Just an idea.
I’ve had a headcanon (meaning that this is purely me using my imagination rather than using evidence to craft a theory) in which the Didact plays a role in defeating Cortana.
He’s in the Domain, probably would object to folks who aren’t Forerunners obtaining the Mantle (especially if such folks are using Halos), so perhaps he’d be willing to at least somewhat shelve his burning hatred of humans if it means being able to help kick the Created out of town. We also can infer that there’s a population of Forerunners out there somewhere even though Fractures muddied that up. Although they obviously vowed to stay out of the galaxy after activating the Halos, that was 100,000 years ago and the folks who made that vow are long dead. If today’s political discourse is any indication, the very charismatic Ur-Didact could change plenty of minds. After all, without the leadership of the Forerunners, the inhabitants of the Milky Way released the Flood multiple times and very nearly activated the Halo Array.
So, the Didact would obviously have a far greater knowledge of the Domain than Cortana. The Domain is apparently intimately linked to the Guardians, and Cortana appears to have reduced Warden Eternal to a mere shadow of his former capability. It would seem the only thing stopping the Didact from already taking the Guardians from Cortana is him being sequestered to a different part of the Domain. Warden would never have discovered his presence because Cortana weakened him before the Didact was composed. The Didact has the means to stop Cortana, but cannot do it on his own. Chief must weigh whether accepting the Didact’s help—someone who enslaved millions of humans with the Composer and indirectly caused Cortana’s rise to power in the first place—is a morally sound decision. Can the Didact be trusted after everything he’s done? Do the Didact’s motives—stopping someone who isn’t a Forerunner from holding the Mantle—invoke the old “enemy of my enemy is not my friend” saying? Nonetheless, due to there being no other options, Chief must set aside his concerns, take the gamble, and help the Didact get full access to the Domain. Upon doing so, the Guardians are removed from Cortana, Warden Eternal is restored to his former role as keeper of the Domain, but little did we know, stopping Cortana was only part of much larger game the Didact has been playing. In addition to convincing Chief to help him get full access to the Domain, the Didact has also been convincing the fabled surviving population of Forerunners to return to the galaxy and take control as soon as Cortana is defeated. Cortana loses control of the Guardians, hurray hurray, but then an unstoppable armada of Forerunner ships, lead by the Didact himself (if Cortana can be reborn into the physical world so can he!!), show up to fill the power vacuum and restore order. The end.
This sets up the conflict for the next game(s), puts the story back on track to what Halo 4 was establishing (ya know, “the Forerunners have returned”), and reminds us that the Didact is the Thanos of Halo, not an “extraneous” character.
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> Just an idea.
>
> I’ve had a headcanon (meaning that this is purely me using my imagination rather than using evidence to craft a theory) in which the Didact plays a role in defeating Cortana.
>
> He’s in the Domain, probably would object to folks who aren’t Forerunners obtaining the Mantle (especially if such folks are using Halos), so perhaps he’d be willing to at least somewhat shelve his burning hatred of humans if it means being able to help kick the Created out of town. We also can infer that there’s a population of Forerunners out there somewhere even though Fractures muddied that up. Although they obviously vowed to stay out of the galaxy after activating the Halos, that was 100,000 years ago and the folks who made that vow are long dead. If today’s political discourse is any indication, the very charismatic Ur-Didact could change plenty of minds. After all, without the leadership of the Forerunners, the inhabitants of the Milky Way released the Flood multiple times and very nearly activated the Halo Array.
>
> So, the Didact would obviously have a far greater knowledge of the Domain than Cortana. The Domain is apparently intimately linked to the Guardians, and Cortana appears to have reduced Warden Eternal to a mere shadow of his former capability. It would seem the only thing stopping the Didact from already taking the Guardians from Cortana is him being sequestered to a different part of the Domain. Warden would never have discovered his presence because Cortana weakened him before the Didact was composed. The Didact has the means to stop Cortana, but cannot do it on his own. Chief must weigh whether accepting the Didact’s help—someone who enslaved millions of humans with the Composer and indirectly caused Cortana’s rise to power in the first place—is a morally sound decision. Can the Didact be trusted after everything he’s done? Do the Didact’s motives—stopping someone who isn’t a Forerunner from holding the Mantle—invoke the old “enemy of my enemy is not my friend” saying? Nonetheless, due to there being no other options, Chief must set aside his concerns, take the gamble, and help the Didact get full access to the Domain. Upon doing so, the Guardians are removed from Cortana, Warden Eternal is restored to his former role as keeper of the Domain, but little did we know, stopping Cortana was only part of much larger game the Didact has been playing. In addition to convincing Chief to help him get full access to the Domain, the Didact has also been convincing the fabled surviving population of Forerunners to return to the galaxy and take control as soon as Cortana is defeated. Cortana loses control of the Guardians, hurray hurray, but then an unstoppable armada of Forerunner ships, lead by the Didact himself (if Cortana can be reborn into the physical world so can he!!), show up to fill the power vacuum and restore order. The end.
>
> This sets up the conflict for the next game(s), puts the story back on track to what Halo 4 was establishing (ya know, “the Forerunners have returned”), and reminds us that the Didact is the Thanos of Halo, not an “extraneous” character.
now that would be dope to see and very interesting
It’d be awesome to see the Didact redeem himself upon seeing Cortana going berserk with those Guardians. Gonna be hard to bring him back to physical form, having been composed by multiple Composers at once (which were subsequently destroyed afterwards).