While listening to the Hunt the Truth audio again earlier today, I made a connection that I think is a serious contender for the plot for Halo 5: Guardians.
Spoilers (maybe):
I will first create a timeline of events pertinent to the plot, and then I will go through and connect the dots:
2517 - John is abducted by Dr. Halsey from his home in Elysium City on Eridanus II and replaced with a flash clone
Dec. 7, 2517 - John’s records officially denote his death
2517-2524 - According to multiple reports, “John” is seen alive and well in Elysium City throughout these years
2524 - Last known sighting of “John” following Insurrectionist occupation
2553 - Insurrectionist factions start to resurge following the end of the Human-Covenant War; a very large black market full of UNSC and Covenant military-tech thrives
July 21 - 25, 2557 - Master Chief is rediscovered and the events of Requiem take place
July 25 - 28, 2557 - The events in the Halo: Escalation occur; at the end, Master Chief disobeys an order from Admiral Hood to take time off with his team
2558 - The investigative-journalism piece know as Hunt the Truth airs
Now, for analysis:
Let’s start the analysis by assuming that John’s flash clone was the person described in the interviews in Hunt the Truth; it may seem like a stretch, but we must also remember that the Librarian seeded John’s eventuality into the genes of the reseeded humans. Naturally, John will be genetically superior without any engineering. While the majority of flash clones have fatal defects, there are known survivors that, by all measurements, are healthy and normal. I believe that John’s superior genetic makeup may have enabled his flash clone to not only live, but also develop the way John would have without any enhancements he received in the SPARTAN program. According to an interviewee named Dion Govender, a 12 year-old John came to high school boxing practice one day and wanted to fight the high schoolers. Govender eventually decided to let John, who was built much larger than his age would suggest, fight at John’s insistence. John then proceeded to (very one-sidedly) win each fight he had. He then goes on to recount how John and his family were abducted by Insurrectionists never to be seen again. At this point Govender speculates that the hardship he endured from the Insurrectionists was what spurred John into becoming the Master Chief. The popular belief is that this is another ONI coverup, and, given ONI’s history, seems quite probable.
Let’s explore a situation where ONI truly believed the flash clone of John died, but, in actuality, he didn’t. In Episode 00: PRIMER, the narrator, Benjamin Giraud, states that the path of John is much twisty than he ever anticipated. He states, “When I pulled that first loose thread, something broke. Now everything is caving in and I find myself stuck with all these ugly questions, questions I never intended to ask. Fabricated histories? People who aren’t who they say they are? Cover-ups of cover-ups? That steady drumbeat of theories that used to sound insane, now they don’t seem so '“out there”.” I believe someone had a motive to protect the flash clone of John (henceforth known as “John 2”), someone with knowledge that he was a flash clone. My top suspect is Dr. Catherine Halsey. It is widely known that she has struggled with her choices as head of the SPARTAN-II program. It is also widely known that she has a special place for John in her heart. Halsey would be more than capable of protecting John 2. She without a doubt would have been capable of making sure John 2 not only survived to adulthood, but also unbeknownst to ONI.
Assuming that John 2 lived the way he did according to the firsthand accounts, after his abduction, he could have been swayed to join the Insurrectionist cause. During the Human-Covenant War, he may have spent his time training and laying low. After the war, with the resurgence of the Innies, John 2 could be wielded as massive weapon, both as an instrument of war and a major propaganda tool. While Chief is AWOL searching for his next mission, against Lord Admiral Hood’s orders, John 2 could easily acquire SPARTAN armor on the thriving black market for military tech and wreak havoc. He could infiltrate places under the guise of being Master Chief, gather intelligence, and even help the Insurrectionists launch a war against the Inner Colonies. Imagine what this would do to the public perception of the UNSC, ONI, and the Insurrectionists. “If Chief believes in their cause, maybe there is something to it.” With the original John missing, the UNSC would have no way to prove which one is which.
So I believe that Locke was sent to hunt down John 2 thinking he was Chief gone rogue. The two sides to every story. Want some more possible evidence? Why would 343i focus on John’s visor being shattered yet not display it in the Hunter vs Hunted advertisements?
Anyways, I’ll update this with more leads if they pan out.