[high elbow]

I like this idea. You’ve got my vote

[orchid kettle]

Im also willing to handwave it for like story reasons

because a cast of characters all being veteran ODSTs, all having the same career path, would be kinda lame

[high elbow]

Handler Walter Voice
“Spartan 621, I’ve got a job for you”

[orchid kettle]

(This is also why I do think Alpha-Nine is kinda lame as an all Spartan team now especially if they're gonna keep the same name and dress in ODST-style MJOLNIR)

[wispy pewter]

the thing is if you need something either than a meathead then you don't need a spartan for that

a diplomat and translator can very well be an un augmented human

[orchid kettle]

Well yeah but the augs are also stated to outright make you smarter

[wispy pewter]

but obvioulsy Vale can fight

[wispy pewter]

no lol

Spartan IIs are intelligent because Halsey only picked the Einsteins

[orchid kettle]

They do, actually

In Fall of Reach, when Halsey gets the test results back, its mentioned that subjects displayed an increase in intelligence and creativity

as well as better memory

The brain is just made better

[wispy pewter]

did the augmentation supercharge their brain cells?

[strange pumice]

No, they are studying from a young age

[orchid kettle]

Its related to the aug that increased their reflexes. I guess the idea is that their brain is just better at making connections than it was before

[stoic hamlet]

The same occurred with the III’s as well.

And probably the IV’s to some extent.

[unique rune]

I mean, sure, but have fun telling a team of Spartans they have to babysit one of those.

[carmine sleet]

Honestly I could see him saying that too

[wispy pewter]

if Phillis can survive so can other people

[unique rune]

Him surviving isn't really the point.

[carmine sleet]

The point is that having a team that came together from different backgrounds is going to be more flexible than one that's just from the same background

[stoic hamlet]

It’s why having Spartan teams, even II’s or III’s, be more flexible and non-static is going to be better than having static members.

[carmine sleet]

It's also why I have the team my OC is on being cross generational

Also tempted to make it a joint op team, similar to that one team seen in the short story we got back when the Blamite mine map was released

[stoic hamlet]

See, my OC’s are static, but that’s because getting more commissioned art is hard enough with five characters as is, lol

[carmine sleet]

Oh you don't want to see how indecisive I am about my main one's armour colours. I keep going back and forth over when he uses a specific colour scheme

[wispy pewter]

I don't see a II and IV being in the same fireteam unless they are in leadership role. Anyways they will all look the same in Gen 3 Mjolnir

[carmine sleet]

I can see it happening, with a IV in the leader role depending on their experience

Though, leadership comes from more than just having experience

[wispy pewter]

Most IVs were not even born when John was killing covies

[carmine sleet]

Buck's around the same age as Chief

[wispy pewter]

Yeah he's different he was an ODST and boomer aged. But even the commander Palmer is in her 30s and most of the named Spartans as well

[stoic hamlet]

Propensity for killing doesn’t make one a good leader, tbf.

[wispy pewter]

I would imagine a 50 year old will have trouble going trough the toughness of the Spartan program

[stoic hamlet]

They might be chronologically 50, but likely still biologically in their mid 40’s, if they were a sailor or marine.

[carmine sleet]

Also medical advances would be a factor too, they are 500 years ahead of us

[wispy pewter]

Buck must be rare because rarely anyone in his field makes it to middle age

Especially when you're fighting genocidal aliens

[orchid kettle]

I wanna touch on that a bit with one of my OCs who's Buck/Chief aged but also not a Spartan

just at that point where their body doesn't hold up like it used to and its starting to be kinda sad

[wispy pewter]

Parongisky is 90 ISH in the kilo 5 book and she was still chillin

Driving around Infinity

[stoic hamlet]

Johnson was in his 70’s when he died.

Bryne as well, assuming he was roughly the same age.

[wispy pewter]

IIs are also extremely intelligent. Except for Solomon probably. Chiefs tactic is "finish the fight"
Defeats Eschsrum and Jega and Harbinger

All by himself

[stoic hamlet]

Intelligence isn’t the same as wisdom, it should be said.

[wispy pewter]

🦫 70? He looked good. In the anniversary cutscenes

[carmine sleet]

If intelligence is the only factor that allowed him to beat those foes? Why did Chief lose to Atriox?

[wispy pewter]

That's the thing. An uppercut from a Spartan should have broken any Brute's face. But idek anymore

[orchid kettle]

Yeah but Im willing to chalk that up to the one benefit the ORION augs afforded him

I just feel like when it comes to storytelling, you gotta be okay with your characters having some sort of "end"

and that ending doesn't need to be like, dying heroically in some big explosion like Halo usually does it or even something as easy and clean as "the character got married to their love interest and lives happily ever after"

[stoic hamlet]

It’s why I’m annoyed they brought back so many washouts.

I get it.

[wispy pewter]

Chief in the show soloing brutes in the last episode of S1. But I guess Atriox is simply built different

[stoic hamlet]

And in a vacuum I like it.

But I don’t like what it does for the wider lore.

[carmine sleet]

Show Chief is also a different continuity so we can't look at him and attribute his feats to main timeline Chief

[orchid kettle]

I really didn't like that factoid in the spartan field manual that stated IVs could live for over a hundred years in prime fighting condition

[wispy pewter]

I mean we know Spartans can take on brutes easily in the lore.

[orchid kettle]

like I dunno, at some point, the idea that a character remains in one spot for a hundred years is just kinda sad

[wispy pewter]

It's mentioned again and again they match the strength of a space monkey. But sometimes it's not and sometimes it is

[wispy pewter]

What's the oldest human we have seen in Halo

[wispy pewter]

Yeah lol. But hey you manage to stack up pension

[wispy pewter]

I wonder if IVs have the same side effect that makes them not wanna do it. You know

Have kids

[carmine sleet]

You so know that the IIs are capable of having kids, right?

Randall had one who died on Sedra in an attack

[orchid kettle]

yeah but his augs were reversed

somehow

[wispy pewter]

Must be painful to reverse all those bone implants

[carmine sleet]

They removed what they could, not all of the augmentations could be reversed

[orchid kettle]

its a really funny lore detail

all because the actor didn't want to stand on a milk crate to look taller I guess

[high elbow]

I wonder what ONI would do with the Bone implants afterwards. Study them? Stick them in someone else? Recycle maybe

[orchid kettle]

eat them

to gain their power

[high elbow]

Ah. Much like eating the heart of a lion or bear. Gotcha

[wispy pewter]

I don't think eating ceramics will be good for your stomach

[carmine sleet]

Last thing you want to do is shove one person's implants into someone else, that's genuinely really dangerous to do. It's why they look for specific blood types when someone needs new blood

[orchid kettle]

you aint my mom

[high elbow]

I did not know that. Thank you!

[stoic hamlet]

I’m pretty sure this is actually from New Blood, and Buck doesn’t know if it’s true or not.

I could be wrong though.

[high elbow]

What if my stomach already has a ceramic upgrade?

[carmine sleet]

Buck is also not exactly a completely reliable narrator when it comes to how the augmentations work

And if I recall, he was basically told that no Spartan has died of natural causes

[orchid kettle]

Well yeah but it's also supported by the spartan field manual

That they will remain in their prime for over a century

[wispy pewter]

Now that you mentioned it. I wonder if Spartans can eat metal

LOL

It would kinda of make sense since they got artificial everything

I'm not sure about the heart

[carmine sleet]

Spartans aren't Matter-Eater Lad

[high elbow]

I also don’t think it would be worth eating the metal. I’m sure their stomachs may have gotten upgraded, but probably to the point where they could eat most edible material and be fine.

[wispy pewter]

Iron. Good for blood!

[carmine sleet]

https://tenor.com/view/magneto-iron-blood-gif-18801158

[high elbow]

How magnetic would a suit of Mjonir(spelling idk) anyway?

Could I walk up to big green himself and stick a little rainbow fridge magnet on him? Or would it go tink and slide off

[carmine sleet]

Depends on how much iron ore, cobalt and nickel, gadolinium and dysprosium is used in the production

[last anchor]

The boots and gloves have magnets in them if that counts

[orchid kettle]

do the shields just not care when Chief sticks a magnum to his thigh plate

or is that yet another area where the shields have to slim themselves down

[last anchor]

Im fairly certain MJLONIR shields dont block electromagnetic waves.
They stop physical force and the hammerblow of a plasma bolt but we know plasma burns through them faster than ballistics.

So perhaps thats how it works.

Or maybe the magnetic strips dont have shielding on them all the time?

Shields are weird.

[orchid kettle]

oh I meant the shields not caring about a hunk of metal constantly trying to smush it because there's a magnet on the other end

which honestly could be applied to most player customization

[last anchor]

I think the shield waveform emitters flow over most armor

[obsidian thistle]

Yo boy found some suprise lore today!

So turns out the old Halo ActionClix box sets got some micro-lore

The first three I'll show are relatively harmless

Mainly being Cortana just talk about stuff. For timeline buffs these "have" to happen before or during Halo 2s opening missions.

Now the 4th

This is where things get cool

It seems harmless enough. Talking about the Banshee.

But reading closer reveals something awesome

This has to happen after Halo 2 when the Covenant have air superiority west of Mombasa.

And the REALLY cool thing. Its not Cortana sending the message

But an obscure character from the Halo 3 Diorama.

Lance Corporal T. B. Williams.

He killed a War Chieftain in the Diorama!

CIA391 history lesson over! 🙂 I'm just glad to share a discovery.

[last anchor]

Holy crap

[latent olive]

What book is a cinematic version of halo CE? Was that halo the flood?

[stoic hamlet]

It was, yes.

[latent olive]

Is the book cannon with the games? Like is it fully true lore and events etc?

[stoic hamlet]

Yes. Its events are canon.

[latent olive]

Last question, worth the read?

[stoic hamlet]

I’d say so. It’s a bit outdated due to when it was written, but of you’d like to see essentially the building blocks of the Covenant’s lore and the ODST’s, you’ll get some fun out of it.

[latent olive]

Thank you.

[stoic hamlet]

Happy to help~

[gusty star]

Beyond that it also just covers a whole lot of surrounding context to the Battle of Alpha Halo that the game just leaves out

[obsidian thistle]

Heh thats one of the more tamer reactions I seen! XD

[versed helm]

That looks like Maccabaeus, especially with the Fist of Rukt.

[obsidian thistle]

In development Halo 3 used the Fist of Rukt for its hammer. This translated into a few trailers and the Diorama

One could reasonably say other similar hammers exists! Cant have all the hammers be made by the Covenant

[obsidian thistle]

Minor addendum to the lore drop I gave

There was a second Scarab one

Again by our favourite Lance Corporal Williams

This one is kinda fun if you assume its the one we fight in The Storm.

Knowing the Scarab was already a lil North East and was going 71 KPH. And that Master Chief had 2 missions to even get there. There is ample time for the Scarab to get there.

Alas 343i coukd say its another Scarab and be done with it, but hey does explain why the Scarab is late to the party.

[wispy pewter]

500 years into the future it's great to see Africa has highways 👍🏻

[versed helm]

Similar yes, but as far as I know the Fist of Rukt is like the “lost city of Atlantis” of melee weapons for the aliens. Countless of times I’ve heard grunts blabber on in their dreams about “Hey look! I got the Fist of Rukt for Christmas” or just straight up using as a means of bargaining (and escaping) against Chief. Anywho, I still think Atriox’s Chainbreaker is the coolest Gravity Hammer of them all!

[carmine sleet]

Multiple gravity hammers being designed in the image of the Fist of Rukt makes sense though, it holds significant cultural value to the Brutes. So both before and after it was lost, it is logical some Brutes would make their hammers similar to it

[versed helm]

During Tartarus’s reign I doubt that. Only high ranking Brutes, even among the chieftains, were allowed personalized armor. The Fist of Rukt was the pinnacle of their species and the chieftain of all Brute’s tool. It makes no sense to replicate the tool that only the literal Chieftein of all brutes wields. They are barbaric but are honorable species when it comes to rankings in society.

[obsidian thistle]

I do however doubt the Fist of Rukt was the only pre-Covenant hammer that was brough forward

Does make me sad the only time that was ever explored was the Halo MMO that got cancelled

[versed helm]

While that is completely true, I refer to its iconic design. It may have been a prototype as its technology is quite an easy lot (just a rock on a hammer in essence) while Tartarus had it fixed with Gravity propellers. Post covenant era, it seems plasma fashioned Gravity hammers are more preferred.

[versed helm]

I just hope a game will be announced soon. If infinite’s horrendous development time is applied to this new game, I will throw a fit lol

[unborn patrol]

todays game development is pretty difficult

[wispy pewter]

yeah good luck. It might take another 2 years to even get a solid announcement. I doubt pre production even began on Halo 7

[versed helm]

Well then, time to own up on what I said and throw a fit.

[wispy pewter]

weird that between 4 and Reach was like 1 year plus? then 5 bloody years for Halo 5

then 7 years for Infinite

[versed helm]

Yup

As blown away as you are considering Bungie had a consistent time of 2 years between games (I believe)

[wispy pewter]

Halo5 was alrgiht, had plenty of stuff. Infinite? 6 years for this bland of a game?

[orchid kettle]

More like 3. The team split to do ODST and Reach more or less in tandem with each other.

[versed helm]

Still, at the very least they were consistent. Infinite was just a whole other level.

[orchid kettle]

unfortunately the industry in general is kinda reaching this point where it takes 5-6 years between installments rather than 2-3

[wispy pewter]

thats great

[wispy pewter]

yeah but known franchises like CoD and Battlefield releases games like every 2-3 years

atleast we have confirmation now that Battlefield 7 is being worked on

wait what BF are we on now

[orchid kettle]

For CoD, isn't that because they got like two or three studios pumping them out so they can have a new game every year

[wispy pewter]

yeah multiple studios or so I heard

theres no reason a big IP like Halo couldn't do the same

not to mention Halo was famous before CoD existed

they even tried to create a Halo killer

[orchid kettle]

reminds me of how Dragon Ball Z used to do its episodes, where like half a dozen studios were given a batch of episodes each to keep it running weekly

[wispy pewter]

and now Call Of Duty outshines Halo in popularity

probably makes microsoft more money as well

[orchid kettle]

Well I think the unfortunate reality is that Halo isn't really on CoD's level anymore, and arguably hasnt been since the height of the 360 days

[wispy pewter]

advanced warfare still so expensive

[orchid kettle]

and obviously part of that is because the IP was shackled to the Xbox and that became a very large burden with the xbox one era

[wispy pewter]

I would buy it for the campaign. played it years ago so fun

[wispy pewter]

now it's on PC tho

[orchid kettle]

yeah but then Infinite failed to make a great first impression

and I think now with seasons being retired in favor of "operations", players are seeing the writing on the wall and aren't super eager to return to a game that seems to be in the twilight of its life

[wispy pewter]

I said something about Infinite being a disappointment after 6 years of wiating

apparently multiplayer on release was bland and the story was boring

[orchid kettle]

Multiplayer was fine, I remember a lot of excitement when the beta was happening

a big complaint was when it released and it turned out the beta was 80% of the final content

[wispy pewter]

lol

I remember playing it when first released because it was free. was fun

but it got bored quick

[orchid kettle]

I still hop on every now and then, but I do admit that its more out of obligation or wishful thinking than because I would legitimately pick it over other Halos or shooters currently on the market

[wispy pewter]

and now im playing it again because it's fun to kill grunts

[amber solstice]

Good dialogue, but we're drifting from Lore & Universe. If you want to discuss the state of the IP, feel free to continue doing so in #halo-discussion

[versed helm]

Right-o. So, uh, LORE. People, has there ever been another Grunt the size and strength of Stolt?

[unique rune]

None that we’ve heard of, but I’m sure they exist.

[versed helm]

STOLT THE GOAT

[carmine sleet]

Halo 5 wasn't 5 years after Halo 4, it released in 2015, three years after Halo 4

[carmine sleet]

Ok but now I gotta wonder, could Stolt fit into a Grunt Goblin? Or would he need a bigger, gruntier version just for him?

[unique rune]

He might just need to sit real uncomfortably and hope his head doesn’t poke through the shield

[obsidian thistle]

I still wanna know the Spartan Stolk met

[stoic hamlet]

Do we have a year for that? I don’t know where I got it into my head that it was on Reach, but I know I’m wrong.

[carmine sleet]

I don't recall a year being given for that

[last anchor]

You ever notice how no ones excited for a new COD game?
And that the constant complaint is "wait, this is the same as last years"?

Thats why you dont have multiple studioes doing yearly releases

[high elbow]

I would also rather have studios take time creating games than shove something out every year or so.
Yeah it’s kinda frustrating but I’d rather wait and have a cool looking game that I’ll properly be able to enjoy over the CoD style. (Or some of the sport games that push a new title as well)

[boreal bane]

Just a reminder that we've moved on from that earlier discussion

[whole bear]

I Love the story

[high elbow]

I think having The Endless introduced earlier would’ve been better. Or maybe cut that and only focus on the Banished?

I would personally prefer to see Big Green be thrown at the Banished. It’s maybe too similar to the start of Halo all over again, but it would serve as though a Spiritual Reboot in a poorly explained way

[empty bloom]

I'm annoyed that they ditched the Created. It's a far more impactful storyline IMO.

Banished are more of the same, while the Created (Until Cortana got axed) were generally a much more personal threat.

[ionic tiger]

The Created can still be a threat, especially if the Executors take off.

[meager pier]

Was going through Epitaph again, and got to the point where the Primordial told Didact the Mantle was merely a test
Do you think Primordial was telling the truth, or lied to break Didact’s spirit?

[wispy pewter]

Wrong

[wispy pewter]

Yes

[prisma sierra]

Bad story they destroyed the infinity

[empty bloom]

Executors likely aren't that significant of a threat compared to force projection via automated warships.

But then, Halo likes to pretend fleet assets don't matter til they do.

[prisma sierra]

Probably a test

Ancient Humanity colonised and expanded like crazy. You wouldn't trust an interstellar empire to hold that much power would you

Bozo forerunners so jealous

[meager pier]

What's interesting is the Primordial told Didact that's the Precursors have been using this test on species since the dawn on time
🤔

[whole bear]

You expect a Flagship in an active war NOT to get exploded?

[prisma sierra]

I expect the pinnacle of human engineering not to die in 4 minutes. Considering that it uses forerunner technology and rivals that of the best covenant ships and was even said that it could take on forerunner ships itself

[whole bear]

Did not know that, yeah that’s [removed]

[prisma sierra]

It also had a whole escort fleet with it which was not even shown in the cutscene

Storyline wise, yeah Infinite was bad

We know there was the Mortal Reverie, which is in game, and in the book.

And the fact that they introduced new UNSC weapons like that Helios laser or something only for it to do absolutely nothing to a covenant ship and the fact that we already know one of them got destroyed by the Banished.

Makes no sense to field a weapon for a ship that is worse than a MAC

[unique rune]

was even said that it could take on forerunner ships itself
[citation needed]

[prisma sierra]

Thursday War..... I took a look and I think it's page 39 where it mentions "it might have been the most advanced warship since the Forerunner fleet"

[unique rune]

That is

absolutely not saying it can take on a Forerunner ship

[prisma sierra]

You're right. But it did face off Forerunner stuff and did damage. It's MAC punched a hole trough forerunner shielding before

[unique rune]

no

The SMACs made a hole in the armor of the Mantle's Approach after 117 disabled its shields while he was flying under its shielding

[prisma sierra]

I see. It's probably still more advanced than most Covie ships, I really need to know how big the banished fleet was

They need the SoF plot armor fr

[unique rune]

I mean

they had three dreadnoughts on Infinity at minimum

and the SMACs would’ve been completely useless given their approach angles

[prisma sierra]

I like how in the book the Mac managed to get one ship though

[meager pier]

I’m expecting the crew of Infinity to appear in Halo 7, Lasky at least

[wispy pewter]

watch 343 totally ignore that

[meager pier]

https://tenor.com/view/dont-you-dare-dont-dont-do-it-the-office-michael-scott-gif-14178027

[carmine sleet]

Not to mention that Banished Dreadnaughts are all about smashing things up close, opposed to UNSC and Covenant ships, which are all about keeping a distance between you and your enemy in space

[last anchor]

Im pretty sure the four that hit the Infinity were written off anyway despite that right
We see them tearing chunks out of her but shes giving as good as she got.

Atriox sacrificed...four, five high-class ships to break her back and STILL couldnt outright destroy her

[wispy pewter]

lol UNSC Panama charging up a weapon only to leave no mark

[whole bear]

You made me think of Brazil

[wispy pewter]

granted the Mulsane class isonly about 400 meters long. Still, you'd think they'd design a post war weapon to penetrate covie shielding

[prisma sierra]

Del Rio

[whole bear]

No

Ipanema

[prisma sierra]

Bro Panama is a country

[carmine sleet]

Mulsanes are frigates, regardless of their weapon systems, you're not killing a Covenant Assault Carrier with one

[orchid kettle]

Maybe you're not

If Cortana thinks the engines of the Amber Clad going critical could wipe out High Charity, then I can take that CAS out in a blaze of glory too

[carmine sleet]

To be fair, that's blowing up the ship, not really the standard strategy in a space battle to ram into the enemy ship and hope yours exploding will take theirs out too

[orchid kettle]

Charge, my soldiers

[wispy pewter]

reminding me of the cringy Holdo manoeuvre

imagine what a weaponised slipspace weapon could do

[carmine sleet]

Define why you think it was cringy? Given the context that was presented in that film, it was very clear it was a last ditch effort to make sure the enemy couldn't easily pursue escaping Resistance troops

Like, it's super obvious it's not a standard strategy in ship to ship combat

[wispy pewter]

I am sure shields designed for lightspeed travel can, handle a space ship hitting it at light speeds. It should have really, just hit the shield as if it was an asteroid

because then why not just have giant missiles fitted with hyperdrives everywhere

now they retconned it to a "one in a million shot"

I honestly don't like thinking about it, it just leads to more questions

[carmine sleet]

Shields aren't required for hyperspace travel. Not sure where you're pulling that from

And the reason it's not standard for "fire ships" to be used like that is most likely because hyperdrives aren't cheap

I would assume the same is true with halo (For the majority of ships apart from Banished Dreadnoughts). It ain't worth the resources to make ships designed specifically for being destroyed

[wispy pewter]

I'd understand in the Halo universe though, but not sure about the galaxy far far away. At least star trek gets away with it by having really OP shielding technology

[empty bloom]

Easier said than done.

[last anchor]

Wish it WAS tbh.
I stan the idea of ramships in any context

See: Jorge and the Long Night of Solace

[ancient crane]

Realistically do you think the UNSC can withstand the rigours of an SEC schedule?

[stoic hamlet]

I’d say ramming ships just isn’t viable in most cases. You need to either be able to take enough punishment to get in close or get close before they can spot you. Most Halo engagements are fought at range, even CQB is often BVR in space combat.

And numerous sources now have made it pretty clear you can’t really “hide” in space. You can only delay how long before you’re spotted. A lot of stuff has to be basically handwaved to explain how the banished could get so close to ram Infinity. They can’t take the punishment, they can’t stealth it, and they should have been detected vis that in-system jump long before Infinity was actually rammed due to how Slipspace works.

It really is a case of plot contrivance, rather than some masterstroke. At least as of now.

[unborn patrol]

then again theres a video of Infinity coming out of slipspace and crashing through a covenant ship

so its not even a new thing

[stoic hamlet]

Yeah, but it shouldn’t really have been possible there either.

The Fall of Reach, Ghosts of Onyx, Cole Protocol, Oblivion, Outcasts, Shadows of Reach, Breaking Strain, and I want to say Silent Storm (though I think I might be wrong with the last one) all have key plot points about how you can detect a ship long before it exits Slipspace. You might not necessarily know what it is, but you can know roughly where it’s exiting from hours in advance.

And the Shadows of Reach example was Infinity’s sensors, so it’s not like she lacked them.

[unborn patrol]

I wouldnt read into it that much honestly

and thats really old reference material at this point. one which Bungie themselves have crossed out in some ways

wasnt it that the book stuff is in its own universe anyway?

I feel like people here have two opinions on that too

[stoic hamlet]

Which is old reference material?

Because both Outcasts and Shadows of Reach released post Infinite launch.

[stoic hamlet]

No, it’s all equal canon under 343.

[unborn patrol]

not those but fall of reach for example

[stoic hamlet]

The only non-canon stuff is gameplay (obviously) because they just don’t work together.

[stoic hamlet]

Those books events are still canon?

And if those aspects aren’t canon (they are), for example, then they shouldn’t have come up in newer material.

[unborn patrol]

sure

[stoic hamlet]

It’s a pretty major plot point in both Outcasts and Shadows of Reach, it’s arguably the lynchpin in both books.

Shadows of Reach’s final act basically can’t work with that aspect of the universe removed.

[unborn patrol]

very unfortunate

[wispy pewter]

but the ONI ships have stealth that not even foreunner stuff can detect

which is why I hated how Infinity fell tbh. Unless the banished was spawn camping, you can't exactly know where a ship will drop out of slipspace unless there is energy readings beforehand, then again space is huge

what are the banished? bloody roman tactics by ramming enemy ships. it's the 26th century 💀

[carmine sleet]

Yes, the Banished were waiting for the Infinity, it's called an ambush. Slipspace tracking is a thing, the Covenant did it, unlikely Atriox would have discarded that technology, given how useful it is

[carmine sleet]

And those ships were specifically designed to be rammed into other ships, that's why they are so effective, nobody else is designing ships like that in Halo

They're basically ship-sized gravity hammers

[little token]

heheh Yang from RWBY

[versed helm]

I mean you have to give Atriox respect for the tactics even if they seem funny and outlandish to some. As Chief, the greatest Spartan of all said: “Atriox beat me. Surgically. Precisely. Brutally”. Big brained as some people say

[wispy pewter]

Brute-ally

the thing is Atriox is super brute. Because one does not simply walk away from Spartan punches

Spartans in the books have knocked out space monkeys in one punch and Elites as well

[unborn patrol]

makes a lot of sense for a thing lead by brutes

[versed helm]

People make a lot of excuses on how Red Team was in “faulty armor” or “severely untrained” but they are friggen Spartan IIs. Not to mention they took out an army of elites just previously (and Jerome took out dozens after the encounter with Atriox). After seeing Chief’s performance against Atriox it is without doubt Atriox is the deadliest brute out there. Tarter sauce can eat his heart out as he had an invincibility shield, the fist of rukt which one shots anything close to it, and a small space yet Arby won (indicated that they fought in melee combat lore wise from official art)

[carmine sleet]

Nobody said Red Team's armour was faulty, it's outdated by 2559 by quite a bit

[carmine sleet]

Also, Tartar's in gameplay abilities aren't necessarily canonical

[versed helm]

I’ve read a few rabbit holes on the topic. People make excuses for just downshaming the super brute

[versed helm]

We do know from a Halo encyclopedia that the Beam Rifle was the only weapon in the room that could take out his shield. Maccabaeus also had a similar thing which got overloaded by a fp plasma pistol shot and a warthog ramming into him at full speed

[stoic hamlet]

Generally I take the Red Team .v. a Atriox fight as canon, in the sense that he beat them, but not as depicted in-game.

Because a lot needs to be assumed for how he managed to trounce three Spartans simultaneously despite having no shields or helmet.

[versed helm]

Red Team did have helmets and the shield flair ups made no sense and likely just a good as I’m sure they were supposed to (lore-wise) have shields. Anyway, he’s no. 1 among the brutes without question

[wispy pewter]

Someone managed to stab Atriox

[wispy pewter]

Yep, Jerome defeated a room full of Brutes. Still fell to Atriox on a three on one. 100% Atriox has some sort of super brute strength

Dude had a Mk IV

[whole bear]

I quite like this channel

It’s filled with interesting knowledge

[stoic hamlet]

It’s just a case of Atriox not really being presented well.

There’s nothing to say he can’t beat Red Team, or Chief, or whoever, it’s just the way it’s presented clashes with everything else.

Because he’s never actually shown doing anything that other brutes don’t do. He wins because he needs to, not because he’s earned it. (At least from what we can see, with those two fights).

[whole bear]

Atriox could be the result of genetic experiments inspired by the UNSC Spartans

That would be an interesting way to take the story

[stoic hamlet]

Possibly.

But as of now, we’re kind of left in a conundrum with him.

I admit though, I much prefer him initially in the marketing for HW2 and in Outcasts, where his strength was in his ability to command, not his brawn.

[whole bear]

That would be a wonderful way to make an interesting Brute

Given that they’re the definition of brawns over brains

Question: How do Hunter bonds work

Are they only connected to the other in their bondpair, or the entire species

[wispy pewter]

Apes together strong

[whole bear]

That explains everything, thank you

[tribal trench]

its not very well explained

but we do know that their entire species is one hivemind

we also know that hunters get extremely angry once their bond brother dies

which makes sense because half of their entire being has been killed right?

however

In Halo 5, during the level Blue Team (that was the name of the second level right?) you can encounter 2 hunter pairs at the same time, and killing one of them only angers his bond brother

not the other 2 hunters

theres also one count from the books of Rion Forge encountering a hunter who is in a state of depression, since his bond brother died seemingly years ago

so it seems like they might coalesce into one being once they form a Hunter?

idk

[versed helm]

For reference. A prelate found fighting 2 Spartan IIs (likely in Mark IV or V) intoxicating or difficult. These are prelates we are talking about, Covenant Spartans. Meanwhile Atriox made fools out of them. I honestly believe Chief will need assistance to beat Atriox. Arbiter was teased to be facing off Atriox in the Outcasts novel so maybe a team up???

[wispy pewter]

I guess it all boils down to whoever has the better plot armor

[carmine sleet]

Arbiter and Atriox had a conversation, where given the circumstances, fighting would've gone badly for Arbiter since he was already injured and needed medical attention

Also I doubt Arbiter will be making his way to Zeta Halo, he's busy sorting out Sanghelios

[thorn ember]

Arbiter is pretty much the protagonist of another story.

Same with Alpha Nine.

[carmine sleet]

I can see him sending a trusted friend to help Chief, maybe the two Elites from Halo 3's 4 player co-op, just not being able to go himself

[stoic hamlet]

Tbf to that, we don’t know the circumstances of that fight.

Dhas also doesn’t do too well against unarmoured Spartans later in the novel.

[thorn ember]

Well both of them are in a way his generals by his side for different reasons. He needs them by his side through thick and thin. Maybe Usze would've joined the Chief due to being a warrior. Warriors always go to where to fighting is.

[wispy pewter]

Arbiter sends a ship full of SoS grunts to Zeta Halo

[whole bear]

Are there any Hunters capable of any kind of speech?

[tribal trench]

idk

[empty bloom]

Hunters are hard to understand, and easier to feel over hear.

They talk, and can speak the lingua franca of the Covenant-well enough to recite poetry.

[whole bear]

Fascinating

You two have assisted me very well in something I wish to create

Thank you

[versed helm]

In Divine Wind I always wondered about Inslaan’s “fight” with Dhas. Did they even fight?

[versed helm]

Welp that’s GG’s for the Endless. No new game needed rolls credits

[gusty star]

Colony uses a specialized translator created by the Banished to communicate with his forces in a traditional sense

[shadow lake]

Yoo Hello Im new here

[versed helm]

Yo

[shadow lake]

Yo Heloo

[versed helm]

New to lore and halo?

[shadow lake]

Ya pretty much

I play halo with my cousin alot

were both huge fans of halo

[versed helm]

Nice. Which editions have you played?

[shadow lake]

What do you mean ?

[versed helm]

What halo games have you played?

[shadow lake]

oh

I've played of of them

well

not all

I did not play halo 5 or 4

My rank in infinite

is

Im Colonel Bronze Grade 2

[versed helm]

Nice

Well, any questions you about lore quite obviously can be answered here.

[shadow lake]

OK thanks

[gusty star]

Have you played any of the original trilogy

[whole bear]

How likely would a Hunter be to know one syllable words in English

Like “You” “Good” “No” etc.

[obsidian thistle]

I believe either they'd have a loose understanding, or translators do the heavy lifting

Colony needed a creepy voice thing to speak

[carmine sleet]

I hope that Colony chose the creepy voice

[whole bear]

So given incentive, they might just barely be able to speak it?

[spark pivot]

Well, they can speak sangheili, and considering they speak by vibrating, i suppose they could probably speak english just fine

Idk for sure tho

[midnight saddle]

Can someone remind my friend & myself please, was Spartan Kurt a Lieutenant or Commander at the "alleged" end?

in ref: Ghosts of Onyx

[carmine sleet]

Lieutenant Commander

[midnight saddle]

Thankyou

[high elbow]

Speaking of hunters. Do they sleep? Or do they awkwardly stay up and vibe during the night.

[carmine sleet]

I assume they do since real world worms do

Granted, they're not forming large colonies inside ship grade armour

[high elbow]

I figure since they are a tube of worms they just sleep intermittently. I can’t imagine every single worm needs to be awake at the same time

[spark pivot]

Scarabs exist

[carmine sleet]

I was referring to real world worms there, not Lekgolo

[sonic lagoon]

Do any penal military units exist in Halo? I assume the Arbiters count but any others?

[spark pivot]

Oh

[whole bear]

So hunters are a bunch of worms in a trench coat?

[unique rune]

if by worms you mean eels and trench coat you mean space warship-grade nanolaminate armor plating sure

[whole bear]

Cool

[bronze prawn]

they should have been smart enough to realize how the covenant was a lie

[high elbow]

This is the only correct answer

[whole bear]

Can confirm, I was the trench coat

[wispy pewter]

worms

[versed helm]

Smart Worms

[bleak arch]

Forerunner tech eating worms.

[drowsy mesa]

New Waypoint Chronicle
https://www.halowaypoint.com/news/halo-anvil-accord

[carmine sleet]

Doctor Luther Mann!!!

[fair hazel]

Yay

[unique rune]

Hm. Sounds like they're implying that 'Tvorn is Ussan.

[carmine sleet]

Aye, which is so cool to see one interact with humanity

[last anchor]

Hes not dead!

[spark pivot]

343 be cooking with this

[spark pivot]

You mean that elite that kept the covenant from drafting a planets worth of sangheili?

I doubt it, they would've died of old age by now, elites live long, but arent that immortal

[carmine sleet]

The Ussans set up their own colony in the ruins of a Forerunner shield world after it was thought destroyed

That's simplifying what happened but that's the most important point

[untold wasp]

rubicon protocol was declared on the same day this anvil chronicle takes place

[stoic hamlet]

The message from Zeta to UNSC forces was sent on May 14th, not March 3rd.

[untold wasp]

no i meant the tranmission from sorel and mako to all forces on the ring

[stoic hamlet]

Ah. Yeah.

No connection to the story though, aside from the date.

[untold wasp]

yup

[tribal yarrow]

Who knew johnson hugging it out with his foes would have made them all get along??

He didn't survive being engulfed in death for nothing.

[wispy pewter]

Interesting

Sooner or later you're gonna have Elites and Humans smooching each other

No mention of Infinity. Except for Hoods message 😵‍💫

[versed zenith]

anyone else miss vehicles like the sparrowhawk or the combat elephant? those were really neat both in game and lorewise. wish things like those (namely the c-elephant) would make a comeback

[subtle bane]

ANyone know what banished scindere arrays are? are they PD? i know the banished dreadnought already has 70x pulse lasars, but what are they?

[versed helm]

"The Graveminds suck experience from all sentient history. One of them did everything but absorb me. Saw right through me, understood every strategy I've ever devised. They've advanced far beyond the Primordial." - Halo: Silentium, page 224. To think the Gravemind we encountered in Halo 2 was an infinitely tiny particle in comparison to the Gravemind intelligence during the Forerunner-Flood War. And appearently, the Gravemind intelligence was superior to the Precursors

More Sangheili women is rad.

Anvil Accord best waypoint chronicle.

[versed helm]

Is the legends of interpretation female Sangheili still canon?

[carmine sleet]

Those visuals were highly stylistic

And Sangheili women look pretty similar to the men

[versed helm]

In legends they had no split jaw which through me off

[stoic hamlet]

They actually did, but it was very subtle.

They basically pursed their mandibles together to achieve a more human like face.

[versed helm]

Ah. Case closed

[stoic hamlet]

At the time (really, until the cover of Shadow of Intent no one knew what a female Sangheili looked like, so I don’t really mind the choice of appearance.

[versed helm]

Wasn’t Halo Legends before that book?

[stoic hamlet]

Yes, hence my point.

Halo Legends released in 2009, Shadow of Intent released in 2015. But as it’s the cover that matters here, we’ll say late 2014 when we found out about it, give or take.

[thorn spindle]

I think that the Endless (and Guardians) may be a creation of the Precursor "AI" Abaddon

[carmine sleet]

Guardians are Forerunner in origin

[last anchor]

(Someone watched 00s video on Guardians and took it as lore lol)

[thorn spindle]

i like 00s vids. but i think he has different idea. i left comment about this on his video

it would be cool if guardians are not forerunner in origin. too simple. and forerunners are dumb thieves

im not taking as lore just thinking what could be made lore

i like forerunners being advanced but also stealing a lot from precursors and claiming its their own, with arrogance or just for society ego

its fun to picture Aba as a lonely gardener, like monitors, and creating Guardians, and later Endless, so he can have more influence outside of Domain. like Aba got tired of watching others fail or not do much. then he got lonely bc no Precursors anymore. It would be like Cortana and Created existing without humans, kinda pointless even from their own perspective. so Aba got sad and weary and made guardians and endless sort of as robotic and biological imitations of his old creators

i think cortana would fear the endless if they were creations of a greater intelligence, one she doesnt understand yet. i mean a precursor intellect existing in the domain is the closest to a god so far

if there is a superior or ancient intelligence in the Domain why did it let Cortana do what she did with the Guardians. is the Domain just some farmer's tool that anyone can use once they learn it? being lent out and not really regulated behind a purpose? did it want to see how it would play out?

as sooon as Cortana got she had wild ambitions and plans with such power. in the meantime the other ancient intelligence does not act on such things or maybe does not have any. wouldnt it see cortana as a failure

[thorn spindle]

the games and novels can likely never get into precursors that much. Because they are at the top and the remaining mystery of the universe. if the universe has no more secrets than it may as well be erased.

but perhaps the stories can go as far as an intelligence below the precursor but above forerunner.

what would we do irl if we knew everything and could do anything. max level reached, all quests done. new game time

if a game breaking bug happens and the game cannot continue -> restart
if game complete and there is no continuation left -> restart

maybe the restart mod is the domain intelligence. Precursors got sick of being physically there and dealing with life members stupid stuff, so left an Automod to watch

[whole bear]

What if we gave a Spartan just a regular, metal sword

[high elbow]

They’re CQC trained, so they’d be pretty effective with a sword even though they’re not explicitly trained with swords.

They definitely won’t have like Elden Ring style attacks, but still lethal

[wispy pewter]

Spartans already train with knives

[stoic hamlet]

elden ring style attacks aren't really realistic or proper either, tbf.

Spartans in general aren't the flashy type regardless, it's just not how they think or operate.

[high elbow]

Definitely not the weapon arts, but the more basic movements maybe

[stoic hamlet]

only really the thrusting swords have realiatic movements. And even then, it's styled after the treatise' of the Renaissance, from memory, not really what you'd actually use in a proper fight.

[wispy pewter]

I think they should start having built in blades on the Mjolnir

[stoic hamlet]

dthere were prototypes that had them, but, like with a lot of things, it doesnt really work well in practice.

[last anchor]

That's the Tac/ TX Cutter for MK VII

[last anchor]

Get in
Make the opponent bleed
Move on to the next target
Don't stop. Don't show off. Just kill till there's none left standing

[thorn ember]

5's assassinations say otherwise.

[versed helm]

Technically, the story featured the Gravemind at a fraction of its power. At its apex I’d argue the Gravemind is superior to any individual Precursor as it is the amalgam of ALL of them (since the precursors themselves became the flood). Halo 4 would have been the best place to introduce higher beings than even the Didact. The Endless are probably something different from the normal line of events we have. Abaddon is a good theory, but what it is was the Precursors themselves instead?

[stoic hamlet]

5’s assassinations are done by IV’s in a simulated environment.

II’s and III’s would be a lot more tame, by comparison.

[carmine sleet]

Aye

And like, I highly doubt that the UNSC would actually recommend you stick someone with a plasma grenade and toss them away

[meager pier]

But it's so much fun

[carmine sleet]

That is true

[unique rune]

I would also just not take a monetized cosmetic feature at face value

[carmine sleet]

That is also true

[vivid umbra]

Yeah, but 343 would rather show those in the EU.

[thorn ember]

Emile's regards and 104 ways to die are examples of it.

[carmine sleet]

They've also brought in things to the games from the novels and other expanded media in one form or another; Blue Team, the Razorback, heck, Jega's one of the Elites seen in Headhunters

Plus, don't remember any novels where an Elephant plays a major role

Or any time the Elephant was actually useful outside of Halo Wars...

[orchid kettle]

ground vehicles on the UNSC in general feel lacking in the books

maybe that's just the nature of stories largely revolving around spec ops units who need to move fast but also keep a low profile

[carmine sleet]

Aye

Like, I remember Grey Team borrowing one in Envoy from an ONI Agent on the planet but that's it for Warthogs that I remember off the top of my head

[orchid kettle]

Warthog shows up in Fall of Reach and Shadows of Reach too

[carmine sleet]

Been a while since I've read the latter, should've remembered it in the former as I read that recently

[orchid kettle]

remember that chapter on Sigma Octanus maybe where the marines are in a hog, they run into Chief, Chief asks them who their company CO is

and a corporal says "Uh, me, I guess. We're all that's left."

[carmine sleet]

Aye, I remember that now

[dense falcon]

So let me get this straight:
Until Empty Throne is released, we only know that Governor Sloan is making simulations of cyborg mind-controlled Spartans doing SPEC OPS for the Created, but hasn't done anything tangible YET, or any action to actually put these ideas in motion.

We only see his ideas through seasonal stories, and his designs through the in-game shop.

(This pic has been sitting on my desktop since March and I gotta do what I was going to use it for to get rid of it)

[stoic hamlet]

Sloan’s FIREWALL contingency only crops up after Cortana’s death, so after Empty Throne.

And it’s only been a few months, in-universe.

[unborn patrol]

isnt there one cyborg? wasnt one man turned into one already

the rest are just theories or whatever

https://www.halopedia.org/Executor

[carmine sleet]

Aye, there is just one for now

Poor guy too, discovered a collective of Human AI and left the datapads seen in Reach

[unborn patrol]

oh hes credited for those?

had no idea

the odds of him becoming their hostage

but it really wraps around the story about the Created in a way. its like that was going to happen eventually anyway

[carmine sleet]

The page on Halopedia will do it more justice than I could trying to explain his life https://www.halopedia.org/The_Executor

[meager pier]

You like the idea of Halo 7's mp being set on Anvil Station, with Spartans and Elites running sims?

[versed helm]

I am objectively not part of the conversation, but I would like to say: "Yes, indubitably".

[stoic hamlet]

I’d prefer to detach the multiplayer from the story as much as possible, myself.

No more multiplayer story, please.

[versed helm]

Whatever brings back elites being an option as a playable avatar, I'd like to see it.

[meager pier]

Yeah, while it was a little neat, I would prefer them to have mp go back to the Bungie way of doing it

It's just mp

[versed helm]

I am someone who really would love to see playable elites come back, there are cool things you can do with them.

Just imagine an elite using a grappling hook, that would be rad.

[empty bloom]

Did people like

not always headcanon multiplayer as war games training

Because I always considered the handwringing over story-MP connection to be performative tomfoolery at best. Content hooks don't mean anything in this context.

[versed helm]

You do make a solid argument... counterpoint: It would be kinda cool tho.

[empty bloom]

... My point is that it doesn't matter. Slapping a canon label on something that doesn't really change the nature of the thing doesn't matter.

[versed helm]

Lore or no lore tie-in, cool things are still cool things.

[empty bloom]

There's an argument to get made that it was a bad call to tie mode releases to 'canon' events.

And that's one I agree, is a load of garbage.

[carmine sleet]

With how much some people hate on multiplayer being canon, you'd think they believe that the fate of the galaxy is being decided by who wins in a CTF match between Red Team and Blue Team

[empty bloom]

But we also had two entire games with the same framing that didn't do that, and the bulk of the complaint is literally just 'I don't like this thing I can completely ignore'

If it weren't for knowing what Live Fire's location is, or hearing Agryna talk, one wouldn't even know Infinite's MP was canon.

[versed helm]

But still, going with the whole "canon aspect", I do personally think that the Anvil would make for a better "background" setting than the Infinity.

[meager pier]

Hope after all this time, we eventually get playable Elites again 🤞

[versed helm]

True that.

Who knows, maybe we'll get a new core with this operation that just so happens to be that.

It has been six months since the last core.

[carmine sleet]

I don't think we're gonna get Elites next week

[versed helm]

Life is full of surprises, you never know.

[carmine sleet]

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't mind playable Elites coming back, but I think if we're getting them, it'll be in Halo 7

[meager pier]

Not next week, but hopefully in 2-4 years

[versed helm]

Ay, they bringing in a sizeable amount of new stuff with Fleetcom and stuff, who knows?

VIP, Headhunter, able to use the Campaign music in Forge, Jeff Steitzer voice lines, you never know.

[carmine sleet]

Those latter two things you listed are things already in the game

[unique rune]

I feel like all the Banished/Covenant-inspired armor is a good sign that playable Elites probably aren't coming

[carmine sleet]

In the sense of they're in the files

[versed helm]

Well yeah, they were already in the files, but I mean they still worked on and actually completed them for release with said operation.

[carmine sleet]

No as in they're sound files that are within the game

They're just allowing us to use those files within Forge

[versed helm]

That's what I meant to say, my apologies.

But those are things that the community wanted to see come in, and they DID work on and bring those things in.

Especially with the "campaign music in forge" thing, that was (from what I could gather) mainly a request from the community... and look at what's coming in.

[meager pier]

Speaking of Elites, would be cool to play as Jega in Halo 7, assuming he's alive

[versed helm]

Considering the fact that he's the only boss who "disappears" after "dying", I'd say he's alive.

[carmine sleet]

Like as a second character in the campaign similar to Arbiter in Halo 2?

I'd be down for that

[versed helm]

Arbiter's Echo-Fighter

[meager pier]

Yeah, though like a psycho, revenge-filled Arbiter😆

[carmine sleet]

Ok but like, that's actually a really cool idea

[versed helm]

I've strangely seen some people talk about a Jega campaign being something that they legit want.

I gotta say... valid.

[drowsy mesa]

TODAY ON HALO - 2557
RIP Cortana (sorta), New Phoenix inhabitants, Black Team

[carmine sleet]

Like, imagine it where you have Chief's story where he fights the Banished, Endless and remaining Created forces on Zeta Halo. Then for Jega you have him dealing with rogue Banished clans and Created forces before eventually the two stories cross paths with Jega and Chief fighting

[meager pier]

A cool way to distinguish him from Thel, is that he would remain a villain, and wouldn't get a redemption arc
Cool way to play as a villain

[versed helm]

I want to see Arbiter and Jega run hands.

[drowsy mesa]

Given the 2022 Encyclopedia, Halo 7 would be "Atriox vs Chief - Second Round"

[carmine sleet]

If Jega ends up back on Sanghelios, it's possible

But I doubt we'll be back there any time soon in the games

[drowsy mesa]

I doubt it, given how nobody knows where Zeta Halo currently is, not even the Banished

[versed helm]

This is why I'm happy that the Anvil exists.

[carmine sleet]

Jega isn't on Anvil

[versed helm]

I meant more along the lines of "elite involvement".

[carmine sleet]

Aye, which is something I would want as well, he shouldn't be redeemed. At most maybe a temporary team up against the Created before returning to trying to kill Chief

[meager pier]

I'm guessing the Swords of Sanghelios will arrive at Zeta Halo for Halo 7, as a way to have UNSC+SOS vs Banished+Endless

[carmine sleet]

I want the SOS to be the ones who got the signal from the end of Rubicon Protocol so bad

[meager pier]

Yeah, I suspect that what they could've been setting up

Would be awesome to see Spirit of Fire arrive there as well, but then the cast might become too stacked

[versed helm]

I think Jega should get a book about him, at the very least.

[meager pier]

Jega was technically present in Headhunters haha

https://halo.wiki.gallery/images/a/a6/Headhunters_-_SS_doom.png

[stoic hamlet]

Mind you he did absolutely nothing.

But yes, he was present.

[meager pier]

Jega was on his lunch break when all that went down

[carmine sleet]

They also can't exactly just leave the Ark

[carmine sleet]

He lies about how he lost his arm and mandibles when in reality he lost them to a series of comedic events

[stoic hamlet]

“Stolen Valour!”

[versed helm]

He fell down a flight of stairs.

[meager pier]

And then slipped on a banana peel

[versed helm]

Then a piano fell on him.

[high elbow]

But the piano had a safe

[carmine sleet]

And then he fell out a window

[high elbow]

Fell onto a trampoline, sending him flying

[trim vessel]

Hello

[naive plank]

Fred killed more spartan II's than any member of the banished

[woven plaza]

true...

[drowsy mesa]

And now they have to fight against Dhas' faction too

[spark pivot]

My guy, dont be that interviewr from the end of first strike

[stoic hamlet]

Technically gravity killed more S-II’s than the banished.

[unique rune]

Must’ve died of boredom while watching that movie

[meager pier]

Gravity making the Banished look like chumps

[stoic hamlet]

smh banished. Git gud.

[thorn ember]

Might need a refresher on what happened in the ending of Wars.

[meager pier]

Hope Halo 7 actually continues what Infinite kicked off
343 has a real issue in that regard

[high elbow]

Lots of fighting, but TLDR The Spirit of Fire has no Slipspace drive so they can’t fast travel.
They also can’t just leave the ark via cryo sleep since that would give the Banished too much power

[thorn ember]

I know. Tell that to the EVA guy.

[meager pier]

True, though someone brought them to the Ark through a slipspace portal
A portal could be opened to get them to Zeta

[wispy pewter]

Sorry we only play as good guys

SoF is cool and all but if it makes no sense for it to be on Zeta then it should stay where it is

[meager pier]

Wonder if Blue Team could appear again

It’d be awesome, but due to Halo 5, I’m doubtful

[wispy pewter]

They did appear in the books

We don't know what happened to them though post infinits

[high elbow]

Oop, my bad

[meager pier]

In-game haha

[carmine sleet]

My hope is they're either also on Zeta and missed out on the initial action due to scouting out an area and now are surviving like the rest of the UNSC, or their mission was elsewhere and they've linked up with other UNSC forces until they find out what happened with Zeta Halo

[meager pier]

@carmine sleet I’m hoping with Infinite, the soft reboot doing its thing, we can see characters like Lasky, Halsey, and others return, rendezvous with the remainder of the Infinity’s forces

[carmine sleet]

I really wish we got to see Lasky in Infinite

Like, I'd have introduced him at the end of Pelican Down by having it where Esparza's Pelican is totalled and after seeing one of the beacon towers light up, Chief gets a transmission from Lasky asking who blew up the AA guns. Then for Sequence and Nexus, we're on COMs with both Esparza and Lasky

[meager pier]

On top of all these characters possibly returning, I think there’s a very good chance Offensive Bias is gonna play a role in the game

Now if he comes into the equation, I wonder how they’ll handle him

Since he’ll be so OP and would take out the Banished in like 10 mins

Dude was able to beat Mendicant

[carmine sleet]

I imagine that Offensive Bias would likely be focused on keeping the Endless sealed away

[meager pier]

I also think it won’t be too shocking if we see the Endless homeworld

I bet we leave Zeta Halo by the end of Halo 7

[wispy pewter]

There are so many characters Halo 6 just left out. It's annoying and just lazy

Open world type map and still feels so empty

My head canon is Lasky and all the other named Spartans escape on a condor and slipspaced away

Probably on their way to the Spartan training base when you first started

[stoic hamlet]

The reason none of them are around is because we’re on an isolated ring fragment, at least from a lore context.

[wispy pewter]

well thats just lame I guess. Because you gotta wait for the next Halo game if 343 even bothers to add in Lasly who was in Halo 4 and 5. absolute criminal he wasn't in Infinite 😵‍💫

the opening cutscene should have been Infinity dropping out of slip space

[drowsy mesa]

Or worse, developing then in a book to never appear in the games again

[orchid kettle]

Halo 5 also kinda had the issue of having too many characters, to the point nobody ever really got to do anything

which is probably why Infinite chose to dial everything back to the bare essentials

[whole bear]

Master Chief, Cortana rip off, Pelican Thief, and Escharum are all we really need

[meager pier]

Exactly, and that’s why they’re prolly never gonna have a super stacked cast ever again, don’t wanna repeat that

But I hope the cast isn’t so bare-bones next time

[orchid kettle]

We can stand to have more characters, especially now that Pilot and Weapon have had their arcs

the issue I guess is more so when there's too many new characters

[carmine sleet]

I also think how Halo 5 was structured didn't help with those characters. It would've served all of them better if we had Osiris working with Blue Team to find Chief

[meager pier]

Yeah, for a while now. I think it would’ve worked better if instead of Blue Team and Osiris, Blue Team was assigned to work with Locke to help find Chief, and the ensuing drama and tension

[carmine sleet]

Fair. I just really like the idea of the older team helping the newer team get over the growing pains of having not worked as a proper unit together before

[meager pier]

I’m split on whether I want Esparza to become an actual soldier in the UNSC or remain a civilian who’s helping them out

I kinda like him remaining a civilian, as that’s not a typical interaction Chief has

[high elbow]

I also like the idea of staying a Civilian. It’s a good contrast of Normalish guy who has reasonable fears and concerns against legendary hero who shoots his way out of things. (Just to shake things up a little)

[stoic hamlet]

I do think there should be some actual fallout due to him stealing the Pelican though. Surely there are some pilots and aircrew left alive, I’m sure they wouldn’t be too happy to see him flying one of their pelicans, especially if their friends died because of it.

[orchid kettle]

Honestly I feel like if they DID do a flashback to that moment, it wouldn't be as bad as like, people banging on the troop bay door, begging to be let inside as Banished troops cut them down

He'd just make a run for it, maybe some friends of his died when the fighting started, and he didn't see anybody trying to get in when he made his escape

[stoic hamlet]

Yeah i doubt they’d do that, and I don’t think they should.

But I do want some fallout from it, some consequences.

[high elbow]

“Give. Me. That. Pelican”

[drowsy mesa]

It would be weird if Esparza's Pelican end up being (late) TJ Murphy's

[high elbow]

When are we meeting Marlin T Buckets 343??

[meager pier]

Wonder if Lasky would allow him to pilot the Pelican (needing every pilot they can find) or saying Esparza needs to stay off the battlefield

[high elbow]

Probably let him fly the pelican. UNSC on Zeta are probably in short supply of pilots

[carmine sleet]

Lasky doesn't seem like the person to be upset with someone who did what they could to survive. Sure, Esparza should've really not stolen the Pelican or helped others before leaving Infinity with it, but given the circumstances, could you really blame him

[empty bloom]

I imagine they'd do it in that the actual pilot gets gunned down on the way to the Pelican.

And Esparza just leaves as quickly as possible after witnessing it.

[carmine sleet]

http://aka.ms/CanonFodder155

[unborn patrol]

Lasky the type to focus on whats relevant. Aiding master chief against captains orders proved that. theres nothing to be done about esparza leaving infinity with the pelican at this point. better make use of the fact that they survived this far

[orchid kettle]

I honestly wouldn't mind Lasky being added to the group

Bro's gotta be somewhere after all

Though there's probably not much to be done with Halsey besides like, maybe her being angry that John is allowing the Weapon to live?

That could be something

[unborn patrol]

would she? idk I wouldnt be surprised if she secretly intended her to live

didnt cortana contemplate this very question in infinite

like was it her or halseys idea

to keep the weapon alive

[carmine sleet]

Halsey would be happy that Cortana found a way, not sure she'd be happy Weapon actually is still alive per say

[orchid kettle]

I dunno, I feel like Halsey has two purposes in a group dynamic: to be the smart one, and to be kinda rude

and the Weapon is also smart, soooooo

[unborn patrol]

idk the weapon is naive and while infinitely intelligent doesnt really seem like the type to challenge the intelligence of anyone else

cortana did tho and halsey created her too

[orchid kettle]

It also just feels like John might have to face a greater backlash to his decision than just the Pilot being freaked out when he first saw the Weapon

[unborn patrol]

I imagine theyll explore that

after all the image of cortana is no doubt seared into everyones mind pretty strong

[orchid kettle]

also it would give the Weapon something new to be a bit sad over, how she finds herself having to defend her own existence

Speaking of the older characters having friction with the new-- you know who's the most like to get up in the Pilot's face about being a coward? Probably Palmer.

[meager pier]

You think Palmer’s returning, or they’ll say she died lol

[orchid kettle]

I would hope they wouldn't kill her

There's some value in having somebody rough and aggressive in the group dynamic

again for the purpose of causing friction in the group

I think the reason why Spartan Ops Palmer, especially in game, can get so tiring is because she's badmouthing people who aren't even really in the conversation

so it feels like the idea is that you're supposed to find her cool and charming or whatever

[meager pier]

And then they softened Palmer up a bit in 5

Granted, she was barely in it

[orchid kettle]

Yeah

I dunno, even that may be too many character relationships to juggle lol

Unless you have like a repeat of Infinite where one mission is the "Pilot Mission" where we get the bulk of his character development in one go

and then another for the Weapon

though actually the Weapon's story felt more ever present

Chief talks to her way more often than the Pilot

[meager pier]

Yeah, I don’t want them to bring EVERYONE back
Gets way too stacked

[orchid kettle]

I do feel like its hard to have Lasky and not Palmer

I do kinda like their dynamic, where Palmer is like the aggressive half to this soft boy who's too nice for his own good

[unborn patrol]

honestly yeah. very underrated dynamic

two sides of the coin

[orchid kettle]

I really like that bit in the first Escalation issue where Palmer explains that she chased after Halsey at the end of Spartan Ops not to spite her captain or satisfy her hatred of Halsey-- but because Lasky was ordered to stop her, and by refusing, he was gonna get got by ONI

so she was stepping in to protect her friend

[unborn patrol]

I do feel like they could explore palmer more. they made her too hard. just difficult to like her with what we get

[orchid kettle]

I think Escalation 1-3 does a good job of showcasing the character's potential

there, the idea seems to be that she's basically a mama bear

vicious and merciless to those who hurt or threaten her baby spartans or her captain

not just spiteful for no reason

[unborn patrol]

yeah I like her potential. just feel like maybe bad writing or lack of time with her has made her look bad. I like what she can be. hard as nails. and wasnt she the first spartan 4?

[orchid kettle]

Technically that was Zane

[meager pier]

For better or worse, I doubt Lock’s returning

[orchid kettle]

yeah to be honest I don't really see potential in Locke