Seriously though, with the entire context of the Arbiter's prior service to the Covenant, his failure to protect Installation 04, his punishment, and his journey throughout Halo 2, it must be such an earth-shattering moment for him. I can only imagine how devastated and disillusioned he must have felt, realizing that the race he had been conditioned to kill, burning their worlds and slaughtering their people, was the very same race they were supposed to worship. It's the *wham* moment the series should have had, but never got.
“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature, unaware that this Nature he's destroying is this God he's worshiping,” - Astrophysicist Hubert Reeves.
That is so true, honestly frank o Conner did not pay attention to even the most basic understandings of the Halo story and while I do like Halo legends he even made continuity errors in The Package
Frankie would’ve just said that the forerunners shoved a normal human in (or something he will just retcon again) Thank you Frank for making humans even less significant
It almost would have been nice had this been laid out explicitly, as it would have damaged Frank's and 343i's ability to fuck up the lore the way they did.
I mean, to be fair, they've effectively retconned a large chunk of Halo 3. Franklez would just claim that the human skeleton just looks identical to a human, but Guilty Spark had AI schizophrenia so he was mistaken. Because we all know humans were the forerunners' enemies more than a hundred thousand years ago :)
I doubt it. Considering every major character in Halo 3 who'd know (Guilty Spark, Prophet of Truth, and Gravemind) directly state that humans are descendants of Forerunners and we still got what we got of 343's retcons, they probably would've just had some silly explanation as to how it totally wasn't a Forerunner skeleton or whatever.
I wish this was not dropped or retconed... The idea that the followers of the covenant were unknowingly killing the descendants of the very "god's" they worshiped is beautifully tragic.
This really makes me wish for Joe Staten to write another book, a sort of “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” type what if story, the novelization of his original vision for Halo 2. I just want this to exist somehow.
5:04 HOLY HELL that makes _so much sense._ I always figured it was a 'lambs to the slaughter', "Whelp this is how I got my power and I can't go on without it so we're sticking with it," type deal. Like cult leader logic. This though, is actually genius and I'm glad you put it together. I really hope they would've explicitly stated that somewhere because it's great, but I'll be damned if I would've picked up on it myself.
Concerning your last note about the salute, its pretty obvious that Rtas and/or Arbiter changed the official military greeting/salute because of two reasons; 1, His big respect of humans in the martial sense (which he had before the reveal in the first place) and 2, his realization that the object of his worship (forerunners and everything about them) was the target of his genocide), and theres just no way that he wouldn't change anything considering that his former gods now stand before him and all their culture, morality, philosophy and military structure and order are immediately available for him to adopt and appropriate. So, it actually makes way more sense in this timeline for a human salute to be shown. Honestly, it was immediately obvious to me why the elite was doing a UNSC salute, considering such a revelation.
I think you're reading way to much into it, I appreciate you giving it a nice story detail, but this was just a dev story board draft. It's the same reason why in earlier pages of the same story boards the forerunner ship is using the Covi super carrier model as a place holder
ok i love halo 3 i really do. It was my first game i got all achievments on, my first online game, first time making online friends and keeping them for years. BUT HOLY HELL I WISH THIS HAPPENED
I love Halo 3 as well, but it definitely had the most problems out of the original trilogy story-wise. There are several questions that're just left unanswered. How did Chief rip off a chunk of the Forerunner ship to crash on Earth with and why? Truth's on that ship, go get him. What's Truth's plan? Why is he acting like a crazed fanatic instead of a suave manipulator like he was in Halo 2? Why did he start the Great Schism in the first place? How did the Gravemind get High Charity to the Ark? Did he go through the portal on Earth? If he did then why didn't he drop some Flood on Earth to infect the planet? Where did the two Scarabs come from on the level The Covenant? The Covenant don't have any ships left. Why didn't the Gravemind's tentacles attack Chief and the Arbiter after they stopped the Halos and killed Truth? Why didn't we get to see and fight the Gravemind on the level Cortana? Missed an opportunity for an epic boss fight. Why didn't the game confirm Forerunners and Humanity were related like the entire series heavily implied from the beginning? Something like this original ending would've fixed most, if not all of the problems with Halo 3, shame we never got to see it until now.
I think Halo 3 could have been handled better and included this reveal. The problem was the backlash to the Arbiter meant he wasn't a significant part of Halo 3. The reveal gets given to Guilty Spark to deliver to Chief before his boss battle. Honestly, I wish we hadn't had to kill Spark and that this reveal could still happen. Either on Earth or on the Ark.
@@alaskamark4562 You were right on everything until the end. The game DID confirm Forerunners and Humanity were related. Not just once, but three times from three separate characters. Through dialogue, Guilty Spark, Truth, and Gravemind all make it painstakingly clear that humans are descendants of Forerunners.
LordVader1094. I hear ya, but so many people are just so thick-headed that they HAVE to have it shown to them in painstaking detail in order to believe it. Not showing definitive proof on-screen like in this video meant that 343 had enough wiggle room to retcon the Forerunners into being a separate species, and their fans often wholeheartedly deny any claims to the contrary by using the ambiguity of the dialogue and the overall mystery of the Forerunners. Even Guilty Spark, Truth, and the Gravemind flat-out saying it isn't enough for some people; I just wish Halo 3 had an ending like this for the Arbiter somehow so that the retcons and this modern fan-war over the Forerunners would've never happened. Oh yeah, the Arbiter was done dirty in Halo 3. Why would they unceremoniously shove the best-written character off to the side just because some numbskulls think his plotline in Halo 2 was too "confusing"? That's another thing to add to the list.
In regards to the closing notes try tweeting this video to Staten. Would love to see if he responds to it in any way. If he doesn’t already know about your Halo 2 series he would probably love to watch it and see how much work and effort you’ve done to bring his story to life.
Marty often does interviews with channels. I wonder if he could get a panel together - him, Jason Jones, and Joe Staten with you as host. It would be so great! A record of all our lost history!
I hope that maybe, one day, Joseph Staten will write a novelization of everything he had planned for Halo 2, the original and proper conclusion rather than the mangled mess of Halo 3.
@@LordVader1094to be fair Halo 3's ending works better with concluding the flood and Cortana's recovery but it lacks the depth this ending got. The ark being a secret installation outside the galaxy only accessible through earth also works better. A proper ending would implement both effectively.
It sounds to me like he was attempting to kill off all other life besides him and his brutes, making them the sole sentient life in the galaxy, with himself in charge. Compared to any other life form, they would be gods, and have full ownership of all forerunner technology and the power that implies. Truth in Halo 3 clearly understood once the rings are fired, only those on the Ark will still be alive: "I opened the portal to this hallowed place, this shelter from Halo's fire, in the hopes that more of our Covenant would join us. Alas, save for a rabble of Heretics and their Demon allies, we are all that remains on this new world. So we must temper joy and sorrow in our hearts, for those who were left behind" That doesn't sounds like the ravings of a madman, but someone who knows exactly what he is doing.
Gosh old bungie crew watching these endings just has to be surreal. Man, if only Halo’s 2-3 were combined in this marvelous masterpiece (with some changes here and there like the chief-Miranda romance, of course, and showing chief’s face is a no go), but then if Halo 3 did need to be created, this could potentially have been a game to further explore the Flood. Halo 2 would have an absolutely epic conclusion to the whole covenant thing, then we kick the 3rd of the trilogy off with destroying or trying to contain the greatest threat in the galaxy thag these rings were originally created to indirectly destroy. Man, that would have been epic
one of the recent 343-era books somewhat try to explain Truth's plan in the Halo 3 version by claiming the rest of his race was hiding in a shield world that would survive the firing of the Halo Array, leaving his race to reseed the galaxy and rule it unopposed. it's basic enough but I doubt that was Bungie's intent in 2 or 3 originally.
That is really dumb- I hate how the Halos have so many ifs ans buts now. The Endless are immune to it, shield words that protect those who are on them exist... it's a wonder they even killed everyone
@thesilentrookie7715 I think the Shield Worlds were very much a bungie era idea. The Forerunners built them as a sanctuary from the array but weren't able to use them due to Mendicant Bias. They make sense in that context. The problem is that 343 also changed what the shield worlds were...
You straight up have the most rationalised theory on the prophet of truth than anyone else. I'm honestly not sure if I'm finding it rational because I've wanted an explanation for so many years and looking for anything or if it actually could be close to the original plan
Very excited to go watch the whole thing! I think you're pretty much dead right about Truth's plan, at least in the overall sense. As for how it pans out in Halo 3... Personally, I like to think that by the end of Halo 3, things were coming apart so fast for Truth that he was getting a bit unhinged. Maybe his original plan per Halo 3 was to wipe out the galaxy with the Halo rings, then re-seed it with his faithful, becoming their new god as ruler from the Ark - that's my theory. However, as the Gravemind started infecting him and he saw everything crumble, all he could think about was the dying dream of godhood. Too many lies in a dying mind that he truly believed, maybe for the only time, in all that religious dogma, right as he died. That's at least my 2 cents on how the better overall idea here fits into H3 Adding to this a few months later, having just re-played Halo 3: I think a lot of Truth's plan still works as per this conception of it, just relocated to the Ark. We know the cut Forerunner City and Guardian Forest levels were going to relate, at least in part, to sections of the Ark dedicated to preserving Forerunner life and culture, so maybe the Data Vault was in that city. Additionally, it's easy to see how the Forerunner's could have shaped humanity while they were stored on the Ark, and it fits nicely into the Abrahamic religion aspect, with the Ark being Eden and the casting out being the return to Earth. Truth may well have intended to re-shape the Brutes in his image, and rule them as god from his city on the Ark. Then the Gravemind, which he would have thought killed by Installation 05's activation, turned up, and as Keyes says "...put pressure on him, accelerate(d) his plans," It would have all worked: Set the Covenant ablaze by turning the Brutes and Elites against each other, escape with his faithful in the Keyship, nuke the Covenant and Flood with Installation 05 (which was presumably a long way from Earth and thus Earth was out of its range), blast through Humanity at Earth, make it to the Ark, fire all the rings just to be sure, then use the Ark's systems to re-seed the Galaxy and rule as god.
okay that makes perfect sense, there's even talk of the parasite while he's talking about the sacred icon so like halo 3's ending it was a "tactical pulse" to rid the local infestation of essentially most of its power sure spores and random flesh may survive but they'd eventually just fade away assuming those can die out without any proper new biomass to eat. Now, after the gravemind reveal the storyboards have next to no mention the flood left the ring, guess it wasn't important but since the cortana and gravemind scene is apparently still around it still happened. I wonder if the guardian forest level was finished the reveal would've been there for humanity and the arbiter and the covenant forces there was to secure the sarcophagus that Truth would use after the firing of the array and the guardian was to ensure the facility could not be touched as it continued to do its thing possibly transmitting the data to the ark portal which might work as a receiver for the signal spreading it to earth if that idea stuck around
I’m curious to hear your theory on what Halo 3 could have possibly looked like if Bungie managed to keep to their original plans for Halo 2. We still have an ongoing Covenant civil war and a Flood controlled High Charity with Cortana captured by the Gravemind. With the Ark being on Earth, could the “flower” shaped structure that produced the Halo rings still be the setting for Halo 3 but under a different name?
I wonder if the Forerunner skeleton was supposed to be completely dead, or if its consciousness was somehow preserved within the Ark? Well, doubt we'll get an answer either way, but it's interesting to think about.
I think it was originally alive and likely held in a form of stasis. Possibly the life support failed over 100,000 years, or it's a God Emperor of Mankind situation where it's reduced to just a corpse, but the knowledge is there. The concept of the forerunners secretly shaping human history is certainly interesting.
I would think if a Forerunner uploaded their consciousness, it would've went insane from millennia of isolation with no contact and not being able to die trapped in a virtual prison, and is dangerous, but a real 'living god' would be something the Covenant would zealously want to get their hands on but only the Hierarchs get to talk to it and imagine what could be learned. He would only have peace from being destroyed. The human skeleton in the tomb next to it would be too obvious though.
I do like the idea that truths plan along was the seal himself in the data vault like the ancient forerunner did many years ago I personally believe that is his plan but Halo 2 and 3 have no mention of the data vault since it was ultimately cut it seems.
Been thinking about the ending some more, what if Truth wasn’t at the Earth Ark to activate the Halo Array? He didn’t have a human hostage to do so and the rings were already in the process of firing thanks to Tartarus. Don’t see why the Ark would let any species operate the installations when the Halos themselves always required a key and a human. OTOH I don’t see what else he could be doing there. The storyboards don’t convey an obvious alternative. Truth could be there to defend the Ark to prevent deactivation, it explains the massive horde of Brutes outside. The head of the Covenant could’ve raised the structure’s shields himself, makes a lot of sense because it happens after the human allied Elites wipe out the Brute forces. Staten disclosed to a games journalist that the major story beats in the last level of H2 included the revelation of the Forerunner’s true nature, “the place of the Elites in the universe” and the Arbiter having a moment to take it all in and make some heroic choice after the lies of the Covenant are exposed. Your theoretical version of the Prophet and Arbiter confrontation does fit these plot points, yet I can’t help but wonder if there was a different bombshell about the Elites. And say Bungie thought it was dumb or unfitting for H3 so they got rid of it altogether. Like if the Forerunners planned for them to be close allies with humanity to add to the tragedy, almost like a sister species or something. IDK not the biggest Halo lore nerd, someone could have a better idea. Chief and 343 GS must’ve let Arbiter fight Truth alone so that he could personally avenge the Elites who died fighting for a false religion. Here’s the clip of Staten talking about Earth Ark. th-cam.com/video/QCOsM816FIY/w-d-xo.html edit: Actually my theory about the Sangheili doesn’t make much sense. Originally I believed that Staten’s words alluded to something grander than “the Elites shall make the galaxy a graveyard” because he used the word universe when talking to the journalist. It’s probably a flub and he meant to say galaxy. Plus my theory for their intended role is still too small in scope to fit in with Staten’s quote.
Imagine if they stuck to this for the reclaimer saga, halo 4 would have (probably) stayed relatively the same, though Cortana might simply just be in disrepair instead of rampancy, as shes already pretty much "Rampant" considering the level of sentience she shows in the games. Imagine the didact though just a tall human in his ironman armour. I'd imagine him to be more a anti hero.
Gotta say that is interesting as a motivation for Truth. If he thought that he and he alone would become a god then his actions would make sense. It does make for a very interesting villain, though to be honest I was never particularly bothered by the fact that his actions didn't make sense. I mean the guy is the genocidal leader of a totalitarian cult. Not exactly the strongest indicators of a rational mind lol. In some sense I think its almost more fitting that he acts in the way he does without having a master plan. Imagine things from his perspective. He was the leader of a religion. But not just any religion. This was a religion that had a history in every corner of the galaxy. It was a religion that persisted for 100,000 years. It was _the_ religion. And then he discovers evidence that it wasn't true. When the Elites find out at the end of the story, they take this new information, synthesize it into their understanding of the world, and quickly come to a new, healthier worldview. And I find this to be a wonderfully optimistic view of the capacity of a rational mind to adapt to new information and better itself. But to be painfully honest I would expect that more people would react much more like Truth did. Religious belief is not so easily swayed by evidence. It does not go down quietly. When confronted with conflicting information it won't just accept that information for what it is and reconsider its conclusions. Religious belief will bury that information. It will twist that information. It will do anything and everything to try and warp reality to fit the conclusion that the religious belief is still correct. In my opinion the way that Truth behaves in the released version of the story is an unsettling but accurate depiction of how a cult leader might react in this situation. Little by little as the mind tries to rationalize the religious belief, the gap widens between what reality proves and what faith demands. The humans are descended directly from the gods? Of course they are, they're just the unworthy. That makes sense. The Halo rings are designed to kill everything in the galaxy? Of course they are, you must shed your mortal body in order to become a god. No contradictions here. *twitch twitch*. Of course all of this makes perfect sense. We just didn't see it before. The gods work in mysterious ways. But the others... They would not understand. They don't have the same faith that I have. I must protect them from their own weakness and keep this information secret. The other prophets... they don't believe like I do. They would lead the Covenant down the wrong path. They would not have the conviction to follow through with the Great Journey. I can't allow that to happen. I must dispose of them. This mortal plane... It is deceptive. It is filled with heretics and demons. It works tirelessly to corrupt the faithful. I must activate the rings. I must destroy all so that all will be remade greater. Only I can do what must be done. Only my feet are capable of treading this path (in my hover chair). Only I am worthy! Truth will set them free!
Yes, agree it takes 1 min of listening to a flatearther to figure that deeply religeous\delirious people do not just take evidence easly, and are rarely if ever convince by conventional rethoric and funny enough its like a microcosm of fandoms and fanboys, no matter that the evidence is up here, there is people who'l still just claim Bungie was never sure of the humans being forerruners.
Except he knew the Truth at the start of the war. He clearly was calculating enough that he didn't care about the contradictions because he was at the top.
With all this new “AI generated text to speech” for example the video of Joe Rogan interviewing Master Chief.. I would love to see these scenes with them actually saying these lines instead of backwards. Anyways I love your channel. We are Forerunners!
On Let's Talk Truth and how it fits in with Halo 3. The line specifically "I see now why they left you behind...". I think I can rationalize this him saying "left behind" as legacy rather than forgotten, and the big thing is the Prophet of Truth does not idealize Forerunners, he considers them a failed race. He also believes that the one forerunner became a (weak) god through the genome shaping, but that if he (Prophet of Truth) were to do the same, he would be a far stronger god. (Edit: Nevermind, I realize now this doesn't make sense with the previous line where he praises the forerunners before saying they left humans behind, gah). Maybe even by pushing the genome shaping technology even further, if you want to stretch this idea. Very cool to get a concrete idea of what Truth's plan was, makes a lot of things make sense now. Although I still think I prefer how things ended up in 2 & 3 on the whole, there are definitely pieces from this lost ending I prefer. But man it was definitely them biting off WAY more than they could chew with the plans, it would have taken far too much time and effort to make.
Yeah, that’s my one big problem with this ending - everything feels celebratory and final, but the Flood still have control of High Charity in this version, ready to take over the whole galaxy. Maybe there would’ve been a sequel to tie up loose ends, but it still feels really awkward to just ignore them for the entire finale.
@@samlund8543 - Halo 3 would probably tread similar ground to the original Two Betrayals concept or eventually Halo 5, probably mirroring the Halo 3 terminals perfectly: Cortana is under the Gravemind's influence & follows in Mendicant Bias' footsteps. She leads the Flood against the human race & the fracturing Covenant. Chief has to put her down
Wow, I have waited many years to see this. Amazing job as always saber! Thank you for your efforts, and I hope you know this will help the development of these lost missions/cut scenes when they are remade and able to actually be played. I am happy with what we got, but part of me wishes bungie never tried to create that new engine. Their strive for greatness and their ability to be ahead of the times was what cut the chances of us getting this full game that we never received.
I love 3, ODST, and Reach but this just really makes me wish Halo 2 was completed in their original vision. It would’ve been a perfect duology of games.
If Halo 2 was going to be rebooted, they can use this plot on either the game or the live TV series. An example, most of the deleted scenes that never made it into Terminator 2 were repurposed into the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Another reason why this was cut was due to technology limits, the Xbox DVD didn't have enough storage. So that's why the Arc was placed into Halo 3.
So the Ark was built to keep a kind of genetic template for every species to shield them from extinction by the "Flood"? As Noah's Ark kept him and other animals safe from the "Flood"? It's an interesting concept since it highlights the conflict between the flood and other shapes of life: individuality vs collectivism. I wonder how far Bungie could have taken this concept, but perhaps such a theme lies nearer to Mass Effect than to Halo, which is more focused on military conflict rather than alliances between species.
>individuality vs collectivism Pick up the Foundation series if you're interested in sci-fi literature which explores that topic. In the books 'Foundation's Edge' and 'Foundation and Earth', the main characters encounter isolated colonies that have progressed to each extreme of collectivism and individualism.
5:12 The Prophet. Of Truth was a sociopath/psychopath who believed humanity were unworthy to be the descendants of Forerunners. He was living in denial and couldn't accept it. He died believing in his own lies he alone forged.
i think it is for many people, i mean if someone comes from watching crap from Halo follower or Latenight Gaming.... or reading the Forerruner saga... or only playing 343 games... or many other sources, yes it is.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I guess it also goes hand in hand with the Gravemind being "the Monument to all {mankind's} sins." God punished mankind for its wickedness in the Bible.
More people really need to see this series dude i love you and your mother, i always loved Halo 2 even tho it was so rough around the edges, and i always had a feeling in the back of my head that there was supposed to be so much more than what we got, like when the heretic shots the Arbiter in the middle of their conversation instead of just explaining his reasons, or Truth leaving for the Ark at Earth while Tartarus fires the ring, wich proves HE KNEW ALL ALONG, hence why he leaves Mercy behind. Thank you for all of this.
I'm actually so disappointed this wasn't used in halo 3. Would have been perfect for halo 4 as well. I wished the new trilogy focused more on ancient humanity (forerunners) and the re activation of their old tech and what positives and negatives inheriting their legacy entailed.
they might have never made 3 and instead other things, of course they where contractually obligated to make more games for Microsoft, but not sure they would have made a trilogy out of this since the story would have been finished.
If only Bungie had more time, and less hardware constraints. We were this close to our own great journey, one that would've shaped the mine of any player
Great video again, I want to let you know that I at least have read all of your notes and I usually found them to be the most interesting parts of the videos. They always seem very well researched and offer a lot of insight into things I've not thought of or just forgotten about. The idea of the great journey not being for everyone is interesting and it feels like the final piece of the story we have been missing, sort of. I don't really find Truth's motivations that compelling. I guess future life would be molded after him and maybe he could alter the life automation ai thing to create a world he desires, but this sort of outcome doesn't seem desirable to me at all. What kind of Godhood involves you killing yourself and every life in the galaxy? Doesn't seem worth it to me. I wish Bungie had gone through with that human skeleton reveal scene in halo 3, but the plot is so confused in that game. Were the forerunners ancient humans or not? Did truth believe in the great journey or not? We will never have a conclusive answer because bungie themselves didn't fully agree on what the story should be. At least this ending shows us what could (and should) have been.
I believe that in the finalized canon Truth knew what Halo would after he interrogated 343 and instead of being overwhelmed with surprise saw an opportunity. He could still carry out the Great Journey, by wiping out all current intelligent life then reseed the Galaxy leaving only the covenant as the only advanced space faring faction, allowing them to present themselves as Gods to the primitives and rule over the Galaxy. Sorta like how the Forerunners did to the Precursors.
Wow. Yeah, I think that interpretation of Truth's actions makes the most sense. I think Truth is significantly less insane in 2 and 3 as they were released - he leaves Mercy behind, but apparently only because he is in the process of being infected. (As opposed to deliberately ordering that he be left behind while he is still perfectly able to go on). Likewise, focusing only on the games, replacing the Elites with the Brutes can make some sense in light of the heretic movement being led by an elite, and in light of how the Arbiter learns the truth and turns against Truth. The Elites think too much to be reliable as they deal more and more with Forerunner constructs. It then becomes a gamble that backfired; an oversight with dramatic consequences. Of course, with Contact Harvest explicitly saying that he knew what the consequences would be, it becomes quite insane. I wonder why they didn't incorporate the Forerunner reveal into Halo 3's ending. There's no reason they couldn't have adjusted the story to make room for it.
I think it still works. Truth still believes the rings will make him a god and he rationalizes the continued existence of the human race as the them being the ones unworthy of becoming gods hence the whole "gods must be strong" line
They did incorporate it, just rather badly. Guilty Spark says "you are Forerunner", Gravemind calls you "son of my enemy [Forerunner] and the Prophet of Truth talks about humanity's "forefathers" leaving them behind.
5:12 My answer is that truth never had the full picture. My admittedly sloppy take: * Truth learned one way or another that the great journey would actually be lethal, but did not know that it would kill absolutely everything, explaining the existence of humanity (in his mind, the forsaken forerunner) to him. * He also learned that the firing of the rings concluded with the existence of a single individual who had the power to shape entire civilizations, but did not know that this involved becoming the template of a new race. As far as Truth knew, the rings' activation and humanity's existence were unrelated. * Truth thus deduced that the great journey was a ritual of some kind that granted godhood to a single person at the sacrifice of an immense amount of (but not all) life. This doesn't really explain why he'd refer to humans as specifically weak, though. We could say that his vision of the events leading to the first activation were of a struggle to be the one at the top making any who survived losers anyway, but at that point we're kind of making excuses.
Your guess about the prophet's goal does seem plausible. Truth be told, in the release version Truth's only motivations seem to be enabling the player's journey, first as a manipulator and then as a crazy zealot. I think, from story perspective, it would have been better overall to add at least a bit of truth into the Great Journey, like in your theory.
I think it was supposed to be a repository of all the Forerunners knowledge as well as the genetic information on every species the Forerunners predicted would die when the Halo arrays were fired.
Perhaps the prophets misinterpreted some piece of text left by the forerunners, describing a "Great Journey" for humanity to be set on, and the activation of the rings would grant them endless life, through the continuation of the forerunners through humanity. At least, I like that idea :')
Would I have permission to use the sound work in this video for an animated version of this I want to produce? If not I can produce my own, I'm simply asking due to the fantastic work presented and how much it inspired me to attempt said animation. Especially with how well everything is produced here, from the animation, to the sound work. You would most certainly be given credit in the video and description.
Permission absolutely granted! I’d _love_ to see this scene animated. I can also send you a copy of the soundscape without all the backwards dialogue if you like! Given that AI voices have been getting really good, you may want to use those instead.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I planned to, started prototyping them today. Trying to get a better clone atm. Thank you so much! The clean soundscape would be amazing. Thank you so much! A True Honor.
Honestly im glad you made this series because to me this is all cannon and all the shit 343 did is just bad fanfiction. I will never accept 343's Halo as cannon, this ending and story is leagues better than what they are coming up with
5:18 Hey, sabertooth. I think I know what truth’s deal is. Cults (especially doomsday cults) have a delusion of divine ascension and the leader of the cult sells the idea that suicide is the path to divinity. Truth (honestly or more likely otherwise) sold the big lie of the great journey.
Yeah, that’s the Covenant’s whole religion! They believe that activating the rings send a “divine wind” that will send them to godhood. Do you know how to say “divine wind” in Japanese? _”Kamikaze”_ You’re definitely correct on your reading of “the Great Journey!” I’m just curious as to why Truth is actively sabotaging the Covenant beforehand.
@@C3_SABERTOOTHits likely that if they had the time to give halo 2 this ending halo 3 would have been humanity and the covenant remants war against the flood, which now has me wondering if that flood war in halo legends origin 2 was actually something bungie was originally planning.
Forerunners - *speak latin* Me, a Romaboo - "So they were literally what if the Roman Empire never fell and became a space faring galaxy-spanning civilization....BASED."
You should remake these videos with Eleven labs ai voices now that ai voices have gotten better. th-cam.com/video/NbnVn5vmA2I/w-d-xo.html here's a video talking about it if your interested.
To think that bangie made a version of halo in which we are the descendants of the forerunners without knowing that mankind is actually the descendants of real gods is kind of crazy
But I thought only one person could be a God. You forgot to mention that truth doesn't seem to know that only the one who activates the ring can Be a g9d as per whT you said he believes. Because he does say I see now why they left you behind you were weak and gods must be strong. So ???? Not because there weak but because they didn't activate the ring
This scene was cut from Halo 2, meaning the events it depicts never canonically happened. In the retail version of Halo 3, the Prophet of Truth maintains the beliefs he has in Halo: Contact Harvest.
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Seriously though, with the entire context of the Arbiter's prior service to the Covenant, his failure to protect Installation 04, his punishment, and his journey throughout Halo 2, it must be such an earth-shattering moment for him. I can only imagine how devastated and disillusioned he must have felt, realizing that the race he had been conditioned to kill, burning their worlds and slaughtering their people, was the very same race they were supposed to worship. It's the *wham* moment the series should have had, but never got.
“Man is the most insane species. He worships an invisible God and destroys a visible Nature, unaware that this Nature he's destroying is this God he's worshiping,” - Astrophysicist Hubert Reeves.
The original lore makes much more sense than O'Connor's shitty fanfiction retcons.
Frankie’s not a fan.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH anti-fanfiction?
That is so true, honestly frank o Conner did not pay attention to even the most basic understandings of the Halo story and while I do like Halo legends he even made continuity errors in The Package
Frankie would’ve just said that the forerunners shoved a normal human in (or something he will just retcon again)
Thank you Frank for making humans even less significant
It almost would have been nice had this been laid out explicitly, as it would have damaged Frank's and 343i's ability to fuck up the lore the way they did.
Frankie would always find a way.
I mean, to be fair, they've effectively retconned a large chunk of Halo 3. Franklez would just claim that the human skeleton just looks identical to a human, but Guilty Spark had AI schizophrenia so he was mistaken. Because we all know humans were the forerunners' enemies more than a hundred thousand years ago :)
I doubt it. Considering every major character in Halo 3 who'd know (Guilty Spark, Prophet of Truth, and Gravemind) directly state that humans are descendants of Forerunners and we still got what we got of 343's retcons, they probably would've just had some silly explanation as to how it totally wasn't a Forerunner skeleton or whatever.
I wish this was not dropped or retconed... The idea that the followers of the covenant were unknowingly killing the descendants of the very "god's" they worshiped is beautifully tragic.
It wasn't dropped. Numerous characters confirm it in Halo 3
@@LordVader1094 yes... but 343 goes "well actually no because x" because Frank O'Connor... 343 retconed it.
This really makes me wish for Joe Staten to write another book, a sort of “Splinter of the Mind’s Eye” type what if story, the novelization of his original vision for Halo 2. I just want this to exist somehow.
Exactly. I want the original conclusion he intended, not what we got in Halo 3.
5:04 HOLY HELL that makes _so much sense._
I always figured it was a 'lambs to the slaughter', "Whelp this is how I got my power and I can't go on without it so we're sticking with it," type deal. Like cult leader logic.
This though, is actually genius and I'm glad you put it together. I really hope they would've explicitly stated that somewhere because it's great, but I'll be damned if I would've picked up on it myself.
Concerning your last note about the salute, its pretty obvious that Rtas and/or Arbiter changed the official military greeting/salute because of two reasons; 1, His big respect of humans in the martial sense (which he had before the reveal in the first place) and 2, his realization that the object of his worship (forerunners and everything about them) was the target of his genocide), and theres just no way that he wouldn't change anything considering that his former gods now stand before him and all their culture, morality, philosophy and military structure and order are immediately available for him to adopt and appropriate.
So, it actually makes way more sense in this timeline for a human salute to be shown. Honestly, it was immediately obvious to me why the elite was doing a UNSC salute, considering such a revelation.
I think you're reading way to much into it, I appreciate you giving it a nice story detail, but this was just a dev story board draft. It's the same reason why in earlier pages of the same story boards the forerunner ship is using the Covi super carrier model as a place holder
ok i love halo 3
i really do. It was my first game i got all achievments on, my first online game, first time making online friends and keeping them for years.
BUT HOLY HELL I WISH THIS HAPPENED
I love Halo 3 as well, but it definitely had the most problems out of the original trilogy story-wise. There are several questions that're just left unanswered.
How did Chief rip off a chunk of the Forerunner ship to crash on Earth with and why? Truth's on that ship, go get him.
What's Truth's plan? Why is he acting like a crazed fanatic instead of a suave manipulator like he was in Halo 2? Why did he start the Great Schism in the first place?
How did the Gravemind get High Charity to the Ark? Did he go through the portal on Earth? If he did then why didn't he drop some Flood on Earth to infect the planet?
Where did the two Scarabs come from on the level The Covenant? The Covenant don't have any ships left.
Why didn't the Gravemind's tentacles attack Chief and the Arbiter after they stopped the Halos and killed Truth?
Why didn't we get to see and fight the Gravemind on the level Cortana? Missed an opportunity for an epic boss fight.
Why didn't the game confirm Forerunners and Humanity were related like the entire series heavily implied from the beginning?
Something like this original ending would've fixed most, if not all of the problems with Halo 3, shame we never got to see it until now.
I think Halo 3 could have been handled better and included this reveal. The problem was the backlash to the Arbiter meant he wasn't a significant part of Halo 3. The reveal gets given to Guilty Spark to deliver to Chief before his boss battle. Honestly, I wish we hadn't had to kill Spark and that this reveal could still happen. Either on Earth or on the Ark.
@@alaskamark4562 You were right on everything until the end. The game DID confirm Forerunners and Humanity were related. Not just once, but three times from three separate characters. Through dialogue, Guilty Spark, Truth, and Gravemind all make it painstakingly clear that humans are descendants of Forerunners.
@@nutyyyy Sometimes, it's not good to listen to fans.
Case in point, Arbiter getting sidelined when his story was the best part of Halo 2.
LordVader1094. I hear ya, but so many people are just so thick-headed that they HAVE to have it shown to them in painstaking detail in order to believe it. Not showing definitive proof on-screen like in this video meant that 343 had enough wiggle room to retcon the Forerunners into being a separate species, and their fans often wholeheartedly deny any claims to the contrary by using the ambiguity of the dialogue and the overall mystery of the Forerunners. Even Guilty Spark, Truth, and the Gravemind flat-out saying it isn't enough for some people; I just wish Halo 3 had an ending like this for the Arbiter somehow so that the retcons and this modern fan-war over the Forerunners would've never happened.
Oh yeah, the Arbiter was done dirty in Halo 3. Why would they unceremoniously shove the best-written character off to the side just because some numbskulls think his plotline in Halo 2 was too "confusing"? That's another thing to add to the list.
Finally, a grand mystery of the OG Trilogy has been mostly closed thanks to you.
Makes me wish this actually made it in.
In regards to the closing notes try tweeting this video to Staten. Would love to see if he responds to it in any way. If he doesn’t already know about your Halo 2 series he would probably love to watch it and see how much work and effort you’ve done to bring his story to life.
He tweeted out my “Lost Ending” trailer, so he knows I exist! 💝
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Statenpai noticed you!
Marty often does interviews with channels. I wonder if he could get a panel together - him, Jason Jones, and Joe Staten with you as host. It would be so great! A record of all our lost history!
I hope that maybe, one day, Joseph Staten will write a novelization of everything he had planned for Halo 2, the original and proper conclusion rather than the mangled mess of Halo 3.
@@LordVader1094to be fair Halo 3's ending works better with concluding the flood and Cortana's recovery but it lacks the depth this ending got. The ark being a secret installation outside the galaxy only accessible through earth also works better. A proper ending would implement both effectively.
It sounds to me like he was attempting to kill off all other life besides him and his brutes, making them the sole sentient life in the galaxy, with himself in charge. Compared to any other life form, they would be gods, and have full ownership of all forerunner technology and the power that implies.
Truth in Halo 3 clearly understood once the rings are fired, only those on the Ark will still be alive:
"I opened the portal to this hallowed place, this shelter from Halo's fire, in the hopes that more of our Covenant would join us. Alas, save for a rabble of Heretics and their Demon allies, we are all that remains on this new world. So we must temper joy and sorrow in our hearts, for those who were left behind"
That doesn't sounds like the ravings of a madman, but someone who knows exactly what he is doing.
Gosh old bungie crew watching these endings just has to be surreal. Man, if only Halo’s 2-3 were combined in this marvelous masterpiece (with some changes here and there like the chief-Miranda romance, of course, and showing chief’s face is a no go), but then if Halo 3 did need to be created, this could potentially have been a game to further explore the Flood. Halo 2 would have an absolutely epic conclusion to the whole covenant thing, then we kick the 3rd of the trilogy off with destroying or trying to contain the greatest threat in the galaxy thag these rings were originally created to indirectly destroy. Man, that would have been epic
This reveal could also explain why the skulls you find in campaign are human-like, those could be the skulls of ancient forerunners
one of the recent 343-era books somewhat try to explain Truth's plan in the Halo 3 version by claiming the rest of his race was hiding in a shield world that would survive the firing of the Halo Array, leaving his race to reseed the galaxy and rule it unopposed. it's basic enough but I doubt that was Bungie's intent in 2 or 3 originally.
That is really dumb- I hate how the Halos have so many ifs ans buts now. The Endless are immune to it, shield words that protect those who are on them exist... it's a wonder they even killed everyone
@thesilentrookie7715 I think the Shield Worlds were very much a bungie era idea. The Forerunners built them as a sanctuary from the array but weren't able to use them due to Mendicant Bias. They make sense in that context. The problem is that 343 also changed what the shield worlds were...
that actually seems plausible enough, but Truth is way too selfish and conceited to ever sacrifice anything, let alone himself, for anyone else.
It's a real shame Halo 3 didn't finish this original plan.
You straight up have the most rationalised theory on the prophet of truth than anyone else. I'm honestly not sure if I'm finding it rational because I've wanted an explanation for so many years and looking for anything or if it actually could be close to the original plan
Very excited to go watch the whole thing!
I think you're pretty much dead right about Truth's plan, at least in the overall sense. As for how it pans out in Halo 3...
Personally, I like to think that by the end of Halo 3, things were coming apart so fast for Truth that he was getting a bit unhinged. Maybe his original plan per Halo 3 was to wipe out the galaxy with the Halo rings, then re-seed it with his faithful, becoming their new god as ruler from the Ark - that's my theory. However, as the Gravemind started infecting him and he saw everything crumble, all he could think about was the dying dream of godhood. Too many lies in a dying mind that he truly believed, maybe for the only time, in all that religious dogma, right as he died.
That's at least my 2 cents on how the better overall idea here fits into H3
Adding to this a few months later, having just re-played Halo 3:
I think a lot of Truth's plan still works as per this conception of it, just relocated to the Ark. We know the cut Forerunner City and Guardian Forest levels were going to relate, at least in part, to sections of the Ark dedicated to preserving Forerunner life and culture, so maybe the Data Vault was in that city.
Additionally, it's easy to see how the Forerunner's could have shaped humanity while they were stored on the Ark, and it fits nicely into the Abrahamic religion aspect, with the Ark being Eden and the casting out being the return to Earth. Truth may well have intended to re-shape the Brutes in his image, and rule them as god from his city on the Ark. Then the Gravemind, which he would have thought killed by Installation 05's activation, turned up, and as Keyes says "...put pressure on him, accelerate(d) his plans,"
It would have all worked: Set the Covenant ablaze by turning the Brutes and Elites against each other, escape with his faithful in the Keyship, nuke the Covenant and Flood with Installation 05 (which was presumably a long way from Earth and thus Earth was out of its range), blast through Humanity at Earth, make it to the Ark, fire all the rings just to be sure, then use the Ark's systems to re-seed the Galaxy and rule as god.
I think for the first time you've made sense of why Truth wanted 05 activated, and why he'd start a civil war. Thank you.
@@LordVader1094 I'm just glad someone read this and doesn't think it's dumb 😊
okay that makes perfect sense, there's even talk of the parasite while he's talking about the sacred icon so like halo 3's ending it was a "tactical pulse" to rid the local infestation of essentially most of its power sure spores and random flesh may survive but they'd eventually just fade away assuming those can die out without any proper new biomass to eat. Now, after the gravemind reveal the storyboards have next to no mention the flood left the ring, guess it wasn't important but since the cortana and gravemind scene is apparently still around it still happened.
I wonder if the guardian forest level was finished the reveal would've been there for humanity and the arbiter and the covenant forces there was to secure the sarcophagus that Truth would use after the firing of the array and the guardian was to ensure the facility could not be touched as it continued to do its thing possibly transmitting the data to the ark portal which might work as a receiver for the signal spreading it to earth if that idea stuck around
I’m curious to hear your theory on what Halo 3 could have possibly looked like if Bungie managed to keep to their original plans for Halo 2. We still have an ongoing Covenant civil war and a Flood controlled High Charity with Cortana captured by the Gravemind. With the Ark being on Earth, could the “flower” shaped structure that produced the Halo rings still be the setting for Halo 3 but under a different name?
Hold up, that data vault holograph concept art looks exactly like the one in Reach.
Edit, the audio production is absolutely stellar
I was thinking the same thing! It appears whoever added the Cortana Latchkey plot in reach carried over this idea from halo 2.
I wonder if the Forerunner skeleton was supposed to be completely dead, or if its consciousness was somehow preserved within the Ark? Well, doubt we'll get an answer either way, but it's interesting to think about.
I think it was originally alive and likely held in a form of stasis. Possibly the life support failed over 100,000 years, or it's a God Emperor of Mankind situation where it's reduced to just a corpse, but the knowledge is there. The concept of the forerunners secretly shaping human history is certainly interesting.
I would think if a Forerunner uploaded their consciousness, it would've went insane from millennia of isolation with no contact and not being able to die trapped in a virtual prison, and is dangerous, but a real 'living god' would be something the Covenant would zealously want to get their hands on but only the Hierarchs get to talk to it and imagine what could be learned. He would only have peace from being destroyed. The human skeleton in the tomb next to it would be too obvious though.
They should have tried to stick with this ending more in halo 3. Maybe even do more missions focused on the arbiter.
I do like the idea that truths plan along was the seal himself in the data vault like the ancient forerunner did many years ago I personally believe that is his plan but Halo 2 and 3 have no mention of the data vault since it was ultimately cut it seems.
This was an absolute treat to watch! The music choice for this too was fantastic! Definitely gives a "new" meaning to the track "Heavy price paid".
Been thinking about the ending some more, what if Truth wasn’t at the Earth Ark to activate the Halo Array? He didn’t have a human hostage to do so and the rings were already in the process of firing thanks to Tartarus. Don’t see why the Ark would let any species operate the installations when the Halos themselves always required a key and a human.
OTOH I don’t see what else he could be doing there. The storyboards don’t convey an obvious alternative. Truth could be there to defend the Ark to prevent deactivation, it explains the massive horde of Brutes outside. The head of the Covenant could’ve raised the structure’s shields himself, makes a lot of sense because it happens after the human allied Elites wipe out the Brute forces.
Staten disclosed to a games journalist that the major story beats in the last level of H2 included the revelation of the Forerunner’s true nature, “the place of the Elites in the universe” and the Arbiter having a moment to take it all in and make some heroic choice after the lies of the Covenant are exposed. Your theoretical version of the Prophet and Arbiter confrontation does fit these plot points, yet I can’t help but wonder if there was a different bombshell about the Elites. And say Bungie thought it was dumb or unfitting for H3 so they got rid of it altogether. Like if the Forerunners planned for them to be close allies with humanity to add to the tragedy, almost like a sister species or something. IDK not the biggest Halo lore nerd, someone could have a better idea.
Chief and 343 GS must’ve let Arbiter fight Truth alone so that he could personally avenge the Elites who died fighting for a false religion. Here’s the clip of Staten talking about Earth Ark. th-cam.com/video/QCOsM816FIY/w-d-xo.html
edit: Actually my theory about the Sangheili doesn’t make much sense. Originally I believed that Staten’s words alluded to something grander than “the Elites shall make the galaxy a graveyard” because he used the word universe when talking to the journalist. It’s probably a flub and he meant to say galaxy. Plus my theory for their intended role is still too small in scope to fit in with Staten’s quote.
Imagine if they stuck to this for the reclaimer saga, halo 4 would have (probably) stayed relatively the same, though Cortana might simply just be in disrepair instead of rampancy, as shes already pretty much "Rampant" considering the level of sentience she shows in the games. Imagine the didact though just a tall human in his ironman armour. I'd imagine him to be more a anti hero.
Gotta say that is interesting as a motivation for Truth. If he thought that he and he alone would become a god then his actions would make sense. It does make for a very interesting villain, though to be honest I was never particularly bothered by the fact that his actions didn't make sense. I mean the guy is the genocidal leader of a totalitarian cult. Not exactly the strongest indicators of a rational mind lol.
In some sense I think its almost more fitting that he acts in the way he does without having a master plan. Imagine things from his perspective. He was the leader of a religion. But not just any religion. This was a religion that had a history in every corner of the galaxy. It was a religion that persisted for 100,000 years. It was _the_ religion. And then he discovers evidence that it wasn't true. When the Elites find out at the end of the story, they take this new information, synthesize it into their understanding of the world, and quickly come to a new, healthier worldview. And I find this to be a wonderfully optimistic view of the capacity of a rational mind to adapt to new information and better itself. But to be painfully honest I would expect that more people would react much more like Truth did. Religious belief is not so easily swayed by evidence. It does not go down quietly. When confronted with conflicting information it won't just accept that information for what it is and reconsider its conclusions. Religious belief will bury that information. It will twist that information. It will do anything and everything to try and warp reality to fit the conclusion that the religious belief is still correct.
In my opinion the way that Truth behaves in the released version of the story is an unsettling but accurate depiction of how a cult leader might react in this situation. Little by little as the mind tries to rationalize the religious belief, the gap widens between what reality proves and what faith demands. The humans are descended directly from the gods? Of course they are, they're just the unworthy. That makes sense. The Halo rings are designed to kill everything in the galaxy? Of course they are, you must shed your mortal body in order to become a god. No contradictions here. *twitch twitch*. Of course all of this makes perfect sense. We just didn't see it before. The gods work in mysterious ways. But the others... They would not understand. They don't have the same faith that I have. I must protect them from their own weakness and keep this information secret. The other prophets... they don't believe like I do. They would lead the Covenant down the wrong path. They would not have the conviction to follow through with the Great Journey. I can't allow that to happen. I must dispose of them. This mortal plane... It is deceptive. It is filled with heretics and demons. It works tirelessly to corrupt the faithful. I must activate the rings. I must destroy all so that all will be remade greater. Only I can do what must be done. Only my feet are capable of treading this path (in my hover chair). Only I am worthy! Truth will set them free!
Yes, agree it takes 1 min of listening to a flatearther to figure that deeply religeous\delirious people do not just take evidence easly, and are rarely if ever convince by conventional rethoric and funny enough its like a microcosm of fandoms and fanboys, no matter that the evidence is up here, there is people who'l still just claim Bungie was never sure of the humans being forerruners.
Except he knew the Truth at the start of the war.
He clearly was calculating enough that he didn't care about the contradictions because he was at the top.
I couldn't agree more with what you wrote. You really analysed Truth.
Especially about the Elite saluting the human way
With all this new “AI generated text to speech” for example the video of Joe Rogan interviewing Master Chief.. I would love to see these scenes with them actually saying these lines instead of backwards. Anyways I love your channel. We are Forerunners!
5:05 “I bet you $100 you can’t connect the plots of Halo and Xenogears”
“Watch me.”
people are already bending over backwards to get every other xeno game to connect so why not, Xenoblade X already has a very forerunner thing going on
man it's my birthday today and this is like the best present ever, thank you fot bringing this to life, amazing work.
Happy birthday! 🎉
Love reading your notes and interpretations on this series
Really well done, hopefully this is seen by more people
On Let's Talk Truth and how it fits in with Halo 3. The line specifically "I see now why they left you behind...". I think I can rationalize this him saying "left behind" as legacy rather than forgotten, and the big thing is the Prophet of Truth does not idealize Forerunners, he considers them a failed race. He also believes that the one forerunner became a (weak) god through the genome shaping, but that if he (Prophet of Truth) were to do the same, he would be a far stronger god. (Edit: Nevermind, I realize now this doesn't make sense with the previous line where he praises the forerunners before saying they left humans behind, gah). Maybe even by pushing the genome shaping technology even further, if you want to stretch this idea. Very cool to get a concrete idea of what Truth's plan was, makes a lot of things make sense now.
Although I still think I prefer how things ended up in 2 & 3 on the whole, there are definitely pieces from this lost ending I prefer. But man it was definitely them biting off WAY more than they could chew with the plans, it would have taken far too much time and effort to make.
Truth's plan makes a lot of sense here, i'm glad you took the time to put it altogether :3 good video !!
that ending kind of forgot the flood...
Nah it was still a sequel bait to come back in H3
Yeah, that’s my one big problem with this ending - everything feels celebratory and final, but the Flood still have control of High Charity in this version, ready to take over the whole galaxy. Maybe there would’ve been a sequel to tie up loose ends, but it still feels really awkward to just ignore them for the entire finale.
@@samlund8543 - Halo 3 would probably tread similar ground to the original Two Betrayals concept or eventually Halo 5, probably mirroring the Halo 3 terminals perfectly: Cortana is under the Gravemind's influence & follows in Mendicant Bias' footsteps. She leads the Flood against the human race & the fracturing Covenant. Chief has to put her down
Wow, I have waited many years to see this. Amazing job as always saber! Thank you for your efforts, and I hope you know this will help the development of these lost missions/cut scenes when they are remade and able to actually be played.
I am happy with what we got, but part of me wishes bungie never tried to create that new engine. Their strive for greatness and their ability to be ahead of the times was what cut the chances of us getting this full game that we never received.
I love 3, ODST, and Reach but this just really makes me wish Halo 2 was completed in their original vision. It would’ve been a perfect duology of games.
NGL, the revelation that you've been actively killing your gods that you worship would be devastating for anyone.
If Halo 2 was going to be rebooted, they can use this plot on either the game or the live TV series. An example, most of the deleted scenes that never made it into Terminator 2 were repurposed into the Sarah Connor Chronicles. Another reason why this was cut was due to technology limits, the Xbox DVD didn't have enough storage. So that's why the Arc was placed into Halo 3.
DAMN THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN GOOD
So the Ark was built to keep a kind of genetic template for every species to shield them from extinction by the "Flood"? As Noah's Ark kept him and other animals safe from the "Flood"? It's an interesting concept since it highlights the conflict between the flood and other shapes of life: individuality vs collectivism. I wonder how far Bungie could have taken this concept, but perhaps such a theme lies nearer to Mass Effect than to Halo, which is more focused on military conflict rather than alliances between species.
>individuality vs collectivism
Pick up the Foundation series if you're interested in sci-fi literature which explores that topic. In the books 'Foundation's Edge' and 'Foundation and Earth', the main characters encounter isolated colonies that have progressed to each extreme of collectivism and individualism.
well done!
5:12
The Prophet. Of Truth was a sociopath/psychopath who believed humanity were unworthy to be the descendants of Forerunners. He was living in denial and couldn't accept it. He died believing in his own lies he alone forged.
While none of this is a revelation in 2022 you have done a stellar job in portraying and articulating these beats.
Well done.
Subbed.
i think it is for many people, i mean if someone comes from watching crap from Halo follower or Latenight Gaming.... or reading the Forerruner saga... or only playing 343 games... or many other sources, yes it is.
@@Thegeobot nah.
@@Ashamedofmypast oh very convincing. sure nah.
@@Thegeobot not gonna waste my time making a thoughtful response to such a poor peice of logic.
Nah.
Is more than adequate.
@@Ashamedofmypast ass
Ah, now I get it. The "Ark" withstood the "Flood".
Yee
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I guess it also goes hand in hand with the Gravemind being "the Monument to all {mankind's} sins." God punished mankind for its wickedness in the Bible.
More people really need to see this series dude i love you and your mother, i always loved Halo 2 even tho it was so rough around the edges, and i always had a feeling in the back of my head that there was supposed to be so much more than what we got, like when the heretic shots the Arbiter in the middle of their conversation instead of just explaining his reasons, or Truth leaving for the Ark at Earth while Tartarus fires the ring, wich proves HE KNEW ALL ALONG, hence why he leaves Mercy behind. Thank you for all of this.
I'm beyond disappointed that this wasn't in Halo 3.
This is amazing.
I'm actually so disappointed this wasn't used in halo 3. Would have been perfect for halo 4 as well. I wished the new trilogy focused more on ancient humanity (forerunners) and the re activation of their old tech and what positives and negatives inheriting their legacy entailed.
this is the true ending of the trilogy in my eyes
I wonder how Halo 3 would’ve ended up if they’d finished halo 2
they might have never made 3 and instead other things, of course they where contractually obligated to make more games for Microsoft, but not sure they would have made a trilogy out of this since the story would have been finished.
If only Bungie had more time, and less hardware constraints. We were this close to our own great journey, one that would've shaped the mine of any player
Great video again, I want to let you know that I at least have read all of your notes and I usually found them to be the most interesting parts of the videos. They always seem very well researched and offer a lot of insight into things I've not thought of or just forgotten about.
The idea of the great journey not being for everyone is interesting and it feels like the final piece of the story we have been missing, sort of. I don't really find Truth's motivations that compelling. I guess future life would be molded after him and maybe he could alter the life automation ai thing to create a world he desires, but this sort of outcome doesn't seem desirable to me at all. What kind of Godhood involves you killing yourself and every life in the galaxy? Doesn't seem worth it to me.
I wish Bungie had gone through with that human skeleton reveal scene in halo 3, but the plot is so confused in that game. Were the forerunners ancient humans or not? Did truth believe in the great journey or not? We will never have a conclusive answer because bungie themselves didn't fully agree on what the story should be. At least this ending shows us what could (and should) have been.
I suggest you watch my “We Were Forerunner” video, since I pretty handily debunk the whole “Bungie couldn’t decide” thing!
I believe that in the finalized canon Truth knew what Halo would after he interrogated 343 and instead of being overwhelmed with surprise saw an opportunity. He could still carry out the Great Journey, by wiping out all current intelligent life then reseed the Galaxy leaving only the covenant as the only advanced space faring faction, allowing them to present themselves as Gods to the primitives and rule over the Galaxy. Sorta like how the Forerunners did to the Precursors.
Wow. Yeah, I think that interpretation of Truth's actions makes the most sense.
I think Truth is significantly less insane in 2 and 3 as they were released - he leaves Mercy behind, but apparently only because he is in the process of being infected. (As opposed to deliberately ordering that he be left behind while he is still perfectly able to go on).
Likewise, focusing only on the games, replacing the Elites with the Brutes can make some sense in light of the heretic movement being led by an elite, and in light of how the Arbiter learns the truth and turns against Truth. The Elites think too much to be reliable as they deal more and more with Forerunner constructs. It then becomes a gamble that backfired; an oversight with dramatic consequences.
Of course, with Contact Harvest explicitly saying that he knew what the consequences would be, it becomes quite insane.
I wonder why they didn't incorporate the Forerunner reveal into Halo 3's ending. There's no reason they couldn't have adjusted the story to make room for it.
I think it still works. Truth still believes the rings will make him a god and he rationalizes the continued existence of the human race as the them being the ones unworthy of becoming gods hence the whole "gods must be strong" line
@@unfathomablepotato3517 I mean they kinda did with spark literally saying “you are forerunner”
They did incorporate it, just rather badly. Guilty Spark says "you are Forerunner", Gravemind calls you "son of my enemy [Forerunner] and the Prophet of Truth talks about humanity's "forefathers" leaving them behind.
And amazing video
*An
@@JesusCaminoGarcia There is an edit button, you know.
5:12
My answer is that truth never had the full picture.
My admittedly sloppy take:
* Truth learned one way or another that the great journey would actually be lethal, but did not know that it would kill absolutely everything, explaining the existence of humanity (in his mind, the forsaken forerunner) to him.
* He also learned that the firing of the rings concluded with the existence of a single individual who had the power to shape entire civilizations, but did not know that this involved becoming the template of a new race. As far as Truth knew, the rings' activation and humanity's existence were unrelated.
* Truth thus deduced that the great journey was a ritual of some kind that granted godhood to a single person at the sacrifice of an immense amount of (but not all) life.
This doesn't really explain why he'd refer to humans as specifically weak, though. We could say that his vision of the events leading to the first activation were of a struggle to be the one at the top making any who survived losers anyway, but at that point we're kind of making excuses.
The great journey waits for nobody brother
Your guess about the prophet's goal does seem plausible. Truth be told, in the release version Truth's only motivations seem to be enabling the player's journey, first as a manipulator and then as a crazy zealot. I think, from story perspective, it would have been better overall to add at least a bit of truth into the Great Journey, like in your theory.
I think I like what we got better
Did we ever get a confirmation on what the data vault was specifically supposed to do?
I think it was supposed to be a repository of all the Forerunners knowledge as well as the genetic information on every species the Forerunners predicted would die when the Halo arrays were fired.
Bro someone please tell me the OST that plays at the beginning of the animatic
Perhaps the prophets misinterpreted some piece of text left by the forerunners, describing a "Great Journey" for humanity to be set on, and the activation of the rings would grant them endless life, through the continuation of the forerunners through humanity. At least, I like that idea :')
Would I have permission to use the sound work in this video for an animated version of this I want to produce? If not I can produce my own, I'm simply asking due to the fantastic work presented and how much it inspired me to attempt said animation. Especially with how well everything is produced here, from the animation, to the sound work. You would most certainly be given credit in the video and description.
Permission absolutely granted! I’d _love_ to see this scene animated.
I can also send you a copy of the soundscape without all the backwards dialogue if you like! Given that AI voices have been getting really good, you may want to use those instead.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I planned to, started prototyping them today. Trying to get a better clone atm. Thank you so much! The clean soundscape would be amazing. Thank you so much! A True Honor.
@@RixskyIcarus Email me at contact@c3sabertooth.com and I’ll send what I’ve got!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Gotcha!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Sent
Honestly im glad you made this series because to me this is all cannon and all the shit 343 did is just bad fanfiction. I will never accept 343's Halo as cannon, this ending and story is leagues better than what they are coming up with
I wonder why they didn't have this in halo 3 since they kept the arc
5:18 Hey, sabertooth. I think I know what truth’s deal is.
Cults (especially doomsday cults) have a delusion of divine ascension and the leader of the cult sells the idea that suicide is the path to divinity. Truth (honestly or more likely otherwise) sold the big lie of the great journey.
Yeah, that’s the Covenant’s whole religion! They believe that activating the rings send a “divine wind” that will send them to godhood.
Do you know how to say “divine wind” in Japanese? _”Kamikaze”_
You’re definitely correct on your reading of “the Great Journey!” I’m just curious as to why Truth is actively sabotaging the Covenant beforehand.
Ah I misinterpreted your meaning. My bad. Great vids though!
This cutscene was brilliant up until Thel used Guilty Spark to leave the room. I really cannot take that seriously.
Im guessing you left out the part of the ending that was the flood infested high charity because that already made it into the final game?
Yeah, the storyboarded epilogue is very similar to the finished version.
@@C3_SABERTOOTHits likely that if they had the time to give halo 2 this ending halo 3 would have been humanity and the covenant remants war against the flood, which now has me wondering if that flood war in halo legends origin 2 was actually something bungie was originally planning.
Forerunners - *speak latin*
Me, a Romaboo - "So they were literally what if the Roman Empire never fell and became a space faring galaxy-spanning civilization....BASED."
Would the "proto-didact" you're speaking of just be Bornstellar-Makes-Eternal-Lasting, i.e. the IsoDidact who fired the array?
That is crap made up by Greg Berg, from 2011, this was before 2004 so don´t think so.....
You should remake these videos with Eleven labs ai voices now that ai voices have gotten better. th-cam.com/video/NbnVn5vmA2I/w-d-xo.html here's a video talking about it if your interested.
I’m looking into it!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH nice! If you watch the video obi wan says some wacky shit 😂
To think that bangie made a version of halo in which we are the descendants of the forerunners without knowing that mankind is actually the descendants of real gods is kind of crazy
But I thought only one person could be a God. You forgot to mention that truth doesn't seem to know that only the one who activates the ring can Be a g9d as per whT you said he believes. Because he does say I see now why they left you behind you were weak and gods must be strong. So ???? Not because there weak but because they didn't activate the ring
This scene was cut from Halo 2, meaning the events it depicts never canonically happened. In the retail version of Halo 3, the Prophet of Truth maintains the beliefs he has in Halo: Contact Harvest.
Super cool
The prophets have betrayed us.