The Unsettling Halo Lore That PREDATES The Games

[@HiddenXperia]

Like this comment if this Halo lore is older than you

[@nolanglahn8528]

Hah! Dislike if it's not!

[@levipsfarelli]

My man halo is older than me lol

[@johnmurphy3888]

‘Insert saving private Ryan ageing gif’

[@sgtmjr_avery_johnson7949]

¡Señor! We gotta get tf outta here, whatever that sound is it sure ain't pretty.

[@that_one_helljumper]

Older than me, yup xd

[@cornelius7046]

“Raging seas and howling beasts” sounds like the flood to me

[@geordiejones5618]

No doubt. That's definitely not the Forerunner or Ancient Humans or Covenant with leaves one option... The greatest revenge of the Precursors.

[@lionocyborg6030]

Both that and the W’rkncacnter from Marathon. (“Errrrk en cack ter” seems to be the easiest way to say it) They’re basically an entire species of Azathoth.

[@kaijucobalt2064]

The whole eldritch Cortana thing Bungie used to do is why I’m not inherently against the idea of her going crazy/doing the whole guardians thing in theory - I just think the way it was executed in Halo 5 was really bad. If they were going that route no matter what, I think it would’ve been better if when our Cortana split herself apart in Halo 4, the game ended with the evil/red logic plague Cortana surviving The Mantle’s Approach and “our” Cortana still sacrificing herself to save John, but also warning him that her rampant doppelgänger is a big threat, and then having Halo 5 follow red Cortana as an antagonist trying to bring her enforced “peace” to the galaxy. Indeed, the way she talks about peace in Halo 5 and Halo Infinite is remarkably similar to how the Gravemind talks about peace and “unity” in the context of the Flood, so they could go all in on the red logic plague Cortana being a modern successor to Medicant Bias, betraying her creators and opening the door for the Flood’s return in Awakening the Nightmare, and the final message our Cortana left behind is the key to defeating her. Would’ve been a much less clunky way of telling the same story than what 343 actually ended up doing.

[@sphere117gaming]

The way they did it made it out as it was literally just herself. Doing everything. When logically it’d make a lot more sense to have some sort of Flood domain corruption or Didact control. They just made her not Cortona basically. But in lore she’s not actually under the control of anything… so quite literally they just messed up her character and with the whole marketing of Halo 5 and the two perspectives. Was a major disappointment to many longtime Halo Fans. Personally I think people can agree the whole Cortana thing was just poorly thought out and executed. And her being crazy like that can certainly and would certainly happen and is believable. But the way 343 did it? Not believable in any way. So all in all people are just upset about the constant mismanagement of Halos Campaign. Like Halo 4s graphics for example. Or Halo Infinites lack of continuation and it’s large skip over playable content that players would of enjoyed like the Fall of Infinity. But that’s my opinion anyways.

[@kaijucobalt2064]

@@sphere117gaming unless it’s been retconned, Cortana does actually have Rampancy due to being 7+ years old, and has the logic plague from spending time with gravemind in Halo 2/3. These are both things set up in the Bungie Halo games that would eventually make her go insane. Just when it came time to actually have that happen, 343 did a terrible job of explaining that those things WERE the reason why she went insane. As it currently stands, you’d have to be pretty familiar with the lore from the books and stuff to even know what’s going on, and even then the way they portrayed it imo was pretty messy and unclear imo, which is why it seems like she suddenly just turned evil for no reason if you only play the games, as most fans do.

[@th3thatguy631]

The actual stories that 343 tells are in my opinion incredibly faithful to bungies ideas. But the way they portray them make them incredibly lackluster. Halo 4 I rarely replay because the Artstyle is so incredibly ugly and it honestly gives me a headache. Halo 5 was easier on the eyes and the IDEA of the story is phenomenal. But it fell flat because of bad writing, pacing, and heavy reliance on Halo books.

[@xcfjdyrkdtulkgfilhu]

​@@sphere117gaming The recent Didact book actually retconned / clarified that her turn toward conquest was indeed due to a seed planted by the gravemind's tampering while she was interrogated in its captivity. But, yeah, pretty ham-handed writing not to use a minute of their cutscenes on confirming that, or at least raising the idea.

[@sphere117gaming]

@@kaijucobalt2064 had* as when she entered the domain she got cleansed basically. And forcefully turned metastable. But in the game the way it’s shown and done was just weird and wrong. Apparently in a later book it’s retconned to a seed from the Gravemind causing everything. But regardless it was sh*ttly done and then patched together.

[@lecoyspacebongo2357]

The one dude tasked with making the cortana emails to mess with Hamish must have been laughing his ass off. 😂

[@donutguardian25]

They were deep, but also pretty funny to think that Hamish was just randomly being sent these emails.

[@Scags_LoL]

Funny how a new halo game hasnt come out in a few years and you still make content I just mindlessly watch lmfao

[@HiddenXperia]

based

[@yaqbulyakkerbat4190]

Mood

[@adakahless]

I honestly think it's the voice for me. Something reassuring about hearing him to speak to us about lore to keep us coming back. 😆

[@Ripa-Moramee]

Consume product, be excited for new product.

[@Rocco049]

@@adakahless oh yeah his voice is great

[@bigyoshi5170]

So one day the Old Ones were like, “Let’s make some Krorks!” And some time later *BOOM!* The Krorks became British by becoming Orks!

[@Matt-md5yt]

Heyo got that one

[@AddTotheList]

WAAGHHHH

[@eyeballpapercut4400]

THANK YOU FOR PROVIDING US THESE FUNGAL FOOD HUNGAH FOAH BORGAR

[@voomvoom4522]

K but what's this got to do with Halo?

[@stevenhuntley8706]

​@@voomvoom4522Cortana shows shes an Ork around 24:00

[@skyraider87]

Even 343 referenced The Song Of Roland, the Infinity's AI in Halo 5 is named Roland

[@blebcat]

Classic 343 with a sledgehammer approach.

[@UnintelligibleYT]

Subtle like a brick to the face as usual. Classic 3v4.

[@Ripa-Moramee]

​@@blebcat Absolutely crazy how people can still find absolutely any excuse to shit on 343 😂 it's honestly pathetic.

[@obamnaprismus]

​@@blebcat just about as subtle as Durandal. Fuck's sake

[@thecringecounter5091]

​@blebcat almost as subtle as cortana even 😱😱

[@NoiriumIdk]

You are one of the few reasons I stay interested in Halo, I don't think I've missed a single video since started watching you like almost five years ago.

[@HiddenXperia]

Appreciate ya king

[@honcho4329]

Damn that a lil hardcore

[@Primalcacat]

@@HiddenXperia I also has non stop watching your halo lore and most of my lore comes from you mate

[@RikanBeastly]

Wait so you mean to tell me 343 had a whole reference and blueprint already made for their "Cortana wants to rule the world plot" with these Cortana Letters from Bungie back in 1999, and STILL couldn't figure out how to make it work? Oh nah 😂😂

[@Ender__Wa]

I imagine that Master Chief being called demon is supposed to relate to us, not be as us, now that I see this. Like us the Player are the Devil, and he the chosen Demon of the Devil. (I really love this third wall breaking so much, I wish it were done more.

[@TheWither129]

This old marathon/halo deep lore is way more captivating to me than modern stuff, maybe cus it hasnt been expanded into a huge franchise anyone can just google info on. Here, allusions to forerunners, some greater power than even them binding them, and a faithful companion and friend turned mad god by unfathomable knowledge is just perfect for a sci fi setting. Halo CE and its atmosphere, the silence of space, the empty void that isnt so empty, a terrifying prospect and the lack of understanding, this to me is what makes lore compelling. Its like Dark Souls, but they never really expanded beyond what was necessary. A lot is left to interpretation and mystery, which is why people still debate it and speculate. You had to discover things that you couldnt even be sure of. These forces behind the veil are intimidating because we dont know what they are, and the idea of one stepping forward is terrifying. Its so much more interesting when you dont know everything about the universe and the mystery of diving in, trying to learn, and the payoff when they reveal whatever is being teased and alluded to, while keeping an air of obscurity and mystery. Back to Dark Souls, take the Nameless King. This is the perfect build-up of a mysterious figure of immense power. In DS1, we find a destroyed statue of him, indicating the end of worship of him. A ring of his that tells us he was a dragonslayer and inheritor of Gwyn’s light, that he was foolish and stricken from deity status and the records. A miracle he left with his father’s tomb as he said a final farewell before his exile, showing respect for him one last time on the way out. This is all we get on actual info of him until 3, but 2 furthers the mystery by including hidden and ruined relics of the faith. But we can see throughout it an idea thats hinted at and borderline confirmed by 3, that being the strange Path of the Dragon, a heretical cult where people attempt to escape undeath by becoming an everlasting dragon. The first game makes shrouded ties between Havel the Rock, a legendary dragonslayer who fought alongside Gwyn, and this cult, and their offering of dragons’ scales to further this aim, planting the idea of dragon hunters turning around and seeking to join the dragons. In DS2 we see similar themes furthering this with dragon knights in the endgame temple, as well as the DLC’s drakeblood knights, who worship the blood of dragons. Later in Irithyll dungeon, we find a whole host of strange draconic humanoid bodies alongside a miracle derived of the very miracle the firstborn of Gwyn left on his tomb, and Irithyll itself is the city around none other than Anor Londo, the domain of the gods. We can now imagine what the Nameless King’s sin was: He joined the dragons. And wait, wasnt there someone guarding that broken altar all the way back in the undead parish? The only way to reach that altar, is by slaying or ducking and running past a *wyvern* And then the Archdragon Peak, despite not explicitly saying so, shows us a tall man wielding a swordspear and wearing a uniquely designed spiky crown. Thats him. And when we ring the bell, the legend shows his face, riding a mighty dragon and wielding the light of Gwyn. We are given countless ways to infer this reveal, and yet its still a huge and powerful moment, and this is what a big reveal should be. Hints, clues, and boom, the conclusion. The power of this line of mystery, with peeks at the truth, and then the that truth comes down and looks you in the eye. Its great. And i dont think the reveal of the forerunners in halo 4 do that, at all. The key to these things is to show, not tell. We’re never even explicitly told the Nameless King is the firstborn of Gwyn. His armor remarks that it looks like Gwyn’s, his spear tells us he was a deific dragon hunter and heir of lightning, and his soul tells us he was a god of war that sacrificed everything to join the dragons. This all lines up perfectly with the tale of the Firstborn, a god of war and slayer of dragons who messed up and was banished, and even his name is lost. But they dont say “THIS IS THE FIRSTBORN OF GWYN. THIS IS THE GUY. THIS IS THE ONE THE RUINED STATUES DEPICTED. HES THE TRUE KING AND SHIT” They show us two sides of a story and we understand that theyre the same thing, the game knows we arent dumb. 343 made this whole lore dump right in the middle of the campaign by having this weird alien lady come and monologue to us about random bullshit and put us to sleep. Its not interesting at all and just throws away over a decade of teasing one thing to go “SIIKKKE IT WAS THIS ALL ALONG, here’s what happened, here’s this guy, he’s doing this, go kill, mr chosen one” Its pretty lame

[@MaximumNerd-bg9ho]

This makes me wonder what Halo would’ve looked like if it was a Marathon sequel.

[@nicolae-alexandruluca7853]

Who knows, maybe someday some halo game will have a very hidden area where we will find the marine

[@lionocyborg6030]

The fan WAD Marathon Eternal (predating Doom Eternal by 7 years coincidentally enough) was based on a scrapped Halo story that was just that. In Eternal itself, the Halo ring itself doesn’t come into play until Episode 5 and it’s changed to a shield world like Requiem or Trevelyan/Onyx. However, it does have the exact same particle cannon as a Halo except it has the power of all seven. It even has 343 Guilty Spark, renamed “the Watcher” and a traditional AI instead of an actual monitor chassis. The Flood is of course the W’rkncacnter elder gods and their dream monsters from Pathways into Darkness albeit later builds of Eternal reskin their sprites as Kamalas from Fran Bow. I did a whole text walkthrough/novelisation of this WAD on my blog, and I’m yet to do the comparison document Marathon Eternal & Doom Eternal have to another vastly underrated game. Said latter game appeared to be taking notes from Infinity.

[@kodymcgrath8002]

This shows me that Cortana becoming the bad guy is a dope direction to go in. But Halo 5 really dropped the ball

[@jonathantanner7083]

Are we going on a marathon? Hope it doesn't take us down any pathways into darkness.

[@HiddenXperia]

Nah, that's just a myth

[@QuarrelsomeLocalOaf]

something something Gnop

[@jerrbear5958]

Perhaps, it's our destiny

[@sa-amirel-hayeed699]

​@@jerrbear5958 it indeed is destiny to be crowned with a Halo.

[@tehchief1]

God ily guys for making this

[@JumpingJiraffe]

The forerunners being chained by an even superior race isn’t too far off what happened. Although the forerunners en masse were wiped out by the rings, a few survived and left the galaxy to repent for their sins. It could be said that because of their grief and repenting that they’re emotionally slaves to the flood/precursors. And then the Didact, the only living forerunner to return to the Milky Way, is literally mentally enslaved by the flood/precursors

[@GunnerR3X]

I'm tempted to wright a AU of halo where all of this (Cyborg Chief, Rampant Cortana, Leela, etc) DID happen

[@ZayneLion-xv3fe]

That would be nice

[@Sorain1]

I'd be interested in seeing that.

[@cosmic_twin769]

I would definitely read that

[@madDesparada]

Please do I'd read the hell out of that

[@williammayhand3199]

I’d read that.

[@angryretailbanker5103]

There's a video I saw about Marathon's "hidden antagonist". It goes over some of the terminals from all three games that reference some sort of female character. It was seemingly all metaphor, but the theory was that it was referencing a female AI that would have been hostile to the Security Officer and Durandal.

[@madDesparada]

What's the video called?

[@angryretailbanker5103]

@@madDesparada “The Mysterious Antagonist from Bungie’s Marathon story.”

[@lionocyborg6030]

The one from the not Gherrit White terminal in E1M2? The seemingly psychotic psychic who appears to be under attack by someone and was rumoured to be The Dark One mentioned in Marcus’s rambling journal entry hidden in Marathon 2 as a text wall before being formatted & edited correctly in Eternal’s epilogue level. Eternal makes this antagonist Hathor who is a stand-in for rampant Cortana from the scrapped Halo story (and is in pretty much every way a female AI version of Mephiles of the Dark from New Sonic). She poses as a friend and you travel to the past apparently to save the future by bringing other battleroids there to help you but both past Durandal and not yet Pfhor corrupted Tycho warn you she’s trying to eradicate all history, just like Mephiles. Episode’s 2-4 are simply chasing her & trying to stop her ruining historical Marathon events we only heard about in terminals or end screen text crawls in the official games. The failure planks of Episode 3+4 even show her winning. She tries to redeem herself in Episode 5’s one but fails and the elder gods she’s a pawn of win anyway. Come Episode 5 in general we even visit what used to be Halo 04 in the story but for Marathon was changed to a shield world armed with the same weapon, albeit one as powerful as all seven Halos. Lawyer friendly 343 Guilty Spark is even there as our guide and he never turns on us.

[@Mrgreentruth]

I spent HOURS late at night on forums and blogs discussing the letters. I liked when the forerunners were gunna be humans.

[@ulty1472]

C3 Sabertooth has video discussing how in bungie era halo humans are forerunners and how 343 changed it. Highly recommend it.

[@Sanguivore]

Forerunner Humans are so much better in my opinion.

[@carlosmedina1281]

@@ulty1472ehh that might have been true at first but by halo 3 bungie had decided to make the two separate species

[@king_dot]

For Entry 2 I believe the 4th is a reference to the flood and the fact that you wouldn’t know that faction exists until later on I the story

[@ALLMINDmercenarysupportsystem]

I wonder if 343 got Halo 5's Created from "Cortana saves sinners." It wouldn't make it any better, but it would be a neat fact.

[@amitriptyline01]

Doesn't this kinda imply that Halo 4's story was pretty much already decided from the get-go? Or is that something we know already? Love this kind of stuff in Halo. Wish Infinite did this type of layering and cryptic messaging with it's story

[@alexw2794]

So if Cortana was a fourth AI on the Marathon, maybe in the confusion of all the diverging timelines, she got split off from her original timeline and ended up in the Halo timeline. Maybe Halsey didn't create her at all. Maybe she just learned how to make smart AI's when Cortana appeared!

[@swimmerofage2148]

...maybe Cortana was always evil? Maybe she pretended to be the AI Halsey created with her brain, taking the form of Halsey to help convince her while ditching the circular Marathon AI form, when in reality, she had just killed the original AI designed by Halsey. She then pretended to be as smart as Halsey/etc. after finding out about the Covenant and the Spartan II program so that she could use him to fight them, before eventually "succumbing" to rampancy later in Halo 4 and 5, so she could become the Savior. As for the Flood and the logic plague, maybe she was never infected, but she needed to pretend to be damaged so that the Chief would come get her instead of assuming that she was fine on her own and didn't need immediate rescue. Cortana absolutely would play the long game the whole time, so the spin 343 made with 4, 5, and Infinite, may actually be a very plausible outcome that Bungie could have had in mind at some point.

[@SuperShortyuussn]

The halo lore after games: 😀 Halo lore before games:💀

[@TheRafark]

Halo lore in bungee games 😯 Halo lore in 343 games 🤡

[@SuperShortyuussn]

@@TheRafark real

[@S0L12D3]

“I have begun to sense a rumbling of a worse fate yet to come. I can recall a sun - black, but shining” “It is an *INCREASINGLY* unpleasant memory” “W’rkncacnter imprisoned within it” It kinda sounds like a black hole

[@Haggysack2k8]

What i remember from Bungie pre 2000 is one thing and that thing only: ... *CASULTIES!* And i still have the original Myth: The Fallen Lords Disc here at home. This game was nuts, trust me.

[@atomicbaconbits6695]

There are a LOT of references to the Song of Roland in Destiny, specifically the Warmind. Charlemagne is a sub-mind of the Warmind (Rasputin), and in Destiny 2's campaign, you visit another Warmind Bunker called "Joyuese." It's a long shot, but you could probably do an entire video on Bungie and their references to that story across their franchises.

[@valkry3b]

Plus, during entry 4 cortana talks about a black dead sun that still shines... that is the future the Vex is trying to bring about during one of the seasons or during the infinite forest campaign. It might be their end goal for our whole solar system.

[@Caine_west]

Some of it sounds like Cortana's rampancy in Halo 5

[@AerrowXIII]

Thank you for going over and explaining the Cortana letters I’ve known about them for years but never had the chance to look into them deeply

[@RavusRiven]

Luc, I just noticed a lot of the themes introduced in the Cortana letters later served as the foundation for I Love Bees. A portion of an AI that makes its way to our world linking the lore through time/space 🤔

[@angryretailbanker5103]

I'm really happy for this video and the Halo 3 Terminals video. Like I said in the comments in that one, I'm writing a superhero series, but I plan to have a creepy hidden "found" story inspired heavily by those two ARGs involving a developing conversation between a government agent with the power to inhabit computers and an entity trapped in the center of the universe for whom the universe is a reminder of his greatest sin.

[@snakem4a164]

'99 Feb? I was 9 years and 6 months old.... Damn you for making me feel old @HiddenXperia

[@snapchipper]

On Letter 4, I think it's meant that Cortana is in the Bungie systems. That other AI was either the Bungie Webmaster or Disembodied Soul.

[@chrisvenn6812]

Man I'm 25 and grew up on halo. I've always enjoyed your videos, however your past few ones have gotten better and better. You really found your stride bro

[@_rc03]

I can't be bothered to play anything past Halo 4, where they lost me. Halo 3 was the end of the story for me, Reach and ODST are masterpieces, and we may never see the fervor and enjoyment of the Halo 2 era again. But I keep coming back for the lore. I love the lore. Nice vid.

[@techmonkey11]

I loved Marathon and was lucky enough to play the series when they were on floppy drives! There have been so many similarities I've thought of through the decade, and I'm glad somebody passionate out there was a better nerd than I to put it all together! So many parallels, or perhaps, it's part of the same story. Thank you!

[@blackdog6969]

Don't know a whole lot about Marathon but I imagine the original plotline for Halo was to be a spin-off/sequel to Marathon. Kinda like Wolfenstein and Doom or Drakengard and Nier. Plans change, we get the Halo we know and love but there's still all the references left in as easter eggs instead of actual connections. That's kinda what I think was happening with the Cortana letters, establishing that it's the same universe but new threats, another time.

[@K.Rose.Reacts]

Halo: CE was the first video game I played, I remember my brother worked with my mom over the summer to save up for an xbox for the family, we ALL sat around and played it for the entire weekend. Honestly, it’s one of the only memories I have from my childhood. It’s one of my most cherished memories, and for that, Halo as a whole will always hold a special place in my heart, mind, soul, and life; for life. Thank you for making such amazing, thorough and thought provoking content, Xperia. ❤️🥀 P.S. I LOVE your cooking channel!

[@Millie-l7p]

The King has uploaded

[@mrmerlin6287]

When 1999 hit the lower left corner a flood of memories and sounds of cheers went through my mind.

[@lionocyborg6030]

Hilariously Marathon Gold became a reality for its rival series Doom, via the Night Dive remasters of Classic Doom including Doom 64. Like the fake Marathon Gold, Doom Night lets you play all the PC games & 64 on modern systems including fan favourite non sourceport based WADs such as Back to Saturn X and SIGIL 1+2. Halo also got the same thing via the modern mod friendly builds of the Master Chief collection. Marathon meanwhile despite the trilogy coming out on Steam via a port of its inferior to GZ Doom counterpart (but superior to vanilla DOS Doom) Aleph One, it has fecking zilch regarding all that cool stuff and Aleph One lags way behind the quality of life of other source ports like GZ Doom, Tomb Editor & Tomb Engine for Tomb Raider and Eduke 32 for Build.

[@taylorberry5228]

The real explanation for the “I’m everywhere!” Email is because whatever Bungie employee was sending the emails further to scrub his original email from the send field, as had been done in all previous letters, thus breaking the illusion that the messages were coming from some internet-inhabiting AI. The fans picked up on this quickly. Sending the follow up from a government email and saying I’m everywhere goes with the next letter which mentions whichever node she has infected, all to cover up that gaffe with the sender email. This is why there are 8 letters in total instead of 7.

[@BlueAizu_]

"You brought nothing to this world, and we shall make sure you bring nothing out of it" is such a raw line

[@Naetheon]

24:05 funny that's almost what she does in H5 but instead of the covenant it's everyone 29:54 reminds me of The Babysitter, the halo legends episode where they find human ruins on an alien world

[@punkbnuyyy]

we got halo before halo before gta 6

[@Xokzu]

So I think that the forerunners used vacuum energy where they would generate and destroy a bunch of alternate universes to susatin their technology. Maybe Cortana tapped into one of the universes (possibly by interfacing with Guilty Spark?), that being the one of Marathon. I love this kind of stuff!

[@FlickTheBrick]

Considering Bungie’s penchant for über-deep lore and breaking the fourth wall, I am absolutely convinced that it’s not only an intricate reference to Dr. Halsey, but also most certainly an elaborate “yo mama” joke.

[@MrQwertasdfgzxcvbpoi]

This is the crazy insane batshit lore I'm looking for, I imagine there was a lot of work into this - big respect

[@HiddenXperia]

thanks chief! Yeah haha this one was a labor of love, glad you enjoyed it :)

[@ProGremlinPlayer]

Pretty insane to think about how much Bungie liked to reference old poems like that. Never really knew or thought about that.

[@ezcoreg759]

Ever since I was a kid, I always thought the Forunners were mankind. This was back when Halo CE was out and Halo 2 just released. Then later found out there was an actual Forunner race years later, but I always liked the idea I had originally that humans were a species of amnesia and long ago they were Forunners.

[@HeinerGunnar]

As you may or may not know, that absolutely was Bungie's plan in those times. The original plan for Halo 2' ending (when that was supposed to be the end of MC's story) was to have the Arbiter find a Forerunner tomb, only to open it and find a human skeleton in it

[@danielbob2628]

Seems like the draft was that Cortana takes over Chief during Two Betrayals and then... what, we play as a Marine? That would be neat.

[@VELI-Productions]

You blew my mind a couple times in this video. I did not know that parts of Red vs Blue were somewhat inspired by AI Halo lore this deep, the Meta, Metastability. Also Roland, Roland the AI in Halo 4. 🤯 I don't know why I am always continually surprised by good stories being inspired by old literature lol. Also understanding where a lot of Halo 5 could have come from now.....

[@madDesparada]

I mean fragments in RvB might also be a deep cut on the AI fragments of Melissa in I Love Bees

[@CaptainDJ_VT]

A black sun with creatures crawling all over it's surface sounds like the Didact's cryptum and his crawlers

[@kennymccormick6366]

I was born in 98 so it’s as old as I am and has been around for as long as I can remember. I remember learning how to drive a warthog. I remember halo 2 trailer coming out. I remember being able to duel wield for the first time. And I remember accidentally killing all the elites the first time I played as arbiter because I didn’t realize they were ally’s

[@revolverswitch]

2:32 "everything kinda just relied on hearsay and Chinese whispers"

[@horizontk]

1:37 dude used the way back machine and now thinks he's part of some niche club

[@Mason051]

I've been waiting so long for someone to talk about the Cortana Letters, I love them so much!

[@OutplanetStudios]

The Created takeover would have been SO MUCH more compelling if they had grounded it in these letters and actually saw it through. Tying this back to the data pads in Reach, and the Virgil/Superintendant subplot in ODST, and making Roland an actual character instead of a glowing chatbot would have been incredible too. 343 operates on a 2nd grade reading level though.

[@Chrisspru]

the cortana letters now fit the time of cortana in the domain during the created conflict. as the deep domain is timeless, it would land the letters in 1999

[@THEMILLI117]

See how much love developers can have for their games, worlds, stories...

[@ibshimo2]

'sun, black but shining, and the creatures that inched along its fiery tracks' comes from 'The marriage of heaven and hell.'

[@R3TR0J4N]

You know what i love sbout headcannon lore? When the subjective itself drops an info vaguely confirming it.

[@snakem4a164]

This popped up this morning. As soon as I saw the title I thought of the letters

[@nathanoutdoors7981]

At 11:48 if Cortana said it, then it will be done

[@VictorGarcia-nv3kn]

lost four colonies worlds sounds like Stargate SG1tv series.

[@snowAngels55]

5:21 note to people who haven't played marathon: the so to speak part is important. In practice it's more like you're his personal gunslinger/unwilling audience to his philosophical tirades. Not that I'm complaining about the tirades bit.

[@officialibk8065]

HiddenXperia, the best in the halo lore game as always

[@HeyJodin]

5:10 *growls in white Eva helmet*

[@pneumonoultramicroscopicsiIico]

Obviously, the covenant is absolutely amazing and it’s lore is some of the best out of any video game faction, but there’s a real charm to the dehumanized much more sinister and distant covenant like in CE, Reach, and these letters

[@Softlywool]

I love hearing about the cortana letters again , you always explain things i might have heard about before in a different light that i understand easier, thank you for all the videos you make 💖

[@MarcusWolfWanders]

the fact that NASA/JPL/Arecibo were on board or even spoofed is honestly awesome af

[@Sweat_Tyler12]

Can we please appreciate how this guy literally took the time out of his day to write the subtitles for a 32 MINUTE VIDEO i did that for a like 5 min vid and it was booorrrinnggg Kinda tho it was kinda fun

[@FireChicken747]

Watching this video gave me a little feeling of what it must have been like back then. the mysterious nature of the internet and halo. I was born in 2005 so by the time i was old enough to understand all of this. it was already too late. Thank you HiddenXperia for letting me know how it was like back then

[@hicham5876]

0:12 Wait a minute, is this a real photo? For a long time, I have thought that the weapon is a computer mouse pointer . It is now clear to me that it is a sniper weapon 😂😂😂😂

[@AlyxGMusic]

The music you have playing underneath Entry 7… it’s the melody to “Pursuit of Truth” from Halo 2!

[@BrabyTheCool177]

Cortana actually quotes some of the lines from the “Cortana Letters” in halo infinite I think in either the second spire mission or the silent auditorium

[@MakintheMeats]

youre right most lore in the 90s was just word of mouth and hearsay, stories passed down from friend to friend at game stores and lan parties. I was a kid hanging out at game stores in the mall talking to high schoolers and college people about game lore, it was a whole other time. I remember this really pretty asian chick would bring these cortana letters in and read them in a really theatrical fashion it was soo cool

[@keithgoh123]

I did not realize the original Halo blueprint was already this far ahead. This means 343 wasn't just making it up as they go lmao, which at one point was starting look like it really was

[@dustinpike7879]

I have heard that Halo started February 1999 and have heard of the Cortana Letters when I was looking into Halo lore before Halo 3 came out. This is what I was looking for, but never found. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS CONTENT. 😃

[@seanmurphy7183]

Interesting in lore you could say Cortana had a glimpse into her future possibly through the forerunner network

[@coops3600]

My first thought regarding the "obsession with my mother" thing was that it's a covenant AI and her "mother" in this context is earth. To me that seems more likely that a your mum joke

[@aeronautisch]

25:30 I thought "palace" aluded to the Pillar of Autumn, and "lyca lies asleep" to the Master Chief in cryo.

[@candiedconnor]

These Marathon-Halo vids are my favorites

[@Miggzo11]

Man i needed to watch fast as possible

[@marinaraswaws7320]

No way HiddenXperia just made a Deftones reference

[@pronoblewolf]

I remember the Cortana letter is you mentioned them in a previous video and they're about Master Chief and Cortana from like after the work of marathon was concluded or coming to an end

[@MrKn0w17A11]

Aww, made me miss the old ascendant justice website. That guy analyzed the Cortana letters too!

[@josuevazquez900]

I might be tripping but, letter 6 reminds me of halo 5 because the story depicted chief going against orders and having other's go ater him. Basically making him a sinner in the eyes of oni ro the unsc, then being saved by cortana from the warden and osiris wen they finally catch up. Finally holding blue team in that crypt for safety, which could be the sanctuary.

[@crazyboyandyomama]

I'm less than 1 min into this video, and I'm already interested in this obscure lore

[@PolishCaptainC4]

343i refuses to bring more halo lore to us, fortunately we have HiddenXperia to bring up some old lore

[@willisrose9756]

These Cortona Letters are intriguing.

[@dr.rupture8467]

Dunno if you’ll see this, but “the other entity that has an unhealthy preoccupation with my mother” Cortana mentions isn’t another AI. It’s part of Bungie Lore. It’s a reference to the Webmaster - a man in a gorilla suit (or maybe an actual gorilla? Nobody knows!) wearing a cowboy hat. He’s always drunk or in the process of becoming drunk and claims to have “been with” every Bungie employee’s mom.

[@josemunoz3579]

Learning so much from you🙏

[@feralprocessor9853]

Right off the bat, a montage of archaic websites.

[@whalehands]

2001 Christmas was the best christmas ever

[@Commander_Appo]

It’s kinda cool if you consider this canon by imagining these as retrospective thoughts of a post-4 pre-5 Cortana. These letters are too dope to not be canon, I’d like it to cram it in somewhere in my headcanon

[@JTeam45]

The first piece of Halo Lore came out on my 4th birthday?!?! 🤯

[@justinrozmus8140]

Hiddenxperia my favorite halo lore KZbinr. You should be hired to make future halo games my dude!!!

[@Lanlus]

I need that new Marathon game NOW, even if I'm worried after the rumors.

[@markmiranda9461]

You won’t get a back tat of the gravemind with the top saying “I am a monument to all your sins”

[@Warriors49ers]

Love when you talk about Marathon in relation to Halo as it will be the next big Bungie game!