Is it REALLY Cortana??

Community Halo Universe
1

So, this has been a theory of mine for a while, that the Cortana we see in Halo 5 isn’t actually Cortana, at least not entirely Cortana. I had many thoughts on the topic prior to this point in time, but I’ve thought of one that I think makes quite a bit of sense.

My theory is that the Cortana from Halo 5 is actually 343 Guilty Spark.

Now hear me out:

After 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed, his remnants were recovered by UNSC Rubicon, after which, Guilty Spark Uploaded himself to the Ship’s System’s Hijacking the controls, and putting the crew to sleep, as we departed, in search of the Librarian, whom he deemed to still be alive.

My theory is that he managed to make his way to Genisis, and enter the domain. After which, he eventually came across the remnants of Cortana. Guilty Spark then Assimilated the remains of Cortana, and would use them to not only hide his true identity, but also use the data stored within Cortana to take control of the Domain, (because Cortana was based off Halsey’s Brain, she would be able to take control of it, as a Human. While Guilty Spark was also based off a Human, I’m sure the forerunner tech that was installed in his own programming wouldn’t let him take control of it, because as a monitor, he was designed to only be a monitor, no longer a human, and the forerunners could account for that). In doing so, guilty spark would also learn about Cortana’s history with 117. Guilty Spark could exploit that Weakness, and use it to get Chief close to him for the exact purpose of putting them into Cryptum so Chief couldn’t interfere with his plans.

It all adds up in my books, and one last piece of supporting information is that on the legendary ending to Halo 5, we spot a Halo ring, with background audio, with Cortana Humming a familiar tone, one that 343 Guilty Spark had hummed in the past quite frequently.

While there certainly isn’t any definitive proof of this, of course, I think it makes sense. What do y’all think? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Halo lore, but I do enjoy it, so please point out anything that isn’t in line with Halo lore, if you notice it. Thanks, and enjoy the discussion! : )

2

> 2533274814585467;1:
> So, this has been a theory of mine for a while, that the Cortana we see in Halo 5 isn’t actually Cortana, at least not entirely Cortana. I had many thoughts on the topic prior to this point in time, but I’ve thought of one that I think makes quite a bit of sense.
>
> My theory is that the Cortana from Halo 5 is actually 343 Guilty Spark.
>
> Now hear me out:
>
> After 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed, his remnants were recovered by UNSC Rubicon, after which, Guilty Spark Uploaded himself to the Ship’s System’s Hijacking the controls, and putting the crew to sleep, as we departed, in search of the Librarian, whom he deemed to still be alive.
>
> My theory is that he managed to make his way to Genisis, and enter the domain. After which, he eventually came across the remnants of Cortana. Guilty Spark then Assimilated the remains of Cortana, and would use them to not only hide his true identity, but also use the data stored within Cortana to take control of the Domain, (because Cortana was based off Halsey’s Brain, she would be able to take control of it, as a Human. While Guilty Spark was also based off a Human, I’m sure the forerunner tech that was installed in his own programming wouldn’t let him take control of it, because as a monitor, he was designed to only be a monitor, no longer a human, and the forerunners could account for that). In doing so, guilty spark would also learn about Cortana’s history with 117. Guilty Spark could exploit that Weakness, and use it to get Chief close to him for the exact purpose of putting them into Cryptum so Chief couldn’t interfere with his plans.
>
> It all adds up in my books, and one last piece of supporting information is that on the legendary ending to Halo 5, we spot a Halo ring, with background audio, with Cortana Humming a familiar tone, one that 343 Guilty Spark had hummed in the past quite frequently.
>
> While there certainly isn’t any definitive proof of this, of course, I think it makes sense. What do y’all think? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Halo lore, but I do enjoy it, so please point out anything that isn’t in line with Halo lore, if you notice it. Thanks, and enjoy the discussion! : )

Cortana is Cortana the teory is true but the book confirm her

3

Halo: Renegades disproves your theory. Spark is currently a part of Rion Forge’s crew at the time of the Didact’s attack on New Phoenix. The Dominion Splinter comic also shows Cortana finding the Domain and Spark is nowhere to be found.

4

> 2533274814585467;1:
> So, this has been a theory of mine for a while, that the Cortana we see in Halo 5 isn’t actually Cortana, at least not entirely Cortana. I had many thoughts on the topic prior to this point in time, but I’ve thought of one that I think makes quite a bit of sense.
>
> My theory is that the Cortana from Halo 5 is actually 343 Guilty Spark.
>
> Now hear me out:
>
> After 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed, his remnants were recovered by UNSC Rubicon, after which, Guilty Spark Uploaded himself to the Ship’s System’s Hijacking the controls, and putting the crew to sleep, as we departed, in search of the Librarian, whom he deemed to still be alive.
>
> My theory is that he managed to make his way to Genisis, and enter the domain. After which, he eventually came across the remnants of Cortana. Guilty Spark then Assimilated the remains of Cortana, and would use them to not only hide his true identity, but also use the data stored within Cortana to take control of the Domain, (because Cortana was based off Halsey’s Brain, she would be able to take control of it, as a Human. While Guilty Spark was also based off a Human, I’m sure the forerunner tech that was installed in his own programming wouldn’t let him take control of it, because as a monitor, he was designed to only be a monitor, no longer a human, and the forerunners could account for that). In doing so, guilty spark would also learn about Cortana’s history with 117. Guilty Spark could exploit that Weakness, and use it to get Chief close to him for the exact purpose of putting them into Cryptum so Chief couldn’t interfere with his plans.
>
> It all adds up in my books, and one last piece of supporting information is that on the legendary ending to Halo 5, we spot a Halo ring, with background audio, with Cortana Humming a familiar tone, one that 343 Guilty Spark had hummed in the past quite frequently.
>
> While there certainly isn’t any definitive proof of this, of course, I think it makes sense. What do y’all think? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Halo lore, but I do enjoy it, so please point out anything that isn’t in line with Halo lore, if you notice it. Thanks, and enjoy the discussion! : )

It’s been confirmed that the Cortana we see in Halo 5 is a collection of her Rampant fragments that she ejected into the Didact’s ship in Halo 4, got sucked into Slipspace and arrived at Genesis where the Domain repaired them, making her a fully functioning AI based entirely on the unstable aspects of her personality.

Guilty Spark survived Halo 3 (somehow) and ended up in the body of a Promethean armiger (the skinny soldier bots from Halo 5).

Your theory is as incorrect as it is wrong. Here, educate yourself.

Cortana’s survival: https://www.halopedia.org/Cortana#Sacrifice & 343 Guilty Sparks’s survival: https://www.halopedia.org/343_Guilty_Spark#Post_Human-Covenant_War_recovery

5

Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.

6

> 2533274812652989;5:
> Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.

It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.

7

> 2533274814585467;1:
> So, this has been a theory of mine for a while, that the Cortana we see in Halo 5 isn’t actually Cortana, at least not entirely Cortana. I had many thoughts on the topic prior to this point in time, but I’ve thought of one that I think makes quite a bit of sense.
>
> My theory is that the Cortana from Halo 5 is actually 343 Guilty Spark.
>
> Now hear me out:
>
> After 343 Guilty Spark was destroyed, his remnants were recovered by UNSC Rubicon, after which, Guilty Spark Uploaded himself to the Ship’s System’s Hijacking the controls, and putting the crew to sleep, as we departed, in search of the Librarian, whom he deemed to still be alive.
>
> My theory is that he managed to make his way to Genisis, and enter the domain. After which, he eventually came across the remnants of Cortana. Guilty Spark then Assimilated the remains of Cortana, and would use them to not only hide his true identity, but also use the data stored within Cortana to take control of the Domain, (because Cortana was based off Halsey’s Brain, she would be able to take control of it, as a Human. While Guilty Spark was also based off a Human, I’m sure the forerunner tech that was installed in his own programming wouldn’t let him take control of it, because as a monitor, he was designed to only be a monitor, no longer a human, and the forerunners could account for that). In doing so, guilty spark would also learn about Cortana’s history with 117. Guilty Spark could exploit that Weakness, and use it to get Chief close to him for the exact purpose of putting them into Cryptum so Chief couldn’t interfere with his plans.
>
> It all adds up in my books, and one last piece of supporting information is that on the legendary ending to Halo 5, we spot a Halo ring, with background audio, with Cortana Humming a familiar tone, one that 343 Guilty Spark had hummed in the past quite frequently.
>
> While there certainly isn’t any definitive proof of this, of course, I think it makes sense. What do y’all think? I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to Halo lore, but I do enjoy it, so please point out anything that isn’t in line with Halo lore, if you notice it. Thanks, and enjoy the discussion! : )

Your theory is kind of crazy, but everything can be expected from 343

8

> 2533274817408735;6:
> > 2533274812652989;5:
> > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
>
> It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.

Indeed. And you probably don’t know and I doubt you’d say anything if you did know, but I have a theory that we’re going to be running into another fragment of Cortana, a ‘good’ one, and we use this ‘good Cortana’ to help us take down the ‘Evil Cortana’ that was in Halo 5 by merging them together and ultimately causing her to permanently self destruct.

9

> 2533274817408735;6:
> > 2533274812652989;5:
> > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
>
> It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.

I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.

Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.

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> 2533274812652989;9:
> > 2533274817408735;6:
> > > 2533274812652989;5:
> > > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
> >
> > It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> > The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.
>
> I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.
>
> Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.

Cortana herself never claimed to be a fragment in H5. And in Dominion Splinter, as I said, she is definitely shown to be in a fragmented state with multiple Cortana’s infiltrating the Domain while one fragment distracted the Warden. So I don’t understand what you are getting at. It’s confirmed that Cortana fragmented herself and some (but not all) of those fragments made it to the Domain. So either those fragments joined together after dominating the Warden, or the remained separate for some reason. Either way, we’re not dealing with the same Cortana as she was in CE-4.

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> 2533274817408735;10:
> > 2533274812652989;9:
> > > 2533274817408735;6:
> > > > 2533274812652989;5:
> > > > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
> > >
> > > It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> > > The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.
> >
> > I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.
> >
> > Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.
>
> Cortana herself never claimed to be a fragment in H5. And in Dominion Splinter, as I said, she is definitely shown to be in a fragmented state with multiple Cortana’s infiltrating the Domain while one fragment distracted the Warden. So I don’t understand what you are getting at. It’s confirmed that Cortana fragmented herself and some (but not all) of those fragments made it to the Domain. So either those fragments joined together after dominating the Warden, or the remained separate for some reason. Either way, we’re not dealing with the same Cortana as she was in CE-4.

We’ve also got confirmation that her core matrix made it into the Domain. Folks can believe what they want, but it doesn’t look all cut and dry to me.

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> 2533274812652989;11:
> > 2533274817408735;10:
> > > 2533274812652989;9:
> > > > 2533274817408735;6:
> > > > > 2533274812652989;5:
> > > > > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
> > > >
> > > > It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> > > > The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.
> > >
> > > I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.
> > >
> > > Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.
> >
> > Cortana herself never claimed to be a fragment in H5. And in Dominion Splinter, as I said, she is definitely shown to be in a fragmented state with multiple Cortana’s infiltrating the Domain while one fragment distracted the Warden. So I don’t understand what you are getting at. It’s confirmed that Cortana fragmented herself and some (but not all) of those fragments made it to the Domain. So either those fragments joined together after dominating the Warden, or the remained separate for some reason. Either way, we’re not dealing with the same Cortana as she was in CE-4.
>
> We’ve also got confirmation that her core matrix made it into the Domain. Folks can believe what they want, but it doesn’t look all cut and dry to me.

I still don’t understand what it is you are arguing that Cortana is or what happened to her. Are you just saying “nothing is for sure”, or do you have your own idea of what happened?
Also, what piece of lore states that her core made it to the Domain?

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> 2533274817408735;12:
> > 2533274812652989;11:
> > > 2533274817408735;10:
> > > > 2533274812652989;9:
> > > > > 2533274817408735;6:
> > > > > > 2533274812652989;5:
> > > > > > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
> > > > >
> > > > > It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> > > > > The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.
> > > >
> > > > I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.
> > > >
> > > > Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.
> > >
> > > Cortana herself never claimed to be a fragment in H5. And in Dominion Splinter, as I said, she is definitely shown to be in a fragmented state with multiple Cortana’s infiltrating the Domain while one fragment distracted the Warden. So I don’t understand what you are getting at. It’s confirmed that Cortana fragmented herself and some (but not all) of those fragments made it to the Domain. So either those fragments joined together after dominating the Warden, or the remained separate for some reason. Either way, we’re not dealing with the same Cortana as she was in CE-4.
> >
> > We’ve also got confirmation that her core matrix made it into the Domain. Folks can believe what they want, but it doesn’t look all cut and dry to me.
>
> I still don’t understand what it is you are arguing that Cortana is or what happened to her. Are you just saying “nothing is for sure”, or do you have your own idea of what happened?
> Also, what piece of lore states that her core made it to the Domain?

The article here on Waypoint about Genesis tells us about her core.

Honestly, I’m of the opinion that it is the Cortana we’ve know since CE that we are dealing with. But that’s as much as I care about. I just think folks need to be careful about saying things are “confirmed”.

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> 2533274812652989;13:
> > 2533274817408735;12:
> > > 2533274812652989;11:
> > > > 2533274817408735;10:
> > > > > 2533274812652989;9:
> > > > > > 2533274817408735;6:
> > > > > > > 2533274812652989;5:
> > > > > > > Just a reminder Cortana being a collection of fragments hasn’t been confirmed either.
> > > > > >
> > > > > > It hasn’t? Dominion Splinter shows Cortana’s fragments aboard the Mantle’s Approach making it into the Domain. That pretty clearly shows her H5 self is composed of those fragments.
> > > > > > The other alternative is that each fragment that made it to the Domain became a full fledged Cortana, and there are a bunch of crazy Cortana’s throughout the universe that are all effectively immortal, and we encountered only one of them in H5.
> > > > >
> > > > > I wouldn’t say so. Given her tendency to lie in Halo 5, I find her claims to be “just a fragment” highly suspect, moreso when other fragments show up and she subdued the Warden. And hell, Halo 5 doesn’t give us any real clues itself.
> > > > >
> > > > > Couple that with the Loot Crate intel investigating all the possible causes for her behavior and it feels like 343 is keeping all options on the table.
> > > >
> > > > Cortana herself never claimed to be a fragment in H5. And in Dominion Splinter, as I said, she is definitely shown to be in a fragmented state with multiple Cortana’s infiltrating the Domain while one fragment distracted the Warden. So I don’t understand what you are getting at. It’s confirmed that Cortana fragmented herself and some (but not all) of those fragments made it to the Domain. So either those fragments joined together after dominating the Warden, or the remained separate for some reason. Either way, we’re not dealing with the same Cortana as she was in CE-4.
> > >
> > > We’ve also got confirmation that her core matrix made it into the Domain. Folks can believe what they want, but it doesn’t look all cut and dry to me.
> >
> > I still don’t understand what it is you are arguing that Cortana is or what happened to her. Are you just saying “nothing is for sure”, or do you have your own idea of what happened?
> > Also, what piece of lore states that her core made it to the Domain?
>
> The article here on Waypoint about Genesis tells us about her core.
>
> Honestly, I’m of the opinion that it is the Cortana we’ve know since CE that we are dealing with. But that’s as much as I care about. I just think folks need to be careful about saying things are “confirmed”.

Maybe you have a different definition of “same” than others. The way I see it, it’s confirmed that at least one fragment of Cortana didn’t make it to the Domain (the fragment that saved Chief from the HAVOK). That fragment even said “most of me is down there. I only held enough back to get you off the ship”. This part of her dissipates, maybe because it was too weak to sustain or had nowhere to go. Whether the part of her that disappears in front of Chief actually contained all her “good” aspects is unknown, but it can’t be denied that this part of her did not make it to the Domain. So while the Cortana we see in Halo 5 is partly the same old Cortana, it’s like she had a piece of her taken away. She’s different in her personality and goals. It’s like how survivors of brain damage can exhibit personality changes after their trauma: they’re the same, but different too. Halo 5’s Cortana is the Cortana we’ve been with since CE, but her journey has changed her.

Maybe “collection of fragments” is a bit of a callous description, but it’s pretty accurate. Fairer to say that she was reconstituted from the fragments she ejected into the Mantle’s Approach during Halo 4. True enough, Dominion Splinter didn’t explicitly show the fragments recombining into a single Cortana, so it does leave the possibility that the fragments remained separate, but that doesn’t seem to be the alternative you had in mind when denouncing the “collection of fragments” claim.