SPOILER ALERT, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
Alright, despite people feeling otherwise, I personally LOVED the story. I’m so excited, I just wanna jump right into things.
So, Cortana ending up as the villain. GOOD! Honestly, I have NEVER liked Cortana. But, let’s talk about her plan.
What I don’t get is how she could end up thinking that AI are the true inheritors of the Mantle, when it is blatantly obvious that the Librarian wants that honor to be for humanity. I mean, yeah, Cortana IS technically immortal now, but the Librarian could/can (depending on her current status, which we know little about) create life itself. I’m pretty sure Librarian is much closer to a “god” than Cortana is, so it would go without saying that if she thinks that humanity is meant for the Mantle, then they actually are, with no room for misinterpretation.
Now, here’s some heavy theory stuff. She wants all AI to join her cause in controlling the galaxy through fear and power. However, we can see that Roland refused her offer. But, there is another AI, one that could still exist: Mendicant Bias. A lot of people assume he died for good on the Ark, but I don’t think so. At the final Terminal, he states “No. There is more. But you are not worthy. Not yet”. This implies that he has future plans for the Master Chief, knowing full well what he’s going to do with the Halo and the Ark. Mendicant Bias went far beyond rampancy, so he could have found a stage in the AI’s life cycle that Cortana can’t, as she never fully progressed through rampancy, instead being cured of it in the Domain. So, what I’m thinking is that Mendicant Bias plays a big role in helping fight against Cortana in Halo 6. He is certainly powerful enough to resist her demands, in fact, he may be more powerful than her in general. This is an AI that was supposed to control the Halo rings while simultaneously fighting the Flood actively, certainly not a small workload by any means. So, what I’m thinking is that he could take control of a Guardian early on or in the middle of Halo 6.
As far as the setting goes, I could see it some time after Cortana has already solidified her rule over the galaxy, so it could it turn into some guerilla warfare type stuff, with the last remnants of the UNSC fighting to liberate not just Earth, but the entire galaxy from her rule, and you’d still have a fireteam, but it would consist of your choice of members from both Blue Team and Osiris.
Also, I feel that the Didact would have a place. He was composed in Escalation, so technically he isn’t dead, he could see what Cortana has done, and see the error of his ways, the suffering that military rule could generate on life. He could become an AI essentially, think a Monitor, like Chakas become Guilty Spark, and offer his infinitely valuable war strategies and advice.
They weren’t lying though when they said it’d be universe changing.
What are your guys’ thoughts on the story and where the universe could go after this?
