What is the mantle the didact talks about ? What is it and does it relate to the key in spops?
The Mantle is a Forerunner philosophical concept. Those who hold the Mantle are the guardians of the galaxy. It relates to the Janus Key from Spartan Ops by showing where all the Forerunner technology humanity could want is so they can increase their technological strength and attain the Mantle.
So basically, Forerunner tech + Mantle idea = Humans are guardians of the galaxy.
The Mantle - The Forerunner’s self proclaimed way of life where they protect everyone else.
In essence, they’re so self obsessed in a nice way they’re -Yoinks!-.
It relates to the key in that…the key is a Forerunner artifact. That maps out all forerunner stuff. And can do forerunner stuff.
Forerunner stuff being related to the mantle.
Whoever holds the Mantle is the galaxy’s guardian…First it was the Precursors, then Forerunners, and finally it was supposed to be Humans…but the Ur-Didact does not approve.
Yeah, I’m not sure why they even bothered with all the mantle stuff if they aren’t going to explain what it is.
It’s all well and good using the lore from Greg Bear’s books, but 343 need to realise that you can’t just expect everyone to have read them.
Halo 4 is about Cortanas’ space magic.
> Yeah, I’m not sure why they even bothered with all the mantle stuff if they aren’t going to explain what it is.
>
> It’s all well and good using the lore from Greg Bear’s books, but 343 need to realise that you can’t just expect everyone to have read them.
I understood what the Mantle was merely by watching the terminal videos.
It is a philosophy concerning galactic responsibility and oversight.
An interesting note, however- the Precursors were the first ‘followers’ of the Mantle, not the Forerunners. They handed the Mantle of responsibility down to the Forerunners, then took it back as the Forerunners soon proved unfit for it. It was this instance of ‘taking back’ the Mantle of responsibility that caused an older sect of Forerunners to rebel against the Precursors, bringing about their near-extinction.
The Precursors then, according to the Primordial, created the Flood: A new, perfect way of ensuring the galaxy would always be protected by the Mantle, by assimilating all life in such a way that it would continue to exist in peace and salvation (sound familiar?).
They use the Flood to test both humanity and the Forerunners further, as they did believe humanity were the next candidates for the Mantle where their Forerunner bretheren had failed.
> > Yeah, I’m not sure why they even bothered with all the mantle stuff if they aren’t going to explain what it is.
> >
> > It’s all well and good using the lore from Greg Bear’s books, but 343 need to realise that you can’t just expect everyone to have read them.
>
> I understood what the Mantle was merely by watching the terminal videos.
>
> It is a philosophy concerning galactic responsibility and oversight.
That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
> > > Yeah, I’m not sure why they even bothered with all the mantle stuff if they aren’t going to explain what it is.
> > >
> > > It’s all well and good using the lore from Greg Bear’s books, but 343 need to realise that you can’t just expect everyone to have read them.
> >
> > I understood what the Mantle was merely by watching the terminal videos.
> >
> > It is a philosophy concerning galactic responsibility and oversight.
>
> That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
By your logic, Bungie’s at an equally bad fault. Halo CE- where’s the context for ANYTHING? It isn’t just 343i. There’s only so much you can pack into a pure-FPS game for the campaign; it’s twice as difficult when you are using a unique, lore-rich universe.
> > That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
>
> By your logic, Bungie’s at an equally bad fault. Halo CE- where’s the context for ANYTHING? It isn’t just 343i. There’s only so much you can pack into a pure-FPS game for the campaign; it’s twice as difficult when you are using a unique, lore-rich universe.
I’m not quite sure what your point is here.
I’m saying that the story should be told in a way that is clear, and doesn’t require running around finding computer terminals.
Do you disagree?
> > > That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
> >
> > By your logic, Bungie’s at an equally bad fault. Halo CE- where’s the context for ANYTHING? It isn’t just 343i. There’s only so much you can pack into a pure-FPS game for the campaign; it’s twice as difficult when you are using a unique, lore-rich universe.
>
> I’m not quite sure what your point is here.
>
> I’m saying that the story should be told in a way that is clear, and doesn’t require running around finding computer terminals.
>
> Do you disagree?
I’m saying the don’t have time to fit it all in. In CE, they didn’t tell you who or why the Covenant were, for example.
> > > > That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
> > >
> > > By your logic, Bungie’s at an equally bad fault. Halo CE- where’s the context for ANYTHING? It isn’t just 343i. There’s only so much you can pack into a pure-FPS game for the campaign; it’s twice as difficult when you are using a unique, lore-rich universe.
> >
> > I’m not quite sure what your point is here.
> >
> > I’m saying that the story should be told in a way that is clear, and doesn’t require running around finding computer terminals.
> >
> > Do you disagree?
>
> I’m saying the don’t have time to fit it all in. In CE, they didn’t tell you who or why the Covenant were, for example.
Of course they had time to fit in a quick word about what the mantle was.
The concept of humankind being at war with an alien race in the future is an incredibly old one, it’s not something that needs to be explained each time.
> > > > > That’s all well and good if you actually find the terminal videos before it gets mentioned in the main story.
> > > >
> > > > By your logic, Bungie’s at an equally bad fault. Halo CE- where’s the context for ANYTHING? It isn’t just 343i. There’s only so much you can pack into a pure-FPS game for the campaign; it’s twice as difficult when you are using a unique, lore-rich universe.
> > >
> > > I’m not quite sure what your point is here.
> > >
> > > I’m saying that the story should be told in a way that is clear, and doesn’t require running around finding computer terminals.
> > >
> > > Do you disagree?
> >
> > I’m saying the don’t have time to fit it all in. In CE, they didn’t tell you who or why the Covenant were, for example.
>
> Of course they had time to fit in a quick word about what the mantle was.
>
> The concept of humankind being at war with an alien race in the future is an incredibly old one, it’s not something that needs to be explained each time.
Then you need not worry about the Mantle to progress through the story and understand it. All you need know is the definition of what a ‘mantle’ is and you’re good to go. “The Mantle of Responsibility” is such a straightforward remark that you need not get into the lore to understand what it means at its most basic level. Much like how you say the concept of humankind at war with aliens needs little explanation because it is just known.
> > Yeah, I’m not sure why they even bothered with all the mantle stuff if they aren’t going to explain what it is.
> >
> > It’s all well and good using the lore from Greg Bear’s books, but 343 need to realise that you can’t just expect everyone to have read them.
>
> I understood what the Mantle was merely by watching the terminal videos.
>
> It is a philosophy concerning galactic responsibility and oversight.
The Forerunners also believed that the Mantle was “passed” down to them from the Precursors (A race that apparently makes the Forerunners look like cavemen technologically wise). Which is why the Forerunners “passed” it down.
> > Of course they had time to fit in a quick word about what the mantle was.
> >
> > The concept of humankind being at war with an alien race in the future is an incredibly old one, it’s not something that needs to be explained each time.
>
> Then you need not worry about the Mantle to progress through the story and understand it. All you need know is the definition of what a ‘mantle’ is and you’re good to go. “The Mantle of Responsibility” is such a straightforward remark that you need not get into the lore to understand what it means at its most basic level. Much like how you say the concept of humankind at war with aliens needs little explanation because it is just known.
Of all the bizarre things that I’ve seen people try to defend, lackluster storytelling is definitely one of the strangest.
> > > Of course they had time to fit in a quick word about what the mantle was.
> > >
> > > The concept of humankind being at war with an alien race in the future is an incredibly old one, it’s not something that needs to be explained each time.
> >
> > Then you need not worry about the Mantle to progress through the story and understand it. All you need know is the definition of what a ‘mantle’ is and you’re good to go. “The Mantle of Responsibility” is such a straightforward remark that you need not get into the lore to understand what it means at its most basic level. Much like how you say the concept of humankind at war with aliens needs little explanation because it is just known.
>
> Of all the bizarre things that I’ve seen people try to defend, lackluster storytelling is definitely one of the strangest.
I’ve said it many, many times- No single main title Halo game has a good story on basis of the story in the campaign itself. The storytelling is absolutely BRILLIANT if you tie in the extended canon however. I, for one, care not about the individual story’s short-comings because it is to be /expected/ in a unique canon set in a pure-FPS setting. There simply isn’t enough time to address every concern beyond the basic concept that gets you /interested/ in following the lore.
This is coming from somebody who cares more about Halo’s story than its gameplay. I’d rather they use this vague intrigue to draw more people into the extended universe; that’s how I came to begin reading the books. Halo was just so-… interesting, but vague. I found out there were books. I sat down with one and fell in love.
Point is, I recognize no individual main title Halo game has absolutely great storytelling in respect to explaining the world. It’s digging beyond that shallow depth which matters to me, and Halo delivers. 
You’re still trying to defend the weak points in the storytelling.
It’s an incredibly odd thing to do.
Making things disjointed doesn’t encourage people to read about the story, it puts them off.
I read the books because I enjoyed the story, not because I was left baffled about parts of it.
They still typically leave just enough to cause a vague intrigue- again, I might ask, how does Halo 4 stack up as worse in this department than Halo 1, 2, or 3?
Granted, I’m excluding ODST because that game probably had some of the best integral storytelling as far as consistency and extrapolation.
If I may make a point about the discussion above about how Bungie’s storytelling wasn’t too good because they left things out. I understand the point, but I don’t agree with it. Bungie’s Halo titles didn’t require an extensive background in the lore to play and understand the story, they were self-contained. Does it explain why the Covenant are attacking? Not really, but they are just playing on the “evil alien” trope and doesn’t require more than that. Halo 2 and Halo 3 expanded the story more and were easy to get into.
The reason Halo 4 does not get a similar pass in my book is because 343i deliberately set out to make the main games and expanded universe intertwined and sort of failed by not explaining some of the key points.