Guys...what if Halo Infinite is about time travel?

Games Halo Infinite
1

Okay, I know it’s a little early for conjecture on Halo Infinite’s story, but I think it’s a possibility that it will involve time travel.

Track with me… first of all, the name isn’t “Halo Infinity”, so it’s probably not a reference to the ship. Assuming the title isn’t just a cheap attention grabber devised by marketing (who still has to earn our trust back after Halo 5), the name implies the story has something to do with time.

We know that the game takes place after the events of Halo 5. From the blog post:

> The team also heard feedback loud and clear on the amount of time spent playing as the Master Chief in Halo 5. In Halo Infinite, the game will focus on the Master Chief and continue his saga after the events of Halo 5.

In the trailer, Chief is seen in Mark VI armor, and Cortana’s chip is intact. Could this simply be a visual demo for the engine? Absolutely. But this could also have something to do with the story, and how could that be unless these events continuing after Halo 5 were also somehow from the past?

Now let’s think about the motivation for such a direction. 343 Industries got mostly negative feedback for Halo 5’s storyline. Notwithstanding the big bait-and-switch that was Hunt the Truth, many fans criticized the return of Cortana, saying that it cheapened her death in Halo 4 and that her uncharacteristic behavior made the whole thing feel odd and difficult to believe.

From their storytelling choices to things like art style and, to a more mixed degree, even gameplay, 343 is faced with the distinct dilemma of trying to “return to its roots” while still advancing the franchise in interesting ways. One way to do an “in-universe retcon”, if you will, would be for time travel to come into play. Certain things can be undone in a believable, interesting way.

Could time travel ever be a thing in Halo? Well, sure, why not? Halo’s a sci-fi game, after all, and it’s perfectly conceivable that the Forerunners (or maybe just someone among them) had the ability to manipulate time. Of course, time travel is a common sci-fi trope, but so are space Marines, zombies, and ancient advanced civilizations. What matters is if these common storytelling devices can be used in an interesting way.

So what do you guys think? Am I off my rocker? What do you think the realistic probability of 343 going this direction is?

2

I don’t think there’s a chance of them doing time travel for the game.

3

Time travel just does not seem right for halo but seeing the word infinite made me think of bioshock infinite. Bioshock infinite’s ending made it possible for the series to open the universe and I think that is what is going to happen. I think 343 is opening the universe up for Halo for future titles.

4

Now that’s an interesting thought!

Introducing time travel would certainly be a big shift for the universe.

That the detonation of a Halo ring could cause a temporal rift or reset? It’s not too far fetched in the Halo universe. Maybe that’s how the rings were always meant to defeat the flood… by reseting time.

It would definitely ‘fix’ the story and provide them with the mouth watering opportunity of setting a Halo game back:

On a Halo ring
with Chief
and old Cortana,
a crashed Pelican
marines
a warthog
and a threat to face

Which the visuals for this demo could be construed as suggesting.

I would love to see it, honestly yes.

Is it likely? I think it’s more likely they find another way to continue the story and that the final product is not really related to the tech demo much at all other than art style.

5

Time travel is a dangerous device. It would be extremely risky to add it into a story that has been developed without it for twenty-one years now (seventeen officially).

6

The more I think about this the more I like it as a concept.

H5 just left me with not that much interest in the story, I don’t really care about Osiris, Cortana coming back as the baddie was stilting to verisimilitude and now there’s Guardians roaming around ‘policing’ the universe, we don’t even know what they really do. This would be a great reset to refocus on Cheif and what made Halo so mystical and enthralling.

7

If they used time travel incorrectly, it would just be a big slap in the face again. Remember that time when they killed off Jul in the first level of Halo 5?
They simply cannot do that a second time with Cortana. Halo Infinite has the problem of having to deal with an unpopular story in a sensible and satisfying fashion; frankly I believe time travel is both too risky and too lazy as a way to resolve Halo 5s cliffhanger.

Further removing years of extended lore to fix what? One bad game? I’m more inclined to believe that Halo Wars 2 was the first in a build up to an epic conclusion of the current plot so the Halo Universe can be reopened again for a further, more entertaining story.

8

I hope not. H5’s villian was lazy writing IMO and time travel would be even worse. I have a decent theory (at least in my head) on the armor/style. SPOILERS My Thread

9

Bioshock Infinite involves time travel.
The sequel to Avengers: Infinity War (“Avengers 4”) will involve time travel, based on set photos.
Would feel a bit absurd if Halo Infinite also involves time travel. Would feel like 343 is blatantly copying or borrowing from other works of fiction.

10

It seemed to me, that this game could be about making diferent time lines or universes. It didnt feel like a prequel or continuation to 5

11

> 2533274812101730;2:
> I don’t think there’s a chance of them doing time travel for the game.

Why, if you don’t mind me asking? There are plenty of reasons why they would, so besides a vague sense that it would be unoriginal (which I disagree with), what reasons would they have to stay away from this direction? I’m sure there are plenty, I’d just like to have a conversation on it

12

> 2533274874116484;11:
> > 2533274812101730;2:
> > I don’t think there’s a chance of them doing time travel for the game.
>
> Why, if you don’t mind me asking? There are plenty of reasons why they would, so besides a vague sense that it would be unoriginal (which I disagree with), what reasons would they have to stay away from this direction? I’m sure there are plenty, I’d just like to have a conversation on it

Because it would basically be a lame cop out so they don’t have to deal with the mess they made of Halo’s story with Halo 5.

13

You don’t need to radically break the setting with something rarely ever done right like time travel to move past a poor entry in a franchise.

14

Not going to happen - it’s fundamentally not halo. They want the classic feel back, and travel might be a bit too far and jarring for a community starving for classic gameplay.

15

> 2533274795938680;14:
> Not going to happen - it’s fundamentally not halo. They want the classic feel back, and travel might be a bit too far and jarring for a community starving for classic gameplay. Halo 2 already did that with CE and even joked about it.

I will settle for classic aesthetics and classic gameplay. As long as the storytelling is good, there’s no need for it to reuse themes from the previous games

16

It would seem out of place in Halo. Though its too early to say anything I think it would be just one more thing that would make it have a jit too much going on in it with the stuff like created/guardians thing happening, the flood apparently returning, the already existing multiple factions like banished and their story with spirit of fire and whole lot more of things going on.

17

I would only accept time travel if they are PERMANENTLY stuck wherever they land…and if they land on 04 during the Halo event and never broke truce with the Covenant but stop them from finding earth and drag out the war longer and make the Covenant something to be afraid of again ie: Reach and Halo 1.

Make the story darker and less bright colors. I would absolutely love a dark and foreboding Halo.

However with the ending of 5 being what it was the game literally made no sense and the ending proverbally F’d the galaxy and I have ZERO clue where it could go and feel like a traditional halo game like we all want!!!

18

Most of the time I don’t like time travel because it usually feels like such a cheap cop out. It can be done well though and could be interesting in Halo. As for how likely it actually is that 343i will do it, something tells me I really doubt it. I get your points but I just don’t think they’ll ever mess with time travel. Don’t really have a reason for that, just a feeling.

19

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20

I don’t think it’s literal time travel. But, from what I’ve read and have been looking into, we will see “old” weapons, armor, vehicles, etc due to the fact that they have to rely on those UNSC issued materials due to Cortana having influence on their newer technology.