Cortana may have used the domain to cure her rampancy in Halo 5, but I believe that both she and Warden Eternal have fallen under the same spell that consumed Mendicant Bias during the ancient flood war: the Logic Plague.
Here are my reasons for believing this:
- Readers of the forerunner saga will remember that the domain was in fact, a Precursor creation (that abandoned the forerunners at the end of the flood war), and was heavily damaged by the firing of the Halos.
- Offhand comments in a canon fodder issue on waypoint mentions that the domain is repairing itself in Halo 5, all but confirming that it is the same domain from the book saga.
- At this point, Precursors = Domain = Flood = Gravemind.
- Cortana only discovered her desire for galaxy-wide domination after making contact with the domain following Halo 4.
- The Gravemind already had intimate contact with Cortana in Halo 3, and maybe left a lasting impression on her.
Do you guys kind of follow me with this? It would also be a continuation of the theme that the flood/Precursors are the overarching villains behind everything, considering its the flood’s fault that Didact was a maniac in Halo 4.
I thought the Warden wasn’t an AI. Exuberant Witness made note of that in the campaign. I don’t think Warden has the Logic Plague but I do think Cortana might have it.
lore wise it makes the most sense. But 343 seems to be taking the road that she’s not a “evil” person… so unless 343 is deceiving us, that’s how it is.
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> I thought the Warden wasn’t an AI. Exuberant Witness made note of that in the campaign. I don’t think Warden has the Logic Plague but I do think Cortana might have it.
He isn’t a robot, which I think Buck called him, but he is an ancilla of some kind.
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> > 2533274992413430;2:
> > I thought the Warden wasn’t an AI. Exuberant Witness made note of that in the campaign. I don’t think Warden has the Logic Plague but I do think Cortana might have it.
>
>
> He isn’t a robot, which I think Buck called him, but he is an ancilla of some kind.
Ah. I do hope we find out what the Warden is exactly. I’ve seen many theories and some make sense because we don’t really know anything about him.
I’m thinking maybe Abaddon has something to do with it, and is in cahoots with Gravemind/Primordial…
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> Cortana may have used the domain to cure her rampancy in Halo 5, but I believe that both she and Warden Eternal have fallen under the same spell that consumed Mendicant Bias during the ancient flood war: the Logic Plague.
> Here are my reasons for believing this:
> 1. Readers of the forerunner saga will remember that the domain was in fact, a Precursor creation (that abandoned the forerunners at the end of the flood war), and was heavily damaged by the firing of the Halos.
> 2. Offhand comments in a canon fodder issue on waypoint mentions that the domain is repairing itself in Halo 5, all but confirming that it is the same domain from the book saga.
> 3. At this point, Precursors = Domain = Flood = Gravemind.
> 4. Cortana only discovered her desire for galaxy-wide domination after making contact with the domain following Halo 4.
> 5. The Gravemind already had intimate contact with Cortana in Halo 3, and maybe left a lasting impression on her.
>
> Do you guys kind of follow me with this? It would also be a continuation of the theme that the flood/Precursors are the overarching villains behind everything, considering its the flood’s fault that Didact was a maniac in Halo 4.
I’ve been thinking this. Wouldn’t surprise me if there was more layers to it all though, as with the Didact it wasn’t just the Flood that made him unravelled, but all that time he spent locked alone without the Domain. I would add more, but I haven’t had time to finish reading Mythos yet and that probably has stuff in it.
You didn’t even provide any connections for Warden Eternal and the flood. Just because the Precursors created the domain doesn’t mean it became infected with the flood, the Forerunner Saga mentions a couple of times that the Forerunners became unable to connect to the Domain, but they don’t provide a reason like it was compromised by the flood. I actually doubt the flood could even infect the Domain since it isn’t even a physical place and the only entrance we know of is on Genesis, which lore doesn’t seem to indicate was ever attacked. There isn’t AI logic to subvert in the Domain so infection is highly unlikely.
Warden Eternal’s job is to guard the Domain and maybe the guardians as well since he had a tomb full of his bodies guarding the Guardian on Meridian. As useful as he would seem on the front-lines against the Flood, he seems to have been positioned in spots that never saw conflict as we know the guardians were buried on out-of-the-way worlds so they couldn’t be used against the Forerunners.
The best theory I’ve seen about Cortana’s actions is that a rampant shard made it to the Domain then fully healed into a whole personality. It certainly makes more sense as the Logic Plague would have had plenty of time to work from Halo 3-4 but doesn’t. Not to mention she refuses the Gravemind’s logic in “Human Weakness” so she couldn’t have been infected.
> 2533274865500640;9:
> You didn’t even provide any connections for Warden Eternal and the flood. Just because the Precursors created the domain doesn’t mean it became infected with the flood, the Forerunner Saga mentions a couple of times that the Forerunners became unable to connect to the Domain, but they don’t provide a reason like it was compromised by the flood. I actually doubt the flood could even infect the Domain since it isn’t even a physical place and the only entrance we know of is on Genesis, which lore doesn’t seem to indicate was ever attacked. There isn’t AI logic to subvert in the Domain so infection is highly unlikely.
>
> Warden Eternal’s job is to guard the Domain and maybe the guardians as well since he had a tomb full of his bodies guarding the Guardian on Meridian. As useful as he would seem on the front-lines against the Flood, he seems to have been positioned in spots that never saw conflict as we know the guardians were buried on out-of-the-way worlds so they couldn’t be used against the Forerunners.
>
> The best theory I’ve seen about Cortana’s actions is that a rampant shard made it to the Domain then fully healed into a whole personality. It certainly makes more sense as the Logic Plague would have had plenty of time to work from Halo 3-4 but doesn’t. Not to mention she refuses the Gravemind’s logic in “Human Weakness” so she couldn’t have been infected.
Very good points! I’ve always been under the impression that the domain’s will has always been aligned with that of the precursors (since its established that the domain does indeed have a will of its own), but you’re right in that there is a lot of information I’m missing and many gaps that I haven’t filled. I truly do hope 343 continues to expand upon the intricacies of the domain rather than using it as a plot device then casting it out.