10 Facts about Spartan-IIs you might not know | Lore and Theory

[@Richard_Frost]

How about that John's "luck" isn't the only seemingly unexplainable trait to appear with in the spartan II's. For instance Kurt's remarkable ability to anticipate and avoid active traps, and the girl who was actually MISSED the first time the ONI agents went to abduct her, because she chose to hide instead of sleep in her own bed, because she felt like something bad was going to happen to her if she did go to sleep like normal. A danger sense, almost. There are a number of traits that appeared within the SII's that resembled near unexplainable or coincidental occurrences that happened so frequently that they couldn't be written off as mere coincidence.

[@Otakahunt]

I dont think thats anything spartan exclusive... even in real life some people have had instances of such clairvoyance but as solid proof we can see this trait in animals all the time... animals can somehow sense or feel that a natural disaster is coming and they run away, such as a flood or a tsunami... so it only makes sense that humans would have it too in some capacity. Although spartans being superhuman and even gifted prior to spartan they would probably have stronger traits than normal.

[@nelson_rebel3907]

@@Otakahunt Its related to the Librarian. She modified humans with genetic improvements after the Didact reset humanity back to stone age technology.

[@Gofaw]

John's luck is explained as being a byproduct of a genesong (geas). Something something space jesus basically

[@bigriverraiders9243]

I know this is old but for John. He makes his own luck. Best early example is when Halsey recruited him he grabbed the coin and made it the result he desired. Later it's a combination of training and instinctively knowing what he needs to do to put himself in the best position to succeed. Good example I game is halo 2 the bomb cutscenes, he created a waypoint using a bit of math. The luck comes in when none of the debris hit him knocking him off course.

[@dsdy1205]

The Spartan IIs were blessed with the power of the checkpoint system

[@IceSki117]

7:25 If I remember correctly, Red team is an example of this. Jerome, Douglas, and Alice didn't die but were all initial wash outs due to complications with the augmentation process and were rehabilitated back into the program.

[@Super50ldier]

Mikel Actually, Jerome, Alice and Douglas survived the augmentations, they were never washouts.

[@ereynolds72]

@@Super50ldier they did washout. They were crippled and other Spartans think they’re dead. They were rehabilitated and sent to the spirit of fire. Wash out didn’t mean death, as shown in this video

[@Super50ldier]

@@ereynolds72 No, they weren't wash outs or crippled, they survived the augmentation.

[@Super50ldier]

@@ereynolds72 Douglas was the only wash out in Red Team while Jerome and Alice survived.

[@ereynolds72]

@@Super50ldier they all survived but were crippled, therefore considered wash outs before their rehabilitation

[@jimmyseaver3647]

I didn't know that last one, but then again, it makes sense. With the Spartan program having been heavily refined, I wouldn't be surprised if others who had the ideal genetic markers (and survived the horrors of the Human-Covenant War) were given invites to become Spartans if they were in the UNSC armed forces. It's possible that some of the Spartan IVs were among those originally marked during the early phase of the II program, too.

[@thenightscythe2030]

Perhaps with Spartan 3's, who were mostly "volunteer", but slightly lied to by Halsey about their families and planets... Spartan 4's are Different.... As they are completely Adult when they are Augmented, and Fully by Volunteer Basis...Buck, was one of the first to sign up for 4's Program. Basically, by the time Spartan 4 Program is, they already have perfected the Augmentation Processes. Spartan 4's are far easier to make than 2's, or even 3's.

[@kwarrior2895]

@@thenightscythe2030 Spartan IV are wallmart spartans.

[@photlam9769]

@@thenightscythe2030 Yet Spartan 4s still seem like fancy odst's

[@thenightscythe2030]

@@photlam9769 if ya look at from SpartanOps perspective... Absolutely.... But i still give ODST's more credit, being fully human

[@Otakahunt]

@@thenightscythe2030 It could have been 2's aswell.... remember they were abducted at the age of 5. Those kids who didnt even make it into the program initially would still grow up and maybe even join the army 15 years later after the covenant-war started and then they couldve had a long career in there too like John did and at the age of 40 or so they join the S4 program, considering people age slower in Halo universe due to multitude of reasons... so someone aged 40 could easily still be in their early 30's physically.

[@Fireheart318]

I really liked #9. It’s the kind of stuff that seems so hard to make up that you start to wonder if Bungie/343 had a bunch of people walking around in actual Spartan costumes or something!

[@Gary_The_Metro]

iirc, karen traviss worked on halo lore too right? I remember in the republic commando novels there is something very similar between the clones since obviously they need to be able to tell eachother apart without use of facial features or other signifying marks, so they do it all based on body language. Where to a normal human a clone would just be another clone. Clones could identify their squadmates merely by how they walked and moved and just carried themselves through tier day to day lives.

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. - Acts 3:19 If you’re are in North America, please go check out any of the churches available to you: PCA, OPC, Rpcna/Rpc, Urcna, or a canrc church (These are conservative and actual Presbyterian churches) If you can’t find one of the conservative presby churches then, maybe a Lcms Lutheran church. If you are Scottish, I recommend the Free Church of Scotland and the APC. (Different from the Church of Scotland) If you are English I recommend the Free Church of England (Different from the Church of England) Also online you can look up church finders for each of the groups, it will show you locations

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

@@Gary_The_Metro🐪

[@nonameman525]

@Gary_The_Metro Karen travis had naught to do with the origin of the special and intimate gestures that Spartans use with each other, that was a creation of Eric Nylund, back in the early novels. Other authors like Travis may have expanded on them.

[@n5o413]

I love the “smile” it’s always one of my favorites bits of lore of how the Spartans communicate without talking to each other, they know one another so well that they and Halsey can see their mood strictly from how they walk, how their shoulders are set, and how they look around.

[@thedreamchasers7252]

I really like the details of how the Spartans communicate to each other. They amount of detailed explanation is excellent. The writers for the books (where I imagine most of this comes from) did an astounding job

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. - Acts 3:19 If you’re are in North America, please go check out any of the churches available to you: PCA, OPC, Rpcna/Rpc, Urcna, or a canrc church (These are conservative and actual Presbyterian churches) If you can’t find one of the conservative presby churches then, maybe a Lcms Lutheran church. If you are Scottish, I recommend the Free Church of Scotland and the APC. (Different from the Church of Scotland) If you are English I recommend the Free Church of England (Different from the Church of England) Also online you can look up church finders for each of the groups, it will show you locations

[@IgoByaGo]

As always, you have the best Halo lore material anywhere.

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. - Acts 3:19 If you’re are in North America, please go check out any of the churches available to you: PCA, OPC, Rpcna/Rpc, Urcna, or a canrc church (These are conservative and actual Presbyterian churches) If you can’t find one of the conservative presby churches then, maybe a Lcms Lutheran church. If you are Scottish, I recommend the Free Church of Scotland and the APC. (Different from the Church of Scotland) If you are English I recommend the Free Church of England (Different from the Church of England) Also online you can look up church finders for each of the groups, it will show you locations

[@dohvahkiin1177]

Hear hear! 🙌🏼🇦🇺😎

[@hunterh1175]

Important to note that the "Spartan kiss" gesture if that's what we're calling it was only used once to our knowledge; Kelly did it to Chief when they reunited on Reach after Chief had left them seemingly to die a terrible death, and had gone through the events of Halo CE and First Strike. Both were all but certain the other had perished so it makes sense that they would be very emotional, but it shows that these two were even closer than other SII's. Note that I'm not implying they're romantically in love as I absolutely hate when people ship characters of opposite genders together at the first occasion. I like to think of them as very close brother and sister.

[@shadowshockwave]

Why "opposite genders" only? People ship same gender characters if they show any level of camaraderie too. Its annoying anytime unless the story is actually hinting at a romantic relationship. 🤷‍♀

[@_spooT]

I mean, compared to other spartan generations or even anyone in the armed forces, Spartan II's DID actually see and treat each other as actual siblings. the bond that formed by growing up together through their training, frustrations, challenges, hardships and basically surviving together for years is unbreakable. The spartan II's grew up in their own world while at the same time still remaining open minded and humble towards the outside world. It's sad that there are only a few of them left

[@Souledex]

@@shadowshockwave People can have their fun however they like. It only really annoys me when people demand it be noticed or satisfied in any way

[@davidgeorge3944]

​@@shadowshockwave you know this is what was jumped to my mind although he does have a point historically it's always usually been the lead hetero male and the lead hetero female to get together and they usually do have romantic tenancies it's a movie trope isn't it.. Though spartans were also practically and technically impotent or seedless as to not be able to breed due to the enhancements they had. This didn't effect all spartans but they say over 80% atleast maybe more.. A strange fact that kinda makes all those lovey dovey sex shit not even in a spartans mind as they were made to be tools of war, it would make sense why would dull their desires for sex as they were approaching adolescence as they wanted PERFECT soldiers. So I wouldn't put it past them to have made the augs purposely do that to them also. The more you look into it you hate the UNSC and ONI they were horrible but a neccassery evil.

[@user-ze3sg6ix1u]

​@@davidgeorge3944Did the enhancements actually affect their reproductive cells? I feel like 00 did a video on this

[@WolfeSaber]

If only the creators of the Silver Timeline had known this, we could have had a better series.

[@Stratobrick]

I'm pretty sure they did or had plenty of opportunity to write a better story... They chose to do their own thing and waste a great opportunity.

[@jamesfulton215]

They did. They hired a guy to do all the research, lore, etc. After that, they threw him in the corner and told him to shut up and that they were making their Halo.

[@Commander_Raveth]

Look at mister optimistic over here... (they're the kind of fokes that'll screw up in every dimension/timeline*)

[@adamm.6595]

They could have done the Insurrection and never touch Spartans. Or build up to them.

[@infernaldaedra]

✨ Steven Spielberg and James Cameron ✨

[@mikedicewrites]

One of the craziest parts of the IIs' lore is hands down the flash clones. Aside from replacing the candidates, the existence of the clones themselves is insane. We can tell they were functional like regular people too if we look at Spartan Daisy's clone who lived for quite a while. When you think about it, ONI literally had the tech and know-how to create *artificial human life* . However short-lived the clones were, the maddening part is that ONI could even pull them off.

[@Otakahunt]

I dont think it was just ONI, it was UEE as a whole who could do that but they made laws not to do it because it was unethical. Flash clones were meant to be used for organ production rather than full human beings. But ofcourse ONI being ONI they dont care about the laws and do what they want. :P

[@troynorth7139]

With unsc having cloning technology why couldn't they just make clones for the human covenant war

[@Tsarisgreat]

I remember reading the novels that some of the Spartan 2s that "washed out" or were badly disfigured during the argumentation were preserved and often use as Tactics/Operations planners & mission briefings for all active Spartans.

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. - Acts 3:19 If you’re are in North America, please go check out any of the churches available to you: PCA, OPC, Rpcna/Rpc, Urcna, or a canrc church (These are conservative and actual Presbyterian churches) If you can’t find one of the conservative presby churches then, maybe a Lcms Lutheran church. If you are Scottish, I recommend the Free Church of Scotland and the APC. (Different from the Church of Scotland) If you are English I recommend the Free Church of England (Different from the Church of England) Also online you can look up church finders for each of the groups, it will show you locations

[@pian-0g445]

I always liked how ‘real’ the lore behind the Spartans II felt. It feels like something that a government would actually do. And it also creates this weird clash on that the Spartans we see and play as in game are all in the perspective of saving the whole of humanity. Meanwhile, their original purpose before reach was something that was done for benefits of an organisation taking advantage of others. It’s just interesting seeing how Spartans in their purpose as well as meaning to people changed due to the human-covenant war.

[@WolfeSaber]

Also, I never knew about the Spartans having a true lifespan, let alone being that of over two hundred years. I thought Spartans would have longer expected lifespans. Plus, how the Spartans communicated with each other. The 'Spartan Smile' just sounded so beautiful.

[@MishraArtificer]

Reminds me of the Keldabe Kiss of the Mandalorians of Star Wars: they just straight up bonk their helmets together.

[@decentdudedisease5418]

And what’s even better is that the VAs for Chief and Cortana are actually familiar with the spartan smile and do it on occasion with cosplayers at events lol

[@starhammer5247]

@@MishraArtificer Mandalorians and Spartans are surprisingly similar in how they operate.

[@Super50ldier]

I knew that Spartan-IIs could live more than 200 years.

[@ereynolds72]

@@MishraArtificer bonking helmets is prevalent even now. Hell, playing physical sports with no helmet, with probably still man you end up lightly head butting your teammates

[@kronos48221]

love finally hearing the spartan smile in a vid, looking forward to seeing it around more

[@projectlessweforget]

Fact 9 was the most interesting fact about Spartans because we rarely see Spartans use gestures in a combat zone. Like Halo Reach is the first game to see Spartans use hand signals in combat .

[@citizenvulpes4562]

Reach is the first time we see other Spartans in game.

[@comicoworld2125]

i think it was in one of first books when john is looking for his team when reach is being rare fried.

[@DeathByLego]

Hand signals was very common in the books, that’s about the only way they’d actually communicate.

[@RiddleAnim]

With the exception of Jorge,Nobel Team is all SP-IIIs. Which neatly explains why Jorge is so much bigger than the others,is the most human of the team,and immediately calls Halsey,Mom. SP-IIIs are mass-produced disposable sociopathic heroes,and Halsey explicitly didn't like the program.

[@connorbaird8596]

@@RiddleAnim Jorge was massive, even for an S2. Also he doesn't call her "mum", he calls her "ma'am".

[@malta7406]

The most interesting factoid in here to me is the one about spartan gestures of affection, such humanizing features were rarely featured.

[@dragonthefirelord]

If it hasn't been done already, a "what if?" theory video on how things might have been different if all 300 of the original potential candidates had actually been taken and put through the program could be interesting

[@techypriest7523]

That's a pretty simple answer: the covenant war would've been one sided, the other way around.

[@ed32568]

@@techypriest7523 I don't know about that. The reason the Covenant were winning was due to space superiority. Spartans would need to always find a way to hijack Covenant ships and either destroy them or take control of them, and I'm not sure that would be possible given how many ships they actually had. Ground engagements would be easier yes, but what can you really do when the Covenant can just retreat and glass the planet from space?

[@Richard_Frost]

@@ed32568 Well, theoretically, with 300 spartan II's, it could even be possible to hijack and capture a covenant ship, and then scientists could reverse engineer them. After all, with a mere 35-give or take, they were able to capture covie tech like jackle shields which were reverse engineered into the spartan shielding. Imagine what could have been done if they had captured and dissected, and reverse engineered covie super carriers? Or Elite energy shields? or even covie Slipspace engines which were faster than humanities own? At the very least, I feel like the war would have been far less one sided, and possibly even lasted longer and been much more brutal.

[@anonymoose4078]

@@ed32568 and not only that, but many of the spartans were killed through bombardment. On Reach, 15 spartans were killed through glassing or orbital bombardment, and another 4 when their insertion Pelican was shot down. Just goes to show that Spartans can't win the war on their own

[@lisacondell6043]

In the same vein, I wonder what became of those other potential candidates? With such good genetics they surely could have risen to success in any number of fields. Personally, I just wonder whether Edward Buck (now a Spartan IV) might have been one of them; he is about the right age. Besides, wouldn't you expect a potential Spartan to become an ODST fireteam leader?

[@hiruu]

Can you imagine if at the start of the Covenant War, there had been almost 150 Spartan IIs? Think of how much devastation they would have delivered to the enemy?

[@GirolamoZanchi_is_cool]

And you will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. -Jeremiah 29:13 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:16 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out. - Acts 3:19 If you’re are in North America, please go check out any of the churches available to you: PCA, OPC, Rpcna/Rpc, Urcna, or a canrc church (These are conservative and actual Presbyterian churches) If you can’t find one of the conservative presby churches then, maybe a Lcms Lutheran church. If you are Scottish, I recommend the Free Church of Scotland and the APC. (Different from the Church of Scotland) If you are English I recommend the Free Church of England (Different from the Church of England) Also online you can look up church finders for each of the groups, it will show you locations

[@erichall090909]

They lost most space battles so it wouldn’t of mattered much

[@jameshinderliter9037]

@@erichall090909 that’s fair, but Spartans did make a huge difference with only 30 some, could you imagine how much better defended the orbital defense platforms on reach could have been if there had been 5 times as many Spartans? Like I won’t pretend like they would have folded the covenant, but I don’t think the covenant would have been nearly as successful at folding humanity with that many Spartans.

[@Crimea_River]

It might be worth a "what if" video

[@jacobmeyer257]

150 spartans means 300 armored superhuman feet being parked inside alien cloacas. Rough mental image but in all other respects, its fantastic. The increase in morale might have led to medics having to treat for male soldiers salutes lasting more than 4 hours

[@sierrakay3649]

I knew most of these facts but I didn't know that the dead Spartan II candidates were cryogenically frozen for potential revival. I think it would make an amazing plot point for future stories if the UNSC found a way to resurrect them and brought them back into service. A revived Spartan II could make for a great character and have very interesting interactions with the existing IIs. It could be a perfect way to give Master Chief a personal and emotional story without playing on Cortana more than they already have. Or the revived Spartan(s) could meet the other Blue Team members in a book where they'll have more room to go in-depth on their interactions and backstories than a game campaign.

[@sampatterson2434]

You should check out Ghosts of Onyx and the the novels by Karin Traviss, starting with Glasslands. They deal a lot with the ethics of the Spartan II program, Halsey, and my a failed Spartan II that works for Oni, Serin Osman, and how she and Naomi 010 end up working together after so long. These are my favorite novels (followed closely by Greg Bear’s Forerunner trilogy).

[@maxtoast1164]

I knew every fact except Spartans having a life span of 250 years That blew my mind

[@dest3953]

Loved it, I’d say I didn’t know about 7 of them. Maybe a pt.2 in the future? Doesn’t matter, point is good job.

[@ForumArcade]

As a person who knows everything, I appreciate that you said "might not know" in the title.

[@hunglikeahorse120]

BUT!!!...Did you know if you shoot a grunt..............he will die?

[@HumanThePerson]

Has he done one for ODSTs? If not that could be a good video.

[@SPARTAN.JEROME-092]

See the "Fall of Reach" its here on YT, then you will see that

[@DoctoEris]

Spartans 2s having a lifespan of 250 years basically means that Chief is still in peak condition

[@rezboifrybread]

Johnson was still kicking ass in his 70s so chief isn’t even close to being done

[@ryanreviews8566]

9 is so heartwarming. people get close in simple things like going to school/work together. imagine what the spartans have.

[@travisporter5222]

You did fantastic! Between the amazing narration and the depth of each fact that you went into. As someone who's been reading the books since childhood you did great

[@agoddamnferret]

The last one, with John being the most average, yes, that was the point, and why Cortana picked him. Think about it, all the Spartans really had their specialty, John's was that he represented the best aspects of all of them in a sort of balance. Cortana is an AI, she's Halsey's brain on roids essentially, she'd have scoured the data and gone after not the best at one thing but a spartan that could at some level uses all the best traits of the spartans.

[@ShiNooBi1986]

John also had lady luck on his side

[@mrgodsir6172]

Quick added fact. Red team initially were all failures of the spartan 2 augmentation process but later were rehabilitated to form a new team and given Mk 4 Gen 2 mjolnir suits and sent out to fight the covies

[@RexMurus]

I it’s the gen 1 version not gen 2

[@mrgodsir6172]

@@RexMurus no no GEN 1 armour had no shields GEN 2 has shields and GEN 3 has the AI like infinite has in all suits.

[@georgethomas4367]

GEN2 is the suits from Halo 4 to 5, with those enhanced mobility suites and so on. The armor used in Halo Wars is Gen1 Mark IV, but with a lore breaking addition of personal energy shields - but this is likely a game mechanic more than a lore break. Red Team eventually upgrade their Mark IV suits to GEN2 firmware in Halo Wars 2, when they’re able to scavenge equipment from the Ark in 2558, years after GEN2 had been introduced to service.

[@mrgodsir6172]

@@georgethomas4367 I have a book here il reference in my next reply that simply states gen 2 is just the inclusion of shields being added. Also it isnt lore breaking for red team. Like i stated they were washouts and they didnt expect them to recover so when they did they just upgraded a few sets of Mk 4 to have working overshields and sent them out the door. Also The book is the spartan official field manual which has the only difference stated as the shields

[@georgethomas4367]

@@mrgodsir6172 I hate to say it, but that book is wrong. I’ve got the Halo Encyclopaedia, Mark V was the addition of shields (as seen in Halo CE), Gen 2 is the Spartan IVs armour, the sleeker design and outsourced production aimed at creating more suits at the expense of their quality.

[@eliezerflores3904]

Love this show and all the amazing lore

[@Gofaw]

what show

[@Insanity6419]

I’ve been a Halo fan a LONG time and I knew a lot of these already but some of these surprised me, like the unique specific hand gestures they would make or their estimated life span and their estimated fighting years. I knew it way longer than average people I didn’t know that average people could live so long as well so Spartans being even longer than that was surprising to me. This was a great video and you could do more videos like this about other topics in Halo I would be highly interested.

[@spiderz5145]

Okay that gesture bit was weirdly adorable.

[@clippy5128]

It would be interesting to see a video breakdown of the genetic markers that Dr. Halsey was screening for. The obvious physical and mental requirements should be noted, but I wonder if there's a sort of "genetic hardiness" that they would look for as well. Also I quite like this format, and would really enjoy one on ONI, it would be fun to shine a light on a shadowy government body.

[@Coriolis11245]

I haven't watched the while video so I don't know if they go over this, but in the lore Halsey couldn't kidnap the kids from core worlds that were UEG aligned. She had to get all of the kids from Innie aligned planets because the URG would have caught on fast. This severely limited their pool of candidates. I imagine physical porowess for their age (hard to prove that young) most of them appeared to be geniuses. Their genetics were likely morr 'pure' as in they didn't have many disease markers, had a certain Resilience to their DNA, and probably had the right combination of millions of genetic markers.

[@Zenlore6499]

For a Spartan Time game, I think a SUPER HOT crossover is in order! 😂

[@goldeneyekiller101]

I mean....John being the most average is actually probably a good thing. A jack of all trades in his class. Able to morph to everything as it comes along.

[@J21Sin21]

#9 is soo fk cute why was this never in halo 5 with blue team this would have been adorable

[@greatwhitnorth]

I love video formats like this. Nice to fall asleep to, listen on a drive, washing dishes etc. please make more like this!

[@REOXD53]

Between reading the books and your halo channel, no new news, I’m a bet new to your channel but I see how important your insight is to the halo universe and the future of halo 343 industries are truly missing out on something with your talents

[@jakobtillison5919]

Idk if I’d say that John is special because of his “luck”. I’d wager that his “averageness” is what grants him his inhuman versatility. He’s extremely well rounded, not only does he not excel in any areas but he also isn’t lacking in any. This is all on top of his attitude and personality.

[@BurningWinter21]

I love that I knew almost all of these, aside from specific details, from the movies and the first book

[@amateurcrastinator9523]

I love this type of video. It would be very interesting to see a Spartan mission list. Also a pre-Covenant wars and battles list.

[@sam2920]

A lot of this I didn't know, but that's why I'm here. I like learning about the lore, and your videos are enjoyable for me to watch.

[@nataliecameron]

That spartan kiss part was kind of adorable, its a shame stuff like that never comes up in the games

[@ereynolds72]

God the Spartan communication gestures make me so happy. They are, in effect, a new culture a new peoples within humanity, and one of the first things any culture in our history does is learn to communicate directly with one another, but not verbally. 75%+ of all communication is non verbal, it’s why text messaging someone and having a phone call and speaking in person is so different in terms of understanding one another. It’s why emojis were invented, it’s why before them we used emoticons because we missed being able to just smile or frown to display more than words so we Jerry rigged non verbal communication via symbols mashed together to equate a face. Spartans having to draw their own smiles, is sad yet somewhat delightful. And the knocking into one another to see if they’re good is not just a Spartan thing, I used to play rugby and lemme tell you if you think someone is out of it but still on their feet, roughly getting hold of them and checking them is common, or just things like, resting your forehead on someone else’s head as you talk. I have no idea why I do this but I do, if someone is upset, if someone is hurt, or if someone is just out of it, I instinctually place my forehead to theirs as we talk, I think it focuses us together and shuts out everything else. Because one time I was knocked to my ass in rugby and was seeing stars, my friend did the same to me and I straight up couldn’t hear anyone else as he checked in on me. Sorry I kinda rambled there, I guess what I’m saying is, hearing how Spartans communicate effectively via non verbal communication, and mimic motions that I’m familiar with to indicate the same thing, physicality being used to medically and mentally check in with someone for one, just makes me feel like they’re so much more grounded in our culture.

[@KG-th3cr]

One of the other things that sets The Chief apart from all other Spartans was his reaction time that had been heightened by his augmentation and adrenaline in battle but with the addition of Cortana; The Chief's reaction time is near instant when his brain sends commands to his body.

[@lukethomas.125]

Very nice video @Installation00. Alas apart from the “spartan smile”, none of the 10 facts listed in this video eluded my prior knowledge.

[@nswij123]

The video's made on the SII were some of my favorite! this is a welcoming treat!

[@fijininja29]

when they choose 300 candidates for the spartan - II program kinda seems like they planning to recreate the 300 spartans who died at Thermopylae

[@brendonvineyard8620]

So fact 1, most of the spartan II's were orphans and didn't have parents. it was only the handful of spartan II's that had parents in which they used the clones. Also the books don't say he just has luck, it also says hes one of the bravest as well.

[@camerongooch9606]

I like the idea that possible spartan recruits as kids weren't picked, grew up and joined the UNSC to fight the covernent, due to superior genes had a high chance of surviving the war and ended up as spartan 4s

[@kaijenkins4513]

That’s a possibility for the 3s but all the candidates for the 2s were already hand picked to become Spartans. The the only “washouts” in the SPARTAN II program were the ones that were either killed or deformed from the augmentations. It’s also worth mentioning that the ones that died were held in cryostasis with at least some being resuscitated and functioned as operational Spartans for ex. Spartan Red and Omega teams from “Halo Wars”.

[@Zenlore6499]

This is a great idea for a video series! And I do believe I already knew these, though I probably take in enough Halo lore to replace a few subjects from my school studies! 🤣

[@timothybarrett7626]

Thought i knew tons about this stuff but i learned alot especially the communication of spartans

[@garytang182]

The spartan gesture is actually really adorable

[@5deadspace]

With regards to 8! From what I recall in Fall of reach when the Spartans first get into their armour there were buttons inside the helmet that they had to hit with their chins in order to use some functions so at least at that time they couldn't control the suit with thought alone.

[@NivergPNG]

Videos like this give me a even bigger appreciation for this world :)

[@Egeslean]

The only one i didn't know was the little interactions between spartans, like the smile. That's a cute little detail.

[@sampatterson2434]

Thank you for these videos. They are rekindling my love for Halo post-Infinite. I’d almost forgotten how much the lore means to me.

[@mattstorm360]

Listening to this i'm remind of two what if questions. What if the Spartans were fully funded? Instead of the 75 cadets what if you had the full 300? We know many of the children died in the training and surgery. Out of the 75 children only 33 became Spartans. Even if only half of the cadets made it that's still 150 Spartans. How much of a difference would that make? The second what if was, could the Spartans actually complete their original mission and destroy the insurrectionist?

[@MishraArtificer]

It's entirely possible. Jorge-052 (NOBLE-5) is noted in his bio for Halo: Reach as having been fielded against the Insurrectionists as much, if not more, than against the Covenant...and there were a handful of years between the SPARTAN-II's activation and Contact: Harvest.

[@orionakd]

The Spartan plan is not to turn humans into transformed soldiers with no ability to reproduce, but to "revert" to a new species (ancient humans) Assuming that Covenant will attack humans 100 years later Spartanized soldiers will become the key players in the UNSC ONI UGE. The Spartan program will become the second adolescence of human beings, with greatly enhanced intelligence and power, which makes it impossible for Covenant to defeat such an opponent.

[@mattstorm360]

@@MishraArtificer There were also Spartan 3s fielded against insurrectionists, but this was all during the war with the covenant with a hand full of insurrectionists fights here and there. I'm more curious about the full scale war that was feared between Earth and her colonies.

[@LeFrenchman-id5xb]

I believe luck is a culmination of all your senses, skills, and predictive abilities to basically change situations to your favor. It was as much of his decision making skills, ability to process information calmly even in high intensity situations to make those decisions, and his knowledge of basically identifying factors of minimum effort or requirement for maximum lethality, as it was his use of available resources that made him "lucky" and the other Spartans knew it. They all knew that in similar situations as Chief, they would die. They literally all kept thinking "what would John do" and that's what makes me believe this.

[@Otakahunt]

All spartans are capable of processing information calmly in high stress situations... thats literally what they trained to do since the very beginning with no breaks. Imo Chief was considered lucky most likely because he mightve been able to make the best decisions based on the situation at hand WITHOUT being in any way clouded by their individual fighting preference (if he even had any)... as opposed to say Linda who was a sniper expert and most likely thought about situations from that point of view. (she wasnt a squadleader tho but had a clear preference) I still think ALL spartan squadleaders are capable of doing incredible tactics but there is always that one guy whos the best, and chief was it. I find Chief being portrayed as jack of all trades and master of.... whatever we players are individually good at. Hence why Chief is always good with any weapon in cinematics. He doesnt have to be the best in everything specific, just best allrounder overall... the best mixed combat artist! :P

[@ronjonsurfshop7356]

that spartan smile thing is kinda wholesome

[@crimsonmania6006]

I did not know about 8-11, 9 especially is a very welcome lore information. There truly is a different culture between these individuals.

[@Arkancide]

Only fully knew about half. I went into this fairly confident, but was quickly humbled by the last 3 or 4. Good stuff.

[@logancade342]

Congratulations on the new direction for your channel. Great video. 📈📈💯👏

[@SpartanBrix]

Spartan-IIs having an extremely long lifespan makes a lot more sense when I start thinking about how the hell they’re gonna keep the Halo story going until 2589, and possibly beyond.

[@WorshipGuyScotty]

You're forgetting about one very important thing that sets master chief apart from his other spartans. The fact that the forerunners chose him as the reclaimer is a huge part of his life and story

[@HughJaneous]

4:45 he killed 2 and injured 2. 1 was fully paralyzed

[@mrgamingplaysall]

Number 9 Really got me I’m glad I know that now

[@mr.duckey2739]

a good read and an nice way to have all these facts explaned and/or expended on is the halo book "the fall of reach"

[@Cognito47]

Another greatly detailed video of yours, Installation00, many of these questios of course were cleared upon one's read of Halo: The Fall of Reach, one of my most favored novels of the Halo franchise, behind Ghosts of Onyx and perhaps First Strike. I did however been unaware of, until this video of course, why the Spartans in spite of having 70-plus canidates, several as such as those you've acknowledged, have Spartan numbers significantly higher than the pool. Great stuff once more and perhaps only preference, but the editing is superb 💯

[@Dash62g]

Neat little format. Would not mind at all seeing g more of these, 00

[@talscorner3696]

Man, getting used to an item of "clothing" that moves with you before you can even realize you thought about it must be so uncanny at first... then I'd assume a Spartan might not even be able to conceive their life without it.

[@zombieinfo2099]

I’m sorry if this is a loaded question but what do the spartan branches think of each other. Like, what do the SIIs think of the IIIS AND IVS, what do the SIIIs think of the IIs and IVs and what do the IVs think of the IIs and IIIs? I’m very interested to know if there was this shared kinship between them or if they didn’t view the other generations as true Spartans.

[@Chrisspru]

i bet the s2 mistrusted the s3 until they saw theur merrit and mentality as true spartans for the s4 the s3 probably are more ready to accept them once they prove themself and better learn and embody the spartan mindeset. for the s2, the s4 would have to have gone through some serious shit, come out with merrit and sacrifice and have learned that they are more symbols than stranded soldiers. the halo infinite campaign spartans show exactly that to chief and remind him of when he was younger in the early war. so despite having a normal childhood and starting out as a suped up soldier, the trial by fire made them true spartans in at least chief's eyes. current spartan 4 training likely is more of a trial by fire methode as well through the unsc being on the back foot again, so the new s4 are probably closer to being accepted than the early ego complex s4's were. i hope that new s4's get a space-marine like initiate phase of special ops and training without mjolnir (so odst or spi armor) to fill the need for covert ops, get sexperience into them, build their custom mjolnir, give the augmentations time to stick and to weed out the bad actors. this could include going up against spartan veterans in mjolnir. so they have to earn their armor instead of feeling entitled to it and are more than their suit in the first place.

[@thatonedude0356]

@@Chrisspru i like this, however i do feel like the initiation idea is a bit to warhammer/culty while the Spartans tend to follow a rather rigid structure so it just doesn't quite feel right for them, then again the S4 are alot less rigid than the 2's it still feels like it clashes with how they've been portraited

[@Chrisspru]

@@thatonedude0356 i don't mean the cult initiate aspect, but how space marines are scouts before earnimg their armor. a similar thing could be used for spartan 4 to give them perspective and have the asset of a lighter weight augmented forces.

[@thatonedude0356]

@@Chrisspru i get that, however for the S4s alot of them are already ODST or Marines who've shown that they're above the rest and are chosen because of that so in a way it is like that, you cant just walk up to a spartan recruitment center and join, i would like to see SPI armor used more though, id love a game that goes over the early "non-special" S3s in SPI doing suicide attacks or surviving ghost of onyx i think theirs potential there for a great game that gets a bit darker than halo usually is (atleast to non-lore nerds) but i doubt we'd ever get it....hell a game that covers Tom and lucy with the other S3s when they start up the "weasels" would make for a fantastic story driven investigation game if done right but wouldnt be for everyone i suppose

[@Chrisspru]

@@thatonedude0356 but once they have augmentation, they can have spi first for aufmentation-learning, security prooving (to many known cases of mjolnir wearing defectors already), stealth/incognito missions and to have a specific "earned their armor for a valor beyond augmentation" ceremony.

[@EchoFoEvah]

Only one I didn't know about was the sliding two fingers across your visor in order to make a smile.

[@comicoworld2125]

I knew all of them. But, it reminded me, again, just how beautiful books are.

[@zan67]

I can actually say, in my opinion, you did excellent on this! I felt really attached to this whole video. I will admit though I already knew all the facts listed in this video. I learned all ten facts from reading the Halo Novels to be honest. I would recommend the Halo novels as they are really enjoyable for a good story, and provide some neat facts on a lot of the Halo Universe that isn’t stated in the Halo games themselves.

[@viciouskoala2163]

Bonus Fact: Spartans didn't get armor with shielding until the day before the attack on Reach which means that they fought the vast majority of the Covenant conflict, Without Shields!!!

[@MishraArtificer]

Yeah, doesn't the MkIV armor that Red Team wears in Halo Wars lack energy shields?

[@viciouskoala2163]

@@MishraArtificer yep You Have to upgrade to it

[@lewa705]

Loved this! I didn't know most of these. I'd love a video deep-dive of UNSC Fleet tactics personally, if you haven't done that already

[@p-dog-6125]

Yeah I was often grounded for long periods as a kid so I read a lot of the older halo books like the fall of reach, the flood, and first strike but I also read the cole protocol, contact harvest, and the two halo evolutions books (head hunters was my favorite)

[@SwiftGundam]

Its clear that Halsey being forward with the kids in telling them the truth is more to appease her own consciousness. She hates that she has to resort to using kids, separating family, so she can work to save humanity from itself. I'm surprise by the 250 lifespan. Must be from more recent lore entries that I haven't gotten to yet. It makes sense that their augmentations would increase their lifespan, along with obvious advancements in general medical tech compared to the 21st century, but that much!

[@gamerboiiiiiii]

Im suprised they didnt just use robots..

[@dizzydan1580]

would be cool to see a one off that johns flash clone survived the genetic fragmentation because he was just built different and "luck" factor. have him join the military and just be a reg. or a odst until the S4 program. get the augs and the rumors start going around of this S4 producing Chief like feats. idk, im just yappin but thought that would be interesting.

[@CH-px5vt]

That would be mad cool… except have him go rogue because he learns who and what he really is and us, as the chief, have to hunt him down and stop him from murdering ONI higher ups… clone John’s true purpose could be getting to Halsey (which John would be very against) all under the chaos created from the brutes and guardians and Cortana… would be totally off the rails but a good story idea!

[@CH-px5vt]

My theory on John’s average-ness and why that translates to him being the greatest Spartan of them all… adaptability- being average, he doesn’t rely on one single aspect of his skills or inherent traits… he isn’t going to be a better sniper or run faster than Kelly, but when crap hits the fan, he’s going to switch gears the fastest, drop plan A, B, and C, and jump to plan X or whatever it takes to win… adaptability to the highest degree could very easily appear to be luck because he always knows the right place to be at the right time with the right gear and the right circumstances… he would appear like a “Luck” generator if that was the case!

[@CanadaxNetherlands]

overall ethics of the SPARTAN II project aside I appreciate that Halsey told them the truth rather than lie or induce amnesia. Like the whole thing is morally and ethically reprehensible, but at least she had the courage to tell them the truth, she at least had that much going for morals and ethics.

[@alexanderirizarry7722]

"Spartans never die" is also an ode to our modern Marine Corps.

[@Agent4077]

"Marines don't die, they go to hell and regroup"

[@Sh4dy313]

Your videos are great! Well thought out and informative while also entertaining

[@Mrgoodtimes87]

I didn't know about the Spartan gestures. And I would like to say you make your own luck.

[@Tavish_Studios]

Some of those I didn't know, which is cool! Luck and Leadership is what John excells at 👍

[@DROOPYSNAIL4813]

I'll never forget the first time I learned Sgt Johnson was a Spartan 1. Made his strength make more sense

[@vladislavohremenco3472]

The spartan sign language is awesome to know.

[@CG-me8rf]

That last one has some strange modern day parallels

[@knightknox6562]

Spartens touch there visors to indicate smiles😀

[@tarozama2666]

Great vid, again. I'm most intrigued by Halo's ancient humans.

[@ThatMetroidGuy]

Okay number 9 was so cool.

[@theentireman]

@Installation00 awesome video. One little physical signal i think you forgot was the shoulder shrug. Which John mentions was extremely difficult to preform in the armour and if I remember correctly meant something was wrong.

[@peterowley2014]

This is a fascinating video thanks for sharing

[@Megaturret]

The spartan kiss was one of the only ones I didn't know.

[@kelvinth117]

I have known all of them but the fact about the neural interface there was one thing you forgot is that spartans could talk privatly with each other through that neural interface and feel each others emotions especially if one dies the rest would "feel it" that one of their own died.

[@aidanwicks9479]

John being average might be the reason he's so dam good. If he's average at everything, he has no great strengths but no great weaknesses. He could fill any role that is needed. Sure, he isn't the best, but he will still do a fine job. This would make his utility on the battlefield extremely good. You need a sniper get the chief, you need an assassin get the chief, you need a pilot get the chief, etc

[@agentmaryland1239]

I think the only one I didn't know completely was their lifespan. Up until now, it had just been assumed that Spartans could live indefinitely since the first generation of Spartans (the Project Orion candidates) were not even passed the initial lifespan of the average human. And the first generation of 2's are not even half way through the average lifespan of a typical human.

[@orionakd]

Spartan4 has evaluated the optimal service time to be 100 years, and considering the increase in lifespan, it can be assumed that they have a life expectancy of at least over 200 years.

[@snakem4a164]

I was thinking this morning that my nephew is about the age that the Spartans were when they got kidnapped by ONI. Then this pops up. Talk about good timing

[@XWar_LockX]

20:30 This has got to be the cutiest thing ever :) this makes me happy

[@maeshg1969]

Parangosky died shortly after putting Osmann at the helm of ONI according to lore ... though the books are often shuned by the games seeing as Serin is the leader and not margaret we can conclude this piece did happen