I think on the vehicles section it has an art piece with what looks like the top part of a Guardian and some maybe Watchers with blue lights. I can’t really make it out on this image.
Are there any other details on the image:
I had a look at my copy and I think I’ve found the picture you mean (pgs.100-101). This is what I can see:
It looks like Banished vs Cortana/The Guardian. The flying things are Watchers, but with blue light as opposed to the Didact’s orange. There’s also is what looks like a Brute with a Gravity Hammer and some other aliens (Brutes? Elites? It’s hard to tell) in the fore-mid ground but I’m not sure.
There’s also a downed Scarab (with what looks like some kind of purple/blue shield/terminals), in the foreground. It could be something else but to me, it’s Scarab shaped. There could be another one (some large, destroyed machinery) but it’s hard to tell, there’s some text in the way. There’s some Choppers (?) and a Drop Pod/Phantom(?) too from the look of things. But both of those details are hard to make out properly.
No, not that I can see.
The surface of Zeta Halo, at an educated guess it’s the crash site of the Guardian you see in-game. But there’s no specific or easily seeable landmarks to locate where it is exactly.
However, it is possible that it’s in a different biome as the ground is shades of orange which doesn’t match with the biome we play in-game. It kind of reminds me of some parts of Reach (beginning of The Pillar of Autumn mission).
To me, it looks like it’s crashing/falling to the surface, there’s a lot of dust/clouds/smoke around it that seems to indicate downward movement. And if one can ascribe emotion to a Guardian, it looks shocked/surprised/in pain almost. So I’d say it looks like it’s in it’s last throws of life, as it crash lands.
I’m afraid that’s the best I can do, the art style is quite painterly so some smaller details are lost. To me, it feels like one last push by the Banished to finally down the Guardian and defeat it, full of action and movement with lots of gunfire.
I hope this helps!
Sounds like a flashback or cutscene. I just got the Artbook myself today and I think you’re right about the almost pained or confused expression on the Guardian.
Not entirely sure how the Banished we see on screen could be damaging the Guardian. Could be more connected with Cortana dying.
I mean I assumed the Guardian we see dead was destroyed in the explosion of Zeta Halo or deactivated when Cortana was locked down. Not sure how I’d take the Banished straight up beating them in a fight. If they can do that why hasn’t the UNSC or Elites dealt with the Created.
In the Artbook they do mention about early concept stuff they had for Sanghelios which is the other Guardian image so I was unsure if this image was related to that.
It definitely feels like it isn’t current from the game, but as you say a flashback.
I can totally get behind that idea too. But with the painting is done its leaves loads up to interpretation. Whatever the answer the battle is impressive!
I assume that too, but since we don’t have any info in-game about that one so I’m not sure what destroyed it, there might be a correlation or not. But I really hope we find out in the future. Having seen what happened to the Infinity I assume The Banshined fleet can be powerful, who knows they may have the firepower to force a Guardian to ground.
But it would make sense that when Cortana falls, the Guardian falls with her since she’s in control of them.
I did think that maybe the image was set on a different planet since the scenery doesn’t quite fit with what we’ve seen with on Zeta, and with most of the artwork based on Zeta I figured it was there. But it could be somewhere else and maybe not even Banished? I’m pretty sure there’s a Scarab, but it’s not painted in Banished colours, so maybe it’s depicting a different faction somewhere els.
I hope you enjoy the art book 