*Spoilers* Halsey and Chief is NOT a Cliffhanger!

Games Halo 5: Guardians
#1

Just want to clarify the difference between a cliffhanger and turning the page in the history of Halo.

Definition of Cliffhanger: an ending to an episode of a serial drama that leaves the audience in suspense.

As everyone knows, if you played the campaign, there is a cutscene at the end of the game that has Halsey and Chief reuniting for the first time and decades. Chief is standing side by side with Locke who successfully brought home the Master Chief. Halsey pushes her way through the crowd to the front and see John and simply states: “Took you long enough” which is a nice way to close the game out and close this chapter of Chief’s history with Cortana and Halsey. THIS WAS NOT A CLIFFHANGER!
Cliffhanger endings such as the duo in Halo 2, are cliffhangers. The first cliffhanger is Chief standing on Truth’s Forerunner Dreadnought when he gets warped into Earth’s orbit. The marines in Cairo Station notify Lord Hood: “Incoming contact, unknown classification.” Lord Hood responds, “it isn’t one of ours, take it out.” The camera cuts to Chief where he tries to get raise Lord Hood and does successfully. Lord Hood asks, “…you mind telling me what you’re doing on that ship?” Chief responds, “Sir, finishing this fight” and then fades to black then into credits. That is a cliffhanger. Another Cliffhanger ending was later on in the Epilogue with Cortana and the Gravemind:

Gravemind: Silence fills the empty grave now that I have gone, but my mind is not at rest for questions linger on. I will ask, and you will answer.

Cortana: [motions Gravemind to stop] Alright…shoot.

[Cuts to black]

Now that is another very important cutscene as it dictates a lot of motive throughout Halo from Cortana, especially in Halo 5 and 6 but this is a topic for a different time. This and Chief’s cutscenes are cliffhanger endings.

In Halo 5, there is one cliffhanger ending and that is after the credits are done rolling and we see a Halo ring in the background then cuts black. Now that is a cliffhanger ending because there are so many questions that one could ask:

Does Cortana have the Index from Installation 04?
Will Cortana release the Flood?
Will Cortana activate Halo?
What is she doing to the Halo Ring?
What is her master plan?

All of these questions, and more, arise from that one cutscene. Anyways, maybe I’m talking about the wrong cutscene and everyone is talking about the one with Cortana and the Halo ring, but it should still be noted that Halsey and John talking is not a cliffhanger, it is just closing a page in Chief’s history.

#2

A cliffhanger doesn’t mean that a single cut scene leaves more to be desired or untold, but that the general overall story leads up to something without a proper conclusion. People seem to think that just because there is more story to be told, that there is an improper cliffhanger in this game.

I don’t agree with the community at large when they say that this is on par with Halo 2, because there is a proper story told within Halo 5 and we are brought to a new conclusion/beginning of a new conflict. We end with our heroes essentially contemplating how they are going to take on/survive the new threat. Also, it’s the second part of a three part story, of course it isn’t going to end. There’d be no point to Halo 6.

#3

[deleted]

#4

Thing is, I’m fine with the cliffhanger, but I definitely acknowledge it as a cliffhanger.

Was the issue with Cortana resolved? No, it hasn’t. We still need to fight her.

Obviously a cliffhanger if it wasn’t resolved.

#5

Halsey and Chief finally meeting again can be looked at as a cliffhanger, I suppose, because there are questions about what happens next. Does she make him another AI? She doesn’t want him around Cortana so what will she do to try and convince him not to go back after her. There is some suspense there.

#6

I don’t see how the Chief and Halsey ending wasn’t a cliffhanger. You spent half of Halo 4 trying to find Halsey so you can see if she is able to cure Cortana’s rampancy. On the flip side Halsey has been trying to find a way to be reunited with the Chief herself, but she never reveals why. With halsey there is definitely she needs something for him to do, but what?

There are other questions that need to be answered as well. Such as the fact that the Chief no longer blindly follows orders, case in point he went awol to go look for Cortana. Plus is he going to start going to questioning his past, and what happened to him?

It’s a cliff hanger because fans were expecting some sort of conversation or small confrontation, no matter how short, beyond what happened. Instead of getting that interaction there was nothing but credits.

#7

So just to clarify: a whole bunch of AIs turned against humanity while the infinity is forced to tuck tail and flee, uttering a line that is either deliberately or inadvertently echoing Halo 2’s cliffhanger, and that’s not a cliffhanger?

#8

> 2533274823519895;7:
> So just to clarify: a whole bunch of AIs turned against humanity while the infinity is forced to tuck tail and flee, uttering a line that is either deliberately or inadvertently echoing Halo 2’s cliffhanger, and that’s not a cliffhanger?

The cliffhanger in Halo 5 was the Halo ring and the game as a whole was either deliberately or inadvertently echoed Halo 2’s cliffhanger with Cortana. The only cliffhanger that I said wasn’t a cliffhanger was the Halsey and John scene.

By the way, I edited my original post.

#9

Dude, Cortana taking over and the Infinity running away is a cliffhanger.
This is what the story of the game was about, this is why it’s called Halo 5 GUARDIANS.
Halsey and 117 meeting again is not part of the main story.

#10

It the middle of a trilogy, Halo 2 had the exact same problem. It’s something that can’t be helped.

#11

> 2533274818808063;10:
> It the middle of a trilogy, Halo 2 had the exact same problem. It’s something that can’t be helped.

It’s not a trilogy anymore, it’s a saga.

#12

What happened to all the forerunners? Was it just the Didact in Halo 4? He didn’t die did he? I thought he just fell into a subspace rupture. Also isn’t the librarian around still? I’d like to see the flood return as an enemy, not as one capable of being the main antagonist, but just as fodder.

#13

Campaign was excellent and it ended quite well for being in the middle of epic changing events.

#14

Halo 5 definitely did not have a cliffhanger ending. Blue Team’s story revolved around finding Cortana, and Fireteam Osiris’ main goal was to capture/save Blue Team. Halo 5 concludes both of those stories with Blue Team finding Cortana, and then Locke and Osiris saving Blue Team from taking the longest nap in human history.

#15

The way that I see it, is that the ending of Halo 5 concluded as “to be continued” type ending.

#16

I think the OP is mistaking what cliffhangers are. You see cliffhangers are…

#17

> 2745051201462131;16:
> I think the OP is mistaking what cliffhangers are. You see cliffhangers are…

I don’t mistake what cliffhangers are. Please look up the definition of a cliffhanger. Once you do, then you will realize there is one arguable cliffhanger ending and that is tbe legendary ending.