So I was really hoping the Cortana flashes from Halo 3 would be back in Halo 5 or else I don’t think it would have done Halo 3 full justice. It makes sense than after Chief and Cortana are separated again, for whatever reason, the flashes would come back again the same way.
So the question I have is, what are they and why do they happen? My first hypothesis was that Cortana is somehow Master Chief’s “plug” (like the Librarian is to the Didact). And that without her, he breaks down and goes crazy. And part of him going nuts is to see her face and hear her voice in his head. 343 has now said that this is how Master Chief deals with loss which supports this theory, except I don’t think that’s what it is anymore.
Because she said “The Domain is open” which leads me to believe that either the Domain or the Gravemind are communicating with Chief through Cortana. It’s clear enough that, at least on the level “Cortana” in Halo 3, the Gravemind/Cortana flashes are coming straight from the Gravemind.
The flashes are probably just remnants or left over bits when she hastily left Chief in Halo 2 and she was being tortured by the gravemind in Halo 3.
I don’t think there can be flashes anymore because she’s dead and there is nothing left of her. Chief isn’t crazy, he just has a strong emotional bond with Cortana and so he’s clearly upset. Anyone would probably find some relation of their loved ones or see something that isn’t there or just isn’t anything at all if they were separated or lost them.
Could be anything really. Personally lean towards the Gravemind, but with the Domain apparently being a living being it could be communicating to him with an image of Cortana for similarities sake.
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> Could be anything really. Personally lean towards the Gravemind, but with the Domain apparently being a living being it could be communicating to him with an image of Cortana for similarities sake.
Your theory is very plausible (and my favorite so far), I look forward to see if it’s correct.
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> Have you ever thought that maybe Cortana is part of Johns Geas now? Spark has Chakas and Forthenco. Librarian’s doing.
I’m thinking it is more along these lines as well. Personally I think Cortana escaped into the Domain and John’s Geas is allowing him to communicate with her. I also think that the Domain has yielded a way for Cortana to correct her rampancy. And in the books it took some time before Chakas and etc were able to make sense of/learn to use their Geas.This could explain why she is only now contacting him and coming in flashes as John doesn’t know how to use the Geas and Cortana needed time to repair herself.
While it could be a Gravemind projection, the fact that they already did that in Halo 3 and it was used as a way to torment the Chief leads me to believe it will be something different. These flashes sound more like a warning of some upcoming event than trying to torment the Chief. Unless there is another impending firing of the Halo’s I don’t see the Gravemind suddenly being afraid of Forerunner tech/Guardians to the point of needing to enlist Chief’s help again.
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> Have you ever thought that maybe Cortana is part of Johns Geas now? Spark has Chakas and Forthenco. Librarian’s doing.
I thought about that too. She might have embedded Cortana in Chief’s geas when she gave him those genetical gifts in H4. Or maybe Cortana got inside the Domain (still the Librarian’s doing)
You guys are going to have to find some evidence for her planting herself in the Domain given her confirmed death numerous times. I can’t think of a time where she could be put in the Domain anyway, if it was available then the Didact would have been able to access it as the Librarian initially planned.
People need to keep in mind that Frank O’Connor already straight-up clarified that the likeness of Cortana that the Chief sees is the product of his own memories - so whatever is communicating with him, it’s not really her. That said, I’m assuming this does indeed have something to do with the Chief’s own geas and the Domain in some form. Because even though we know the Domain was largely wiped out when the Halos fired, the direct reference to it here is definitely indicative of something remaining.
Also I don’t know yet if the appearance of this apparition can be likened to what happened in ‘Halo 3’. In the description of this scene, what the Chief experiences seems more akin to a dream, and it only occurs after he has fallen from a great height and is in a state of semi-consciousness. It doesn’t seem to be like the “flashes” at all. Though it’s still way to early to tell if any more of these events will occur and how.
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> > They could be the remnants of her rampant state when she split at the end of Halo 4, living on borrowed time
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> Couldn’t be that. They were there in Halo 3…
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> > 2533274814635636;5:
> > Have you ever thought that maybe Cortana is part of Johns Geas now? Spark has Chakas and Forthenco. Librarian’s doing.
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> Ok, I’m gonna need a little more than that. What is this Geas thing anyway? And how would Cortana be a part of it?
In the books a Geas is sort of a mental imprint/gift of knowledge that Forerunners can give to others. There seems to be a variety of different abilities that can manifest from these. In some they take the form of the memories/knowledge/personalities of other people. In others it provided a sense of direction to keep them safe when in danger. In Forerunners it is also tied into their evolution into specific Forerunner classes (warrior, builder, lifeworker) and etc.
The Librarian (the Didact’s wife) gives a Geas to all of the humans born after the Forerunner’s defeated and devolved humans in an attempt to guide them and prepare them for their eventual return to prominence. Hence why the humans are referred to Reclaimers by the Guilty spark and etc. In Halo 4 the Librarian gives the Chief a Geas in order to help him defeat the Didact. It is what protected him from the Composer, but we don’t know if that was all it did.
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> > 2533274886246836;6:
> > > 2533274863410785;4:
> > > They could be the remnants of her rampant state when she split at the end of Halo 4, living on borrowed time
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> > Couldn’t be that. They were there in Halo 3…
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> > > 2533274814635636;5:
> > > Have you ever thought that maybe Cortana is part of Johns Geas now? Spark has Chakas and Forthenco. Librarian’s doing.
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> > Ok, I’m gonna need a little more than that. What is this Geas thing anyway? And how would Cortana be a part of it?
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> In the books a Geas is sort of a mental imprint/gift of knowledge that Forerunners can give to others. There seems to be a variety of different abilities that can manifest from these. In some they take the form of the memories/knowledge/personalities of other people. In others it provided a sense of direction to keep them safe when in danger. In Forerunners it is also tied into their evolution into specific Forerunner classes (warrior, builder, lifeworker) and etc.
>
> The Librarian (the Didact’s wife) gives a Geas to all of the humans born after the Forerunner’s defeated and devolved humans in an attempt to guide them and prepare them for their eventual return to prominence. Hence why the humans are referred to Reclaimers by the Guilty spark and etc. In Halo 4 the Librarian gives the Chief a Geas in order to help him defeat the Didact. It is what protected him from the Composer, but we don’t know if that was all it did.
Ah ok. Thanks for clearing that up. In that case I don’t think it has anything to do with the Geas because, again, Cortana flashes occurred in Halo 3 before he ever had the Geas. I think it’s more likely that the Domain is communicating with Chief the way the Gravemind did in Halo 3. Or it could just be the Gravemind again.
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> People need to keep in mind that Frank O’Connor already straight-up clarified that the likeness of Cortana that the Chief sees is the product of his own memories - so whatever is communicating with him, it’s not really her. That said, I’m assuming this does indeed have something to do with the Chief’s own geas and the Domain in some form. Because even though we know the Domain was largely wiped out when the Halos fired, the direct reference to it here is definitely indicative of something remaining.
>
> Also I don’t know yet if the appearance of this apparition can be likened to what happened in ‘Halo 3’. In the description of this scene, what the Chief experiences seems more akin to a dream, and it only occurs after he has fallen from a great height and is in a state of semi-consciousness. It doesn’t seem to be like the “flashes” at all. Though it’s still way to early to tell if any more of these events will occur and how.
True, I hadn’t seen his quote until just now. So while it would seem it isn’t actually Cortana, I do still believe it has to do with his geas and the Domain.
Coartana flashes? remembers the Halo 4 Cortana design Well that’s certainly one direction they can go in…
But really, all I hope is they don’t do the really jarring screen shaking and slowed movement from H3. That was needless at first and annoying as time went on.
It may be Chief hallucinating her, then again it would be pretty damn convienient for your hallucinations to tell you the future, even if what she said was vague as hell. Perhaps a remnant of her AI is still with Chief somehow. Maybe they could bring her back with the remnant, but then Halo 4’s ending would be in vain.