Does the Banished Confirm no Flood faction?

Games Halo Infinite
1

That was personally my biggest hope for Infinite, that the Flood would come back for one last mainline game, but since the Banished was confirmed to be in Infinite, that now makes 3 enemy factions. The Prometheans, The Covenant, and the Banished, adding the Flood would be too many at once I feel. But I still do hope we will get some Flood levels.

Going off-topic, but I do have this funny image of the Elites from the Covenant, Elites from the Sword of Sanghilios (if they are in the game), and the Elites from the Banished fighting each other, and some marines look on like “Who do we shoot?”. But I guess to make it simpler they would only give the Banished the Brutes and the Elites to the other two factions.

2

A lot of people are wanting Flood to be in this game too but I just don’t see it, it’d be too many factions at play I’d say but only time will tell

3

> 2533274937308412;1:
> That was personally my biggest hope for Infinite, that the Flood would come back for one last mainline game, but since the Banished was confirmed to be in Infinite, that now makes 3 enemy factions. The Prometheans, The Covenant, and the Banished, adding the Flood would be too many at once I feel. But I still do hope we will get some Flood levels.
>
> Going off-topic, but I do have this funny image of the Elites from the Covenant, Elites from the Sword of Sanghilios (if they are in the game), and the Elites from the Banished fighting each other, and some marines look on like “Who do we shoot?”. But I guess to make it simpler they would only give the Banished the Brutes and the Elites to the other two factions.

If the game takes place on Installation 07, also known as Zeta Halo there is a chance we’ll see the Flood. That Halo ring has Flood containment facilities. Also, if that was a damaged Zeta Halo we saw in the Discover Hope trailer, then the Flood may very well not be contained anymore. Fingers crossed, I want them back too.

4

First off, I think it’s pretty safe to assume the banished are going to take the role of the covenant. The covenant are gone, have been since halo 3, and most of the remnant groups are gone too, Halo 5 saw to that.

Secondly, 4 factions at once is NOT too much. The original trilogy had 4 factions MINIMUM. Halo Combat Evolved had 4 (UNSC, Covenant, Flood and the Forerunner constructs on the ring). Halo 2 had 5 (UNSC, Covenant, Heretics, Flood, Forerunner constructs lead by 343 Guilty Spark and the ones on the ring, and technically the Elites become their own faction at the end after splitting from the Covenant so that’s technically 6 factions). Halo 3 had 5 as well (UNSC, Elites, Covenant, Flood and Forerunner constructs on the Ark + 343 Guilty Spark).

And when you consider that Infinite’s head writer is the guy that worked on the Arkham games, therefore having a lot of experience with writing stories with multiple villains, and the rumours that the game will be open world, and therefore a lot longer, there’s no doubt that the game will easily be able to support 4 or more factions and have them all be nicely developed and have decent impact on the plot.

Plus the game is set of Installation 07, which has heavy ties to the Flood.

My bets for the game’s factions are as follows:

Good guys are gonna be UNSC, Swords of Sanghelios, and maybe the Forerunner constructs on the ring.

Bad guys will be the Banished, Forerunner constructs under the control of the Created, and the Flood.

5

I have listened through rock and metal and time…and I want the frickin’ Flood back! Pretty sure they will return.

6

> 2533274902304093;4:
> First off, I think it’s pretty safe to assume the banished are going to take the role of the covenant. The covenant are gone, have been since halo 3, and most of the remnant groups are gone too, Halo 5 saw to that.
>
> Secondly, 4 factions at once is NOT too much. The original trilogy had 4 factions MINIMUM. Halo Combat Evolved had 4 (UNSC, Covenant, Flood and the Forerunner constructs on the ring). Halo 2 had 5 (UNSC, Covenant, Heretics, Flood, Forerunner constructs lead by 343 Guilty Spark and the ones on the ring, and technically the Elites become their own faction at the end after splitting from the Covenant so that’s technically 6 factions). Halo 3 had 5 as well (UNSC, Elites, Covenant, Flood and Forerunner constructs on the Ark + 343 Guilty Spark).
>
> And when you consider that Infinite’s head writer is the guy that worked on the Arkham games, therefore having a lot of experience with writing stories with multiple villains, and the rumours that the game will be open world, and therefore a lot longer, there’s no doubt that the game will easily be able to support 4 or more factions and have them all be nicely developed and have decent impact on the plot.
>
> Plus the game is set of Installation 07, which has heavy ties to the Flood.
>
> My bets for the game’s factions are as follows:
>
> Good guys are gonna be UNSC, Swords of Sanghelios, and maybe the Forerunner constructs on the ring.
>
> Bad guys will be the Banished, Forerunner constructs under the control of the Created, and the Flood.

Well said.

I’m hoping to also see precursors be part of the main story in some way, or at least better explain their connection to the flood and/or the mantle of responsibility. I feel like these subjects aren’t fleshed out very well in the games.

I’d also like to see more distinctions between the beliefs/values of the many races within the covenant/banished. In the games, the hunters, jackals, buggers, and grunts don’t seem to have an obvious explanation as to why they’re loyal to the covenant/banished. Maybe the information is in the games, but it hasn’t been a big subject (aside from the brutes, prophets, and elites obviously).

I’d also like the engineers to play some role in Halo Infinite. They’re quite interesting in my opinion.

I’m hoping that the new head writer can pull all this off.

7

> 2533274917301945;6:
> > 2533274902304093;4:
> > First off, I think it’s pretty safe to assume the banished are going to take the role of the covenant. The covenant are gone, have been since halo 3, and most of the remnant groups are gone too, Halo 5 saw to that.
> >
> > Secondly, 4 factions at once is NOT too much. The original trilogy had 4 factions MINIMUM. Halo Combat Evolved had 4 (UNSC, Covenant, Flood and the Forerunner constructs on the ring). Halo 2 had 5 (UNSC, Covenant, Heretics, Flood, Forerunner constructs lead by 343 Guilty Spark and the ones on the ring, and technically the Elites become their own faction at the end after splitting from the Covenant so that’s technically 6 factions). Halo 3 had 5 as well (UNSC, Elites, Covenant, Flood and Forerunner constructs on the Ark + 343 Guilty Spark).
> >
> > And when you consider that Infinite’s head writer is the guy that worked on the Arkham games, therefore having a lot of experience with writing stories with multiple villains, and the rumours that the game will be open world, and therefore a lot longer, there’s no doubt that the game will easily be able to support 4 or more factions and have them all be nicely developed and have decent impact on the plot.
> >
> > Plus the game is set of Installation 07, which has heavy ties to the Flood.
> >
> > My bets for the game’s factions are as follows:
> >
> > Good guys are gonna be UNSC, Swords of Sanghelios, and maybe the Forerunner constructs on the ring.
> >
> > Bad guys will be the Banished, Forerunner constructs under the control of the Created, and the Flood.
>
> Well said.
>
> I’m hoping to also see precursors be part of the main story in some way, or at least better explain their connection to the flood and/or the mantle of responsibility. I feel like these subjects aren’t fleshed out very well in the games.
>
> I’d also like to see more distinctions between the beliefs/values of the many races within the covenant/banished. In the games, the hunters, jackals, buggers, and grunts don’t seem to have an obvious explanation as to why they’re loyal to the covenant/banished. Maybe the information is in the games, but it hasn’t been a big subject (aside from the brutes, prophets, and elites obviously).
>
> I’d also like the engineers to play some role in Halo Infinite. They’re quite interesting in my opinion.
>
> I’m hoping that the new head writer can pull all this off.

I mean we already know the writing is good, the Discover Hope trailer (which is apparently part of the opening cutscene) is wonderfully put together, the pilots dialogue, the mocap performance, the cinematography and mise un scene, THE MUSIC, all incredibly well crafted and emotive from a narrative perspective. Just in those few minutes do we not resonate with a character we don’t even know the name of far more than we did with Osiris, most of whom had been given some pretty decent backstories before the game came out? As long as the rest of the campaign retains that level of quality, I don’t think we’ve anything to worry about!

8

> 2533274937308412;1:
> That was personally my biggest hope for Infinite, that the Flood would come back for one last mainline game, but since the Banished was confirmed to be in Infinite, that now makes 3 enemy factions. The Prometheans, The Covenant, and the Banished, adding the Flood would be too many at once I feel. But I still do hope we will get some Flood levels.
>
> Going off-topic, but I do have this funny image of the Elites from the Covenant, Elites from the Sword of Sanghilios (if they are in the game), and the Elites from the Banished fighting each other, and some marines look on like “Who do we shoot?”. But I guess to make it simpler they would only give the Banished the Brutes and the Elites to the other two factions.

Well the Flood last appeared fighting the Banished on the Ark. Halo Infinite will have Banished in so if the Flood are part of the Banished story then it brings the Flood into the story.

For the wider story I am firmly of the view that you wouldn’t give Cortana control of an army of anti flood robots unless the story was going in that direction.

However, I am starting to suspect that, like Halo Wars 2, this is going to be a fairly self contained adventure on Zeta Halo. I don’t think it will end the Reclaimer Saga and will probably be trying to reset the stage for future games. So we might see a Flood tease but not a galactic invasion or anything nuts like that.

Plus Zeta Halo is, I think, meant to have links to Mendicant Bias who is the AI that joined the Flood. So they could be bringing the logic plague into the story as a reveal; which points to the Flood being brought in.

Basically the Flood are the end game threat. They’re like Thanos looming over the horizon. All the lore videos, books and material 343 does heavily references the importance of the Flood to the story. So they’re not done with them by any means.

9

> 2533274803587475;8:
> > 2533274937308412;1:
> > That was personally my biggest hope for Infinite, that the Flood would come back for one last mainline game, but since the Banished was confirmed to be in Infinite, that now makes 3 enemy factions. The Prometheans, The Covenant, and the Banished, adding the Flood would be too many at once I feel. But I still do hope we will get some Flood levels.
> >
> > Going off-topic, but I do have this funny image of the Elites from the Covenant, Elites from the Sword of Sanghilios (if they are in the game), and the Elites from the Banished fighting each other, and some marines look on like “Who do we shoot?”. But I guess to make it simpler they would only give the Banished the Brutes and the Elites to the other two factions.
>
> Well the Flood last appeared fighting the Banished on the Ark. Halo Infinite will have Banished in so if the Flood are part of the Banished story then it brings the Flood into the story.
>
> For the wider story I am firmly of the view that you wouldn’t give Cortana control of an army of anti flood robots unless the story was going in that direction.
>
> However, I am starting to suspect that, like Halo Wars 2, this is going to be a fairly self contained adventure on Zeta Halo. I don’t think it will end the Reclaimer Saga and will probably be trying to reset the stage for future games. So we might see a Flood tease but not a galactic invasion or anything nuts like that.
>
> Plus Zeta Halo is, I think, meant to have links to Mendicant Bias who is the AI that joined the Flood. So they could be bringing the logic plague into the story as a reveal; which points to the Flood being brought in.
>
> Basically the Flood are the end game threat. They’re like Thanos looming over the horizon. All the lore videos, books and material 343 does heavily references the importance of the Flood to the story. So they’re not done with them by any means.

The Banished we see in this game are not associated with the ones currently on the Ark, this is likely the main force left behind when Atriox went on his mission to the Ark. Atriox likely hasn’t been in communication with his followers, so they probably think he’s dead, hence their new leader saying that they’re Atriox’s legacy. If there is no Banished from the Ark, then there is no Flood from the Ark, if the Flood does appear in this game it will likely only be in the event they escape containment, like on installation-04.

10

I never really found the flood enjoyable to fight, so I really hope they aren’t in Infinite. That’s just my opinion though, I know a lot of people would like the flood to be back.

11

> 2533274889565121;10:
> I never really found the flood enjoyable to fight, so I really hope they aren’t in Infinite. That’s just my opinion though, I know a lot of people would like the flood to be back.

Paradoxically, I find the fact that they are an enemy I find myself uncomfortable fighting to actually be the reason why I liked fighting them. Especially in Halo 3.

12

> 2533274902304093;4:
> First off, I think it’s pretty safe to assume the banished are going to take the role of the covenant. The covenant are gone, have been since halo 3, and most of the remnant groups are gone too, Halo 5 saw to that.

Heavy disagree. If you look at the Mega Construx website you can see a set where the original Covenant color scheme is present. That’s not to say that the Covenant will be in the game (these might be hired by the Banished; but then that gets dicey because of the fact that the Banished already have their own Elites, Grunts, etc.), and that’s not to say they may be in the whole game (they may in fact be like the Heretics in H2, a contained sub-sect of the plot that doesn’t make them a main faction).

Either way, it’s far from “safe to assume” that the Banished will take the role of the Covenant. It’s equally logical to theorize that the “Covenant” in this game will be tied in with the Created faction.

13

> 2535418979567138;12:
> > 2533274902304093;4:
> > First off, I think it’s pretty safe to assume the banished are going to take the role of the covenant. The covenant are gone, have been since halo 3, and most of the remnant groups are gone too, Halo 5 saw to that.
>
> Heavy disagree. If you look at the Mega Construx website you can see a set where the original Covenant color scheme is present. That’s not to say that the Covenant will be in the game (these might be hired by the Banished; but then that gets dicey because of the fact that the Banished already have their own Elites, Grunts, etc.), and that’s not to say they may be in the whole game (they may in fact be like the Heretics in H2, a contained sub-sect of the plot that doesn’t make them a main faction).
>
> Either way, it’s far from “safe to assume” that the Banished will take the role of the Covenant. It’s equally logical to theorize that the “Covenant” in this game will be tied in with the Created faction.

The Elites shown in the Mega sets have been listed as “Elite mercenaries” which implies they’re with the banished, but you do make some good points there, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see!

14

The covenant will not be in halo infinite unless for some reason they add another remnant faction. And the banished confirm the covenant will not be in the game in my opinion. I could see the flood going either way. I have yet to see any major hints at them being in the game, but I have yet to see anything that rules them out of the game either.

15

I don’t get why people think the covenant will have any involvement.

16

> 2533274840624875;15:
> I don’t get why people think the covenant will have any involvement.

Well, they were in 4 and 5, so why not Infinite?

17

I am still hoping that the Flood will appeared in Halo Infinite. It’s been a very long time since the Flood appeared in Halo Wars, Halo Combat Evolved, Halo 2 and Halo 3.

18

> 2533274889565121;10:
> I never really found the flood enjoyable to fight, so I really hope they aren’t in Infinite. That’s just my opinion though, I know a lot of people would like the flood to be back.

I never really enjoyed fighting the flood either with the exception of Halo 3. In the other games they felt like a mindless zombie horde whereas in Halo 3 they were varied enough to be interesting.

19

Flood have not been in a main halo title for 2 long. They should come back tbh. Also there is no reason the covys need to be in infinite if we already have the banished. And to be fair is the covenant even a thing anymore? So the flood could and should make a come back tbh. Halo was always in my opinion anyway at its best when we had the flood around. Its like that scene in halo 3 where the ship flys over arby and chief on earth and you just get that feeling like " ok -Yoink- real now" you never get that with anything else in the game. Flood still hold major weight to change up the game more than anything else can. I do hope they are not forgotten.
343i tbh could improve the flood more with the new engine and graphics really make them something to be feared.

20

I would say the Banished actually helps confirm the Flood. I don’t think the covenant will play a big part, I think most elites we see will be the Swords of Senghilios. at least I hope so, they are my favorite. But I think we will have a bit of a free for all. Cortana v banished v flood v unsc & Swords. In Halo 5 Arby kinda did his own war stuff and was really like a side mission. I think they might do that again and maybe have him fight atriox while chief goes for cortana. and flood are just an active enemy to everything