I think it’s the Didact. Remember how in Halo: Cryptum the Didact put the memories of his deceased children into his war sphinxes? And do you also remember how the Librarian left a memory of herself on Requiem? I really think the Forerunner machine we see contains a memory of the Didact.
Thoughts?
Interesting. Very interesting. It would definitely explain the confliction of Bryan Reed’s tweet and the comic… I like it.
> Interesting. Very interesting. It would definitely explain the confliction of Bryan Reed’s tweet and the comic… I like it.
And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
> And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
Back up personality maybe?
> And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
Or… Got implanted in a buried war sphinx after Escalation.
> > And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
>
> Back up personality maybe?
Is there evidence to point to the Didact’s personality being back up similar to the Librarian’s at any point? I haven’t seen any.
> > > And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
> >
> > Back up personality maybe?
>
> Is there evidence to point to the Didact’s personality being back up similar to the Librarian’s at any point? I haven’t seen any.
Could’ve done it some time during his return to military command. No evidence, just possible.
> > > > And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
> > >
> > > Back up personality maybe?
> >
> > Is there evidence to point to the Didact’s personality being back up similar to the Librarian’s at any point? I haven’t seen any.
>
> Could’ve done it some time during his return to military command. <mark>No evidence, just possible.</mark>
Well, you know me, I don’t buy that line of reasoning. 
I suppose he could have done so, but I doubt a back-up of his personality would be able to effectively lead his troops were he to perish or be captured. In short, I just don’t see him making a copy because it wouldn’t really be worth having around.
> > > > > And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
> > > >
> > > > Back up personality maybe?
> > >
> > > Is there evidence to point to the Didact’s personality being back up similar to the Librarian’s at any point? I haven’t seen any.
> >
> > Could’ve done it some time during his return to military command. <mark>No evidence, just possible.</mark>
>
> Well, you know me, I don’t buy that line of reasoning.
>
> I suppose he could have done so, but I doubt a back-up of his personality would be able to effectively lead his troops were he to perish or be captured. In short, I just don’t see him making a copy because it wouldn’t really be worth having around.
Fair enough, I guess we’ll see.
Even then, why would Chief be there with an AI chip?
Didact is a metal bird now. Chief just so happens to stumble upon Birdact in the Desert.
=Nope
It’s too big to be a War Sphinx, and even if anyone takes into account that Sphinxes can merge together to make larger Sphinxes, there’s still the fact that the war Sphinx is considered ancient among current Forerunner technology and I highly doubt that we’d be seeing such outdated technology on such a new (relatively speaking) and advanced location such as the Lesser Ark.
It’s either a Seeker, or something new entirely.
It could be 343i’s rendition of a Guardian Sentinel. And if that’s the case, the fact that this object is presumably guarding Mendicant Bias’s tomb would become much more symbolic to both its role and the name “Halo 5: Guardians.”
In regards to the original idea, OP, I don’t think that this is the Didact chilling within some Forerunner construct. Since the Didact’s neither dead nor composed, the only other known feasible way for him to appear as if he’s being disintegrated is if he’s being drawn into something akin to the Slipspace Anchors that were used to transport Glassman and Thorne to Requiem.
However, in this case, the Didact isn’t being pulled to Requiem, but rather somewhere else.
It doesn’t fit Bear’s description of a Sphinx, so my guess is something entirely new. The Forerunners were a big empire, there’s lots of room for new and exciting things, especially characters and vehicles.
> And your evidence is…what? Could be a War Sphinx, but I have no idea why the Didact would just be chilling for a long time in the sand for no conceivable reason.
He wasn’t chilling in the sand, he just arose from it.
Master Chief confronted the Didact in the control room and expressed his anger towards him for Cortana’s death. In the teaser, Chief looked at Cortana’s chip before angrily putting it away and looking up at the machine. The music also intensified as Chief got into that stare-down with the machine.
If it was a hot desert, then chilling could be a possibility. Badda-boom!
My money is on a non-antagonist, though. Maybe something/someone that can help Chief in his quest, whatever it may be. I know the music escalated, but that’s as much for building suspense as it is for expression malign intent.
Halo 5:G turns into an A. Hitchcock movie where a giant metal bird is trying to destroy Humanity.
I really hope this isn’t the case, unless it’s just a vehicle.
I’m willing to bet it’s Mendicant Bias, although it’s unlikely.
> I’m willing to bet it’s Mendicant Bias, although it’s unlikely.
I’m going to second that. It’s alot more likely because…well, we know a fragment of Mendicant is buried on the Ark.
And the Forerunner Dreadnought’s fate is still unknown, possibly meaning the two fragments could have merged somehow to restore some of Mendicant’s original functions.
