I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LOVE HALO 2 MORE THAN I ALREADY DID 20:32 I absolutely love the idea of MC driving a ghost off the carrier because it implies that, after starting a chain reaction, it was his best or only available option to get off the carrier quickly! I want to imagine that a ghost-run level precedes this cutscene, similar to the one in halo 4, but instead you would drive the ghost through the cruiser's collapsing engine before driving off the edge. Perfect transition to the cutscene! Also, I cannot believe the amount of effort you put into this video. I am legitimately concerned that you put in TOO much effort for your own health! 30:50 "Why did I animate that?" bro I am stunned you animated your character mascot at all! Most commentary channels just use a handful of still poses that they squish transition between! And to top it off with visually complex gags? WTF. THAT INTRO. All the research you did and collecting all the quotes, the visual representation of the timeline, it is all beautifully done. Documentaries WISH they were this visually engaging! And transcribing that early script despite only being able to see a third of each page just to try to get a HINT at what the dialogue might be? You have a will power that is honestly frightening. You absolutely deserve monetary compensation for your unhinged dedication to making this work of art. PATREON'D!!!
THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED IN MY LIFE THANK YOU VERY MUCH! And, yeah, I didn’t mention it in the video, but it seems the Ghost idea was kindaaa recycled for Halo 3 ODST - meaning that you end the level driving a Ghost off a precipice before cuing the cutscene. The Covenant ship level sounds like it would’ve been really fun!
If you haven't checked Halopedia yet, the Earth Ark article actually has voice lines for Arbiter for the cut ending found in a Reach build of all places.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I believe the tag build was only discovered or looked into a few months ago. The recordings seem to be closer to rehearsals instead of the intended final recordings
YES!!! i always said that the heretic leader shooting inmediately at Arbi while in the middle of a "lore" conversation was too abrupt and jarring, its like yeah i want the Arbi to learn about halo, i mean you have an oracle, i might be abble to come to an understanding with yo.... oh i guess we are fighting now sure..... This explains everything. Also they captured 343 inside a box for coockies so funny.
The problem with that, too, is that the Arbiter in the cutscene was actually listening; he didn’t act like he didn’t want to hear any of it. Thankfully, with the release of the Alpha Halo level, we can have that.
18:55 I like to imagine this alternate version of this cutscene to be the one that plays on Easy mode. As a "punishment" for choosing easy mode, you don't get to have the cool version. Also, great comedic timing on the abrupt stop in the music building up the moment.
18:15 The fighter craft pictured in this storyboard is the "Strike Fighter" conceptualized specifically for Halo 2, which eventually evolved into the Sabre seen in Halo Reach.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH No man, thank you and to the die hard bungie crew! Doing this video has inspired people to remake these scenes/cut levels. Great work, I Hope to see more in the future as well
So basically we lost what would have been the most cinematic and bad ass Halo game there ever was. Not to say Halo 2 wasn't awesome and cinematic but this takes everything to a new level.
22:00 Writing Sgt Johnson: "It's your lucky day chief" (To Pilot) "Tinman coming in" (Chief Lands in Pelican) "For a brick, you flew pretty good" With Sgt Johnson less is more
I really adore Lee's comic style of storyboarding it easy to visualize the camera scene, actions and character dialogs instead of basic hollywood storyboarding
Now that I think about it That second covenant ship story board has chief bouncing atop the carrier for several kilometres Because he goes from the centre to the end And those ships are 5kilometers long.
I'm torn about whether I like Tartarus killing the Heretic more, or whether I prefer the version we got. On the one hand, it establishes that the Arbiter is willing to listen to reason, it makes way more sense than the Heretic shooting the Arbiter while he's listening, and it foreshadows Tartarus's betrayal more overtly. On the other hand, having the Arbiter kill the Heretic gives more weight to his arc of eventually turning against the Covenant. In any event, these continue to be super well-produced! Thanks for the great work!
I was just thinking about the scene earlier today before I watched this! It turned in my head that the Brutes were sent to capture the Oracle, because the Prophets KNEW it was there, but Elites would be liable to become 'heretics' as they listen to the Oracle and have the sense to deduce for themselves the discrepancies it spouts. Why else does Tartarus bother to show up there in the first place? Watching this scene I think this storyboard version is too unsubtle. The Brutes cutting the heretic off mid-sentence is just too obviously suspicious to me, and I always saw them as overly devout and obedient followers to the Prophets orders, not malicious coconspirators.
I'm sure many decisions involving story had to change due to time. Hell they had to restart and make halo 2 again because I think the engine couldn't handle the original version.
This is absolutely fantastic! As a huge Halo fan who's been fascinated by the development of Halo for years and years, it is amazing to see the original story presented like this. I freaked out in late 2020 when Lee Wilson posted the storyboards, but you've gone way above and beyond to bring them to life. And as someone who's done his fair share of Halo investigations, the amount of research you've done to make it as accurate as possible is inspiring! I'm in heaven. 😍 P.S. I actually wrote the article on Medium you highlight at the beginning, and I felt terrible about not mentioning you, so I edited it to point out your role in getting these storyboards released lol. Thanks to you and especially Lee Wilson for revealing an ending I'd been wondering about for 16 years ❤
This channel is severely underrated. The work you put into these deserve millions of views. Love the campy dialog you put in lieu of the actual script. Had me laughing a few times.
14:35 I think the United Earth Space Corps still fits into what’s been established for canon, as the UNSC is specifically the military branch of the UEG, or United Earth Government, created as a result of the interplanetary war. It’s possible there are honorary and traditional ranks held over from when the UEG was just that United Earth, and the name United Earth Space Corps is kept as a ceremonial thing in certain circumstances. EDIT: Competitive bowl-sliding Brute warden is now my favorite character in the halo franchise.
I’ve considered that explanation, but the one major hitch is that the government is actually called the _Unified_ Earth Government. “United Earth” isn’t a term used anywhere else to my knowledge. Fun fact: the Marathon equivalent of Halo’s “Unified Earth Government” actually _was_ “United Earth Government.” Both are usually called the “UEG.”
There are quite a few leftover level scripts in the Halo 2 Editing Kit's files, including the e3 earthcity level, alpha moon, and forerunner tank. In theory, all it would take would be to make some interpretive bsps for them and fill in the blanks so that they line up with the script events
This whole things was awesome, but for me? My fanboy levels hit MAC velocities seeing the In Amber Clad in the middle of a space battle chasing down the Prophet. a Tiny Stalwart class Frigate Chasing down a CAS class Assault Carrier as the Home Fleet pounds away at the Covenant fleet just to give the tiny frigate some room as RED FLAG once more in green lit. Wile I can see it being a little silly in release give the size of a CAS to a Stalwart....its still too cool to not imagine.
I am utterly confounded your channel and videos do not have more views yet, but I seriously think this will blow up. Please, keep doing this, this was expertly made!
I love the Covenant Ship cutscenes, lol. Immediately being greeted by Drones, imagine that on Legendary. I'm really curious how that mission would have played out, as the outro has you escape with a Ghost! While you could technically do this in ODST in Uplift Reserve (but you can use any other vehicle, like the Warthog), a "Ghost Run" (which I assume would have happened prior to this outro) didn't occur until Halo 4. Interestingly enough the E3 demo had a short Ghost run at the end too, so maybe this level is where they got that from? Who knows. Here's a couple other things I wanna talk about: 6:54 In the final game, the Arbiter is like "Don't touch me, back off" and is simply escorted away by the Brutes instead. He doesn't let the Brutes lay a finger on him. He is only seen being dragged like depicted here in The Arbiter intro. It's a subtle change, but I really like it. It gives more character to the Arbiter (it's like a sudden burst of anger from him, and yeah I'd react like that too if I was in Arbiter's position) and in a way it's foreshadowing to the Elites vs Brutes conflict later in the game. Even moments as miniscule as this make the Arbiter's story what it is. 20:12 Thank you! This is a good debunk to that narrative I've seen too many times of "Bungie hated the expanded universe". Kinda tired of people using that narrative as a way to slamdunk on OG Bungie, especially on places like r/HaloStory. 26:39 Obvious to point out, but Regret's carrier does a slipspace jump in space rather than inside the city of New Mombasa. I honestly prefer the final version here (it's definitely more impactful and desperate), but still interesting to see. I wonder what gave them the idea to change this up to the slipspace jump being inside the city instead? I also noticed a couple of first-person (POV) shots during cutscenes in a couple bits of these storyboards, mainly as a brief shot in Covenant Ship (Chief holding the battle rifle at 16:12, honestly gives me Reach vibes) and The Arbiter intro (Arby inside the jail cell at 27:43-28:04, pretty certain this is meant to be one continuous shot which again is interesting to see) Very strange to see Bungie was experimenting with these first-person cutscene things (not exactly sure what to call them to be honest, I'm just calling them POV shots) in Halo 2, as they wouldn't actually be a thing until ODST. In that game they were brief moments before the switch to actual gameplay, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. There are one or two POV shots in Halo 2 though that did manage to make it into the game, and it's during The Arbiter intro where Arbiter's being dragged by the Brutes to the Prophets. There's also one with Chief at the very beginning of Gravemind as he's being dragged by the tentacles. But those are very brief, especially compared to The Arbiter's shots depicted here. 29:30 I really think Bungie (or Lee Wilson) was going somewhere with these shots of how the armor is delivered to each protagonist. I'm not fully sure how to explain it, but I think it's an intentional choice. There's a very similar shot at 8:09 with Chief and Master Gunns. That can't be a coincidence, it's way too similar. Notice the camera angle, it's a pan down. It's even a POV shot too. And not to mention at these points in the cutscenes, both characters are depicted as being armorless here. In the final game, Chief is already armored. He just puts on the helmet. Maybe a stretch, I don't know, and again I'm not sure how to explain it. I just know of the juxtaposition we see here and in the final game of Chief being publicly congratulated for his victory and the Arbiter being publicly punished for his loss. That's an intentional parallel, so the similarities I've pointed out here must also be an intentional choice too. Let me know in replies if you have a better explanation for this, but this is just something I noticed. 29:58 I'm fairly certain that Chief would have been the one to fight the flood-infected Arbiters in the Mausoleum, and I remember this being an idea for Halo 3 as well, but I may be wrong on that. You do visit High Charity in both games, and the ship you see in "Cortana" was not in fact High Charity originally, instead it was just a whole level for the Covenant cruiser you see and enter in Floodgate, but it was drastically shortened. But a level called "High Charity" was still planned to be in the game which would have been a much more faithful rendition (imagine the Halo 2 mission but in Halo 3 instead) rather than the one seen in Cortana. Still, regardless of what game it was intended for, it's such a badass idea that I honestly wish they had kept that, or at the very least it sees the light in another piece of future Halo media. Would have been so badass!
Alpha Moon outro. Wow. Gotta say, I really do prefer this version compared to what we got. Got a couple things to say about this one too. The shot of Sesa's hand reaching out almost like a zombie, the scale of the area of where I'm assuming the boss battle would have been (getting Library vibes honestly with how huge the ceiling is), and the "I'd rather die by your hand" makes a lot more sense here. Speaking of the boss fight, was Sesa always planned to be a boss fight? Because it seems to me like a "yes", but you don't actually kill him in gameplay in this version. I really do like the Arbiter being more up close and personal, Arbiter holding him up.. god, it's so good. I'm really bummed the final version didn't end up like this. 34:47 Hot damn, Tartarus was originally going to be the one to kill Sesa 'Refumee? Didn't expect that! I wish they had kept that too! He's definitely the type of person to quickly silence anyone who would challenge his beliefs (as shown here and in the final game when he tries to shut Spark up). Not only that, but from what I can recall this is the only time he's depicted using a ranged weapon, I don't remember him ever using anything but the Gravity Hammer in the final game. He does pilot a Phantom and uses it's guns to shoot at a Sentinel Enforcer to draw fire away from Arby just before Sacred Icon starts, but him actually holding a ranged weapon let alone using it is not seen anywhere else but here. Funnily enough it looks like he's using a beam rifle (at least I think it is) which is ironic considering it's importance in his own boss fight, lol. 35:32 Seems the Covenant had a thing with boxes, lol. The Arbiter's armor seen here was in one too. And now one's being used to trap Spark. Also noticed there's no sign of the Gravity Hammer anywhere. 35:45 I love this shot of Tartarus, he looks so menacing here. And at 35:50 where he's playing with Sesa's corpse a bit by nudging it, damn. Massive disrespect from him. Just the lingering shots in general of Sesa's corpse gets me, like at 35:57 and 35:48.. especially, 35:48. I swear it's something you'd see in the Walking Dead comics, not Halo. Just the way Sesa dies feels so eerie, and definitely leaves a more lasting impression. His facial expression at 34:36, his blood spurting out onto Arbiter's armor at 34:38... God damn. It's dark as hell, and I love it. It tells you everything you need to know about Tartarus, and to a further extent the Brutes. Don't mess with them, basically. It's a good way to symbolize that for anyone who dares tries to stand against the Prophets and the idea of the Great Journey.. gets left behind. Unceremoniously. Left to rot in their own blood. This whole cutscene is pretty dark actually with how it appears, I love it. Definitely has that CE influence for sure with how it holds nothing back. It got toned down in the final game.
@@Nighterac Whoa, thanks! I can confirm that the opening to “The Arbiter” is supposed to be a continuous POV shot. I tried my damndest to recreate that for the animatics but the format makes it hard. I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I didn’t notice the parallels between the presentations of the Master Chief’s and the Arbiter’s armors! I do think you’re correct- the two shots are virtually identical. I also share your opinions. For reasons I can’t quite explain, Regret’s in-atmosphere jump is probably my favorite set piece in the _Halo_ universe.
Bro it's so great to see you back! I remember when you did Halo CE and mentioned how Halo 2 had lost storyboards as well, and now here we are!!!! It's awesome to see what could have been for the story of Halo
I absolutely would've loved to see this version of Halo 2, I think the funniest part would be oracle being kinda broken after Alpha Halo was destroyed, seeing as he realizes he has feelings.
Been patiently waiting for this to come! I can't wait for the next 2 parts, very well done Sabertooth. Look forward to what's next, and I wonder if any Halo 3 story concepts exist. I know of very few.
Thanks so much! Mr. Lee Wilson also released what he made for Halo 3, but it’s largely colored “lighting studies” and not exactly storyboards. I plan on giving them a shot, anyway! They’ll likely all be in one, shorter video.
My headcanon is that chief's voice being older than he actually is is due to a throat injury in the war, or a side effect he suffered during the augmentation process, possibly due to the catalytic thyroid implant.
10:06 "TAKE CARE, MATE!" Chips, the real MVP of the original trilogy, doing what he does best; supporting Chief. Jokes aside, these vids are absolutely amazing. I've seen a little of the storyboards over time, whether it was officially produced or things people found (like you did with CE) but the way you've done your research, how its put together and the annotations are top notch mate. Keep up the good work
DUDE! The references to the books would have been awesome. This video makes me wish we got more from Halo 2. Well done on this my guy, extremely meticulous
So little tidbit for ya at 18:23 those fighters were the cut strike fighter that was seen in the Halo 2 Special Edition DVD, they ended up cutting them cus it would have only existed for cinematics and was just a waste of resources and dev time
Yeah, you are definitely correct. For reasons I have _entirely_ forgotten, I dismissed the possibility of their being the same craft while animating the scene. No idea why. I added the correction at the end of the Act 2 video!
27:08 its likely that, while every frigate and cruiser is outfitted wirh "at least one" MAC cannon, these MAC cruisers may have a different loadout specific to their role: Assault. This loadout may include additional MACs and other offensive weaponry that the standard loadout cruisers wouldnt have by default.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH it shows man, only half way through with all my pausing to appreciate your work. shared it in some halo discords too, appreciate all your hard work man. your videos have been masterpieces, cant imagine the amount of work that would have to be put into this. great job man!
7:12 Doesn't Halo: The Flood also have a description? 8:40 There are unused level scripts and maybe a map If I remember right of Chief going to another orbital station and watching the one he was on blowing up. 8:47 I think on H2 Artifacts or another interview, that H2 made it quite far into development without Dual Wielding. Which is supported by the fact that two of the Betas don't have it but the most recent one before release does. 14:45 It is interesting that H2A almost reuses this scene entirely though 18:17 Those appear to be the unused "Strike Fighters" th-cam.com/video/DWI7AhQFpTE/w-d-xo.html 20:18 Halo 2 actually has some unused music in "Movement of the Odyssey" that may be good to use. Although they are mostly Phish esq.
these are such excellent videos man, not only is it showing off a cool piece of lost history, but you present it in such a polished and professional way like good shit my man.
Amazing effort and work on this series! Projects like this evoke the same excitement as watching those BTS documentaries by the Bungie team. The amount of changes and planning that went into the halo series production is insane. All that being said, this wouldn't be nearly as engaging to watch without the superb quality and fun insights you put into these videos. Also, the animations of your avatar are very charming and add to the video narration in my opinion. Can't wait for the next release! side note: that guilty spark scene was ridiculous...you are creating high-art
Hi me again!!! I’m slowly working through your stuff as I promised. I mainly consume TH-cam videos in the background as a podcast type thing while I grind in various games, but these videos are so good that I need to watch them with my undivided attention. I actually had no idea that the planet that contained Installation 04 was so fleshed out. Maybe it’s just me, but I never realized that the Heretic group was actually in a gas mine on that very same planet. I actually think the moon base sounded more interesting. In a perfect universe, Bungie would come back together and recreate Halo 1 and 2 with their perfect vision. It would be really interesting I think. Excited to watch more.
Damn, you went through such trouble for this treat. I ended up pressing thumbs up repeatedly throughout the video, but luckily for an odd number times. The Covenant council chamber looks like an exaggerated mixture of canuck and bongland Houses of Commons. Were the Covenant space Sassenachs all along?
Absolutely stunning work. I casually flipped through the storyboards when they were released, but this really makes you feel the impact and emotion these scenes were meant to have. We would not have been ready for these, as they were meant to be, in 2004. S-tier joke at 22:00
I think the distinction between UESC and UNSC is significant because throughout the Marines are repeatedly referred to as Soldiers, or both. I remember there was actually criticism from US military and vets at the time for it, but my opinion was that any US Marine slang or culture was just a carry over prior to the formation of the current branch.
Well, apparently, there was a version of the "Covenant Ship" level where Miranda betrays you because she blames Chief for her father's death, so this could be a leftover from that.
I love the detail of Lord Hood reactivating Operation RED FLAG. A plan mentioned in the fall of reach novel to capture the covenant leadership. Who says bungie ignored the books?
14:35 Another interpretation I had of this discretion is that it may have been an early name for the Marine Corps in Halo. Actually, it makes a lot more sense than having literal Marines in space, despite the obvious sci-fi tropes. But of course, it does match the UESC from Marathon, so who knows.
You know I never realized in OG Halo 2 that when Tartarus was bringing Arbiter to the prophets they must have just taken him from the cell he was sitting in, since they're walking passed other cells. Just one of those things that must always have been the case but it took until now to put it together. We haven't gotten a very detailed look at her, but Cortana looks a lot more dignified here than in CE. That giant booty shot aside. The parts where 343 was going crazy rambling for like 25 seconds was hilarious. Also holy shit the box stuff is so funny, what? How is that the most efficient way for this advanced future empire to hold him, it's so silly. I like to think it's literally just a cardboard box. It's like 343 is a misbehaving kitten.
i have some knowledge about the lich's design, and if was inspired or not by the command cruiser. it wasn't directly inspired, but the art team at 343 did want to keep the look of halo 4 faithful, and more in line with the previous game's. what ended up happening, is that a lot of it got changed to be more like tradtional sci fi at the time, or flatout bowdlerized when it came to the design of the promethean's due to higher up's. with some stuff like the lich making it through development unchanged. also that's why the prometheans have so many weird design choices, such as the knights skull face opening up to reveal another skull, and the watchers looking vaguely humanoid. they were leftovers from when there designs were more angelic, and had a robotic sarcophogus motief. when they were changed to more resemble generic bad guy robot's. there was not enough time to do a complete redesign. since it would require making new skeletons, and animations.
It’s just so weird that they managed to make a cool Covenant ship design and then turn around and give us this: www.halopedia.org/Za%27zayara-pattern_Harvester
It's a damn shame what happened to the prometheans. That design aesthetic would have been visually much cooler and the extra symbolism to tie in with their origins is inspired
I actually did wonder why everyone was loaded into drop pods. I assumed they were just an escape pod option as it was a single ship against a covenant cruiser
This is cool
not as cool as you marty
I love how you visit the little channels king.
Damn
Tell that to the covenant
8:45 The use of "Son" is more a semi humourous addition as the armourer is telling the chief off like a bad school boy
There wasnt enough room for Forerunner Tank and Cortana Dumptruck on the same disk.
Having the heretic leader be killed by Tartarus is much better than him trying to get Arbiter to listen and then shooting at him regardless.
35:05 "Oh, I'm getting bitch slapped" HAHAHAHA bust a gut at that
I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS POSSIBLE TO LOVE HALO 2 MORE THAN I ALREADY DID
20:32 I absolutely love the idea of MC driving a ghost off the carrier because it implies that, after starting a chain reaction, it was his best or only available option to get off the carrier quickly! I want to imagine that a ghost-run level precedes this cutscene, similar to the one in halo 4, but instead you would drive the ghost through the cruiser's collapsing engine before driving off the edge. Perfect transition to the cutscene!
Also, I cannot believe the amount of effort you put into this video. I am legitimately concerned that you put in TOO much effort for your own health!
30:50 "Why did I animate that?" bro I am stunned you animated your character mascot at all! Most commentary channels just use a handful of still poses that they squish transition between! And to top it off with visually complex gags? WTF. THAT INTRO.
All the research you did and collecting all the quotes, the visual representation of the timeline, it is all beautifully done. Documentaries WISH they were this visually engaging!
And transcribing that early script despite only being able to see a third of each page just to try to get a HINT at what the dialogue might be? You have a will power that is honestly frightening.
You absolutely deserve monetary compensation for your unhinged dedication to making this work of art. PATREON'D!!!
THIS IS THE BEST COMMENT I HAVE EVER RECEIVED IN MY LIFE THANK YOU VERY MUCH!
And, yeah, I didn’t mention it in the video, but it seems the Ghost idea was kindaaa recycled for Halo 3 ODST - meaning that you end the level driving a Ghost off a precipice before cuing the cutscene.
The Covenant ship level sounds like it would’ve been really fun!
Holy shit covenant ship would have been fucking awesome. If this came out in 2004 it would blow people away.
I agree with this .....
Seconded; OP is right and anyone who makes videos like this should have been given the IP for Halo instead of mMmMmiCrOsoFfT... 🤢
I like that a lot lol…. “Unhinged dedication”
If you haven't checked Halopedia yet, the Earth Ark article actually has voice lines for Arbiter for the cut ending found in a Reach build of all places.
Holy crap - thanks so much! I _didn’t_ know that!
I have downloaded them now! I’ll include them in my Act 3 video for sure. When was this discovered?!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH I believe the tag build was only discovered or looked into a few months ago. The recordings seem to be closer to rehearsals instead of the intended final recordings
YES!!! i always said that the heretic leader shooting inmediately at Arbi while in the middle of a "lore" conversation was too abrupt and jarring, its like yeah i want the Arbi to learn about halo, i mean you have an oracle, i might be abble to come to an understanding with yo.... oh i guess we are fighting now sure..... This explains everything. Also they captured 343 inside a box for coockies so funny.
The problem with that, too, is that the Arbiter in the cutscene was actually listening; he didn’t act like he didn’t want to hear any of it. Thankfully, with the release of the Alpha Halo level, we can have that.
18:55 I like to imagine this alternate version of this cutscene to be the one that plays on Easy mode. As a "punishment" for choosing easy mode, you don't get to have the cool version. Also, great comedic timing on the abrupt stop in the music building up the moment.
animating the armor falling off for no reason was absolutely hilarious
Cosplay foreshadowing
Okay... That was epic. Incredible animation work, I can't imagine how long that would've taken.
18:15 The fighter craft pictured in this storyboard is the "Strike Fighter" conceptualized specifically for Halo 2, which eventually evolved into the Sabre seen in Halo Reach.
Yoooooo!!!!! Since Lee dropped all his storyboards I’ve been waiting for this!!!! Thanks for all the hard work you do man!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳
And thank *you* for watching!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH No man, thank you and to the die hard bungie crew! Doing this video has inspired people to remake these scenes/cut levels. Great work, I Hope to see more in the future as well
So basically we lost what would have been the most cinematic and bad ass Halo game there ever was. Not to say Halo 2 wasn't awesome and cinematic but this takes everything to a new level.
14:04 W-was that in the actual storyboard?? What the fuck?!
Incredible work, by the way! You're the best Halotuber I've seen by leaps and bounds.
my stupid ass doesnt understand
I may have put the wrong timestamp... idk it's been a while
22:00 Writing Sgt Johnson:
"It's your lucky day chief"
(To Pilot) "Tinman coming in"
(Chief Lands in Pelican) "For a brick, you flew pretty good"
With Sgt Johnson less is more
I think the lines from Halo 3 where he says crazy fool: Why do you always jump? Would have fit well here.
I really adore Lee's comic style of storyboarding it easy to visualize the camera scene, actions and character dialogs instead of basic hollywood storyboarding
27:36 aw Brute Jailer just wanted to be friends with soon to be R Beater and Tartar Sauce and show off his neat little sport
Now that I think about it
That second covenant ship story board has chief bouncing atop the carrier for several kilometres
Because he goes from the centre to the end
And those ships are 5kilometers long.
This is so fucking cool honestly, I can't imagine how much time and effort went into making these storyboards really come to life
**Let the legend come back to life!**
\ (•◡•) /
I'm torn about whether I like Tartarus killing the Heretic more, or whether I prefer the version we got. On the one hand, it establishes that the Arbiter is willing to listen to reason, it makes way more sense than the Heretic shooting the Arbiter while he's listening, and it foreshadows Tartarus's betrayal more overtly.
On the other hand, having the Arbiter kill the Heretic gives more weight to his arc of eventually turning against the Covenant.
In any event, these continue to be super well-produced! Thanks for the great work!
I was just thinking about the scene earlier today before I watched this! It turned in my head that the Brutes were sent to capture the Oracle, because the Prophets KNEW it was there, but Elites would be liable to become 'heretics' as they listen to the Oracle and have the sense to deduce for themselves the discrepancies it spouts. Why else does Tartarus bother to show up there in the first place?
Watching this scene I think this storyboard version is too unsubtle. The Brutes cutting the heretic off mid-sentence is just too obviously suspicious to me, and I always saw them as overly devout and obedient followers to the Prophets orders, not malicious coconspirators.
I'm sure many decisions involving story had to change due to time. Hell they had to restart and make halo 2 again because I think the engine couldn't handle the original version.
So much more humor in this draft compared to what we got, I love it 😂
This is absolutely fantastic! As a huge Halo fan who's been fascinated by the development of Halo for years and years, it is amazing to see the original story presented like this. I freaked out in late 2020 when Lee Wilson posted the storyboards, but you've gone way above and beyond to bring them to life. And as someone who's done his fair share of Halo investigations, the amount of research you've done to make it as accurate as possible is inspiring! I'm in heaven. 😍 P.S. I actually wrote the article on Medium you highlight at the beginning, and I felt terrible about not mentioning you, so I edited it to point out your role in getting these storyboards released lol. Thanks to you and especially Lee Wilson for revealing an ending I'd been wondering about for 16 years ❤
Oh no, don’t feel bad! All I did was _”inspire”_ Lee Wilson to release them, so I’m not sure credit it even warranted.
And thanks so much!
This channel is severely underrated. The work you put into these deserve millions of views. Love the campy dialog you put in lieu of the actual script. Had me laughing a few times.
Cool
14:35 I think the United Earth Space Corps still fits into what’s been established for canon, as the UNSC is specifically the military branch of the UEG, or United Earth Government, created as a result of the interplanetary war. It’s possible there are honorary and traditional ranks held over from when the UEG was just that United Earth, and the name United Earth Space Corps is kept as a ceremonial thing in certain circumstances.
EDIT: Competitive bowl-sliding Brute warden is now my favorite character in the halo franchise.
I’ve considered that explanation, but the one major hitch is that the government is actually called the _Unified_ Earth Government. “United Earth” isn’t a term used anywhere else to my knowledge.
Fun fact: the Marathon equivalent of Halo’s “Unified Earth Government” actually _was_ “United Earth Government.” Both are usually called the “UEG.”
@@C3_SABERTOOTH huh. Well in that case I got nothing. Nothing except bowl-brute. He gives me joy.
@@ItsJustVirgil he is very lonely
“You can't imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of all of our LOST time. Oh, how I will enjoy every moment of its categorisation!”
There are quite a few leftover level scripts in the Halo 2 Editing Kit's files, including the e3 earthcity level, alpha moon, and forerunner tank. In theory, all it would take would be to make some interpretive bsps for them and fill in the blanks so that they line up with the script events
This whole things was awesome, but for me? My fanboy levels hit MAC velocities seeing the In Amber Clad in the middle of a space battle chasing down the Prophet. a Tiny Stalwart class Frigate Chasing down a CAS class Assault Carrier as the Home Fleet pounds away at the Covenant fleet just to give the tiny frigate some room as RED FLAG once more in green lit. Wile I can see it being a little silly in release give the size of a CAS to a Stalwart....its still too cool to not imagine.
I am utterly confounded your channel and videos do not have more views yet, but I seriously think this will blow up. Please, keep doing this, this was expertly made!
I love the Covenant Ship cutscenes, lol. Immediately being greeted by Drones, imagine that on Legendary.
I'm really curious how that mission would have played out, as the outro has you escape with a Ghost! While you could technically do this in ODST in Uplift Reserve (but you can use any other vehicle, like the Warthog), a "Ghost Run" (which I assume would have happened prior to this outro) didn't occur until Halo 4. Interestingly enough the E3 demo had a short Ghost run at the end too, so maybe this level is where they got that from? Who knows.
Here's a couple other things I wanna talk about:
6:54 In the final game, the Arbiter is like "Don't touch me, back off" and is simply escorted away by the Brutes instead. He doesn't let the Brutes lay a finger on him. He is only seen being dragged like depicted here in The Arbiter intro. It's a subtle change, but I really like it. It gives more character to the Arbiter (it's like a sudden burst of anger from him, and yeah I'd react like that too if I was in Arbiter's position) and in a way it's foreshadowing to the Elites vs Brutes conflict later in the game. Even moments as miniscule as this make the Arbiter's story what it is.
20:12 Thank you! This is a good debunk to that narrative I've seen too many times of "Bungie hated the expanded universe". Kinda tired of people using that narrative as a way to slamdunk on OG Bungie, especially on places like r/HaloStory.
26:39 Obvious to point out, but Regret's carrier does a slipspace jump in space rather than inside the city of New Mombasa. I honestly prefer the final version here (it's definitely more impactful and desperate), but still interesting to see. I wonder what gave them the idea to change this up to the slipspace jump being inside the city instead?
I also noticed a couple of first-person (POV) shots during cutscenes in a couple bits of these storyboards, mainly as a brief shot in Covenant Ship (Chief holding the battle rifle at 16:12, honestly gives me Reach vibes) and The Arbiter intro (Arby inside the jail cell at 27:43-28:04, pretty certain this is meant to be one continuous shot which again is interesting to see)
Very strange to see Bungie was experimenting with these first-person cutscene things (not exactly sure what to call them to be honest, I'm just calling them POV shots) in Halo 2, as they wouldn't actually be a thing until ODST. In that game they were brief moments before the switch to actual gameplay, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.
There are one or two POV shots in Halo 2 though that did manage to make it into the game, and it's during The Arbiter intro where Arbiter's being dragged by the Brutes to the Prophets. There's also one with Chief at the very beginning of Gravemind as he's being dragged by the tentacles. But those are very brief, especially compared to The Arbiter's shots depicted here.
29:30 I really think Bungie (or Lee Wilson) was going somewhere with these shots of how the armor is delivered to each protagonist. I'm not fully sure how to explain it, but I think it's an intentional choice. There's a very similar shot at 8:09 with Chief and Master Gunns. That can't be a coincidence, it's way too similar. Notice the camera angle, it's a pan down. It's even a POV shot too. And not to mention at these points in the cutscenes, both characters are depicted as being armorless here. In the final game, Chief is already armored. He just puts on the helmet.
Maybe a stretch, I don't know, and again I'm not sure how to explain it. I just know of the juxtaposition we see here and in the final game of Chief being publicly congratulated for his victory and the Arbiter being publicly punished for his loss. That's an intentional parallel, so the similarities I've pointed out here must also be an intentional choice too. Let me know in replies if you have a better explanation for this, but this is just something I noticed.
29:58 I'm fairly certain that Chief would have been the one to fight the flood-infected Arbiters in the Mausoleum, and I remember this being an idea for Halo 3 as well, but I may be wrong on that. You do visit High Charity in both games, and the ship you see in "Cortana" was not in fact High Charity originally, instead it was just a whole level for the Covenant cruiser you see and enter in Floodgate, but it was drastically shortened. But a level called "High Charity" was still planned to be in the game which would have been a much more faithful rendition (imagine the Halo 2 mission but in Halo 3 instead) rather than the one seen in Cortana.
Still, regardless of what game it was intended for, it's such a badass idea that I honestly wish they had kept that, or at the very least it sees the light in another piece of future Halo media. Would have been so badass!
Alpha Moon outro. Wow. Gotta say, I really do prefer this version compared to what we got. Got a couple things to say about this one too.
The shot of Sesa's hand reaching out almost like a zombie, the scale of the area of where I'm assuming the boss battle would have been (getting Library vibes honestly with how huge the ceiling is), and the "I'd rather die by your hand" makes a lot more sense here. Speaking of the boss fight, was Sesa always planned to be a boss fight? Because it seems to me like a "yes", but you don't actually kill him in gameplay in this version.
I really do like the Arbiter being more up close and personal, Arbiter holding him up.. god, it's so good. I'm really bummed the final version didn't end up like this.
34:47 Hot damn, Tartarus was originally going to be the one to kill Sesa 'Refumee? Didn't expect that! I wish they had kept that too! He's definitely the type of person to quickly silence anyone who would challenge his beliefs (as shown here and in the final game when he tries to shut Spark up). Not only that, but from what I can recall this is the only time he's depicted using a ranged weapon, I don't remember him ever using anything but the Gravity Hammer in the final game. He does pilot a Phantom and uses it's guns to shoot at a Sentinel Enforcer to draw fire away from Arby just before Sacred Icon starts, but him actually holding a ranged weapon let alone using it is not seen anywhere else but here.
Funnily enough it looks like he's using a beam rifle (at least I think it is) which is ironic considering it's importance in his own boss fight, lol.
35:32 Seems the Covenant had a thing with boxes, lol. The Arbiter's armor seen here was in one too. And now one's being used to trap Spark. Also noticed there's no sign of the Gravity Hammer anywhere.
35:45 I love this shot of Tartarus, he looks so menacing here. And at 35:50 where he's playing with Sesa's corpse a bit by nudging it, damn. Massive disrespect from him.
Just the lingering shots in general of Sesa's corpse gets me, like at 35:57 and 35:48.. especially, 35:48. I swear it's something you'd see in the Walking Dead comics, not Halo. Just the way Sesa dies feels so eerie, and definitely leaves a more lasting impression. His facial expression at 34:36, his blood spurting out onto Arbiter's armor at 34:38... God damn. It's dark as hell, and I love it. It tells you everything you need to know about Tartarus, and to a further extent the Brutes. Don't mess with them, basically. It's a good way to symbolize that for anyone who dares tries to stand against the Prophets and the idea of the Great Journey.. gets left behind. Unceremoniously. Left to rot in their own blood.
This whole cutscene is pretty dark actually with how it appears, I love it. Definitely has that CE influence for sure with how it holds nothing back. It got toned down in the final game.
@@Nighterac Whoa, thanks!
I can confirm that the opening to “The Arbiter” is supposed to be a continuous POV shot. I tried my damndest to recreate that for the animatics but the format makes it hard.
I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I didn’t notice the parallels between the presentations of the Master Chief’s and the Arbiter’s armors! I do think you’re correct- the two shots are virtually identical.
I also share your opinions. For reasons I can’t quite explain, Regret’s in-atmosphere jump is probably my favorite set piece in the _Halo_ universe.
Bro it's so great to see you back! I remember when you did Halo CE and mentioned how Halo 2 had lost storyboards as well, and now here we are!!!! It's awesome to see what could have been for the story of Halo
I absolutely would've loved to see this version of Halo 2, I think the funniest part would be oracle being kinda broken after Alpha Halo was destroyed, seeing as he realizes he has feelings.
24:30 I'm not the only one who hears "I had to kill her" there right?
I love the brute bowl guy and the used opportunity to show off cut spark dialog
For once, the Algorithm has actually GIVEN ME SOMETHING WORTH WATCHING.
Thank you so much for bringing this to the rest of us. I hope you continue to grow, particularly outside of YT's parasitic monetization scheme.
Been patiently waiting for this to come!
I can't wait for the next 2 parts, very well done Sabertooth.
Look forward to what's next, and I wonder if any Halo 3 story concepts exist. I know of very few.
Thanks so much! Mr. Lee Wilson also released what he made for Halo 3, but it’s largely colored “lighting studies” and not exactly storyboards.
I plan on giving them a shot, anyway! They’ll likely all be in one, shorter video.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Awesome! Look forward to it!
this was actually extremely dope, just like the CE one
The editing on this is insane. I've been waiting for this since you did the CE one.
Also Master Chief dab at 22:07
I just came back to watch this after the Digsite is working on the orignal EarthArk.
I love how high quality his videos are in a right ways.
My headcanon is that chief's voice being older than he actually is is due to a throat injury in the war, or a side effect he suffered during the augmentation process, possibly due to the catalytic thyroid implant.
10:06 "TAKE CARE, MATE!" Chips, the real MVP of the original trilogy, doing what he does best; supporting Chief. Jokes aside, these vids are absolutely amazing. I've seen a little of the storyboards over time, whether it was officially produced or things people found (like you did with CE) but the way you've done your research, how its put together and the annotations are top notch mate. Keep up the good work
I find it funny how much stuff from the storyboards infinite copies, the falling from the sky into a pelican thing, blowing up the banished/cov ship
this dude is awesome for covering halo series
DUDE! The references to the books would have been awesome. This video makes me wish we got more from Halo 2. Well done on this my guy, extremely meticulous
Keep up the great work!!!
So little tidbit for ya at 18:23 those fighters were the cut strike fighter that was seen in the Halo 2 Special Edition DVD, they ended up cutting them cus it would have only existed for cinematics and was just a waste of resources and dev time
Yeah, you are definitely correct. For reasons I have _entirely_ forgotten, I dismissed the possibility of their being the same craft while animating the scene. No idea why.
I added the correction at the end of the Act 2 video!
Can we please talk about Lord Hood’s cape? Its so funny to me and I bet they chose his title to specifically give him a cape.
I love the cape. For a long while, fans were led to believe that “Lord” was his naval rank - and I believe that was the original intention.
@@C3_SABERTOOTH considering how many characters have the title Lord in destiny i bet so too
27:48
That brute is so happy with how far he slid that bowl
It's actually adorable
You seriously might be my favorite youtuber now other than me. Amazing animation, notes, pacing, music choice seriously perfect video man.
It's a shame this was made right before the big boom in really convincing AI voices from samples.
27:08 its likely that, while every frigate and cruiser is outfitted wirh "at least one" MAC cannon, these MAC cruisers may have a different loadout specific to their role: Assault. This loadout may include additional MACs and other offensive weaponry that the standard loadout cruisers wouldnt have by default.
THIS GETS ME SO HYPE!!! I can't wait to see the next act of your series! Keep up the great work
YES!
I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR AGES!
AND I HAVE BEEN WORKING FOR AGES
@@C3_SABERTOOTH it shows man, only half way through with all my pausing to appreciate your work. shared it in some halo discords too, appreciate all your hard work man. your videos have been masterpieces, cant imagine the amount of work that would have to be put into this. great job man!
7:12 Doesn't Halo: The Flood also have a description?
8:40 There are unused level scripts and maybe a map If I remember right of Chief going to another orbital station and watching the one he was on blowing up.
8:47 I think on H2 Artifacts or another interview, that H2 made it quite far into development without Dual Wielding. Which is supported by the fact that two of the Betas don't have it but the most recent one before release does.
14:45 It is interesting that H2A almost reuses this scene entirely though
18:17 Those appear to be the unused "Strike Fighters" th-cam.com/video/DWI7AhQFpTE/w-d-xo.html
20:18 Halo 2 actually has some unused music in "Movement of the Odyssey" that may be good to use. Although they are mostly Phish esq.
these are such excellent videos man, not only is it showing off a cool piece of lost history, but you present it in such a polished and professional way like good shit my man.
Amazing effort and work on this series! Projects like this evoke the same excitement as watching those BTS documentaries by the Bungie team. The amount of changes and planning that went into the halo series production is insane. All that being said, this wouldn't be nearly as engaging to watch without the superb quality and fun insights you put into these videos. Also, the animations of your avatar are very charming and add to the video narration in my opinion. Can't wait for the next release!
side note: that guilty spark scene was ridiculous...you are creating high-art
OH MY GOD I HAD FEELI
BACK IN THE BOX!
Congratulations on an amazing video! Can’t wait for part 2, keep up the great work!!
Simply amazing
no u
I have been waiting for so long. Fantastic!
The brohammer meme before it happened? Huh, Johnson being there made that feel AWESOME AS FUCK
Hi me again!!!
I’m slowly working through your stuff as I promised. I mainly consume TH-cam videos in the background as a podcast type thing while I grind in various games, but these videos are so good that I need to watch them with my undivided attention.
I actually had no idea that the planet that contained Installation 04 was so fleshed out.
Maybe it’s just me, but I never realized that the Heretic group was actually in a gas mine on that very same planet.
I actually think the moon base sounded more interesting.
In a perfect universe, Bungie would come back together and recreate Halo 1 and 2 with their perfect vision. It would be really interesting I think.
Excited to watch more.
Absolutely awesome work. Skilled, precise, full of passion. Thanks C3 Sabertooth. 👍👍
Damn, you went through such trouble for this treat. I ended up pressing thumbs up repeatedly throughout the video, but luckily for an odd number times.
The Covenant council chamber looks like an exaggerated mixture of canuck and bongland Houses of Commons. Were the Covenant space Sassenachs all along?
Absolutely stunning work. I casually flipped through the storyboards when they were released, but this really makes you feel the impact and emotion these scenes were meant to have. We would not have been ready for these, as they were meant to be, in 2004.
S-tier joke at 22:00
22:02 Actually "wort wort wort"
how am i just now discovering this, this should have more views
This is absolutely incredible work!
the "coughs somehow." made me laugh for 5 minutes straight. goddamn i never thought about that
Brilliant videos dude. Hope you get more viewers.
8:51it might be the power supply which he does mention....
I absolutely love your videos mate! Keep it up!
And I absolutely love you mate!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Hue Hue Hue Hue
Love the editing and animation style of your videos, looking forwards to the upcoming parts.
Yooo you deserve so many more subscribers! Your videos are amazing and the animation is so adorable!!
did not disappoint. thank you.
I think the distinction between UESC and UNSC is significant because throughout the Marines are repeatedly referred to as Soldiers, or both. I remember there was actually criticism from US military and vets at the time for it, but my opinion was that any US Marine slang or culture was just a carry over prior to the formation of the current branch.
Lmao the "howdy yall I'm the monitor of installation 04" 😂
Sounds like she said no hard feelings in the most aggressive way possible lol. I assume she was referring to Chief caving her father’s skull in.
Well, apparently, there was a version of the "Covenant Ship" level where Miranda betrays you because she blames Chief for her father's death, so this could be a leftover from that.
Great work! Amazing looking video.
I shared this on my channel. Wow is all I have to say.
I had no idea that was even a thing! Thanks so much, I love your channel!
@@C3_SABERTOOTH Now I love yours! ❤️ very quality video
18:16 Looks an awful lot like the cut Pegasus fighter for Halo Reach (before the Sabre was created)
I love the detail of Lord Hood reactivating Operation RED FLAG. A plan mentioned in the fall of reach novel to capture the covenant leadership.
Who says bungie ignored the books?
"Happy marine noises" are going to live rent free in my head forever
Lord hood should've had a cape wtf it makes his name make so much sense and it's so crazy I love it
Let's go!!! The legend returns
(｡◕‿◕｡)
21:00 this is incredible, gald we've seen an equivalent in halo infinite
Johnson's snark somehow still feels fresh even after all these years, lol.
THIS WAS SOOO GOOOOOD OMGGG
Amazing work!!!
14:35 Another interpretation I had of this discretion is that it may have been an early name for the Marine Corps in Halo. Actually, it makes a lot more sense than having literal Marines in space, despite the obvious sci-fi tropes.
But of course, it does match the UESC from Marathon, so who knows.
This right here is top teir content, folks. Johnson would approve.
The legend is back!
Amazing work you've done here.
You know I never realized in OG Halo 2 that when Tartarus was bringing Arbiter to the prophets they must have just taken him from the cell he was sitting in, since they're walking passed other cells. Just one of those things that must always have been the case but it took until now to put it together.
We haven't gotten a very detailed look at her, but Cortana looks a lot more dignified here than in CE. That giant booty shot aside.
The parts where 343 was going crazy rambling for like 25 seconds was hilarious. Also holy shit the box stuff is so funny, what? How is that the most efficient way for this advanced future empire to hold him, it's so silly. I like to think it's literally just a cardboard box. It's like 343 is a misbehaving kitten.
i have some knowledge about the lich's design, and if was inspired or not by the command cruiser. it wasn't directly inspired, but the art team at 343 did want to keep the look of halo 4 faithful, and more in line with the previous game's. what ended up happening, is that a lot of it got changed to be more like tradtional sci fi at the time, or flatout bowdlerized when it came to the design of the promethean's due to higher up's. with some stuff like the lich making it through development unchanged. also that's why the prometheans have so many weird design choices, such as the knights skull face opening up to reveal another skull, and the watchers looking vaguely humanoid. they were leftovers from when there designs were more angelic, and had a robotic sarcophogus motief. when they were changed to more resemble generic bad guy robot's. there was not enough time to do a complete redesign. since it would require making new skeletons, and animations.
It’s just so weird that they managed to make a cool Covenant ship design and then turn around and give us this: www.halopedia.org/Za%27zayara-pattern_Harvester
It's a damn shame what happened to the prometheans. That design aesthetic would have been visually much cooler and the extra symbolism to tie in with their origins is inspired
Wow that outro to the Covenant Ship level is really quite something
I actually did wonder why everyone was loaded into drop pods. I assumed they were just an escape pod option as it was a single ship against a covenant cruiser
I didn't know they can make Sergeant Johnson more of a badass then he already was....
2:50 absolute madman