Theory: Spartan Ops' failure and Halo 5's story

Community Halo Universe
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Hello everyone, first post here, so I’m sorry if this has been discussed too extensively or if I’m not doing it right. But I love discussing Halo lore, and I would like to share and idea that I had recently (I jumped in Halo 5 a little late, but I’ve caught up with all the controversy it has sparked).

Many here seem to agree that Halo 5’s story is not what was planned by 343, and that something pushed them to rewrite the script in a very extensive way. Arguments in favor of this range from the threat of the Created coming out of nowhere rather than being hinted at like the Didact was, to Cortana’s return and its subsequent denial of the emotional impact of Halo 4’s ending. Theories as to why the story was rewritten usually hold MS responsible, due to them using Cortana’s name in their software, or mention fan reactions to Halo 4 and the Didact’s reception as a villain.

I have formulated a different plausible explaination which I have yet to come across on this forum, and seems to account for more than all those I’ve read, so I thought I’d explain my theory.

As we all know, there’s been a growing trend recently in Halo media - or should I say a train: the Halsey hate-train. From Spartan Ops to the infamous Kilo-Five trilogy as well as Escalation, many characters hold a grudge against her, and her actions have become somewhat extreme (not that she was ever tame, mind you). The writers seemed, as many have already pointed out, to build her up as a possible antagonist for Halo 5: Guardians. There is even a screenshot of an early build of the game, showing a mission objective claiming that “Doctor Halsey’s secret is out” as if she was the enemy.

Now, I believe the reason this development did not happen is because of Spartan Ops. More specifically, the fact that it failed.

Back when Halo 4 launched, there was hype going on around Spartan Ops, the game mode that was a secondary campaign bridging the gap between Halo 4 and the next instalment of the franchise (or at least, 343 tried to hype us). Evidently, Escalation’s later developments of the story were supposed to be part of it. 343 however did not do it right, and Spartan Ops felt neither like a campaign nor like a firefight and had a lukewarm reception - due to both obvious gameplay reasons and a story that, in the first episodes, was underwhelming. Not to mention it only being accessible via Gold.

What soon became a big problem for the writers, at a time when Halo 5 was probably already well into production, was that there was no way to properly continue the story which was supposed to lead straight up to Halo 5. In short, Cortana’s role in Guardians was probably supposed to be assumed by Halsey who, after reuniting both parts of the Janus Key and finding the Absolute Record, would have faked her own death in order to put her plans in motion.

In this timeline, Halsey’s plan of assuming the Mantle is consistent with her view that the well-being of most justifies the suffering of a few, and her locking away Blue Team in a Cryptum echoes back to her will of protecting her Spartans at all cost. After all, she went as far as to commit treason to save Kelly in Ghosts of Onyx. It is possible that she would have used her relation to Cortana to call out to John, pretending being the A.I., in order to lure him. (I also believe Cortana could have acted as a Librarian sort of figure, communicating with John here and there and guiding him from the Domain, but that’s a different topic entirely). Many lines of dialogue spoken by Cortana would have made much more sense, had they been spoken by Halsey :

You will no longer know hunger, nor pain. [Cortana, Halo 5: Guardians]
If people would just share things with me I could solve all the world’s problems. [Catherine Halsey, Halo 4: Infinity, Invasion]

Now that Halsey has both the Janus Key and access to the Absolute Record, she doesn’t need people to share things with her. She simply can take what she needs, and act in the best interest of the majority. Halsey’s line in Halo 4 is great, it shows both her intelligence, her willingness to do good and amend, but also how corrupt her vision of good has become. It’s one of my favorite lines in all Halo media, and it would have been the greatest hint towards Halo 5.

I’m offering people a chance to be more than they are naturally. [Cortana, Halo 5: Guardians, The Breaking]
My Spartans are humanity’s next step. Our destiny as a species. [Catherine Halsey, Halo 4, Prologue]

You are pale imitations of my Spartans. [Cortana, Halo 5: Guardians, Guardians]
First, we taught them how to be silent. Then we taught them how to be Spartans. [Catherine Halsey, Halo 4: Infinity, Catherine]

Cortana did not seem to have too much of a problem with Spartan-IVs in Halo 4, while Halsey definitely did have a problem with them. Also, think back at how Gabriel Thorne was replaced by Buck in early development. That line of dialogue would have struck a chord back at the conversation Halsey and Thorne have in Spartan Ops:

Thorne : So you don’t think we’re capable of being Spartans.

Halsey : Perhaps some of you are closer than others.
[Halo 4: Infinity, Didact’s Hand]

This theory accounts for a great many discrepancies, and is the most complete I could come up with - neither the Didact’s reception nor the use of Cortana by MS were enough to fully explain Halo 5’s plot holes. The failure of Spartan Ops meant that there was no way to properly continue Halsey’s story-arc, which had to be concluded in comics by having it hit a brick wall, basically making all the fuss about the Janus Key and the Absolute Record irrelevant.

[CONTINUED IN NEXT POST…]

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[… CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST]

It explains why the Created seemingly spring out of nowhere, why the Mantle’s Approach was apparently pulled into splipsace with no previous mention of that ever being made in Halo 4, or why Cortana mysteriously found the Domain - a galaxy-spanning network [Catherine Halsey, Halo 5: Guardians] which we thought destroyed or damaged, and allows her to have access to plenty of Forerunner technology - just like the Janus Key. Catherine Halsey would have been justified in her actions, since the Librarian entrusted her with the precious artifact - while Cortana’s claim that A.I.s were always the Reclaimers, while a potentially nice plot-twist, contradicts what has been established in nearly all media so far. Cortana’s sudden change in characterization is also avoided in this timeline.

Suppose you were a writer at 343, and all of a sudden, you’re being told that Spartan Ops has failed and its story-line needs to be suppressed. Additionnally, you need to come up with a way to fix the now broken story of the next instalment. Doesn’t it make sense to use the connection between Cortana and Halsey to have them do a small game of musical chairs?

I’m not throwing stones at the writers or anything. I actually enjoyed Halo 5, but I just thought it could have been a lot better had Halsey been the antagonist - and I say that loving Halsey as a character. She’s very ambiguous, and it would have fit her very well. I think deep down, she’s always trying to do the right thing, but it never quite comes out as it should - because at this level of complexity, one doesn’t simply “do the right thing”. There are too many variables, and not even Halsey’s intellect can come up with a miraculous solution. And yet she tries, and that’s why everyone hates her. The Kilo-Five trilogy depicted her as a complete lunatic of -Yoink!--like proportions (and I’m not making that up, the books litteraly reached the Godwin point at the end of Mortal Dictata), but Halo 5 would have shown her in a much more subtle manner (to quote Frankie’s own infamous choice of words).

Had 343 taken more care crafting Spartan Ops instead of rushing it (and if my thoery is correct), the story would have worked beautifully. If anything, I’m disappointed that a good story was scrapped because 343 did not realize how uninteresting Spartan Ops’ repetitive gameplay was (be it because they simply did not see it, because of deadlines or whatever).

What do you guys think?

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This is probably one of many factors that we got the story we did.
However, we need to realize that the people that made this game are not evil, just had some bad decision makers and a lot pressure from Microsoft and the rest of the world to make a flagship game that shows off the Xbox’s power rather than a continuation of well received campaign.

…but that’s just my opinion.

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What’s frustrating is that I like the idea of the Created. AIs wanting freedom/embracing superiority over humanity and taking the Mantle seems like a natural progression and an interesting thread of philosophical ideas, consequences and relationships (are AIs truly better than humans? could humanity have treated them as more than just property? how do AIs reconcile wanting more power and freedom with turning on the species that both created them and are essentially them at the very core?) The storylines now are tantalizing.

The problem, I think, is that the build-up to it was too sudden, as you said. The only real build-up I can think of was Frank O’Connor’s Saint’s Testimony, which was brilliant and laid great groundwork for the reasons AIs would want to rebel and the burden placed on them by their mortality and lack of human rights.

But that’s a short story in the expanded universe fiction, and if you’re a normal player who just follows the main games (or yes, even Spartan Ops) then this whole thing kind of comes off as too sudden. H5’s story didn’t earn its place, if that makes sense.

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Totally agree with you both. That is why I still enjoyed Halo 5, the Created are not inherently a bad scenaristic choice, it was just rushed. I also agree that this originated from external pressure and bad decisions while facing them.

6

You made some really interesting points.

7

I don’t think spartan ops main problem was the story but the reused campaign levels.

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> 2533275012929540;7:
> I don’t think spartan ops main problem was the story but the reused campaign levels.

I did not have a problem with Spartan Ops’ story either. The first couple of episodes were a bit slow, but I guess it was necessary to introduce us to the context and the characters. The level design was very… underwhelming indeed.

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> 2533274946753626;8:
> > 2533275012929540;7:
> > I don’t think spartan ops main problem was the story but the reused campaign levels.
>
>
> I did not have a problem with Spartan Ops’ story either. The first couple of episodes were a bit slow, but I guess it was necessary to introduce us to the context and the characters. The level design was very… underwhelming indeed.

episodes 1,6,7 I think had the best designs since all of the missions in those episodes were actual new levels the whole season should of been like that then the criticism likely wouldn’t of been so bad as it was I enjoyed Spartan ops actually it was a good concept

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just my thoughts on it

11

This is a excellent Theory. Good job.

I don’t think they simply traded the dialogue though. I think it was a combination of factors that include some worry for halo’s popularity and they decided to bring back Cortona. that or Microsoft or some feminist making demands.

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> 2533274867591496;9:
> > 2533274946753626;8:
> > > 2533275012929540;7:
> > > I don’t think spartan ops main problem was the story but the reused campaign levels.
> >
> >
> > I did not have a problem with Spartan Ops’ story either. The first couple of episodes were a bit slow, but I guess it was necessary to introduce us to the context and the characters. The level design was very… underwhelming indeed.
>
>
> episodes 1,6,7 I think had the best designs since all of the missions in those episodes were actual new levels the whole season should of been like that then the criticism likely wouldn’t of been so bad as it was I enjoyed Spartan ops actually it was a good concept

I agree that the second part (especially as you said episodes 6 and 7) were better, thanks to new settings to the missions and more complex situations. However the core remained the same, with loads of ennemies popping at random on medium-size maps (that ended up being reused as well) and no real progression. The objectives were almost always “Crimson, bad guys coming in, protect the eggheads”. Even the best episodes did not come close to the feeling you have in campaign, where you have clear-cut objectives that do not necessarily demand that you stay in one place for 15 minutes and wipe everything out. What was especially ridiculous in regards to this was the line “A few stragglers left, marking them for you now”. You get this or a similar line at the end of nearly every single mission, and it pretty much showed how unimaginative the whole thing was.

> 2533274925892496;11:
> This is a excellent Theory. Good job.
>
> I don’t think they simply traded the dialogue though. I think it was a combination of factors that include some worry for halo’s popularity and they decided to bring back Cortona. that or Microsoft or some feminist making demands.

Thanks for the kind words. I’d like to think as much, but Cortana’s dialogue in Halo 5 is just too reminiscent of Halsey’s rhetoric in my opinion. I guess they adapted some of the dialogue, but I think they justified leaving most unchanged by exploiting Halsey’s connection to Cortana.

I do not completely exclude pressure from MS to bring Cortana back, perhaps it is a complementary explanation. I do not think it was for feminist reasons however, since the Reclaimer Saga has done a good job of bringing female characters to the front and giving more depth to Cortana. I rather believe that Cortana was viewed by some as part of Halo, and there was a fear of losing fans due to the departure of an important character in a fanchise that has a history of killing them (Jacob and Miranda Keyes as well as Johnson’s deaths left us with few characters to attach to, namely 117, Cortana and the Arbiter).

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> 2533274946753626;8:
> > 2533275012929540;7:
> > I don’t think spartan ops main problem was the story but the reused campaign levels.
>
>
> I did not have a problem with Spartan Ops’ story either. The first couple of episodes were a bit slow, but I guess it was necessary to introduce us to the context and the characters. The level design was very… underwhelming indeed.

biggest thing that killed Spartan Ops was the hardware as they said at launch they couldn’t do -Yoink- with the 360 to wring much more out of it. Also really good post OP

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I like everything you discuss in your theory, these are the kinds of posts I look forward to reading on here. A lot of interesting ideas and concepts… I, too, am a huge Halsey fan, and to be honest, I think she is heavily antagonized by both 343i in lore and a lot of fans from an outside perspective. I think her actions are far ahead of things we know yet, so we shall see, but if she is our “Librarian” then I think the ends justifies the means with regards to: aiding in the creation of the soldiers who gave humanity a direct chance of survival against the Covenant and defeated the Gravemind, a huge asset in understanding, learning, and adapting Forerunner technology to aid in the advancement of humanity, and plenty more that’s she’s done and been criticized for post-mortem when her actions have spoken loudly. You’re right, for Halsey, her actions may not come across the right way to many. However, I do believe the Janus Key narrative, while underwhelming with its end, is not completely lost. It still exists, and I’d think that the Absolute Record would be massive important still, specifically when we get tested by the Precursors, so I have hope that it will show back up as an important point.

The only piece I’m not necessarily in agreement upon from your post was the Created being a potentially nice-plot twist, going against known canon, etc. I understand going against canon (i.e. - Cortana saying the Domain was Forerunner though we know it’s Precursor… to be honest, I think this is just her not knowing, not poor writing, and that we may learn more about why she says this). But, I would say a plot-twist inherently “shakes things up”… meaning the twist is that it goes against canon. In this case, we may just not know enough details for it to truly be going against canon, but I didn’t mind the plot twist even if it is a bit cliche.

But enjoyable post!.. I can imagine what you say being true, but I do still have hope that these story points will come into play in the coming games, books, etc.

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Good points OP, I think that definitely played a role among possibly other things. Honestly fan reaction to SpOps, to H4, to H5’s ad campaign, etc. all probably played a role.

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> 2533274796523661;14:
> I like everything you discuss in your theory, these are the kinds of posts I look forward to reading on here. A lot of interesting ideas and concepts… I, too, am a huge Halsey fan, and to be honest, I think she is heavily antagonized by both 343i in lore and a lot of fans from an outside perspective. I think her actions are far ahead of things we know yet, so we shall see, but if she is our “Librarian” then I think the ends justifies the means with regards to: aiding in the creation of the soldiers who gave humanity a direct chance of survival against the Covenant and defeated the Gravemind, a huge asset in understanding, learning, and adapting Forerunner technology to aid in the advancement of humanity, and plenty more that’s she’s done and been criticized for post-mortem when her actions have spoken loudly. You’re right, for Halsey, her actions may not come across the right way to many. However, I do believe the Janus Key narrative, while underwhelming with its end, is not completely lost. It still exists, and I’d think that the Absolute Record would be massive important still, specifically when we get tested by the Precursors, so I have hope that it will show back up as an important point.
>
> The only piece I’m not necessarily in agreement upon from your post was the Created being a potentially nice-plot twist, going against known canon, etc. I understand going against canon (i.e. - Cortana saying the Domain was Forerunner though we know it’s Precursor… to be honest, I think this is just her not knowing, not poor writing, and that we may learn more about why she says this). But, I would say a plot-twist inherently “shakes things up”… meaning the twist is that it goes against canon. In this case, we may just not know enough details for it to truly be going against canon, but I didn’t mind the plot twist even if it is a bit cliche.
>
> But enjoyable post!.. I can imagine what you say being true, but I do still have hope that these story points will come into play in the coming games, books, etc.

Many thanks to you and the others who have read this post, I’m glad you liked it. :slight_smile:

I understand what you say about plot-twists. I did not take issue with Cortana believing the Domain was Forerunner - after all, she has no access to any information that might tell her otherwise. Hell, even the Forerunners themselves did not know until the very end.

What I was referring to when I said the twist contradicted previous canon, is that there is no good reason for Cortana to believe A.I.s were the intended Reclaimers. It would be legitimate for Halsey to claim the Mantle, since the Librarian gave her the key and called her by name. For Cortana however, it does not make sense. In the original trilogy, only humans are referred to as Reclaimers, and even at some points in Halo 3 when Cortana was not around, Spark still referred to 117 as “Reclaimer”. The Monitor even takes offense at Cortana being in Halo’s Core in CE, indicating that her presence is indesirable. Sure, Spark probably did not know as much as the Librarian did, but still. Had she been the true Reclaimer, he should have been able to identify her as such.

The only thing that could contradict this is the contact with the Librarian in Halo 4, since we do not know what she told Cortana while John was being augmented ; however she did tell John that he, along with his combat skin and his ancilla were the result of a thousand lifetimes of planning (supposedly, for the Reclamation). So how exactly Cortana could conclude that she was the intended vector makes little sense. It would have worked if, looking back at the original trilogy, there was any place for doubt as to who exactly was called Reclaimer by Forerunners entities. My point is that there is no place for such doubt. One could argue that since the Created are Humanity’s children, they should inherit the Mantle from them, but it is clear they are not the Reclaimers as intended by the Forerunners.

I hope I have made my point clearer. ^^

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> 2533274946753626;16:
> > 2533274796523661;14:
> > I like everything you discuss in your theory, these are the kinds of posts I look forward to reading on here. A lot of interesting ideas and concepts… I, too, am a huge Halsey fan, and to be honest, I think she is heavily antagonized by both 343i in lore and a lot of fans from an outside perspective. I think her actions are far ahead of things we know yet, so we shall see, but if she is our “Librarian” then I think the ends justifies the means with regards to: aiding in the creation of the soldiers who gave humanity a direct chance of survival against the Covenant and defeated the Gravemind, a huge asset in understanding, learning, and adapting Forerunner technology to aid in the advancement of humanity, and plenty more that’s she’s done and been criticized for post-mortem when her actions have spoken loudly. You’re right, for Halsey, her actions may not come across the right way to many. However, I do believe the Janus Key narrative, while underwhelming with its end, is not completely lost. It still exists, and I’d think that the Absolute Record would be massive important still, specifically when we get tested by the Precursors, so I have hope that it will show back up as an important point.
> >
> > The only piece I’m not necessarily in agreement upon from your post was the Created being a potentially nice-plot twist, going against known canon, etc. I understand going against canon (i.e. - Cortana saying the Domain was Forerunner though we know it’s Precursor… to be honest, I think this is just her not knowing, not poor writing, and that we may learn more about why she says this). But, I would say a plot-twist inherently “shakes things up”… meaning the twist is that it goes against canon. In this case, we may just not know enough details for it to truly be going against canon, but I didn’t mind the plot twist even if it is a bit cliche.
> >
> > But enjoyable post!.. I can imagine what you say being true, but I do still have hope that these story points will come into play in the coming games, books, etc.
>
>
> Many thanks to you and the others who have read this post, I’m glad you liked it. :slight_smile:
>
> I understand what you say about plot-twists. I did not take issue with Cortana believing the Domain was Forerunner - after all, she has no access to any information that might tell her otherwise. Hell, even the Forerunners themselves did not know until the very end.
>
> What I was referring to when I said the twist contradicted previous canon, is that there is no good reason for Cortana to believe A.I.s were the intended Reclaimers. It would be legitimate for Halsey to claim the Mantle, since the Librarian gave her the key and called her by name. For Cortana however, it does not make sense. In the original trilogy, only humans are referred to as Reclaimers, and even at some points in Halo 3 when Cortana was not around, Spark still referred to 117 as “Reclaimer”. The Monitor even takes offense at Cortana being in Halo’s Core in CE, indicating that her presence is indesirable. Sure, Spark probably did not know as much as the Librarian did, but still. Had she been the true Reclaimer, he should have been able to identify her as such.
>
> The only thing that could contradict this is the contact with the Librarian in Halo 4, since we do not know what she told Cortana while John was being augmented ; however she did tell John that he, along with his combat skin and his ancilla were the result of a thousand lifetimes of planning (supposedly, for the Reclamation). So how exactly Cortana could conclude that she was the intended vector makes little sense. It would have worked if, looking back at the original trilogy, there was any place for doubt as to who exactly was called Reclaimer by Forerunners entities. My point is that there is no place for such doubt. One could argue that since the Created are Humanity’s children, they should inherit the Mantle from them, but it is clear they are not the Reclaimers as intended by the Forerunners.
>
> I hope I have made my point clearer. ^^

Again, don’t disagree with what you are saying at all. It makes sense, I guess I’m just playing devil’s advocate and saying that the story could be swung on its head by this plot-twist. As for now, your view is correct canonically, but who knows where the story will go (not saying I want it to go there, but I do believe H5 was more or less a setup for the future of the story… whether H5 as a contained story or the manner they presented to the story in H5 was correct is a whole other, long discussion lol). Either way, I like your point, and I’m just excited to see where the story goes… I do believe there’s a plan, and I’ve always loved Halo’s story, so I must hope 343i has an idea of how to continue this story properly and bring back everything else Halo 4 and the expanded universe materials have setup.

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Gameplay wise spartan ops was very repetitive.

19

I really like this theory. It certainly feels like on of the contributing factors leading to the perfect storm that was the redirection of Halo 5. Good shout!

20

Nice theory. But I do not think Spartan Ops was the main factor of the Halo 5’s mess. Because all this Created nonsense isn’t the most problem with Halo 5.

Why do you think 343 kept lying about Halo 5 story until the last minute of its release? Why all the characters are so poorly handled? And why the plots related to ONI, Hunt the Truth and Jul M’dama are completely absent in the game?