The Master Chief
The Master Chief was the sole Spartan to leave the Reach system aboard the Pillar of Autumn (with the exception of Linda-058 in cryo). For all he knew, he was the last Spartan alive. All of humanity depended on him, for even after their defeat at Halo 04 the Covenant were still strong, and there were new enemies and variables to contend with that Earth knew nothing about: the Flood, the Forerunner, and their creations, such as 343 Guilty Spark.
After his whirlwind tour of Delta Halo, his introduction to a host of new "friends", and a hitch-hike back to Earth aboard a Forerunner vessel it remains only to be seen how he plans on "finishing this fight".
He has lived most of his life in various military camps on Reach; stolen from his family at age six and his name changed to "John-117", his entire upbringing has been centered around making him a mechanism of military efficiency, utilizing both force and tactics. He displays an odd sort of attitude for a creation of the military: he does not glorify his violent actions, but merely does what he has to do. He does not hate his enemy; he kills them because he knows it is his duty to kill them; to win. "It wasn't [the Chief's] job to make things suffer - he was just here to win battles. Whatever it took." (FoR, p.6)
He is an unconventional Hero, for though he is strong, fast, and tactically brilliant, he is the epitome of none of those attributes, and is surpassed by other Spartans in each area. What John does possess above all is leadership and, to both Cortana's repeated salvation and bewilderment, probability-defying luck.
Check it out: our first submission. Send us more, everyone. We're not nearly crushed enough under the horrible horrible weight of all of your collective ponderings.
Mike Steder (steder@prodigy.net) writes:
I'm only submitting this for review by larger brains.
I was reading through the halo story page, not being lucky enough to be playing the game on an xbox, and I found it semi-interesting that " 'Master Chief' had his name changed to John-117". It sounded suspiciously like John 1:17, so I dug around in the Bible.
In "The Revelation of St. John the Divine": Chapter 1: Verse 17: (revelation 1:17) -> "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
(verse 18 - 20 also seemed applicable)
-> 18: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
-> 19: Write the things which thou hast seen and things which are, and things which shall be hereafter; (well maybe not 19, :-))
-> 20: The myster of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
I know I'm reaching, but I still thought the 17 and 18 verse powerful and seemed to appeal to the spirit of the character.
Postscript: I'm by no means a scholar of religion so hopefully you will understand if I seem clueless.
Mike StederHalo abounds with religious connections (particularly to the Bible), and while this is certainly not the first to be noticed, it's a rather large one. Often, when authors REALLY want to thump something into you, they'll use character's name's as a way of doing it-not only is "John" in itself biblical, these references to certain verses in the Bible draw an even closer correlation.
†††It will be very interesting to see what other ties Halo has to various religious texts. Send your thoughts on Mr. Steder's connections, and send in any other religious connections you've caught (be they in the game, the book, the poem, the Cortana letters, the transmissions, or any other medium in which the story of Halo has appeared).
†††Of course...this does put a damper on my Master Chief=Elvis theory...oh well. It was bound to happen sooner or later, I supposed. It doesn't bother me, really. I swear. No, really.
†††Sniff.
-Ape Man
Mr Yun writes:
Master Chief Notes---
John-117
It should be noted that John wrote of the se7en signs that point to Jesus as the son of God.
-----------------Sevens everywhere!!!
-Ape Man
Mr Yun breaks out the Bible and strikes again
Mr Yun writes:
I found this passage when searching for keywords "Truth and Reconciliation" Only 2 passages "Hit" for the words.
Book of Daniel 9
The Prophecy concerning the Seventy Weeks
[First paragraph omitted (it deals with how the prophesy came to Daniel), this is the second paragraph]
24 ? Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy.
25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.
26 And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
-------------
The passage reads like a Prophecy out of a Covenant holy book:
A commandment to make "an end of sins" and bring righteousness (Covenant motivation to kill humans?)
References to a war in which a flood would come at the end; covenant, and a Sanctuary/City (Halo?) that would be destroyed by men of the "Prince" (MC?). The Prince would stop "the overspreading of abominations" (Flood?).
-Mr YunVery interesting; the connections between the Master Chief and biblical figures draw closer and closer.
††††Of course, the "flood" occurs AFTER the "sanctuary" has been destroyed. Perhaps the destruction of Halo had some adverse effects neither the Master Chief nor Cortana foresaw. Did the Forerunner get so angry that they just up and released the Flood into the galaxy? Did some Flood survive the destruction of Halo 04? Did Guilty Spark zip off with a few viral spores to Earth? Whatever, happened, one thing is for sure.
††††The Master Chief was right. The destruction of Halo seems to be just the beginning.
-Ape Man
Justin Graham (lazar13@earthlink.net) writes:
Hey all-
When I beat Halo the first time, something odd struck me about 343 Guilty Spark's speech. When Cortana points out its manipulation of the Master Chief into nearly destroying the sentient population of the galaxy, 343 says something to the effect of "When you did it the last time, you asked me if I would do it if I were in your position. I have had many years to think on this question, and my answer is still yes." (I'm sorry that I don't have the exact quote, but I am sure many of you will know what I am talking about.) This may mean that 343 has seen a Mjolnir suit before, possibly tying in with Durandal's exploits with his pet super-soldier, who incidentally also wears a suit of Mjolnir armor...
On that note, do we even know the extent of Durandal's exploration? I know this is a Halo page, but seriously, give it some thought. When you hear the word Forerunner mentioned in the game, is it plural, as in reference to a forerunner race of sentient beings, or is it singular, a title of awe and power for a single entity? From what I have read of the Marathon lore, I have come to believe that Durandal made it to the end of the Universe, reaching some kind of Omega Point, where all information, time, space, matter, etc., became one. Should this be the case, and should Durandal have survived partially intact, he might have launched himself to the beginning of time, and continued with his mischief. At the end of Marathon Infinity, I believe, Durandal ordered his pet soldier to destroy a sun, causing mass destruction. He has an affinity for mass destruction as far as solving large problems. I suppose the cleansing of an entire galaxy of sentient life wouldn't be too large a moral stretch for him.
Aside from that, the precursor race to the S'Pht seem to have had some serious technology as far as manipulating energy and space. I suppose that their leaving the S'Pht world might have taken them to a place where they would eventually be able to create a device such as Halo. Due to the nature of the device, however, I believe that it would have taken extreme personal peril to cause such a race to create and eventually use the weapon. Perhaps it was that they were at first immune, or had caused the creation of the Flood, so that they felt responsible for its release. Perhaps they were ready to leave the galaxy and move off into a far space to pursue their own agendas, and the Flood have been a tool of theirs which could not have been allowed to run unchecked, but they were unable to effectively cleanse the worlds it had touched, but still left their amassed data and the samples of Flood behind in order to perhaps return to them one day. On a more sinister note, if the Forerunners, assuming they are a race, had planned on returning, would they really want company in what could potentially be their own private galaxy? The Halo-like devices would be an effective tool for freeing up some realeastate for their return...
Anyway, that is enough speculation for one night. Write back if you feel so inclined. Before I get to sleep, though, one thing does bother me: If the soldier of Durandal was using Mjolnir body armor, and the Pfor boarded the Marathon while she was in sub-light speed due to the fact that FTL capabilities hadn't been reached yet (according to the Marathon stories), then how can Project Mjolnir have been started just after the first Covenant contact, when the UNSC was using FTL drives? Oh well, time for sleep.
--JustinMarathon connections abound...and these are some good ones. 343 Guilty Spark's seeming past knowledge of the Master Chief brings up many questions, but when you get right down to it, who looked the most like the Master Chief that we've met? I'm not sure about you, but it's my personal opinion that there's quite a resemblance between our friendly Chief and the 10th Military Mjolnir Mark IV Cyborg (http://marathon.bungie.org/story/mjolnir.html). Just a hint. :)
As for the Forerunner, they certainly do bear hints of Jjaro-ness; strange symbols, sweepingly large structures, mysterious backgrounds only hinted at in their still-living computer guardians.
And as for the final question, there is one thing to note. Though it may seem nitpicky, there is never an "A.D." on a date associated with Halo. This seems to me the sort of trick Bungie would be liable to pull. Halo could take place before Marathon, if they use the same date system, or hundreds, thousands, perhaps even millions of years later. Which brings us right back to the Ark Theory and all of its offshoots (which, once again, will be explored fully in a special article forthcoming from the Halo Story Page staff).
-Ape Man
A question of age.
Ken (g_spyder@hotmail.com) writes:
I don't know why, but there is one thing about the book that has always bothered me. According to the beginning of the novel, John (Spartan 117) was born in 2511. When the fall of Reach happens in 2552, that would make the Master Chief 41 years old. . .don't you think that would be a little over the hill for a super marine? Rather, the end of the timeline should be in 2542, putting the Master Chief at a healthy 31--considering late in the novel that John reflects on how Dr. Halsey recruited him 25 years prior. 2517 plus 25 would be 2542, not 2552. Can anyone say "reprint"??? Just an observation. . .the book still rocks. Thanks.
While it did strike me as a bit odd for the Master Chief to be over forty the first time I read The Fall of Reach, it really makes a fair amount of sense. For example, almost all modern military pilots are in their mid-to-late thirties (contrary to what Top Gun might make you think), both because of the lengthy training required to operate a jet aircraft, and because they are officers, not enlisted men, and it takes time to work your way up to an officer's position.
Now, the Master Chief is neither a fighter pilot nor an officer. He is, however, both an operator of a very complex battle system, rather like a combat aircraft, and a commander of an elite, very important combat platoon. Maturity and wisdom are required of him, and both of these are generally acquired through age and experience.
Also, men we might today consider to be far too old for ground combat are almost ubiquitous in legend and history, especially in many of the military engagements thematic to Bungie's stories. Roland was at least forty; Miltiades, the Greek general at the front ranks of the Athenian army at Marathon, was exactly sixty at the time; and, specifically to Halo, Leonidas, King of Sparta and leader of the three hundred Spartan heavy infantry to hold the pass at Thermopylae, was fifty five.
However, in my inquires into the Battle of Thermopylae, I have found a very interesting parallel. Dienekes, whom Herodotus claimed to be the chief hero of Thermopylae, was the very same age as the Master Chief, forty one, when he died defending the pass against the Persians. He, like John-117, was not an officer but a platoon leader. In fact, it was Dienekes whose famous quotation is often used to refer to Thermopylae: When told that the Persians had archers so numerous that their arrows would block out the sun, Dienekes replied, "Good. Then we shall have our battle in the shade."
Quandries indeed. Perhaps some digging into this Dienekes character is in order.
-Ape Man
Arthur Wellesly (arthur_wellesly@hotmail.com) writes:
I was reading the FoR once again, and the day after I watched Gladiator. Well, I caught something then that I hadn't before. Maximus said something about if your riding in a green field, you're in Elysium, and you're already dead. That rang a bell.
John apparently grew up in Elysium City. Upon looking this up on the internet, Elysium was a paradise where some Greek heroes were believed to go after death. Combine this with the fact that the project name is Spartan.... definitely some mythological stuff there. Except instead of Elysium being where he dies, it is where he is born...Elysian fields! To dwell in le vrai monde!
Allaying sun, writhing grass, and shrouding tree.
But memory ebbs and only tears respond,
I have not been, and must yet wait to see.
-Finn
From the Halo 2 forum front: The Monkey King
gspawn (bob20407@hotmail.com) writes:
The Battle Rifle is inscribed with what rumor says is the line "Monkey King".
Maybe Bungie just gave away the plot to Halo2, right there on the Battle Rifle. The Monkey King was Part of the sory "the Journey West", potentially the greatest epic of Asian literature. It follows the Monkey King, a fairly average Joe Schmoe guy, who happens to be King of Monkeys, with his monkey tail (he did have one?) and superhuman strength (MC: Average guy, cybernetic parts, leader of the SPARTANs). Monkey King traveled the land, and was troubled by all the corruption in the land. So, he sought out those who were corrupting the people. Ultimately, he decided it was the gods themselves who had to be destroyed to save the people. (Covenant: "You destruction is the will of the gods").
So Monkey King traveled the land, eliminating corruption wherever it confronted him, until one day he traveled to see the God of the Sea to get the ultimate weapon. Monkey King eventually, I think, killed the God of the sea and took a staff, the heaviest and greatest weapon that had ever been constructed. (Only the Reclaimer may handle the Index), and proceeded to use that staff to destroy the gods, in order to free the people. (Cortana never did release the Index, you know. She still has it.)
Monkey King also never sought out conflict. He only pummeled the Gods as he saw was necessary in order to achieve good in the world. Note that MC doesn't seek out conflict, his training ensures he only follows orders as necessary to achieve his directives.
So in Halo2, does MC fight the Covenant only to find a higher problem? Do the Gods need to be punished in order to end the battlecries of the Covenant? Perhaps, in the end, destroying the Covenant homeworld isn't enough. There are too many races, too many other worlds. Maybe the only way to get the Covies to stop is to confront the Gods (Forerunners? Or maybe whatever the Prophets commune with? the thing the Covenent refer to as "the gods").
Regardless, this reference to the Monkey King makes one thing absolutely certain: the destruction of the Covenant, the ending of this conflict, will rest solely on Master Chief. There will be no players in the shadows, there will be no greater resolution caused by a defunct AI, there will be no "MC! We have to escape before (event X) happens!". In the end, it will be Master Chief alone who can end this. Lock and load, people. Lock and load.An excellent write up incorporating a great deal of past speculation and inquiry.
-Finn
Red Tape
J. Ross "Ebola" Keverne (Jkeverne@hotmail.com) writes:
Also why did Cortana see the need to put a Security Lock on the MCs Cyro tube? From the sound of it everybody on board had heard that he was there and it's unlikely they would try to revive him without direct orders? And even if they did why would that be a bad thing? If the ship had been invaded by Covenant there may have been a situation where a direct order to wake the MC might not have been possible, so wouldn't it make sense from a Security POV to NOT have a secondary lock on his Cryo tube?
Though suitable precautions are always good (the Master Chief is a hot parcel), if things had gone from bad to worse what would Cortana, or anyone else for that matter, have done without the Chief's release (other than take a ride in the Hurt-mobile)?
-Finn
Dienekes Homework
Sam K (biomissle@yahoo.com) writes:
I'm afraid I haven't read the FoR, so I'm not too familiar with the particulars of the MC's history. But I'll go ahead and give you guys the information to sort through and my own conclusions. Earlier I saw some connections made between MC and the Spartans, particularly Dienekes, so I did a little research. The state determined whether Spartan children were strong enough to be permitted to live in their society at birth. Dienekes was not one of them. Dienekes was abandoned as a child to die of exposure on the beaches of the sea. Poseidon spared his life and kept him alive and gave him an understanding of the sea. Dienekes was returned to Sparta at the age of seven to train in the Agogue and become a soldier (note: the same age [more or less] that the MC was when he was brought into the Spartan-II program). Training for him as any other Spartan was difficult and extremely effective. Dienekes became a Spartan soldier at the age of 20, 13 years later. He would participate in multiple battles and tried to build his skill with the element of water. Dienekes tried to bring glory to himself by going to the lands of Ragnarok and conquering the people there. (that last sentence I cannot vouche for definitely, because I have only read it in a website and not in the history books.) He finally died at Thermopylae where he was outflanked and horribly outnumbered by the Persians.
These are most of the facts, I'm afraid I can't say I've gotten them all. I couldn't find much about the Ragnarok thing. Anyway, The intense training begining in early age sounds a lot like the MC, and you guys might draw a few conclusions of your own about it all. I think it may just be coincidence, but Bungie seems to be big on connections. This could be one of them."Big on connections," sheesh. Talk about an understatement. ;-)
Nice job!
-mnemesis
As much as there are those who feel very strongly that time-travel as a plot device is not an acceptable choice, Bungie has used that particular treatment to great effect in the past, and, judging from our mailbag, the speculating public feels that it's still worth looking into. So, off we go!
Natemeep@aol.com (Natemeep@aol.com) writes:
...Guilty Spark says: "Why would you hesitate to do what you have already done?" We all know that this implies that the Master Chief bears some semblance with the original Reclaimer. Now I ask you this. What if the Master Chief is the Reclaimer? Stay with me here. I've never played the Marathon games myself, but I've heard and read enough about it to know that Bungie was keen on having the characters, or at least Durandal, find ways to time travel. In fact, from what I gather they really seem to like that type of plot twist. So, what if the Master Chief, say, in Halo 3 or so, ends up going back in time for some reason or another, to find the last great Flood outbreak already in progress? He ends up on Halo again, or some could say for the first time, and becomes the original Reclaimer by retrieving the Index and firing off Halo's weapon. The Flood outbreak of 100,000 years past is halted, and the resultingly cleared galaxy makes way for the rise of Humanity and the Covenant. I could even go so far as to say that may be why the Forerunners were wiped out in the first place, as they may have been outside of Halo when the blast occurred. Maybe, the radiation from the shockwave was what originally jumpstarted humanity's rise to sentience. Interesting idea, no? It's a feasible explanation of why GS seems to know the Master Chief, because he really does. The Master Chief just hasn't gone that far into his own history yet.
Interesting. What with all of the allusions made in-game to the ancient history of both the Halo and, to a lesser extent, the rest of the galaxy, it would be a shame not to go back somehow and see how events transpired, if not actually have a hand in them. The Lord of the Skies may take some convincing, though. ;-)
-mnemesis
Further comments on the Chief's repeated "intuition" regarding Forerunner symbols and technology.
Stevanowano (Stevanowano@aol.com ) writes:
It may also be possible that the physical and (more than likely) mental augmentations (such as the neural implant upgrade) done to the Master Chief enabled him to ascend to a state of subconcious awareness and tap into his repressed...well...Forerunnerness.
Does this mean that others as well may be able to utilize Forerunner controls? We never get a chance to see any other Spartans, or even Humans, use Covenant/Forerunner tech... well, except for the elevator on Halo 04's Alpha Base, and the Human usage of Covenant weapons, and Marines that pilot Banshees and Ghosts with ease, and Keyes' piloting of a Covenant dropship, and ... ;)
-Finn
Krachie (BCulling@dmu.ac.uk) writes:
It has been hypothesised by many before that Humans could be descendents of the Forerunner, one reason why the Covenant hate them so much. Whilst reading through Halo: The Flood, the following events caught my attention.
1. Chief says that he always 'feels' like he knows which buttons to press on Halo's control consoles and describes it as an instinct like the "fight or flight" response.
2. When the Chief gets into the long snow valley sections on Halo. He says that he felt a strong feeling that he was finally home. Another connection to the human 'instinct' (or should I say forerunner instinct) of being familiar with Halo.
3. When the sentinels first appear in the swamp, the marines first instinct is to shoot at them. Master Chief however says to wait and see what they do. This is a major change in thinking as throughout the Fall of Reach and The Flood he constantly is taught and uses the "kill now, ask questions later" maxim. Again this is another example of his instinct regarding Halo's technology.
These support the views that either humans are derived from the constructors of Halo OR that the Forerunner implanted information into the human psyche i.e. Covenant get the technology, humans get the knowledge to use it.So, in the same way that Guilty Spark recognizes our armour as a Forerunner (or similar) derivative even though it is second generation (Mjolnir is based in turn on Covenant tech), can the Master Chief (or other Humans even) utilize Covenant tech more efficiently merely because it is, itself, based upon Forerunner design?
-Finn
Daily devotions with Drew:
Drew R. S. (GT40Rockerz@aol.com) writes:
All right here is my rundown. Its 1:11 in the morning so my ideas may sound pretty dumb by the time you read this. I was reading some about John-117, and it seems that everyone sees 1 chapter and a 1 verse. I cracked out my own bible, and turned to John 1:1-7. It talks about the beginning of the World, that God is the Word, the Word is God and the Word is with God. It kinda warms you up, talking about the beginning. Now, there are many Johns in the bible, one being John the Baptist. John the Baptist was the FORERUNNER of Christ. John 1:6-7 says:
God sent John the Baptist (7) to tell everyone about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony.
Now this clearly points out that he is a forerunner. This next idea does not link to the first but here goes nothing. I decided to get freaky and take John-117 and turn it into John 1:1+7 = John 1:8 John 1:8 reads from the New Living Translation:
John was not the light, but only a witness to the light.
What I'm seeing in my worn out brain is John-117 is NOT the forerunner, but a witness, or an precursor of the forerunner. This can help show about GS calling MC a reclaimer, a forerunner, or descendant of one reclaiming their own facility.A precursor to the Forerunner, who in turn are making straight the way for who? Perhaps some may yet come whose Class 12 airlock clasps John is not worthy to tighten...
-Finn
Nicholas Oliviero (nboliviero@juno.com) writes:
About the MC's age that was stated a while ago, 41 could be a good age for military combat. Think about it, in 500 years, humans may be living to like 200 since we are living longer and longer. Many many many years ago, humans ONLY lived to be around 40 or 50. So 41 could actually be young in the 26th century.
Perhaps. Either way you analyze the situation, the Chief's age is no impediment to doing what he does best...
(I'll give you a hint. It involves his boot and its thorough and repeated application.)
-Finn
John 117 and Dienekes: Redux
Begemotike (outofajam@gci.net) writes:
This was noted earlier on the HSP:
When told that the Persians had archers so numerous that their arrows would block out the sun, Dienekes replied, "Good. Then we shall have our battle in the shade."
I'm sure you realize this, but that's virtually an exact quote for the bezerkers in Myth. Specifically:
"A berserk at the Stair of Grief, having been told that the hosts of the Soulless were so many that their spears would hide the sun, is said to have replied 'Then we shall fight them in the shade.'" -Berserk Flavor Text, Myth TFL
Very interesting, isn't it, when you take that into account the other post of Dienekes and Master Chief...
Since Bungie is obviously aware of that quote and the entire incident, it seems almost certain that the inspiration for the Master Chief comes to some degree from that. Either that, or we think too much.I'm sure that it does, and I'm sure that we do.
-Finn
Witness to the light
Alex Silva (danielle.hernandez3@verizon.net) writes:
I was looking at all the stuff people wrote about religious things about Halo from the bible:
Halo-John was witness to the Holy Light other Spartans found in the mines of Reach.
The Bible- John was to bear witness of the light.Hmmm... John 117 the Baptist. It does add more credibility to this particular connection.
-Finn
To his benefit or detriment, is John also carrying Flood DNA?
ukrainianrocket (ukrainianrocket@hotmail.com) writes:
I was reading through HFS as the book described Sergeant Johnson's situation and how he escaped a full flood infection because of his being afflicted with Boren's Syndrome (a disruption of the electrical signals in the nervous system, from what I gathered). He was even technically "infected," but the infection didn't take because the Sergeant's nervous system was too awkward for the flood to consume. Thus we saw that Sergeant Johnson actually had bits of dead and inactive flood DNA in his blood, which incidentally was suspected to cause his remarkable powers of regeneration, but was never converted to flood form.
However, it got me to thinking about Master Chief's close encounter with the flood in HtF. So many theories people have suggested regarding the MC's apparent immunity to the flood revolve around his having an airtight shielded†seal, his not being dead, his insufficient biomass, or the suit itself. However, assuming that the MC has enough biomass (I argue he does... he's still a really big guy and is still mostly flesh instead of machine), he should still be able to be infected if he is injected by the infection flood form. As I read in HtF, he definitely one infection form's needle-thing penetrated a weak spot in the MC's armor and his neck completely. Cortana took action and electrocuted it, killing it, but the MC was nevertheless stuck. Some of whatever the parasite was trying to do was accomplished before it was killed, but the MC never seemed to suffer any ill effects. The only thing I can think of is that the MC's immune system is just that incredibly strong that he can actually stave off the flood infection to a degree, but other than that, I'm stumped."The rapidly healing wound in his neck, inflicted by a Flood Infection Form during the final battle on Halo's surface, still throbbed. (FS p.34)" Can we expect anything more to come of this little blurb?
-Finn
Some character connections between John, his Mjolnir armour, and... you know, Thor, Norse mythology... that kind of thing.
Joe Dumais (duneraider77@hotmail.com) writes:
Hey there! I havent heard anything at all regarding the chief's armor being called "MJOLNIR", which is the same name as the norese god Thor's Thunderhammer. I think its a fairly interesting connection worth looking into. Ive already found some stuff which Ive listed below:
This came from a short definition site that is no longer online:
"MJOLNIR Definition: The legendary weapon of the Norse God Thor. "Mjolnir" means "lightning crusher." Made by the Dwarves Brok and Eitri, it possessed magical qualities. It would magically return when thrown, and was used for healing and even resurrection. The hammer was feared by the enemies of the Aesir, and stolen by the frost Giant Thrym, who demanded the goddess Freyja in exchange for its return. Instead, Thor disguised himself as the goddess, siezed control of the hammer, and slew all of the giants in the hall."
And this came from a site on Norse gods here.
Thor's red beard and halo (HALO AGAIN!)of fire were also allusions to lightning. His throwing hammer Mjolnir ('the crusher') was an emblem for his thunderbolts. While no Giant stood a chance against the business end of Mjolnir, so too could the stone hammer restore life when turned around.* Also characteristic of the pan-IE thunder god was Thor's chariot, drawn by the goats Tanngniotr ('tooth grinder') and tanngrisnr ('tooth gnasher'), and the Oak (Pillar of autumn, anyone?) was his sacred tree. The Norse elaborated the trappings of their thunder god with a steel-plated leather glove with which he wielded Mjolnir and his belt that, when tightened, doubled his strength (Doubled strength sure sounds like Mjolnir armor to me!)
Along with these accouterments and imagery, Thor was the quintessential thunder god in that he was a fervid enemy of the Frost Giants (Elites and hunters perhaps?) -especially of the monstrous world serpent, Jormungandr. Thor repeatedly sought out this monstrous beast. Twice it got away, but Thor finally killed it at Ragnarok, though dying in its venom. Despite the fearsome reputation Thor had with the Giants, he occasionally enjoyed their company. His is usually accompanied on these wanderings by Loki, who was originally a Giant though adopted into the Aesir. This is part of the reason modern mythographers suspect Loki personified fire, as lightning strikes could ignite fires. In some stories Thor could be characterized as a brutish buffoon (Cortana: Its not a cudgel you Barbarian!). This is exemplified even at the sad occasion of Balder's funeral, where he booted a dwarf (appropriately name "Lit") onto the pyre.I'm glad we had this talk ;)
-Finn
James doesn't see the light much . . .
James Grisetti (htabountyhunter@yahoo.co.uk) writes:
I know how it can occassionally be awfully fun to
contrive more and more obscure references to the
number 117, or reasons for it being chosen
specifically for the Master Chief, and here I have
another possible origin. In the military, people like
to do things alphabetically, and they like to do
things by last name, whenever possible. Out of the
original 150 candidates, 117 is a very nice position
for someone with a last name that starts with 'S',
like Smith; John Smith. Just thought I should mention it.Hey . . . John and Jane Smith . . . still finding cast for Halo . . .
Could be one sexy movie.
-Jillybean
Because he'll likely lynch me if I don't start posting his stuff, UrsusArctos (with an 'r', before he starts complaining about that again) has some not very interesting ideas about how women will fall from grace and redeem themselves through Cortana . . . or something. I'm not too up on my Christianity. Find the post here.
writes:
-Jillybean
And again from the Halo 3 FAQ:
"Q: I noticed the Master Chief's armor was scraped and damaged, what happened to him?
A: Lots of things."
As though perhaps this desert scene was at one point not just a piece of artwork? ;)
-Finn
You might not have heard of it, but Bungie sneakily threw out some new media on Monday night. The forums are awash with thoughts. Well, they're awash with one thought.
Here are my noteables:
Our lovely Narcogen has a transcript and commentary. It's more of a reaction than a proper analysis, but it's a good read.
Some of the dialogue is unclear. Do you hear Cortana in the background? For reference, I thought that line ("leave me") was spoken by a male the first few times I heard it. I trust you, my loyal HSP followers, to be ever objective and scientific in your findings. But OMG we have so heard that line before!!!
That Edinburgh scum charming gentleman, Frankie, was kind enough to do a IRC FAQ
Who are the children? Want to know what my original thoughts were? Cortana and John. No one said I couldn't be metaphysical.
Lastly - and most importantly - please read this post before you tell us what you've found.
Happy speculating :)
writes:
-Jillybean
Pet theories never die
Mike G writes:
i was reading the more recent posts and a couple of things occured to me regarding them
1) Reid posted a theory about Durandal surviving the universe colapse and a piece of dialouge in the halo 2 campaign (during the level "high charity"). cortana mentions an enemy AI which is "particularly formidable". could this be Durandal, it is unlikely to be the gravemind but im not sure about the Durandal/gravemind relationship.
2) anouther post explains the meaning of the name maria. as a followup i entered the name john into the site (behindthename.com). several things caught my eye. one just may be the was its worded but john the baptist was mentioned as the forerunner to jesus christ. the idea of the MC being a baptist appeals to me as he is "cleansing" people (of the flood?). the other thing mentioned was the fact that john the apostle was the supposed author of the forth gospel "revelation". i seem to recal that several other theories are based around the book revelations.Yes they've been discussed, but as always, I'm a sucker for a concise point. Until next time.
-Jillybean
We all know that the Master Chief was abducted at the age of six, but do we know anything about his pre-military life?
Connor Smith (c_j_smith5@hotmail.com) writes:
There was a comment about the age of Master Chief in refernece to his age. The Master Chief was born in 2511, the fall of Reach happens in 2552. This would make the Master Chief 41 years old but the Master Chief is infact a weapon and would spend most of his time in cryo when he is not needed. This meaning his age would be 41 years old but his body would be younger.
Also there is mentioned that the children used in the Spartan-II program all possess certain rare genetic markers. Do these kids have a rare genetic marker or is this a forerunner gene. Combat suits are commented about numerous times in terminals. These suits are used to surivive in many enviroments which seem like somthing the Mark class armor.
During the game the flashes of Cortana she mentioned numerous times i know your past, your present and your future. This leads us to believe that the Master Chief's has past that is unknown to him and even us. The Master Chief was always the most advanced spartan it could be possible that he does not have the rare genetic marker, he could infact be a forerunner.
If the Master Cheif is in fact a forerunner it would explain the spartans. The spartans suits have many higher form of technology such as the shields and the fact that they are controled by the spartans thoughts. The shields is what throws it off. We see the sheilds on the convent elites and the convent ships. I find it odd that the humans were able to develop shields for the spartans shields but not their ships. Could Cortana know who the Master Chief really is could she be a creation of the forerunners.
-UNSC Trooper
