Anyone think that perhaps the Master Chief is re-united with Blue Team, in Issue 8 and Issue 9?
My theory is that Halo and 343 (Industries not Guilty Spark lol) is building up Spartan Blue Team’s reputation, and legendary status, in the fan base and halo universe… like the Spartan-II Propoganda depicts them.
Firstly the New Art Designs from 343 Industries:
The armor take on the new Spartan-II and Mjolnir Mark-IV… and John-117’s Mark-VI Variant… as well as the Sangheili… are the new art designs that 343 Industries decided to go with… to better differentiate themselves from the old (retro/classic) Bungie ones.
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The Prologue from Halo 4 shows Spartan-IIs dropping in, to fight the Covenant Empire’s initial strikes on the Human colony worlds… although this is the Mjolnir Mark-IV design… and so doesn’t fully justify my answer yet…
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The Halo 4: Awakening back cover/credits shows a mysterious artwork of what appears to be Spartan-II. They are quite larger than the Spartan-IV and also have the signature Mark-IV look? The facial appearance and traits also look quite uncanny to that of Blue Team members, Fred-104; Kelly-087 and Linda-058. Coincidence? Not very likely, this could be Halo 5 Concept Art…
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The cover of Halo: Escalation #8 ‘The next 72-Hours’ Part 1 shows a Spartan-II with a sniper rifle… hmm quite possibly could be Linda-058… as her chosen weapon is the sniper rifle… to which she is the best… even by Spartan-II standards. And to add if the Ur-Didact and Prometheans are involved are think that… ONI would want their best team of Spartans to approach the situation…
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The cover of Halo: Escalation #9 ‘The next 72-Hours’ Part 2 shows what appears to be a Spartan-II, most likely John-117, being punched by the Forerunner Warrior-Servant/Promethean, Ur-Didact. It is most likely John-117, as the Ur-Didact would no longer underestimate him… after foiling his plans on Earth with the composer… he may even hold a grudge?
Secondly Blue Team’s growing presence in the Halo Universe:
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Blue Team had originated in the novels, Halo: Fall Of Reach, Halo: First Strike, Halo: Ghosts Of Onyx… to which their appearances and nature where fabricated by that of the reader only. Besides of course the cover art…
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Blue Team had then been depicted through comic adaptions, of the Halo: Fall Of Reach, spanning three separate sections… Halo: Boot Camp, Halo: Covenant and Halo: Invasion… this gave readers and fans a better grasp of what they were like and appeared to the populace of the Halo Universe… tall, mysterious, steadfast heroes…
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After the comic adaption… Blue Team had taken a huge leap… they had been brought onto the motion pictures and been adapted in the cartoon/anime depiction Halo: Legends in the episode The Package. This had given Blue Team a greater span of presence… as not many people read the books or even the comics… it had shown how talented and stoic these characters were and that each possessed specific traits like John-117.
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The next installment had been in the Kilo-Five Trilogy… Halo: Glasslands… a new novel trilogy which gave readers an indication that Blue Team and Catherine Halsey were still alive Post Human-Covenant War… and that 343 Industries hadn’t forgotten them.
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The next appearance… had been in a Halo 4 Live-Action Trailer known as ‘Scanned’. It had shown the initial stages of the Spartan-II Program… and gave us a representation of Linda-058 without her armor… or augmentations. This showed that their in-game was becoming more of a reality…
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The first in-game reference was a small easter egg of Linda-058 in Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary… connecting to the novel the Halo: Fall Of Reach. This gave us a better connection between the written word and in-game canon.
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The first actual live-action film-adaption of Blue Team had been in Halo 4’s mini web series, Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn… to which they were seen taking off their helmets revealing the Spartan-IIs human side… and showing more of the legendary status that had been surrounding them.
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The last known reference to Blue Team was some subtle mentions from NPC (Non-Playable Characters) in Halo 4 Campaign… with the IWHBYD (I WOULD HAVE BEEN YOUR DADDY) skull on…
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Spartan-IV (Shutdown): “I spotted for a class two, back in thirty-nine… 0058… you know her?” (Linda-058)
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Spartan-IV (Unknown): “I fought with 104 back on Reach. Did you know him?” (Fred-104)
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Spartan-IV (Infinity) “Any word from 087? Could’ve really used her speed back there.” (Kelly-087)
And third and final is the real world jobs, and changes at 343 Industries:
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343 Industries stating that the books, comics, movies, films and games will all be taken with equal consideration for canon… and so Blue Team is seen as a greater and more important aspect of the universe.
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343 Industries had stated at a PAX 2012 conference that Blue Team has been considering Blue Team and other Spartan-IIs… Kiki Wolfkill.
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343 Industries had hired a new creative director… Tom Lingo… who has worked on one, if not the best, sci-fi squad based shooter… Star Wars: Republic Commando.
So it seems that 343 Industries is starting to build their hype up gradually… and perhaps leading to a new era for Halo? A squad based command system for a new campaign experience…