I am just now jumping into this forum, so please forgive me if this has already been suggested. I have read every Halo novel published thus far and obviously have played the games extensively. SPOILERS for the Forerunner Trilogy and some later novels ahead. Here’s my take on the campaign, starting with a rough snippet:
Dealt a fiendish blow by Cortana and her Created followers, Humanity is reeling in the wake of the activation of the Guardians. With many of their crucial Artificial Intelligences now working against them, a desperate UNSC’s only hope for victory may lie in the hands of an old foe. The Master Chief and Blue Team have been sent to make contact and take the fight to the Created.
Halo Infinite should feature Humanity contesting the Created for the Domain, and to a greater extent, the Mantle of Responsibility. Having their effectiveness gutted by the betrayal of their AIs, they turn to 343 Guilty Spark to get a leg up on a technological level.
But that’s a hobbled, cliff notes blurb. To those who have read all the books, it’ll make sense. For those who have not, I’ll explain.
Halo 4 and 5 began to incorporate ideas and plot points first introduced in the Halo novels, and while this is to be applauded in and of itself, they have actually done a rather poor job of explaining the relevance of these ideas in relation to the larger plotlines of the Halo Universe. Halo 4’s Librarian cutscene is a key example. So, let’s delve.
The Forerunners held the Mantle of Responsibility, which dictated that they oversee the universe, especially in regards to sentient species. Just before succumbing to the Flood and activating the Halo rings, the Librarian re-seeds Humanity on Earth with the intent for them to re-evolve and eventually attain the Mantle of Responsibility. This was opposed by her husband, the Didact, who obviously takes action to stop this in Halo 4, even though the game doesn’t tell you that. In Halo 5, Humanity’s AIs betray them and access the Domain, which effectively means that they have attained the Mantle instead of the humans. So Halo Infinite is perfectly poised to feature a struggle over the Mantle, something that Humanity was pre-destined to do. But how to fight effectively with all major planets in a technological blackout? 343 Guilty Spark. He didn’t die in Halo 3. As an AI, he could just inhabit other suitable data storage. The Forerunner Trilogy reveals Guilty Spark to have originally been a human in the time of the Forerunners whose consciousness gets transferred and transformed into that of an “ancilla”. Forerunner AIs were extremely powerful, but Chakas (Guilty Spark’s human name) also had his human mind layout built upon. He is not only uniquely equipped to combat Cortana (shared human brain template, powerful AI, knowledge of Forerunner installations and society) but he his uniquely motivated to assist Humanity in doing so. Having been a human originally is enough, but he also has a great affection for the Librarian, and it was her plan all along for the humans to gain the Mantle. Contact with humans and access to their history has rekindled his human memories and repaired his mind. So, I think it all fits pretty well.
What do you guys think?