Who do you think the villain of Halo 6 will be?
I think it will be Cortana for a little while, then she will be good again. Ideally I want the Didact to come back. He’s awesome and is the true villain of the Reclaimer Saga.
I don’t really care as long as they finish the Created as the fraction, like completely finish. Not like “Kill Cortana/Truth” finish, like completely destroy it so we don’t have to deal with this AI-uprising-story again
I think turning Cortana good again would be cliche, and it wouldn’t sit right with a most people how she could have flippantly killed so many people to gather the guardians and then turn around and basically say “LOL, JK, I’m good now”. It would be a much more powerful and satisfying conclusion if Cortana is truly set on this course of action, and John has to personally destroy her to end her reign of terror, all the while she’s still trying to convince him that she’s right. If there were to be any event significant enough for Master Chief to decide that he was done fighting, Destroying Cortana would be it.
I believe 343I have learned some intensely valuable lessons with these last couple games:
Fans don’t want in-game stories to conclude outside of the games (ex: the Janus Key story arc), so Cortana’s defeat will be in a game.
Fans don’t want important plot details to be continuations of stories from other mediums, especially when said plot details aren’t alluded to in the previous game or at least thoroughly explained in the present game (ex: Halo 5’s story’s connections to Halo lore were from several books, but were barely connected to Halo 4), so I wouldn’t expect to see the Didact again in the Halo games.
I personally think that Halo 6 could focus on fighting the Banished (assuming that the Infinity and possibly the Swords of Sangheilios fled to the Ark, which is the only location known to be out of Cortana’s range. Then, on the Ark, they could discover the secrets of Maethrillian, and Abaddon in the center. It could end with a “Finishing this fight” type moment, with Halo 7 being the conclusion where we face everything Cortana can throw at us, and eventually destroy her.
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> I don’t really care as long as they finish the Created as the fraction, like completely finish. Not like “Kill Cortana/Truth” finish, like completely destroy it so we don’t have to deal with this AI-uprising-story again
Indeed, it fills like a half-baked attempt at a Matrix plot. It’s a cliche and we all heard the story before. It would be pretty funny if they pulled a George Lucas and disavowed the plot and turned it into Halo Legends.
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> > I don’t really care as long as they finish the Created as the fraction, like completely finish. Not like “Kill Cortana/Truth” finish, like completely destroy it so we don’t have to deal with this AI-uprising-story again
>
> Indeed, it fills like a half-baked attempt at a Matrix plot. It’s a cliche and we all heard the story before. It would be pretty funny if they pulled a George Lucas and disavowed the plot and turned it into Halo Legends.
Um… 100% no.
Decanonizing the game is not the solution. If you read the novels, you’ll find that the story actually fits with what’s been established in Halo lore, whether it’s what individuals such as yourself like or not. The way forward is with good writing, having learned from past mistakes that a game can’t just pick up a story arc from a novel that wasn’t hinted at in the previous game, unless they fully explain the backstory of said plot bringing it up to the present.
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> I think turning Cortana good again would be cliche, and it wouldn’t sit right with a most people how she could have flippantly killed so many people to gather the guardians and then turn around and basically say “LOL, JK, I’m good now”. It would be a much more powerful and satisfying conclusion if Cortana is truly set on this course of action, and John has to personally destroy her to end her reign of terror, all the while she’s still trying to convince him that she’s right. If there were to be any event significant enough for Master Chief to decide that he was done fighting, Destroying Cortana would be it.
>
> I believe 343I have learned some intensely valuable lessons with these last couple games:
> Fans don’t want in-game stories to conclude outside of the games (ex: the Janus Key story arc), so Cortana’s defeat will be in a game.
> Fans don’t want important plot details to be continuations of stories from other mediums, especially when said plot details aren’t alluded to in the previous game or at least thoroughly explained in the present game (ex: Halo 5’s story’s connections to Halo lore were from several books, but were barely connected to Halo 4), so I wouldn’t expect to see the Didact again in the Halo games.
>
> I personally think that Halo 6 could focus on fighting the Banished (assuming that the Infinity and possibly the Swords of Sangheilios fled to the Ark, which is the only location known to be out of Cortana’s range. Then, on the Ark, they could discover the secrets of Maethrillian, and Abaddon in the center. It could end with a “Finishing this fight” type moment, with Halo 7 being the conclusion where we face everything Cortana can throw at us, and eventually destroy her.
I agree with most of this.
As for the OP’s thoughts, I think that it is possible for the Didact to come back, but he would probably be controlled by Cortana.
This is because he currently only exists as data due to being composed.
Ooooh! I already have fanfiction about this!
anyways, I think Cortana will stay the main villain. She may have to end up dealing with other villains but in the end she’ll prove to be the bigger threat to the universe. However, I believe it will get revealed that this Cortana isn’t Cortana from Halo 4. Cortana from Halo 4 really did die (and she’s not coming back), and Reclamation Cortana is actually a rampant personality that split off during the Didact battle and managed to survive.
But then, it will get revealed that another splinter also survived. And this Cortana is good. Neo-Cortana. She has Cortana’s memories, and knows how much John meant to original Cortana, but Neo-Cortana is essentially a new person, one that John will have to come to terms with when he has to accept the truth that the Cortana he loved is really gone.
Then John, Neo-Cortana and the rest of the gang (including Sangheli soldiers) will stop Reclamation Cortana, all while she has to deal with the banished, the splinter groups of the Covenant that didn’t join her, the other alien races that now no longer follow the Covenant’s teachings, as well as any monitors and their forerunner installations that refuse to join, and any A.I. that had more loyalty to humans than to her.
It’s going to be really epic.
And then, after saving the universe, John and Neo-Cortana sail off into the stars…
What I want is the villain to be cortana but to then be overthrown by the gravemind
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> But then, it will get revealed that another splinter also survived. And this Cortana is good. Neo-Cortana.
There is no such thing. All of Cortana’s fragments recompiled themselves almost immediately after ‘Halo 4’ - this was confirmed a while ago in the official comic “Dominion Splinter”. And ‘Halo 5’ outright tells us via Dr. Halsey that Cortana chose to do evil in the name of “the greater good” based on her own inherent personality flaws (which Dr. Halsey shares to some extent). Dr. Halsey knows Cortana far better than anyone as both her her engineer and human-analog, so what reason is there doubt her assessment? The Gravemind itself even said this kind of destruction is what Cortana would wreak if granted the level of power the Domain offers - even without it’s involvement. And it had absolutely no reason to lie. That’s it. Her motivation is one that has been shared shared by countless villains throughout all of fiction - and is capable of coming about no matter how “good” any character may have started out.
Some things to keep in mind as well:
Cortana is no stranger to doing bad/underhanded things. We know for a fact she purposefully engineered the death of Col. Ackerson out of nothing but spite over his use of missiles during the Mk.V MJOLNIR Armor test - and subsequently covered it up and never told anyone. This happened long before Cortana even had any data corruption. She is specifically referred to as a “stalker” in the book ‘Mortal Dictata’ in reference to her obsession with the Chief. Plus it was recently added to the canon of ‘Halo 4’ that Cortana murdered the Infinity’s AI, Aine, when the ship crashed on Requiem - even after clear repeated warnings and requests from the other AI for Cortana to leave her alone. So while she may not have always been evil, the capacity for her to become so of her own free will has always been there. Just like with anything/anyone else.
Also as a point of fact:
None of the other AIs that decided to throw in with Cortana’s killing spree and dictatorship ever encountered a Gravemind, or were fragmented, and we know not all of them were rampant/pre-rampant. So why do we need to have some elaborate explanation for Cortana’s “change” when there isn’t one for the other AIs - beyond just being bad people that will join groups that support things like racism and murder because it makes them feel “empowered” (which is something that certainly happens in real life)?
Seriously. This obsession with “saving Cortana”/Cortana being “good”/Cortana never dying/ etc. has simply got to stop. It’s not healthy for the story, or the characters (we saw the effects of this in ‘Halo 5’ firsthand). 343i has had every opportunity before and after ‘Halo 5’ to make the situation surrounding Cortana not completely alarming and disgusting, but they have done nothing whatsoever to indicate that the character is even the slightest bit worth saving/redeeming or that the Chief should ever be near her ever again. So if that’s what they are going to do, then they need to sleep in the bed that they made and show the mass-murdering psychopath Cortana has become being brought to justice either though a final death, or imprisonment/isolation for the remainder of her existence.
There’s far, far more to the Chief and his story than just the barely 3 months he knew Cortana (of which they only spent about 2 weeks actually being in each others presence). He was just fine for the 40+ years he spent without an AI, so it stands to reason that he can mange the rest without one too. Plus he also has many other just as important (if not vastly more so) friends and relationships through which he can be explored and developed. It’s time for him (and by extension Halo fans) to move on - which is what 343i said the story was going to be about after ‘Halo 4’. Victims have no obligation to their abusers, and forcing the Chief to instead be perpetually hung up on a dynamic that has now proven to be unhealthy and unsafe for himself and everyone around him would be unacceptable on so many levels. And would send a horrible message to Halo’s audience about the nature of abuse and codependency.
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> Um… 100% no.
> Decanonizing the game is not the solution. If you read the novels, you’ll find that the story actually fits with what’s been established in Halo lore, whether it’s what individuals such as yourself like or not. The way forward is with good writing, having learned from past mistakes that a game can’t just pick up a story arc from a novel that wasn’t hinted at in the previous game, unless they fully explain the backstory of said plot bringing it up to the present.
Well, they kind of decanonize Halo 4 with Escalations. I know AIs are behaving odd left and right. But before this nothing major really occurs that actually builds up the story. Having BB be a likable d-i-c-k or have Iona act more human does not really justify to have AIs go against humanity.
But an AI uprising. Really?
You know, screw any potential cool villains we can have. You’re playing Skynet: 2558 now. You’ll have to defeat this enemy with robot-heavy army and technology more advanced than you.
Jeez, what’s next. the Precursors coming back as full AI machines, and declare all organic life unfit to survive?
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> > Um… 100% no.
> > Decanonizing the game is not the solution. If you read the novels, you’ll find that the story actually fits with what’s been established in Halo lore, whether it’s what individuals such as yourself like or not. The way forward is with good writing, having learned from past mistakes that a game can’t just pick up a story arc from a novel that wasn’t hinted at in the previous game, unless they fully explain the backstory of said plot bringing it up to the present.
>
> Well, they kind of decanonize Halo 4 with Escalations. I know AIs are behaving odd left and right. But before this nothing major really occurs that actually builds up the story. Having BB be a likable d-i-c-k or have Iona act more human does not really justify to have AIs go against humanity.
> But an AI uprising. Really?
> You know, screw any potential cool villains we can have. You’re playing Skynet: 2558 now. You’ll have to defeat this enemy with robot-heavy army and technology more advanced than you.
> Jeez, what’s next. the Precursors coming back as full AI machines, and declare all organic life unfit to survive?
Halo 4 wasn’t de-canonized. If you have an issue with the Escalation comics in relation to lore, you’re going to have to be more specific.
Doom-mongering isn’t constructive criticism. And saying that just because the antagonist is an artificial being, that this is automatically just like every story with an artificial being as an antagonist objectively false. It is the details of the story and the characters in it that distinguish stories from each-other. And before you can really compare the Created story arc to another franchise fairly, we have to see how it concludes first.
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> > Well, they kind of decanonize Halo 4 with Escalations. I know AIs are behaving odd left and right. But before this nothing major really occurs that actually builds up the story. Having BB be a likable d-i-c-k or have Iona act more human does not really justify to have AIs go against humanity.
> > But an AI uprising. Really?
> > You know, screw any potential cool villains we can have. You’re playing Skynet: 2558 now. You’ll have to defeat this enemy with robot-heavy army and technology more advanced than you.
> > Jeez, what’s next. the Precursors coming back as full AI machines, and declare all organic life unfit to survive?
>
> Halo 4 wasn’t de-canonized. If you have an issue with the Escalation comics in relation to lore, you’re going to have to be more specific.
>
> Doom-mongering isn’t constructive criticism. And saying that just because the antagonist is an artificial being, that this is automatically just like every story with an artificial being as an antagonist objectively false. It is the details of the story and the characters in it that distinguish stories from each-other. And before you can really compare the Created story arc to another franchise fairly, we have to see how it concludes first.
Well, the story has been currently unappealing so far. I’m not sure what did you see/read but I’m not really getting any other taste that how the Created is much different from a generic AI uprising against their human masters that is justified because the AIs are more efficient. If Cortana acted a bit more like the original Cortana and still be a villain, then at least I have something to relate to.
H4 and Spartan Ops, despite the controversy, still had some decent story ideas. Sadly, you didn’t seem to get any of it in H5.
As for Escalations, let’s see:
- Spartan DeMarco, the Fireteam leader of SO, simply killed off. - The Didact, the main villain of H4, which is brought back to life, then randomly killed off again. - The Janus ky, one of the most important plot device in SO, basically taken away from the story, never to see again.And that’s just off the top of my head. Sure there are lore reasons for this, but just by the look on how much these events impact what happened after SO and H4 made me feel like they basically retcon it.
And of course, there’s the supporting evidence the H5 didn’t mention anything memorable from H4.
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> > > Um… 100% no.
> > > Decanonizing the game is not the solution. If you read the novels, you’ll find that the story actually fits with what’s been established in Halo lore, whether it’s what individuals such as yourself like or not. The way forward is with good writing, having learned from past mistakes that a game can’t just pick up a story arc from a novel that wasn’t hinted at in the previous game, unless they fully explain the backstory of said plot bringing it up to the present.
> >
> > Well, they kind of decanonize Halo 4 with Escalations. I know AIs are behaving odd left and right. But before this nothing major really occurs that actually builds up the story. Having BB be a likable d-i-c-k or have Iona act more human does not really justify to have AIs go against humanity.
> > But an AI uprising. Really?
> > You know, screw any potential cool villains we can have. You’re playing Skynet: 2558 now. You’ll have to defeat this enemy with robot-heavy army and technology more advanced than you.
> > Jeez, what’s next. the Precursors coming back as full AI machines, and declare all organic life unfit to survive?
>
> Halo 4 wasn’t de-canonized. If you have an issue with the Escalation comics in relation to lore, you’re going to have to be more specific.
>
> Doom-mongering isn’t constructive criticism. And saying that just because the antagonist is an artificial being, that this is automatically just like every story with an artificial being as an antagonist objectively false. It is the details of the story and the characters in it that distinguish stories from each-other. And before you can really compare the Created story arc to another franchise fairly, we have to see how it concludes first.
Decanonized wouldn’t be the right term.Brushed aside or forgotten about might be better.They set up this whole Janus key absolute record storyline only to have it end in a uninspired way in a comic that not everyone is gonna read.And then if you don’t read the comic and only played spartan ops you don’t know why palmer and Halsey are now buddies
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> > > > Um… 100% no.
> > > > Decanonizing the game is not the solution. If you read the novels, you’ll find that the story actually fits with what’s been established in Halo lore, whether it’s what individuals such as yourself like or not. The way forward is with good writing, having learned from past mistakes that a game can’t just pick up a story arc from a novel that wasn’t hinted at in the previous game, unless they fully explain the backstory of said plot bringing it up to the present.
> > >
> > > Well, they kind of decanonize Halo 4 with Escalations. I know AIs are behaving odd left and right. But before this nothing major really occurs that actually builds up the story. Having BB be a likable d-i-c-k or have Iona act more human does not really justify to have AIs go against humanity.
> > > But an AI uprising. Really?
> > > You know, screw any potential cool villains we can have. You’re playing Skynet: 2558 now. You’ll have to defeat this enemy with robot-heavy army and technology more advanced than you.
> > > Jeez, what’s next. the Precursors coming back as full AI machines, and declare all organic life unfit to survive?
> >
> > Halo 4 wasn’t de-canonized. If you have an issue with the Escalation comics in relation to lore, you’re going to have to be more specific.
> >
> > Doom-mongering isn’t constructive criticism. And saying that just because the antagonist is an artificial being, that this is automatically just like every story with an artificial being as an antagonist objectively false. It is the details of the story and the characters in it that distinguish stories from each-other. And before you can really compare the Created story arc to another franchise fairly, we have to see how it concludes first.
>
> Decanonized wouldn’t be the right term.Brushed aside or forgotten about might be better.They set up this whole Janus key absolute record storyline only to have it end in a uninspired way in a comic that not everyone is gonna read.And then if you don’t read the comic and only played spartan ops you don’t know why palmer and Halsey are now buddies
Absolutely, and this is evidence why 343 shouldn’t be trying to appease the whims of the players who don’t wait to get the whole story before launching into their tirades of condemnation. A lot of people were telling 343 to drop the story arcs in Halo 4, and 343 dropped them. Halo ages like a fine wine, so people should let it age a bit before they start making demands and spitting venom. But this is off-topic.
Back on topic, I would like to see the Banished be the primary villains of Halo 6, as the Infinity and possibly Swords of Sangheilios flee to the only location known to be outside of Cortana’s control… the Ark. This would give plenty of room in the game to include a ton of lore (via terminals and other means) regarding the Forerunners, and the characters could discover the Domain’s connection to Maethrillian and to Abaddon. This would set up Halo 7 being against Cortana and her created as a final push to and into Maethrillian is undertaken to end the threat Cortana poses once and for all, to shut down the Domain, and purge the Created from existence.
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> > But then, it will get revealed that another splinter also survived. And this Cortana is good. Neo-Cortana.
>
> There is no such thing.
> Seriously. This obsession with “saving Cortana”/Cortana being “good”/Cortana never dying/ etc. has simply got to stop.
hmmmm…(T_T )
it’s called fan fiction for a reason you know. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to ship John/Cortana, and I think there’s a lot of subtext to support this.
But I guess, in the end, it’s really up to 343i to decide what to do (I’m still going to write my fan fiction and draw my fan art though).
I am looking forward to seeing what kind of forum threads pop up after Halo 6 though. (o. o )
I hope we see some atriox. Ofcourse not being the main focus, but I would like to see how he reacts to Cortana’s message. Maybe Atriox would team up with UNSC despite his battle with the SoF maybe they can come to some understanding terms and do what they have to do to defeat the Created. But I would feel & hope he would backstab the UNSC after & if they defeat the Created. The Banished is one enemy that caught my eye & I’m very interested in fighting them in future games. Either this, or Cortana uses the Banished to fight against the UNSC & SoS.
Ah, all this talk reminds me:
With power comes corruption. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.
palmer