NEW HALO INFINITE STORY DETAILS (6 Month Time Jump DETAILED)

[@HiddenXperia]

I really enjoyed how graphic this book was at times, it really didn't pull any punches and was absolutely NOT a T-Rated story at any point, M-Rated and then some, here's to hoping Halo's game stories start to adopt a more mature tone like this in the future 🤞

[@Lordoftheringwraiths]

Yeah boi. First

[@rileyscheller7739]

If the ring was teleported elsewhere why did the banished ships, echo 216 and the chief get teleported with it?.
If the slipspace bubble was large enough then the banished ships and echo 216 could have survived but how did chief?

[@roeieliahu3502]

Is the book has pictures and bubble text like comics or is something else I’ve never read any halo books so I don’t know and I feel like I have to ask if I’ll consider purchasing it

[@rileyscheller7739]

@@roeieliahu3502 Ive never read a halo book like that

[@At0zB0mb.]

Yezssssss

[@Yassen2828]

This sounds like a great addition to the lore but at the same time, it's disappointing we were not able to experience it in Halo Infinite. Even worse, we are yet to get any additional campaign expansion news or anything of that nature...

[@HiddenXperia]

I agree to a degree, but honestly this kinda stuff I think is fine to have outside of the game. If they'd dedicated this entire book to Lasky/Palmer/Halsey/Blue Team/Locke etc., then I'd def agree

[@thebestben]

While not an explicit conformation, Joe Staten mentioned recently he was working on writing again, presumably writing the narrative for the first DLC. However, if the story is barely in production, we might not see it for 6 months at the earliest.

[@Yassen2828]

​@@HiddenXperia Could've easily been a ODST like expansion from the point of view of the Marooned UNSC forces 🤷‍♂ But hey, I'm not a game dev and that sounds like it'll be hard to develop

[@tyaguy1278]

@@thebestben he mentioned in an interview “future campaign and multiplayer experiences” referring to halo infinite so DLC is confirmed.

[@laquanbrice202]

F 343 SAD asf they do their community like this it's utterly DISGUSTING

[@spencerroach5159]

With Halo Canon stepping back from TH-cam I think it’s really important that content like this still exist in the halo community. Not everyone has time to read the books and a cliff notes videos are important for key plot points in the halo universe

[@BlackKing.2000]

I 100% agree. Halo Canon did the book reviews and I don’t know any other Halo TH-camr that did the book reviews like Halo canon did.

[@HiddenXperia]

Thanks man, I can’t say I’ll be doing book reviews at any point like Halo Canon did because honestly that’s just not the kinda content I enjoy making (and if I were to make it it’d never be as good as Halo Canon’s were), but if a book links to the main story in any way I’ll always make a video like this going over the major details :)

[@ItsButterBean1020]

Bro why you gotta remind me about Canon leaving?

[@danielpedraza6455]

Why did he stepped back?

[@ItsButterBean1020]

@@danielpedraza6455 it’s in his video
Basically Halo Discussion became exhausting for him and the status of the franchise hasn’t really helped that (vast oversimplification tho)

[@greaterhalo0659]

I like how ODST's are frequently mentioned in the game's campaign, mentioned and seen several time's in the index and the start of foundry with all the deceased and it's stated the infinity had over 780 of them, now the ship had 7150 so it was understaffed in comparison to it's 17,000 compliment but still the fact they are talked about and in the rubicon protocol and yet they are *NOWHERE* to be seen in game.
I just want the boys back 😭

[@beastmode1915]

There was an ODST sergeant mentioned in the audio logs too afaik

[@HiddenXperia]

yeah I was so disappointed about that in the campaign tbh, it was one of my biggest let downs :(

[@dom4591]

​@@beastmode1915 most of the backstory in infinite is audio logs. Such a dull and lazy story.

[@beastmode1915]

@@dom4591 true but it’s better than nothing at all I suppose, and who knows, maybe 343 has plans down the line to show the opening cinematic to the game from a different POV but that’s probably massive copium

[@sebastianmoscoso9404]

Wish we could get like mega upgrades at the fobs like an odst squad or a spartan IV fireteam, that would be super cool

[@CaptainMcCanada]

My favorite part about this book is how Spartan IVs view their armor compared to Spartan IIs. IIs have spent so long in their armor and are so use to it that to them it is a part of their body, it’s their outermost layer of skin. Spartan IVs however view their armor as just equipment to either help them when it’s working properly or a burden when it’s malfunctioning. It’s very interesting hearing Spartan IVs with damaged armor debating on whether or not they’ll be better off without it.

[@CMTechnica]

I wouldn’t go that far with the IIs viewing it as part of their body. Fred sees it as equipment, Chief had difficulty adapting to Mk5, and the Spartans from Ghost of Onyx, IIs and IIIs alike, were constantly dealing with issues with their suits

[@JayPlusForerunner]

Yeah that's cool

[@lethalterminus5018]

The interesting thing about them managing to get a signal out to the galaxy and ask for help is that the encyclopedia seems to be heavily implying the Swords of Sangheilios will be one of the forces (maybe even Agryna and her Spartans since I think they have to tie that mp story into the main story stuff eventually) because the description for the Swords of the Sangheilios in the encyclopedia says "With the sudden emergence of a formidable Banished presence on Zeta Halo, their greatest challenge appears to lie ahead"

[@HiddenXperia]

Oh man I really hope so, one of my dreams is to see the Shadow of Intent arrive in orbit of Zeta Halo with Arby, Rtas, Usze, N’tho and co. leading into an Elite focused spin-off
Hopefully one day :(

[@danielpedraza6455]

How does it imply it?

[@ollyholden3439]

I’m thinking spirit of fire 👀

[@Michael-bn1oi]

@@danielpedraza6455 "With the sudden emergence of a formidable Banished presence on Zeta Halo, their greatest challenge appears to lie ahead"
They quoted the relevant section.

[@Thestuffnope]

@@HiddenXperia ah, i'd by happy to see those lads again in person.

[@robertrivers9087]

Book was sooo good. It honestly made me want to go back through Infinite and get revenge on the Banished all over again. Amazing book

[@existentialselkath1264]

Stories like this would make for great odst style dlc. Different stories focusing on different characters during overlapping events.

[@Blama_]

sounds familiar

[@EternalFount]

It's basically guaranteed the Swords of Sangheilios will answer the call. The Encyclopedia confirms the SoS are fighting the Banished on Zeta Halo which hasn't actually happened yet.

[@MalikJenkinsPrude]

They should have let us play the Infinity Invasion. This would’ve been a great callback to CE.

[@tyaguy1278]

I guarantee that they wanted to do that instead of the audio logs but couldn’t do to them having to push the game out

[@envya4174]

@@tyaguy1278 agreed

[@ItsButterBean1020]

Plus Imagine an Atriox boss fight

[@tyaguy1278]

@@ItsButterBean1020 I think they’re setting him up for future dlc as it would have been wired to beat him at the beginning of the game

[@ItsButterBean1020]

@@tyaguy1278 true
I’m thinking more we try to fight him but we only get destroyed

[@ImperialHell172]

If people forgot there was a removed cutscene at the end of Halo Infinite with Chief, the Pilot and the Weapon back out in space when something shows up, likely reinforcements because he’s happy. So wherever they are, reinforcements have arrived. We really need to get a DLC or more books, comics or just something that expands it
Edit: Forgot to mention there was concept art of four UNSC Phoenix carriers (spirit of fire like ships) over Zeta Halo

[@karimC35]

I thought this was story expansion news 😭😭

[@Nara.Shikamaru]

Same I’m pissed but I still enjoyed the video. There are layers to this disappointment. 😢

[@lonewolf-223]

Gooooooo charger's!!!!!

[@sierra121cyan]

343 after absolutely fumbling almost every aspect of Infinite, and just as we think it's getting better, they fire most / all of their campaign team:
"I'm only human, after all-"

[@gamingclipz7309]

@@Nara.Shikamaruno there is disappointment if your smart and read instead of thinking any new video is about new content…. Also you didn’t even buy halo you play it thru gamepass lmao

[@wingerding]

​@@gamingclipz7309 you can also buy the physical game if you want. I didn't have internet for a bit so I bought it to play offline.

[@Epsonea_482]

New lore info is always good to hear for infinite’s story

[@potatoboy1517]

I really enjoyed the Rubicon Protocol. Spartans Kovan, Stone, and Horvath are the goats and the Banished are very brutal compared to anything we’ve so far. Lucas Browning’s experiences in the Tower was extremely heartbreaking, demoralizing, and terrifying. Also, reading the book while listening to a variety of Halo soundtracks was the best thing I’ve done so far.
Also, either Kovan failed to liberate the Tower or Chief beat the boat crew to it :P

[@swolbrohamlincoln9659]

Thats what i was thinking, im
Sure where ever they were teleported to, they were just too far and Chief got there first Im also interested in spartan Bertold Vettel he seems to be alive too somewhere

[@SpartanBrix]

I’m really wanting to see what happened to Kovan and the Marines. That conversation only took place about two weeks before Infinite, so they very well couldn’t have done it yet. I’d love to see another book about Kovan, the Boat Crew and Horvath.

[@potatoboy1517]

@@swolbrohamlincoln9659 I think he might be dead unfortunately. In one of the Halo Infinite audio logs, dated a month before Chief returns, he made plans to infiltrate the tower to rescue Spartan Griffin, sneaking onto a Banished vehicle to be taken to the facility. In the end Chief is the one who finds Griffin but too late

[@swolbrohamlincoln9659]

@@potatoboy1517 until there is confirmation. I hold hope 🤔

[@potatoboy1517]

@@swolbrohamlincoln9659 true. The armor coating descriptions for Kovan and Horvath in Multiplayer implied they were dead but the Rubicon Protocol said otherwise

[@Manas_Choudhary]

I can't believe you missed it but amidst the psychological torture, Lucas Browning is repeating his own service number, just like Captain Keyes did in the Halo 2 Anniversary terminals. This proves that the Harbinger and the Endless have some sort of connection to the Primordials.

[@SuperTheast]

I’d argue that it doesn’t necessarily mean they have any form of connection. It could just be that UNSC personnel learn basic torture resistance and part of it is to repeat their service number to give something to focus on and avoid giving out details

[@warriorshedge6772]

@@SuperTheast he's a little special, he may not listen

[@MoosenOggen4343]

​@@SuperTheastthat's what i think real torture resistance is, say nothing, but who you are.

[@thegreatid3595]

I doubt they do, the Forerunners hated the primordials for picking humanity as their successor.
I highly doubt they'd keep them alive.
For why he repeats his numbers I think it's a tactic to prevent information from getting out in Keyes case he was repeating his numbers to prevent the flood from getting the location of earth.

[@Azrael_Equinox]

The environment containment field is likely the blue aura we see around the broken part of Zeta Halo. It's function being to keep the atmosphere in the ring and to prevent it from floating into space, alongside ensure that life can live on the ring.

[@HiddenXperia]

Ah yeah, tbh I never expected anything Flood related, that makes sense

[@pcreaper]

@@HiddenXperia I think the containment field was only failing on the upside down chunk....its okayish everywhere else.

[@Alex20114]

The book has set 343i up for two major things here in combination with in game lore:
The first is the dancing around whereabouts of major characters. The book sets it up perfectly for those characters to come into the game through DLC (remember, the game is supposed to last for 10 years), possibly right when Chief needs them.
The second is with the Harbinger, she quite literally quotes word for word the single most dangerous villain in the entire franchise, the Gravemind, in that first log in game (which sends chills down my spine every time). This sets 343i up to use that as a potential entry point for the Flood. Just think about this, the Endless hate the Forerunners, the Flood hunt the Forerunners and anything else with sufficient biomass. Remember that Halo 3 showed the Flood CAN and WILL team up with their food if it benefits them, so maybe the Endless and the Flood could form an alliance against everyone else.
I just hope they wise up and use this setup.

[@CaptainJack]

It's good to hear the Infinity is still out and about, along with some of the fav characters like Captain Lasky. Ideally, it would be good to actually learn what has happened to him. It leaves the door open for future campaign DLC... if we ever hear anything about that.

[@QrazyQuarian]

They didn't say it was out and about, they said they didn't know if it was or not. Granted, anyone would be able to see the hole it tore on the ring if it *had* crashlanded. So I'll give the rumors a hint of credence, there. But how come the Banished haven't gotten around to destroying, capturing, or stripping it down it, then?
Ohhhhh, wait a minute! Infinity might not have gone with the ring when it jumped! I don't think we have much of a timeline between the time Infinity fell and when Cortana went kamikaze on the ring. Must not have been that short, as I'm sure Atriox wanted to reach her ASAP to be like, "I took away everything you love, get fucked!" So they might not have had time to do that before Zeta Halo bugged out.

[@piloto182mx4]

343 confirmed that the Infinity crashlanded on the ring

[@CaptainJack]

@@piloto182mx4 link?

[@HiddenXperia]

I really hope we aren’t waiting years for campaign DLC/spin-offs, but if we don’t hear anything by next E3 season I’m going to assume we will be :(

[@CaptainJack]

@@HiddenXperia HALO has no presence at GamesCom either sadly.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

Alright, so, naturally the very, very, VERY small tidbits of info on the Endless we got from this book fascinated me the most.
I'm surprised you didnt mention this moment, but We now know that the Skimmers (Species name: Gasgira) are possibly not very smart by deafult, as they were attacking both Spartans AND Banished at first, possibly showing that they need the Harbinger to command them in a sophisticated way...
Also, the story with Lucas Browning fascinates me to no end...you think if the Harbinger was just mentally torturing him, she would have killed Lucas long ago....actually giving him food and making it so that he physically cant share what she tells him is incredibly strange, and sorta hints that she has a very important plan for him...
Here is a bit of a small theory: During her 'Boss Fight' the Harbinger can say "Kill the Spartan! Earn your place among the Endless!" and she can say to Chief "I might have let you join us...but no more!" now remember that the Skimmers are a separate species to the Xalanyn...but with certain similar physical simularities, and they never talk...ever. What if Lucas Browning went through the early stages of *'joining the Endless'* for some type of special task?
The Skimmers have completed this process, having their bodies resembling Xalanyn, their legs corrupted, so they need jetpack-wings to move, their minds have been damaged, so they can never speak and can ONLY do what a Xalanyn tells them to do...its also worth mentioning that the original description of the Precursors had them described as having "Degenerative legs, constantly floating" a trait shared by the Xalanyn and Gasgira...

[@Jermrants]

Ur definitely onto something… the only OTHER thing we’ve heard of that has degenerate traits is the primordial😏😏😏😏 Same ring too of course

[@m.jthomas5793]

@@Jermrants that make me think that the endless are the precursor

[@Jermrants]

@@m.jthomas5793 definitely some KIND of precursor but I don’t think they ARE the ones of legend LIKE the primordial was, Now they are absolutely related to the flood as well because I mean they LOOK like a non corrupt version 😅 The warden eternal looks like the harbinger does, The skimmers kinda look like the H4 flying creatures as well, BUTTTT the guardians look EXACTLY how the primordial was described to look like (Organic tho and same headshape as the harbinger) and I believe them to be fallen angels basically. the head shapes of them also appear on the Sandtrap/sandbox forge Materials (the sea scorpion head same with the ancient texts appearing there) go see for urself on Halo 3 the endless are ABSOLUTELY an old concept by bungie, so it gives me hope whenever we Get the DLC it’ll be Amazing 🙏🏼 The silent auditorium being a timelock also adds a lot to them being primordial/precursor related

[@Jermrants]

@@m.jthomas5793 and the primordial was HUGE (like 20 feet tall or something) the harbinger is only 10 so that makes me wonder, the skimmers being small raises a question too, but the thing they ALL have in common is that they CAN fly, BUT the primordial seems to be the only one that did it ORGANICALLY and not with technology (which is An amazing and scary thing to think about)

[@Jermrants]

+ if the domain IS a precursor construct like it’s supposed to be (halo 5 breaks the lore lol) then yes, That is CONFIRMATION The guardians are copy of what the primordial was, along with the harbinger, the skimmers, EVEN the dogs might have some kind of precursor form

[@ser_monkenuts8013]

I have an idea.
Because of the nature of a super-liminal message, there are two possibilities of who it reaches first.
1. Zeta Halo may be closer to the Spirit of Fire and they come to save the day but that is unlikely.
2. Zeta Halo may be further from the Ark and closer to Human space but it could be maybe a light year away, a super-luminal message going at, say, 1.5 times the speed of light would reach the UNSC within six or so months.
I think the most likely possibility is our MP Spartans get the message and go to back up the UNSC on Zeta Halo.

[@PixelationMusic]

I just finished this book. I feel like this was 100% supposed to come out before Halo Infinite which is why so many Spartan IV armor coatings are in the game, yet there’s no mention of them anywhere apart from Stone and Griffin. Could be why there are cut audio logs of each S-IV as well. Also think each S-IV was supposed to have their own Armor Kit in the game, but instead we just got their coatings.

[@ambiguumspectatoremespecta9803]

Fun fact: 26 Spartan IVs were operating out of the Mortal Reverie prior to its fall. Known Spartans include Stone, Sorrel, Vettel, Kovan, Griffin, Jade, Rosado, Sarkar, Malik, Panago, Oshiro, Makovich, and Dimka). 4 went on the on a covert mission to assassinate Escherum (Malik, Panago, Sarkar, and Griffin); this means that 24 Spartans were left to defend Mortal Reverie during the banished assault (Attacks by air and ground units). During the battle Spartans along with Marines, Army, and ODST'S were stationed at 1 of 2 barricades with additional units scattered along the outer perimeter which were most likely the first line of defense. The outer perimeter was defended by an unidentified number of soldiers (Marine, Army, and ODST's) along with a number of Warthog, Scorpion battle tanks and 6 Spartans, the first barricade was comprised of a significantly larger force featuring Wolverines similar to the first barricade but also 12 Spartan defenders (3 fireteams of 4), the second barricade was comprised of a significantly smaller group of personnel, along with Wolverines, and 6 Spartan defenders (Among them Makovich and Sorrell). Of all those Spartans only 7 were confirmed to have made out alive (Makovich, Sorrell, Stone, Kovan, Jade, Rosado, and Vettel) - meaning that the rest of Fireteam Taurus died during the fall of Reverie.

[@beastmode1915]

I think it’s interesting Stone and Kovan are apart of Fireteam Shadow. They were a Spartan Fireteam that assisted Crimson way back in Spartan Ops when there was a Covie ship above us preventing exfil.
Would be interesting to see if Horatio Fry who we heard on the comms (in Spartan Ops) survived or is still alive on the ring somewhere.
Either way Kelly Gay is one helluva an author, and she always does a good job tying things already existing in the universe into her stories, making them feel connected to the world and not just an isolated story

[@Subscriber_barely_know_her]

Especially now with Humans being a part of the banished being full cannon, I’m curious if there is a potential to see any rouge Spartans being adopted into the bloodstars at some point

[@e.v4892]

Maybe bring back Ilsa Zane from the Halo comics? She's an unstable insurrectionist as strong as a Spartan II even without any armor, so she could be a cool bossfight where you have keep her at a distance whilst she tries to charge you to rip you apart. She also likely has a grudge against Palmer, given their previous interactions, so we could see a Palmer-centric or Palmer-including DLC which culminates in an Ilsa Zane boss fight.

[@fulcrum6760]

Knowing how Escharum feels about humans, I can imagine there’s probable talks about a civil war within The Banished.

[@CMTechnica]

@@fulcrum6760 with escharum dead, I’d imagine it’s up to the brute clans whether or not humans are allowed in their ranks, on a clan by clan basis. No doubt Castor had an influence on him/ The Banished and that’s why humanity was declared excommunicated from their ranks

[@volrogue]

Kinda worried that so far the only confirmed continuation of plot and lore for Infinite is via text (books and Waypoint). It's not terrible, but some reassurance wouldn't be so bad either

[@easy3032]

we got mission select like 6 months after launch lol, campaign dlc is nowhere near being close

[@pododododoehoh3550]

@@easy3032 we have a forge 'beta' as the main event of season 2

[@NoiriumIdk]

Spoilers in this comment for my theory.
Those reinforcements are probably linked to the secret ending in Infinite's files. If it covers everything within that six month period and the signal to human space takes place near the end of the book, it wouldn't surprise me if reinforcements arrived not too long after the end of the main campaign.

[@HiddenXperia]

Hang on secret ending in Infinite’s files, what now???
Ohhhhhh nvm I remember the signal being detected voice line, good catch!

[@cp_mastergaming586]

I think this book really ties the knot between halo infinites intro and actual start of the game really well especially with all the Spartans.

[@CMTechnica]

I enjoyed how the book draws from the Flood and the Fall of Reach books with its tone and graphic depiction of fighting enemies that can easily overpower Spartans of all things.
Bit of a shame there’s no answer as to what happened to Locke, Lasky, or the Infinity. Annoying that it only doubles down on what we know from Infinite: the ring jumped to FTL after taking damage, the Infinity is MIA, everything else from the audio logs.
Really seems like Kelly was hamstrung this time around. Nothing was really learned, just elaborated on.
And for the love of god, these “this should have been in the game” comments. *Its a Master Chief story*. Y’all lost your shit when you didn’t get to play as him last game, you really think they’ll turn a deaf ear that? This is because of that.

[@revanii8791]

Oh my God. Thank you

[@Connor8609]

I just finished reading this last night. Exactly this. None of this feels like it remotely matters in a Halo campaign. The narrative was mildly interesting but mostly aimless survival. The book needed more focus earlier on about the Banished seizing that system that controlled ftl comms / defensive weaponry on the ring. Quite a lot of this story was aimless.

[@_spooT]

Can't wait to see UNSC ships being the ones hovering above the ring instead of banished once reinforcements arrive/ Speaking of reinforcements, could it be related to that deleted/hidden ending cutscene where Chief, the weapon and Fernando looked outside the pelican and saw something that had tag designation Friend?

[@shadewolf0075]

I would prefer if it was a mix of Swords of Sanghelios ships and whatever the UNSC can spare with the tattered remains of their navy considering the UNSC lost most of their ships in the created uprising

[@Bazzable]

@@shadewolf0075 i bet the swords have talen a toll from cortana as well

[@fpfuranfuran236]

@@shadewolf0075 some people think its the spirit of fire as it is the only functioning unsc ship that can go against the banished like they did in halo wars 2

[@shadewolf0075]

@@fpfuranfuran236 how are they gonna get to 07 with no slipspace drive? Why would captain cutter leave the ark in the hands of the banished? And what idiots think that the fire is gonna last more than 2 seconds against the banished fleet at 07 when the infinity apparently lasted only 5 minutes?

[@jedigamer9935]

​@Shadewolf00 the Spirit of Fire is at The Ark. Could open a portal to the Halo ring. The Spirit of Fire would have the element of surprise.
The Infinity would have lasted against the Banished if they weren't ambushed and rammed by Banished ships.

[@littlebigman66]

Thank you for returning to halo content. I've said it before, I'll always support you but Halo is your bread and butter man. Comes so naturally.

[@ChildishGambeaner]

When was his last non Halo related video?

[@Banana-Boi]

@@ChildishGambeaner 1 month ago

[@ChildishGambeaner]

@@Banana-Boi quite a long time

[@HiddenXperia]

Tyvm :) Got my next 3 branch out videos/streams planned, think they'll start releasing around September time

[@dinosaurbros8908]

This is just horrifying and I love it. If only atriox didn't put cheif in cryo then maybe most of the people who died would've been alive.

[@nepspartan-7597]

Honestly him personally taking on The Demon might have been part of the plan, knowing the rest of his forces wouldn't be a match for chief if left alone

[@andreww450]

I really love the danger emphasized in intelligent brutes. Atriox and Escharum are each ruthless in their leadership, while Tartarus leads with skill. While 343 has not done a super great job with elite characters (looking at you Jul 'Mdama), they really have stepped up their game by creating fascinating brutes (Tartarus is Bungie, I know).

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

Jul'Mdama had a lot of potential and was a cunning opportunist. Any potential I know he had was killed off my Halo 5.

[@andreww450]

@@jakespacepiratee3740 I agree

[@samuelgiroux6819]

@@jakespacepiratee3740 literally in a cutscene. How sad is that?
So let me get this straight:
We fight the Didact in what basically amounts to a cutscene. He gets composed offscreen in a book.
Jul’mdama is fought and killed during a cutscene.
Besides the repetitive boss fight against warden eternal, we never get to fight Cortana, who dies in a cutscene.
While the opening cutscene was nice, we never get to fight Atriox.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@samuelgiroux6819 We never fight the Created after Halo 5 did everything in its power to set them up as a threat that will have to be resisted.
We never even fought the Endless after Halo Infinite did everything in its limited power to make them seem like a major threat that has to be contained.

[@MidraLOFF]

@@samuelgiroux6819 We are not ready to fight Atriox

[@Cooltech06]

For Everyone that keeps asking how Echo-216 and Chief are with Zeta Halo even through it jumped here's your clarification:
They were in close proximity to Zeta Halo when it jumped so the slipspace bubble carried the wreckage along. We've seen the same thing happen in Halo 2 when Regret jumped into Delta Halo from inside New Mombasa. There was wreckage that could be seen as the carrier exited slipspace...

[@RyanCR3000Omega19]

I have a theory:
If the infinity has been moved outside the previous zeta halo location... is it possible that the spirit of fire detects the mayday signal?

[@noblesix4241]

Captain cutter is gonna tear a new one into the banished

[@MrAvakstone92]

No; because the Ark is OUTSIDE the galaxy

[@RyanCR3000Omega19]

@@MrAvakstone92 Yeah, and where do Halos go to be repaired?
The Ark

[@beastmode1915]

@@RyanCR3000Omega19 Installation-07 is different because it was created by the Greater Ark (not the Lesser Ark) which was destroyed in the Forerunner-Flood War. That’s why the ring was able to self-repair

[@MrAvakstone92]

@@RyanCR3000Omega19 but Zeta Halo wasn't transported to the Ark but a random location IN THE GALAXY, and the transmission was send to HUMAN SPACE

[@adnancharif9296]

Maybe they’re planning to make a campaign DLC on the events that occur in this book? They DID say Infinite would be a Spartan story…

[@shaneroberttate7270]

If only the game was rated M we would've seen how brutal the Banished-UNSC war was in game

[@commandocustomstudios5621]

Hey guys welcome back. Never gets old thanks for your content

[@andyfriederichsen]

I never knew what the destroyed skiff was. I actually thought it was supposed to be a destroyed phantom for a long time. Of course, it's way too small to be a phantom obviously.
After watching this video, I want to play more of the Halo Infinite campaign just to slaughter more of the Banished in brutal ways (specifically the brutes and elites), especially by driving around in a jeep filled with heavily armed marines.

[@warriorshedge6772]

Must be autism because ain't no way you thought that was a phantom.. Just finished drinking and already you make me want to drink again

[@katskeleton8268]

To find out what happened to laskey I hope he becomes an assassin type character where when he’s about to take out a Hunter who’s a HVT he runs into chief and they recreate the scene between laskey and chief where they fight a Hunter in forward unto dawn but the roles are reversed

[@Cooltech06]

Everyone Else: *Talking about Marines and ODSTs and other Spartans in the book*
Me: *the only person in the background excited about actual Endless appearing*

[@Real_Halo_MC]

22:38 Correction!
Adjutant Veridity isn't new, they're the same monitor that Spark and co encountered in Point of Light!

[@HiddenXperia]

Ohhhhhhh true, it's been a long time since Point of Light lol

[@Real_Halo_MC]

@@HiddenXperia Yeah I don't blame you for a moment. I paused on my first listening thinking "that definitely sounds familiar"
I like how Kelly Gay was able to squeeze in a reoccurring character of her own along side everyone else

[@acharmandur9360]

Lasky better be alive, that man is too important.

[@_Eric._]

I'm currently on chapter 17 and I had the same thought about it being comparable to the flood

[@arm1733]

Rubicon protocol is a really good book, but I wish there was more action and details during the chapter 17, otherwise everything was really really good

[@HiddenXperia]

Chapter 17 was the attack on the Reverie right? I agree actually, I was a little bit disappointed when the chapter ended right as the battle began, then the next one opened right as it was ending

[@arm1733]

@@HiddenXperia ya, i was really hoping for more action, like you can see other spartans and marines trying their best to hold the banished, and seeing the banished slowly but surely overwhelm them, or maybe even those tactics where the banished sends a small force that gets destroyed, then keep sending bigger and stronger waves

[@JuanGomez-bs6ue]

This book makes you respect Chief even more, all the hell the UNSC went through in 6 months, and the Chief comes up and in 24 hours he killed Escharum, thousands of troops and even an ancient species.
And I like to think that the marines in the game that are optimistic and hopeful is because they just saw THE spartan return to them.

[@hampter3927]

Might get buried but I've speculated that the "kind" voice Lucas Browning talks to might be Lasky. He hesitates when Browning asks for his name and says that he shouldn't reveal it. Or it could be an Oni operative but still it could be Lasky.

[@jackrykker]

I think the same, it's gotta be lasky the voice is to chill.

[@xvoid1172]

Idk what it means, but in the harbinger audio log she quoted halo 2s gravemind by saying "I shall talk and you shall listen"
Thought it was interesting

[@NorseNoahJ]

I think the reason that the game’s atmosphere isn’t as dark as the book’s was is because of Master Chief. The marines say a couple lines here and there about how they thought they might not make it, but Master Chief is THE symbol of Hope for humanity. He is the savior and his presence is likely near God Like in terms of it’s effect on Morale

[@FoxElliott]

I'm so glad there was mention of Human Banished, I really enjoy the concept of having humanity be included into this alien force of ideological mercenaries. It just feels so Atriox to include even humans into his meritocratic army of looters. I just wish we saw them in Infinite, would've been cool to fight the Marine AI on the enemy's side for once. Hope we get it in future games.

[@rob6912]

If the ring teleported away in the 6 months chief was floating in space wouldn't that mean it left both him and the engineer behind where ever it left?

[@ESFNinja]

The ring creates a bubble around itself whenever it goes into Slipspace, so it’s safe to assume any ship and debris caught inside would be brought along.

[@rob6912]

@@ESFNinja from my knowledge of the books and lore that wouldnt have been pleasant trip for either one of them

[@ESFNinja]

@@rob6912 Most definitely.

[@Cooltech06]

They were in close proximity to Zeta Halo when it jumped so the slipspace bubble carried the wreckage along. We've seen the same thing happen in Halo 2 when Regret jumped into Delta Halo from inside New Mombasa. There was wreckage that could be seen as the carrier exited slipspace...

[@Wunderfizz.]

22:20: “Stabbed in the back by Jega, who taunts her as she bleeds out” oh my god Jega emoted on her

[@Thorax2552]

Yeah the environmental failure was just on the chunk of ring that Horvath was stuck on, which is what made him and Gorian agree to work together since they were on a time limit.

[@MadDadLad]

Scott Brick once again killed it with his work on the audio book!! He's my go to for reading these novels and he does a fantastic job every single time!

[@jasonvanhart2405]

I said this earlier on a Late Night Gaming video, but I'll put it here too.
It feels like they don't wanna give us any info on preexisting characters because they could possibly show up in DLC. There's this weird desire to block the player off from any info about the outside world. We have a few scenes in the Academy, but only in the Academy. The only people who come in just tell us that they were fighting the banished on some random planet. I wasn't even aware that the Banished had a presence outside Installations 00 and 07. Tell us how Arbiter is doing, where Hood is, or what the heck is happening on Earth now that Cortana is gone. Are the Created even still around? It's a shame that they're probably keeping the two biggest bundles of characters, Infinity and Spirit of Fire, hidden in some closet b/c they're the most likely DLC expansions. The shame is we won't get either for a very long time, and then have to wait again for the other to show up. At least give us confirmation that Locke and Palmer are alive.
Listen, I'm a huge fan of Infinite's campaign. I also love the gameplay and genuinely want the game to do well. I've given them a lot a slack, probably more than I should, but it's finally catching up to me.
I loved how the story was extremely Chief focused, and I appreciate how it brought the series back to its roots. However, by doing that they've left a lot of loose ends hanging, many of which have been there since 5. At least with 5 we had some idea of what would happen next, we even got a book taking place right after. (whether or not that was a good way of doing it is another discussion, but at least we knew) The cliffhanger of 5, annoying as it was, also let us know what the next thing would be. All we know right now is that Atriox is alive with the Endless, and we're gonna have to fight them. We have no idea what that'll look like, or even why we need to fight them. Infinity is... gone? There's no wreckage. Locke is somewhere on the Ring nekked, Lasky is alive ig, and Blue Team is... somewhere. Also, poor Dr Anders has been stuck on a ring with a guardian for the last five years. There're too many options that eventually all have to happen, but it'll take five years of us not knowing where our favorite characters are. I'd love a co-op of Chief and Jerome, but that makes less sense if Infinity is there with Osiris, Majestic, Alpha 9, Palmer, etc. Is Halsey alive? Where's my boy Fred? Did Osiris get decent looking armor?
TL:DR-- 343 has a lot of stuff they can use, but also a lot to wrap up. We have no indication of what's happening, and no idea when or in what order we'll find out. We can't connect to the story outside of "Chief and friends' because they won't let us see the characters we've grown to love, and are instead stuck with bland expositors in Mjolnir shells.

[@nathen4171]

“Now I shall talk and you shall listen.” Nice Gravemind call-back.

[@justastandardjp6878]

Very nice to know more lore but really just think they should have had more stuff explaining this in the actual game so we could learn more from that instead of having to dive into tons of material outside the game

[@cplhotpockets]

15:38 that halo evolutions story "stomping on the heals of a fuss" Involves a lot of people being torn apart and eaten by brutes. Does this book also confirm that the banished ate humans? I remember an audio log where a grunt vaguely references it but what is something that they did on the regular with hundreds orbthousands of people? Because thats dark

[@josiahresler8073]

I love how one of the troopers is forced to take a fallen soldiers boots, and where they get pizza. It shows the real survival aspect

[@Ahcelaht]

The harbinger said "I shall talk and you shall listen" like the gravemind in H2!

[@themuzzy5092]

I know that 343 is most likely not going to do this, but I would love if they both continued Chief’s story in additional campaigns and began a side story akin to Spartan Ops/Halo Reach where our multiplayer character is used, sorta following the trail of Chief and other members of the Infinity as a part of reinforcements from the Spartan Academy. That might be a good way to sort of follow up with this book more directly.

[@SteezyMPeezy]

Man Xperia has had a MAJOR glow up since I started watching lookin good man

[@marinaraswaws7320]

Spartan Griffin: “THE NUMBERS LUCAS! WHAT DO THEY MEAN?”

[@TAGSTER_HD]

Hidden posts a new video. A HALO video. Fastest and most furious click I’ve ever done.
Loving the recent content man! You have my full support 💪 Get well soon bro!

[@LORDALPHA]

This would have been a game changer if it was DLC for halo infinite. Not some gawddaym book.

[@nebulamonkey4588]

I very glad you still make content thank you .

[@ToxicCoffeeTM]

11:05 on my knees praying to every possible deity rn

[@IxXDOMINATORXxI]

Man yeah i love how graphic and dark this book was makes me wish the game could have been this dark but i get why they can't be i guess. This book was so well done god damn man the references and inspirations it takes from all over the Halo universe is incredible. Also very cool/interesting how they did manage to get a request for help out to human space, DLC may be awhile away but they're definitely setting it up big laying the groundwork for it on this book. Who will show up to help first, Swords of Sanghilios an Arbiter? Spirit of Fire? Or a big ass battle group of humans? Can't wait to find out man.

[@pingaspuff2909]

Saying the book is graphic is an understatement. The Banished literally killed human prisoners in gas chambers at the redoubt of sundering and hacked Spartans’ limbs off with mangler blades WHILE THEY WERE STILL ALIVE, just to salvage the armor. And that’s not even getting into the psychological torture, like having a human process human prisoners, making sure that Lucas Browning could see the other prisoners being executed en masse, and using the bodies of Spartans for target practice

[@XArctracerX]

The Gravedigger squad sounds like the perfect team mates and characters to be put into an ODST 2 set on zeta halo

[@hellsniper4418]

i love your videos man, keep them going
halo is going through a tough time but it will rise, maybe not as high as before but it will rise

[@Brutus_the_warden]

I love how stone is one of the most important characters but we never get a description of her face

[@victortang7610]

I HOPE the message is picked up by the Spirit of Fire and its crew, because I want The Master Chief to meet Jerome and the other Spartans of Red Team.

[@beastmode1915]

But how would they be able to pick it up outside the Galaxy? Besides it was sent to human space, which further lends credence to it being near impossible for them to hear it. I would however like a Blue Team and Red Team meet-up in the future… in game and not in a book, *cough* Arbiter and Chief *cough*

[@DadsRUs]

Just finished this book and it was great. Deffinatly wish Halo was more dark like this book. Sometimes it felt like I was listening to a Warhammer 40k book with how dark it got sometimes.

[@Buurning]

"I shall Talk, and you shall listen"
made my blood go cold

[@GGmanlife]

Finished the book a few minutes ago, been saving this for now. I’m hyped

[@lawrenceyancy3364]

Before you said you sprained your wrist lifting, I was just about to say homeboy been hitting the shoulder shrugs heavy! The Traps are looking massive 😂💪

[@r.e.z9428]

I’d say the narrative has always been 343’s weakest link. I mean Infinite’s story isn’t nearly as bad as 5, but still second to last place in the series, Bungie included.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

Halo 4 was awesome.

[@TR-zx1lc]

"I shall talk, and you shall listen." - Gravemind, Halo 2.
"I shall talk, and you shall listen." - Harbinger, Halo Infinite.
Coincidence?
I think not.

[@ghosttiee9212]

BROO OMG I LITERALLY JUST NOTICED THAT

[@ghosttiee9212]

That’s crazy tho

[@SpaceMonkeyBoi]

Imagine later down the road, they release a new campaign:
Master Chief beats Atriox and the Endless, then he looks up to see a fleet of ships with a strange sickly yellow fog emanating from them.
The flood? No... Yap Yap the destroyer rains mustard gas onto his enemies! The universe will capitulate under the heels of the Grunts!

[@hmm8445]

It is cool to hear that there is a human In the banished

[@BiomechanicalBrick]

24:13 It's gonna be the Spirit of Fire I'm calling it 😂

[@maskedspartan7397]

I feel like that distress signal might bring in the Spirit of Fire. Omg that would be so amazing. Imagine Jerome dropping in to assist Chief in a cutscene

[@da_person]

I feel like a halo wars 3 during this time jump would be very fun

[@TheBigExclusive]

"I sprained my wrists lifting." - lol Nice humble brag there...

[@andyfriederichsen]

Hang on, the UNSC Army is mentioned in the book? We really need to see them more in the Halo series, preferably in a cool new game taking place during the Human-Covenant War.

[@360quickshot]

I saw the first minute of this video the day it came out. Left and got the book, finished reading it. And now I've returned to finish the video. Great content! 👍

[@HiddenXperia]

Ayyyy thanks, glad you liked it!

[@LayLowOfficial]

Gym injuries suck... I wish you a speedy recovery man.

[@eragonbromsson1122]

I loved that we saw Banished Humans up close and that there are on Zeta Halo. Wonder if we'll fight them in a DLC. Still it was great to see it in the book.
Interesting that Escharum hate Humans so much but then allow them to serve in his army. I wonder if the Human inspector at the Redoubt of Sundering is a personal friend of Escharum similar of how Jega is.
Also happy to know that Blue Team was on the Infinity. This mean that they are somewhere on Zeta Halo, so we'll probably meet them in future DLCs.
I think that in general the story focused on the wrong characters. A Banished point of view would have been nice. I think that a cameo from Locke, Hyperius and Tovarus was a must, considering also how little presence these characters had in the game.
Also I think that something as important as to contact the outside galaxy and ask for reinforcements should have been a in-game storyline and not confined to the book.
Besides at the end they decided to free the prisoners at the Tower but we know that, by the time Chief return, Griffin was still imprisoned at the Tower. So we must assume that Kovan (and Vettel) died trying ?
In the end The Rubicon Protocol wasn't a bad book but honestly could have been much better. I think Denning would have been more suited to this style of story. Especially with the opening chapter and the battle at the Reverie. These were pretty important battles and while I can see the benefit of focusing on the individual characters in these events I would have personally preferred a more tactical overview of how they went down. Especially since we’re always told the Banished have amazing tacticians but we never really get much of an explanation for that other then they just overwhelm their opponents.

[@TheStuartCarson]

I can't wait for more story content to be added to the game itself. That said, it's always great to hear more context in some form! Thanks for the coverage! Also may I ask, is the machinima style presentation at 5:04 something you did? Cause I love it. I miss Halo machinima. I'm sure I just need to hunt for it.

[@cormovements]

Sorry about the injury, but you're looking good brother! Keep lifting.

[@prtfdc2]

One thing that this book has over the FLood is that a lot more characters survived

[@spacebumpkin1565]

I looooooved how non “fluffy” the book was after seeing no blood in the last few games

[@additivewolf]

This book gave me a whole new perspective about Halo Infinite campaign

[@sirsurgenor]

Always a good day when our boy Luke posts.

[@damusaetrum6742]

When I was a kid I made an idea with my mega bloks figures and crap like that. I called it the union they were a really small scale covenant but they had no religion and no care for alliance with the humans. All they cared about was territory on a planet they had found. Their color was yellow and they stole covenant vehicles and made them into different vehicles they even had a union scarab and their were even union bond brothers called axion (I recently created axion based off the Goliath hunter and colony from halo wars 2) and all of this was led by their leader Damu'Saetrum (and his second command which was his brother literally stole Jul' madamas armor) and they literally used anything to get ahead and win. The elites we're so drawn to victory that they used prosthetics (used other arms when their original arms broke). I've added to them now since I'm a collector.I got some new brutes and some new vehicles I added that they stole from the banished too and convinced some of the brutes to join them and saw the banished as another covenant coming to fruition. The union also believes all races in the alliance of aliens shall be treated equal even grunts. They do not care for galactic control they care for the planet they are on and when humans came a mini war so to speak was started. Now tell me your thoughts about it.

[@damusaetrum6742]

Thanks for these great videos hiddenXperia

[@Doomerguy1138]

I still find it hard to believe that the Chiefs suit was able to keep him alive for 6 months in space , with no food or water

[@portalslingerplays7523]

Why does HiddenX always make interesting things more interesting?

[@Endri_Rigs]

Perhaps it's his narrator esq voice?

[@ChildishGambeaner]

It's his shrilly girl voice mixed with the accent

[@HiddenXperia]

tyvm friendo, i appreciate that :)

[@ChildishGambeaner]

@@HiddenXperia anytime bro

[@portalslingerplays7523]

@@HiddenXperia also, do you have a discord?

[@ThelVadam7777]

I so hope arby and the swords return…
He is the best character in halo with the best character arc and is just awesome….
He needs to return

[@miguellanderos7143]

Sprained his wrist while fighting off a brute as he tried to chuck a spiker into a group of grunts 😂😂

[@russian_knight]

Horvath is stupidly cool, I really hope we get to see him along with Vettel and Kovan later down the line

[@cleverleo4383]

Remember that halo 3 mission where you’re going through the barracks and the brutes are choking and throwing marines like rag dolls