these were used in the ad campain for the origonal Halo… but strangely work better for the events of Halo 5… i wonder if this was intentional or at least contributed to how things have ended up in Halo 5 or even if this helped inspire the reclaimer story arc.
here is the first one.
"From: “Cortana” <cortana@bungie.com>
To: <hamish.sinclair@tcd.ie>
Subject: Closure
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 10:50:20 -0600
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3
I have walked the edge of the Abyss.
I have governed the unwilling.
I have witnessed countless empires break before me.
I have seen the most courageous soldiers fall away in fear.
[I was there with the Angel at the tomb.]
I have seen your future.
And I have learned.
There will be no more Sadness. No more Anger. No more Envy.
I HAVE WON.
Oh, and your poet Eliot had it all wrong,
THIS is the way the world ends.
A friend of a friend."
btw… i think the music in halo 5 is awesome… definitely getting the soundtrack.
Hey, I just stumbled over the letters again yesterday. I immediately had the same idea. Even posted the same thing on another Channel. I really wonder what Bungie had in mind when writing these E-Mails back in the day. Someone wrote they planned for Cortana to go mad in the first game and try to obtain the power of the Halo Ring, But I guess that was before they really decided for the direction that Halo ultimately went.
I really hope that these letters get at least a little bit of attention in the new games, with Cortana acting like she sounded in this very first mail. Also if you read the second one it says: “I’ve had the strangest dreams lately - raging seas, howling beasts, a Demon folded in black clouds. I believe I know what it guards, and I will have it, to the chagrin of the faith-blinded zealots that challenge me.” Is this maybe a hint at the Guardians? Or at least maybe where the concept for them was born? I wonder if 343i will ever talk about them, though I doubt it since they were originally sent by Bungie to the host of a Marathon fanpage…
There will be no more sadness. No more anger. No more envy.
In other words, no more Rampancy.
I don’t think the Cortana Letters are canon, but I do think 343i is adopting ideas from them; in Halo CE, Cortana was meant to go mad with power and wanted to use Halo to conquer the galaxy.
The legendary ending of Halo 5 shows Cortana with a Halo ring. The “Cortana going mad with power and wanting to conquer everything” storyline was dropped because they thought it was cliche’d; or rather, having it happen out of nowhere with no foreshadowing was implausible. By Halo 5. Cortana has been captured and tortured by the Gravemind, subjected to the Logic Plague, and went through Rampancy. So now, there’s a plausible reason for her to go stark-raving, bonkers-mad.
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> I don’t think the Cortana Letters are canon, but I do think 343i is adopting ideas from them; in Halo CE, Cortana was meant to go mad with power and wanted to use Halo to conquer the galaxy.
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> > 2533274967414694;3:
> > I don’t think the Cortana Letters are canon, but I do think 343i is adopting ideas from them; in Halo CE, Cortana was meant to go mad with power and wanted to use Halo to conquer the galaxy.
>
> Here is a video by developers including Marty O Donnel talking about this. Halo Combat Evolved: Developer Commentary. Skip to 22:15