So I was playing through the campaigns again and I think i figured something out that had been bugging me since the release of halo 5. How Cortana got into the forerunner network. I think I figured out exactly when and how Cortana (or a rampant ai copy) got into the domain. If you watch the cutscene where Cortana holds the ur-didact using the hardlight bridge in halo 4 you will see the “mini-cortanas” turn into little blue lights and latch onto parts of the ur-didact, well all but one. If you watch closely one seems to go into the ur-didacts armor instead of holding the ur-didact in place. There’s even a spark effect and he flinches when it happens so it’s on purpose. If one of cortanas rampant ai divisions did manage to get into the ur-didacts armor then it would be rather easy for her to get into the domain with the knowledge of forerunner systems she possesses. I may be wrong but feel free to check out the cutscene (Game Cinematic - Halo 4 - Master Chief & Cortana Vs Didact - YouTube) and let me know what you think. I may be missing some new information about Cortana post-Halo 4 so if you know something please share I’d love to hear it
I can’t see how that would matter. The Domain was inaccessible during the events of Halo 4 and if the Forerunner trilogy is anything to go by that would have included Forerunner armor systems.
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> I can’t see how that would matter. The Domain was inaccessible during the events of Halo 4 and if the Forerunner trilogy is anything to go by that would have included Forerunner armor systems.
While that is true there is the possibility that she could have hid out in the armor systems. If I remember correctly all forerrunner armor systems were designed to house an AI. She probably didn’t mean to go for a ride figuring that chief would probably destroy his suit and her along with it. After chief fights the didact we know he ends up at the composer forge, it’s at least possible that Cortana could have bailed and found some direct method into the domain. This sesee like the only plausible explanation because as you said the domain was inaccessible but yet Cortana did it.
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> > I can’t see how that would matter. The Domain was inaccessible during the events of Halo 4 and if the Forerunner trilogy is anything to go by that would have included Forerunner armor systems.
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> While that is true there is the possibility that she could have hid out in the armor systems. If I remember correctly all forerrunner armor systems were designed to house an AI. She probably didn’t mean to go for a ride figuring that chief would probably destroy his suit and her along with it. After chief fights the didact we know he ends up at the composer forge, it’s at least possible that Cortana could have bailed and found some direct method into the domain. This sesee like the only plausible explanation because as you said the domain was inaccessible but yet Cortana did it.
I think it’s just easier to believe when the Mantle’s Approach’s core fled into slipspace as the ship for the most part was destroyed (something only told in a forum post a long time ago here on Waypoint and alluded to in Halo 5), she more or less “fell” into the Domain. I’ll be honest, I really don’t care so much HOW Cortana made it into the Domain. To me that’s just a small part of a bigger problem.
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> > > I can’t see how that would matter. The Domain was inaccessible during the events of Halo 4 and if the Forerunner trilogy is anything to go by that would have included Forerunner armor systems.
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> > While that is true there is the possibility that she could have hid out in the armor systems. If I remember correctly all forerrunner armor systems were designed to house an AI. She probably didn’t mean to go for a ride figuring that chief would probably destroy his suit and her along with it. After chief fights the didact we know he ends up at the composer forge, it’s at least possible that Cortana could have bailed and found some direct method into the domain. This sesee like the only plausible explanation because as you said the domain was inaccessible but yet Cortana did it.
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> I think it’s just easier to believe when the Mantle’s Approach’s core fled into slipspace as the ship for the most part was destroyed (something only told in a forum post a long time ago here on Waypoint and alluded to in Halo 5), she more or less “fell” into the Domain. I’ll be honest, I really don’t care so much HOW Cortana made it into the Domain. To me that’s just a small part of a bigger problem.
True I am very excited to see how this plays out. I just love speculation in the Halo universe
I can’t remember exactly but I think after the Nuke exploded in H4 Cortana was sent to Genesis where she met the Warden Eternal. Once there the Warden took her to the Domain and allowed her to access it sense he was the guardian of the domain.
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> I can’t remember exactly but I think after the Nuke exploded in H4 Cortana was sent to Genesis where she met the Warden Eternal. Once there the Warden took her to the Domain and allowed her to access it sense he was the guardian of the domain.
Not at all the case. “Dominion Splinter” is actually the answer to this question. It is a canon comic that was released as part of the ‘Tales From Slipspace’ anthology last year. And in the comic it depicts what happened to Cortana in the immediate aftermath of ‘Halo 4’.
In short: while floating in slipspace (in a fragmented state) after the destruction of the Mantle’s Approach, upon realizing she hasn’t died Cortana stumbles on the entrance to the Domain (seriously, she just ends up there via impossible, incomprehensible space-magic). She then draws the Warden out of the “shadows” (she seemingly “senses” his presence), who is acting as a gatekeeper of sorts. He refuses her access to the Domain. So while using one of her fragments to distract him with conversation, she uses the rest to sneak around his safeguards and forcibly assume direct control over both the Domain and him. The Warden is particularly upset about this, but has no choice except to comply with Cortana’s whims once her fragments recompile themselves into 1 whole construct and declare him her servant - as well as saying she has “great works” to do. The End.
From thereon out we can be safe in concluding Cortana spent the next year-and-a-half plotting her galactic takeover/Chief kidnapping. It also supports Dr. Halsey’s assessment that Cortana is doing everything on her own steam without influence from any 3rd party or underlying phenomenon. Even the Warden’s “loyalty” to his new master’s ideals is purely manufactured. He is just a mind-slave…and in a way I kind of feel sorry for him. He wasn’t bothering anybody and had exactly zero interest in galactic conquest until Cortana made him into her toady. Not to mention it shows that the essences of the composed beings that are made to inhabit the Prometheans exist in a virtual Hell, with fire and brimstone and everything. And Cortana doesn’t care and refuses to help them. So there’s that too.