The lack of Prometheans is concerning

Games Halo Infinite
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Before I get started, please cast aside for the moment any major opinions about the Prometheans you might have. Yes, I’m perfectly aware they may not be the most popular faction. Yes, I am aware of the gameplay issues they have had. I simply ask that you put those aside for now and hopefully see that, while some may celebrate their lack of inclusion in Infinite, it represents a serious potential problem for Halo’s storytelling moving forward.

The Prometheans came onto the Halo scene with Halo 4. They were mechanical constructs used by the Forerunner commander known as the Didact. The Knight units were created by the Didact after forcibly digitizing human beings as revenge for the human-Forerunner war and, when he awoke in the time of the Chief, did the same to the residents of New Pheonix. I know, a really abridged recap, but I’ve only got so much time. Most Halo fans are aware of the Didact, the Prometheans, and all that transpired in Halo 4.

This was just to remind you what the Knights at the very least were. They were a mirror to the Master Chief. Innocent people turned into war machines to serve at the behest of authorities trying to impose their rule over the galaxy at large (well, maybe not the entire galaxy as far as the UNSC was concerned, but you get the idea). Not only that, but the 5 million people converted into Knights would represent the largest loss of human life since the end of the Human-Covenant War. Each time you killed a Knight, you killed another human being who would have been completely unable to resist what they were doing. In that way, they were also analogous to the Flood. Not surprising since the Didact’s mind was twisted by the Gravemind prior to his creation of the Promethean Knights.

My point is, the Prometheans were a major contribution to the Halo story. There was a lot of potential. Even Cortana at the end of Halo 5 alludes to using the Composer (or something similar) to turn those against her into the image of her Created just like the Didact did to humanity.

And yet they will have no presence in Infinite. That doesn’t mean they can’t appear in a future campaign expansion, but their absence is odd. It’s especially odd when we know a crashed Guardian is on the ring. It’s odd when we know Cortana was present and it’s unlikely she’d arrive without any forces of her own. Still, maybe you are happy they aren’t in at all, so what’s the problem?

Getting rid of the Prometheans in this way is a continuation of a problem 343 has displayed over these last 9 years with narratives. When something isn’t instantly popular, they’ll do what they can to shift gears and just toss the idea aside if it’s a story or kill off something if it’s a character.

Examples
Remember the aforementioned Didact? After Halo 4, he appeared in the comic Halo: Escalation and was “contained” by the Chief. He’s been alluded to still being alive based on a Forge doll description, a coloring book, and the Spartan Field Manual. Yet that’s all he’s had for the last 8 years or so.

Remember the Janus Key? This was a Forerunner device that was revealed in Spartan Ops and could reveal the location of all Forerunner tech in the galaxy. It, along with the Absolute Record, was literally poofed out of the story at the end of Halo: Escalation. They’ve teased it may be accessible in other areas, but that’s amounted to nothing in the last 5-6 years since Escalation ended.

Remember characters like Jul 'Mdama and Spartan Team Black? Apparently, 343 didn’t know what to do with a Sangheili who knew of ONI’s plot to disrupt Sangheili society and had been personally kidnapped and abused by ONI, so they killed him off. Team Black got killed off because 343 apparently has an “OK to Kill” list.

These are just examples of things 343 has started and then just gave up on that, in my opinion, have weakened the narrative over the years. The Didact hurts especially since he was a major force in the expanded universe, billed as Chief’s first real nemesis, was said to be essential to post-Halo 4 fiction, yet somehow became “extraneous” to the story Halo 5 was trying to tell despite initial plans for him to be in it. And they’ve never explained how or why he became extraneous. Now it seems like the Prometheans are joining him.

Again, say what you will about the Prometheans, but I think we can agree not offering stories closure is a bad precedent. It also makes getting invested in characters and stories tough if you fear at any moment 343 will just shelve them for the next decade and HOPE they may come back to them later. I know they say Infinite is a 10-year game and that leaves room to tackle stories that have been set aside, but I ask what incentive do they have to return?

I only hope that new characters like Escharum, assuming Chief doesn’t kill him in the end, and the Harbinger appeal to fans. Otherwise, like they have for the last few years, 343 will just give up on them and throw them in the trash without so much as a second thought. Today it’s the much-hated Prometheans and folks are happy. Just pray 343 doesn’t grow cold to something you enjoy from here on out.

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I’d like the Prometheans to return in a redesign so that they’re more fun to fight. I’d also like them to return because I don’t want a lot of what Halo 4 set up to be thrown away because Halo 5 came in and shifted gears. It’d be a shame for them to not return at some point seeing as how some of the best parts of Halo 4 were fighting the covenant and Prometheans when they were already engaged with each other.

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Unsurprisingly, 343i had no clue what to do with Halo when they took the reign all those years ago. They (because of their ego) insisted to go a completely different direction, and they’ve been in flux ever since.

Halo Wars 2 had an amazing story and 343i just decided to do a 180 and do something more familiar.

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I read this and do not know where to add, like you pretty much covered all the reasons why not to and how its bad already, all I can say is I’m right there with you on the story being yet again pivoted so slightly different than what was probably originally a master crafted narrative before because of the plight of gamers in failed game play implementation AND that sucks. The drive for a perfect story is sometimes not going to be best represented in the game and I think its safe to say now maybe the Prometheans should have stayed an expanded part of the story through books and other media before a mainline Halo game like Halo 4. It should have been built up momentum better and the order of things should have released differently around the game.

Since the Hunt the Truth/Halo 5 Story miss step I am admittingly pessimistic to this though, production and management just didn’t align for that and maybe its easy to say they weren’t any better before H5.

Of course you couldn’t really tell the story of Halo 4 without the Prometheans but the game overall having poor reception for the sudden turn of events and introduction of a new/old alien race how Bungie intended if I remember correctly is just one of those things in the industry as consumers we are a victim of, it sucks but it is just how it is. The Janus Key, Black Team and other medias from switching hats and just people not being good at their job is a franchise problem that most of the industry suffers from until the talent can really collect themselves to do a better job. If Halo had anywhere near Star Wars budget it would be a better place overall, but I really don’t want to spiral out into that conversation.

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Thank you! This is something 343 has done that has become very concerning/frustrating over the years. They introduce storylines, many of them quite intriguing. However, either due to fan feedback or some other reason, 343 decides to either abruptly rush the conclusion of that storyline, or drop it altogether. You brought up excellent examples. They did this with Halo 5 and it seems they’re likely doing it again with Infinite. I wish 343 would commit to a storyline, not being over-reactionary. I seriously hope they learn from this.

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Prometheans were trash, both aesthetically and gameplay wise. Hopefully they’re gone for good, or if they do come back, they’re re-designed from scratch. Who’s idea at 343 was it to turn the forerunner aesthetic into some awful Tron looking shit with glowing lights everywhere?

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i’m so upset about this choice, prometheans were so fun to fight and a very cleaver addition to the enemy roster

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After h5 why on earth would 343 want to bring those awful things back and ruin another game.
Sometimes mistakes needed to be made to bring us something better which they have

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Hopefully they are in the opening and their redesigned corpses are scattered round the crashed Guardian(s).

I imagine the Prometheans will indeed be in the game but likely, later on when Cortana becomes relevant again.

Honestly if her forces were just Sentinels, Enforcers & Knights I’d be fine w/that.

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Op

I think there’s some spin going on. What exactly is a Promethean? We see aGuardian and that’s a “Promethean” if you consider the art style to be the definition.

Even in Halo 5 the actual Prometheans were becoming an increasingly specialised unit that was kind of just there in what was really an army of Forerunner robots. Armiger soldiers were far more prevalent and the in lore insinuation is that Cortana started churning these out because the Didacts army wouldn’t have had the manpower to conquer the Galaxy.

If Cortanas gone, then there’s no plot requirement at this part of the story for the army of Forerunner robots. A campaign expansion could pick this up depending on what they do. But then, sentinels or reawakened guardians could easily fulfil that function within the story.

I think Prometheans will become like the Insurrectionists in the books. They do exist, but they just aren’t the subject of the games.

Also as others have probably said, “Promethean” is really referring to the art style rather than Forerunner robots that walk. If you redesigned them or started calling them Armigers, DayWalker Sentinels; those are really superficial changes from the Forerunner robot premise.

Basically, sentinels are filling their role in the story.

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I agreebdropping thread like this instead of fixing the issues is a major issue with 343i approach to criticism.

With some small changes we could make the Prometheans very fun the fight and a change in their appearance is already built into lore.
To remove them now is sort of slap in the face to people who invested time into the last decade of halo.
Them being gone will be even more annoying if the thing they were supposed to fight returns in infinite.
Not pleased about the lack of Prometheans thus far.
Hope its rectified post launch.

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All I’m saying is, if the Prometheans don’t make an appearance in Infinite, the Didact and his Prometheans need to make a return someday in true Infinite fashion - assuming Infinite proves its ability to provide something new that also feels like an extension of the type of Halo game we would have got in the early days. I’d love to see the Didact and Prometheans return in Infinite’s more legacy-focused style. The Prometheans as a concept was always good. Let’s have them fully fleshed out and truly ‘Halo’ for the first time!

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I’m not all that concerned, because the Promethean numbers were always limited, as they were something that the Didact created, not a standard Forerunner armiger. Cortana likely overexerted those forces and ran them dry.

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At least we know there’s the crashed guardian, an new Forerunner antagonist and we have a few hard light weapons… it’s not like they are being completely swept under the rug and retconned from the extended universe. They might just be being kept tightly under wraps for later story expansion.

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I agree with everything you said. 343 is so desperately trying to convey the original Halo feeling for the loud nostalgia obsessed fans they are doing everything to keep Halo Infinite as “safe” as it can be so the initial reception is positive. But doing so they are falling into the trap they’ve fallen over the past decade which is to abruptly change narrative beats resulting into a much more incoherent story.

Say what you want about Halo 4, but their new additions, themes and elements introduced were creative and fresh, now pretty much none of these elements are present in Halo Infinite and this, for the continuity of the saga is very disappointing.

I still believe 343 will eventually add the Prometheans back to the game, but the feeling is they are favouring familiarity over continuity and I hope by the end of Halo Infinite we can look back at the Reclaimer saga and see it is relevant and valuable to the Halo franchise, not just running around in circles to end up fighting the same enemies, facing the same threats, repeating the same missions so Chief and Cortana can live happily ever after.

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Here’s the thing, I WANT the Prometheans to come back. Lore wise, they’re extremely interesting and I want to know more… but I don’t think 343i ever knew what to do with them.

The problem wasn’t that we hated the story behind them or anything like that, they were just not well designed at all for Halo’s sandbox. The fact that a Watcher could throw your own grenades back at you or revive dead Knights, or how Promethean foot soldiers could teleport instantaneously without any warning, visual cue, or sound to let you know it’s about to happen (I mean even Jackals have a visual cue to let you know they’re about to activate their shield) are just two examples of how badly designed they were.

I want the Prometheans back. I just don’t want to sigh every time I fight one. Make them fun to fight.

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Pretty sure the Didact was killed off in a comic book.

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He could have been composed though and come back as an AI.

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It’s possible, yes. But we won’t know until he shows up, eh? If he ever does.

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the lack of continuity and coherence within the 343 plot decisions is something I will never forgive to them