TSIA, how did the Didact know English? It seemed kinda weird that he knew how to speak a Human language so easily (especially a language not around during his early life).
Forerunners have really advanced translation software. It’s the reason John could read the texts in the terminals in Halo 3. Odds are the Didact were speaking Jagon, and the software was simply translating it into English. It’s possible that it translated it into Sangheili for the Covenant that were there.
Its because the entire story of the didact is lame.
Forerunners would not refer to themselves as forerunners… At least not as the name of their civilization.
We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
This is just one of those questions that seems like it needs to be asked, but I don’t feel needs to be answered.
Here’s a few examples:
Why did all species in Halo 2 speak English, but not Halo: CE?
Why do the Forerunners refer to themselves as the Forerunners even before the Reclamation was even thought of?
Why did the Grunts/Jackals/Elites change in variation so much?
How did the Master Chief’s armor change from Halo 3-Halo 4, but not the Mark VI your Spartan IV wears, even though they show the Spartan II’s using the Chief’s new armor in the cut-scene that takes place during the Human-Covenant war?
It’s just stuff I feel doesn’t really NEED to be answered, though it’s good to ask anyway.
> Its because the entire story of the didact is lame.
Not the Forerunner Saga side of it.
> Its because the entire story of the didact is lame.
>
> Forerunners would not refer to themselves as forerunners… At least not as the name of their civilization.
>
> We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
What? They do call themselves Forerunners…
> Its because the entire story of the didact is lame.
>
> Forerunners would not refer to themselves as forerunners… At least not as the name of their civilization.
Actually, it is very clearly stated in Greg Bear’s Forerunner trilogy that they called themselves the Forerunners because they believed they were merely the latest- and not the last- of a long line of species to rule the galaxy. They always assumed that someone else would eventually come to take the Mantle, although they hypocritically tried their hardest to beat down and subdue any potential rivals.
> Its because the entire story of the didact is lame.
Worst. Opinion. Ever.
> Forerunners would not refer to themselves as forerunners… At least not as the name of their civilization.
Yes they did. ‘Forerunner’ is the name that they adopted to go with their belief that they were just the next stage of Living Time, that they would one day pass on the Mantle to a new species. It was a reminder of their impermanence, that they would one day move on and follow in the footsteps of the Precursors.
Likewise, you never ever see the word ‘Forerunner’ with the translation brackets [Forerunner] around them, meaning that it’s not an interpretation of their language to benefit human understanding.
> We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
There is a console in Requiem with “Didact” being chanted by a Sangheili over and over again, along with another which speaks about “the Promethean awakening”. The Terminals throughout the game are canonically seen by John and Cortana, they’d have seen the Ur-Didact at this point (Terminal 1 and 2 - War and Lord of Admirals). Jul cries out “Didact” as well once he’s awakened.
I don’t see how this is an issue…
> Why did the Grunts/Jackals/Elites change in variation so much?
One of the excuses used is variation among races, the same way there are notable visual differences between different races in humanity.
> How did the Master Chief’s armor change from Halo 3-Halo 4, but not the Mark VI your Spartan IV wears, even though they show the Spartan II’s using the Chief’s new armor in the cut-scene that takes place during the Human-Covenant war?
Chief’s armour was altered by nanobots by Cortana during cryosleep. I believe that the events depicted in the cutscene never canonically happened, and that it was simply to introduce new players to the Spartan IIs and their background. They were all wearing the same armour as Chief so that new players would realise that those Spartans are of the same generation of Spartan as the Chief and therefore would make a connection. People have used the excuse that John’s updated armour was based on an early Mark IV variant used by all of the Spartan IIs however even if this is the case, you’ll notice the Spartans in that cutscene had shields - a feature the Mark IV mjolnir lacked.
Assuming that he had one with him, I imagined that his ancilla would have provided him with the necessary knowledge.
> We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
That’s nothing new to Halo.
Remember that giant, slimy Venus flytrap you see in Halo 2? Remember how later, on High Charity, Cortana suddenly calls it “the Gravemind” without it ever having been named up to that point?
> > How did the Master Chief’s armor change from Halo 3-Halo 4, but not the Mark VI your Spartan IV wears, even though they show the Spartan II’s using the Chief’s new armor in the cut-scene that takes place during the Human-Covenant war?
>
> Chief’s armour was altered by nanobots by Cortana during cryosleep. I believe that the events depicted in the cutscene never canonically happened, and that it was simply to introduce new players to the Spartan IIs and their background. They were all wearing the same armour as Chief so that new players would realise that those Spartans are of the same generation of Spartan as the Chief and therefore would make a connection. People have used the excuse that John’s updated armour was based on an early Mark IV variant used by all of the Spartan IIs however even if this is the case, you’ll notice the Spartans in that cutscene had shields - <mark>a feature the Mark IV mjolnir lacked.</mark>
Some variants did have it, but its field usage was limited. Mk. IV also never had built in jetpacks, and the fusion power pack on the back is far too small.
> > We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
>
> That’s nothing new to Halo.
>
> Remember that giant, slimy Venus flytrap you see in Halo 2? Remember how later, on High Charity, Cortana suddenly calls it “the Gravemind” without it ever having been named up to that point?
An advanced A.I infiltrating the covenant battle net and hacking her way through High Charity couldn’t have possible heard the covenant refer to said Venus fly trap as a Gravemind no?
> > > We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
> >
> > That’s nothing new to Halo.
> >
> > Remember that giant, slimy Venus flytrap you see in Halo 2? Remember how later, on High Charity, Cortana suddenly calls it “the Gravemind” without it ever having been named up to that point?
>
> An advanced A.I infiltrating the covenant battle net and hacking her way through High Charity couldn’t have possible heard the covenant refer to said Venus fly trap as a Gravemind no?
Fair point… But that same advanced AI hacking her way through the systems of Installation 04, the Lesser Ark, and Requiem couldn’t have possibly found references to a Didact matching the description of the Forerunner they released from stasis?
> > > > We go from meeting the didact without a name, to calling him the didact in the next scene.
> > >
> > > That’s nothing new to Halo.
> > >
> > > Remember that giant, slimy Venus flytrap you see in Halo 2? Remember how later, on High Charity, Cortana suddenly calls it “the Gravemind” without it ever having been named up to that point?
> >
> > An advanced A.I infiltrating the covenant battle net and hacking her way through High Charity couldn’t have possible heard the covenant refer to said Venus fly trap as a Gravemind no?
>
> Fair point… But that same advanced AI hacking her way through the systems of Installation 04, the Lesser Ark, and Requiem couldn’t have possibly found references to a Didact matching the description of the Forerunner they released from stasis?
When the Forward unto Dawn crashes through Requiems gravity well… They then stumble across the Covenant remnants broadcasting beacon that had been broadcasting “Didact” on loop for three years.
If the player finds a BattleNet access point aboard a crashed Lich dropship which remains online.
Cortana: “The console’s still got some power in it.”
The player activates the terminal.
Cortana: “This communication’s being broadcast to all Covenant in the area. Let me put it through translation.”
The Sangheili broadcast is put through the comms system. Cortana translates.
Cortana: “Non-believers walk the sacred ground. Purge the heretics, so that they do not foul the air of Paradise. The time has come to enter the Great Light. The Promethean awakening is nigh…our reward is at hand.”
John-117: “It sounds like the Covenant were here looking for something.”
Cortana: “It’s the Covenant. Aren’t they always looking for something?”
If player proceeds to walk up the cliff side. On the other side of the crevice, a malfunctioning Covenant console can be found on top of a second crashed Lich.
Sangheili (Terminal): (looping) “Di…dact!”
Cortana: “What is that? Chief, see if that terminal is still active.”
The player activates the device, allowing Cortana access.
Cortana: “The Covenant have been broadcasting that from an equidistant orbit every 30 minutes for the last three years.”
John-117: “They’ve been waiting outside the planet for three years?”
Cortana: “Apparently, they couldn’t get in.”
John heads through the crevice and comes to a cliff pathway where gigantic Forerunner pillars can be seen floating above the valley bellow. John then heads left towards the remains of the Dawn’s vehicle bay with several Warthogs strewn about, some are still intact.
Actual in game script ^^
> If the player finds a BattleNet access point aboard a crashed Lich dropship which remains online.
>
> Cortana: “The console’s still got some power in it.”
> The player activates the terminal.
>
> Cortana: “This communication’s being broadcast to all Covenant in the area. Let me put it through translation.”
> The Sangheili broadcast is put through the comms system. Cortana translates.
>
> Cortana: “Non-believers walk the sacred ground. Purge the heretics, so that they do not foul the air of Paradise. The time has come to enter the Great Light. The Promethean awakening is nigh…our reward is at hand.”
> John-117: “It sounds like the Covenant were here looking for something.”
> Cortana: “It’s the Covenant. Aren’t they always looking for something?”
> If player proceeds to walk up the cliff side. On the other side of the crevice, a malfunctioning Covenant console can be found on top of a second crashed Lich.
>
> Sangheili (Terminal): (looping) “Di…dact!”
> Cortana: “What is that? Chief, see if that terminal is still active.”
> The player activates the device, allowing Cortana access.
>
> Cortana: “The Covenant have been broadcasting that from an equidistant orbit every 30 minutes for the last three years.”
> John-117: “They’ve been waiting outside the planet for three years?”
> Cortana: “Apparently, they couldn’t get in.”
> John heads through the crevice and comes to a cliff pathway where gigantic Forerunner pillars can be seen floating above the valley bellow. John then heads left towards the remains of the Dawn’s vehicle bay with several Warthogs strewn about, some are still intact.
>
> Actual in game script ^^
>
> Requiem | Halo Alpha | Fandom
Yeah… My experience of Halo 4 has largely come from walkthrough videos, and most of those guys never take the time to explore for hidden details.
I did finally find those recordings, though. That’d explain Cortana’s identifying the Didact.
Because of SciFi rule #1. All aliens speak English no matter what. They understand it and have mastered it. Why that is? I think you can tell.
Ok, here’s my theory, the didact is show to have some influence over requiem even before you destasis him.
It’s entirely possible that on one of the multiple occasions when cortana activates and translates a terminal, didact (or his ancilla) recorded and reversed the process.
> TSIA, how did the Didact know English? <mark>It seemed kinda weird that he knew how to speak a Human language so easily (especially a language not around during his early life)</mark>.
Watch the terminals. The humans were around during the Didact’s life time. They went to war with the Forerunners, killing the Didact’s children in the process and were almost as technologically advanced as the Forerunners were. Before the Didact knew of the Flood’s existence, he devolved the humans to a primitive state.