In Defense of the Didact | Halo 4 Retrospective

Halo 4's Didact is a VERY controversial figure and for good reason. In today's video we will talk about the Didact's role in H4's story and analyze his part in the bigger themes.
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Please check out haruspis' level by level breakdown of the H4 story for an EVEN deeper look at the game: haruspis.wordpress.com/2014/0...
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[@LateNightHalo]

Yes I know the Didact isn't TECHNICALLY dead but I'm analyzing H4's story in a bubble... Isolated from that awful comic that devalued everything H4 did. We are analyzing the story H4 is telling, not where it clinically fits in halo's timeline.

[@hassansaeed9790]

I'm surprised people didn't get that

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Whilst not terrible, I did find it quite poor. The Chief's own dialogue was some of the better parts of it, and on PAPER at least, Static Carillon is a somewhat interesting character. But it still seems forced (ps, Brian Reed was fully aware the Didact felt he could not be Composed, as he also wrote the terminals where he said that, and commented as such)

[@eta2670]

LateNightGaming Fantastic video, fair play man :)

[@krimsonhawk2355]

Not only did the comic devalue H4, H5 disregarded it completely. Truly a tragedy of storytelling because in spite of my issues with H4's gameplay and some info-dump areas of the campaign, I felt it was overall a great story. It's no masterpiece, but I have a hard time not considering it at least a worthy sequel to H3.

[@greaterhalo0659]

What's the song at 7:08

[@subhadeepjasu292]

I don't care about 343 vs Bungie thing. I love Halo 4 story. Period.

[@highviewarts]

Subhadeep Jasu I wish I could say the same about 5... Hopefully 343 knocks it out the park with 6

[@subhadeepjasu292]

same here

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

Subhadeep Jasu Same man!

[@believein1177]

Subhadeep Jasu Halo 4 is literally my favorite Sci-Fi story of all time. Bungie, 343, I personally don’t care. It’s all Halo to me, and I fucking love it!

[@chrissonofpear3657]

343 does need to be a bit more... efficient with its story telling (including the business with the Escalation comics) but they are not without some fine idea.

[@Tawleyn]

I think one of the most powerful lines of the entire series comes at the end of Halo 4. "She said that to me once... about being a machine..."

[@greggeverman5578]

SO...VERY....TRUE!!! That whole final cinematic before the credits was just an overload of emotional power!

[@ronnieradon]

Andy Gygi mostly the gameplay was what I had an issue with

[@ronnieradon]

Andy Gygi Yeah, the prometheans were horribly designed from a gameplay perspective. Who wants to fight against an enemy who just teleports randomly when you start shooting it, and has an annoying little pest floating around waiting to revive it?

[@donsorenoelchapogringo1182]

@Andy Gygi Fair point. 343 actually listens to the fans. The problem's arise once you play Spartan Ops alone, then you can really feel how annoying Watchers are.

[@sarthakgiri1114]

@@donsorenoelchapogringo1182 Oh my god so true. I was able to kill everyone in a mission in spartan ops while playing alone except for watchers. They are really annoying.

[@stevenmoffitt9820]

"Do you believe that Chief succeeded because he was, at his core, broken?!" Also notice that the Didact's mask looks like a skull, kind of like a representation of death itself

[@IbrahimAli-ps1rh]

Why was cortana paired with chief. Even Halsey said to oni that they provided the tools necessary to keep them physiologically in check. Also, the librarian predicted chief hasn't yet come into being of who he is before digitalisation, and his ancilla cortana.

[@greggeverman5578]

👍

[@hindenpeter1]

I would love to have an actual working didact helmet

[@TheGoldNShadow]

@@IbrahimAli-ps1rh Cortana chose. She chose Chief herself.

[@tygrenvoltaris4782]

@@IbrahimAli-ps1rh it was a presentation not the actual thing kind of like an interpretation

[@trillionbones89]

I think 343 missed the religious aspects of how the Didact could have function. He was effectively the covenant's version of a fallen angel. he disobeyed his superiors and committed war crimes. but after the covenant was crushed they needed to believe something, so they went to awake the only living forerunner they know of

[@Connor8609]

This really is one of the best apsects of Halo 4's larger story in the extended media. Jul getting the Covenant behind finding a living god even though he fundamentally does it for his own selfish purposes.

[@LordBeef]

He also mirrors Christian views of Satan in this way, being a fallen angel that wished to control humanity, so that "all would be saved." Exact correlations between the Didact's and Lucifer's fall differ based upon which sect or denomination of Christianity one compares, but the basic comparison is mostly universal. He's the one who wanted to be God, but was not worthy nor humble enough.

[@RoanokeGaming]

I really enjoyed your discussion broseph, I feel like didact was a great character but the issue is that they didnt really develop him in game. Lets be honest, most of us arnt going to read a book to play video games, and thats what is currently expected, also killing him off in a comic made everyone scratch their heads. personally, I liked halo 4, or maybe I was just fiending for some halo

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Composed, not killed. Going off an admittedly obscure post from the writer himself.

[@RoanokeGaming]

interesting, I wonder if he will come back at some point then

[@robertmiller9983]

I think ONI considers the didact "contained"

[@estaticethan1752]

Hey, it's the gaming biologist

[@ctimmons9631]

+Roanoke Gaming, how did the Didact survive the end of halo 4, I'm not that knowledgeable about the lore.

[@fruitgushersbanana5853]

I'm noticing more and more people appreciating Halo 4

[@saucemiller947]

Richard Hernandez well after we got the shit that was Halo 5 I appreciate the older Halos even more

[@futbolluva]

4's story maybe. On paper. Not in gameplay

[@fruitgushersbanana5853]

Sauce Miller multiplayer aside Halo 4 had a pretty good campaign

[@futbolluva]

Richard it really didn't though. The level design was poor and the prometheans weren't fun to fight. The didact was never well explained in game either. I agree it has a good story, but playing it is a chore.

[@fruitgushersbanana5853]

futbolluva sure the Didact could have been explained better but he wasn't that hard to follow thankfully. And the campaign did have some fun missions but not many.

[@blackwing7999]

The original trilogy seemed to be about telling a story of humans vs. aliens, while halo 4 puts a focus on the characters and their emotions or connections.

[@flyingplatypus7272]

And then Halo 5 just yeets back into full on space war mode

[@donsorenoelchapogringo1182]

Thats not true. The Arbiter also went through a lot and drastically changed his character.

[@huntercaptain9411]

@@donsorenoelchapogringo1182 True, but only the Arbiter went through character development in the original trilogy.

[@bean1an143]

Funnily enough, people hated Halo 4 because it was different than the original trilogy. Halo 5's story did suck, and they could've focused on the battle between the Swords of Sanghelios more, but Halo 4 was emotional. I actually teared up when Cortana sacrificed herself and Chief and Lasky had that talk, because the lore was so wonderful in its own right.

[@bean1an143]

Also, the Halo 4 part of Red vs Blue developed the characters more (like Tucker, who went from an immature pervert that nobody would have missed to a strong, capable leader that the other cast members would have wept for and respected). Funnily enough, the Didact and Locus are a little similar, but Locus accepted that he was a monster and strove to change while the Didact died hanging onto his beliefs.

[@ToaGalen]

Man, that is deep. I just finished Halo 4 Legendary so it's fresh in my mind. And this video just adds to the experience.

[@impendingdoom7920]

How many times did you run out of amo

[@ghostlyblue5735]

Aidan Haskell, I beat it on legendary like two weeks ago and I ran outta ammo for the DMR like i dunno... 1,000,000 times? Lol

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@gabrielguiote3443]

Congrats, man

[@dumdumballoon]

Whoaa, That was deep AF. You made me fall in love with Halo 4's story all-over again... Great Video mate!

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

YG LostShadow Ikr

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:12

[@TheGoldNShadow]

@@greaterhalo0659 all I know is that it’s from Halo: Spartan Assault. You might have to look through the soundtrack. If I can remember correctly, it might be Track 10 | Prelude.

[@goosesniper454]

“Space Voldemort”

[@niketuck9687]

Mudkip 454 😂😂😂😂

[@thegreatcannoli189]

he looks more like darth plageious the wise. And with his mask on he looks like darth bane

[@DeclanVH]

The Last Arbiter, have you never heard the tragedy of Darth Plageious the wise?

[@andrewtuttle9682]

@The Last Arbiter because it's a sith legend.

[@hindenpeter1]

I was thinking the same thing

[@pepsiatlas5452]

holy shit thats why requiem's got layers!

[@LateNightHalo]

pepsi Atlas it’s almost FURTHER cementing the themes of H4’s story... a cold metal exterior with an inside that’s full of life

[@michaelmanosalvas3718]

"Onions have layers, Ogres have layers."

[@dr.freshmemes3696]

Requiem has layers , Spartans have layers you get it

[@jivan5843]

It's story is so deep. Not just literal but deeper

[@mrcyberian9079]

This is so deep. You of all people have made me realize how much chief has endured and I feel very sorry for him. Thank you.

[@sheahon1179]

MrCyberian half the leap he says is false if you read the books it becomes obvious that this is ridiculous.

[@mrcyberian9079]

Sheahon 117 wow. Bring down the whole mood why don’t you...

[@hassansaeed9790]

MrCyberian of course someone has to ruin the whole thing

[@greaterhalo0659]

What song plays at 7:08

[@n-factor2268]

Sheahon 117 Which part is false, and from which books are you referencing?

[@believein1177]

Thank you for doing such a fantastic job at explaining Halo 4’s deeper storytelling! Halo 4 has always been my favorite Sci-Fi story of all time, and it’s things like this that made it so. This was (As always.) a fantastic video!

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

APuckettCinema Ikr! :)

[@nathanrileyschulz5862]

APuckettCinema was that a Star Trek pun

[@gen2mediainc.577]

Phew... You always take a chance when you click “read more” on a serious comment, because it could result in you having to read a paragraph. It appears that you have broken this mold, and I thank you for it.

[@cornygrunt9617]

I feel Halo 4's story is in my opinion the tragic truth of FPS games, and it's quite simple sadly. People don't look at FPS and think "Deep, emotional, makes you think after you're done" and that may be why 4 got the reception that it did. 1-3 are loud, very easily identified and to the point. ODST and Reach told more somber and bittersweet stories, ODST I think did it much better than Reach. And after so many game of Chief being this one-liner action figure of a character we get 343's more accurate portrayal of him. I think the problem might've been from 343 making 4 right after Reach instead of focusing on some spin offs to get their ground and see what people want to see. Even then I'd argue Halo 4 isn't "Bad" or "One of the worst" It's my favorite, still have the limited edition case from day 1. But in the end, the casual fan didn't want a deeper story that had subtle hints and quiet moments of characters talking, things that honestly would've made Halo 5 more interesting even with the bad story it has. Wolfenstien the New Order showed that you can make a FPS have a powerful and strong story. I can only hope that the Didact will return and for 343 to at the least, have a story of the same quality of Halo 4. Level design? play style? I don't mind which it is they go with, as long as future Halo games has moments like any of the cutscenes and character interactions like 4. Jesus I need to learn how to compress my thoughts when typing these.

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

Corny Grunt Amen bro!

[@AzureRath97]

I just don't know how they can continue without retconning 5. It's just such a stain on the universe, how can you continue from that?

[@henrylewis5649]

Yan SILVA GALAN people hated halo 2's story? I thought it was great. Guess I didn't realize it because the internet wasn't what it was today

[@mikexurs]

Corny Grunt they can’t. The didact died again in the comics . Chief killed him twice; once in H4 & last time in the comics

[@TheDrewbe3]

Amazing comment man. Couldn't agree more!

[@elijahbates4771]

The Epilogue for Halo 4 always sells the story for me, it is absolutely perfect and I suggest you watch it after this

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

Honestly this video is so brilliant!!! Thanks so much for doing it! I really love Halo 4s campaign as well and I find it to be rather underrated in the Fandom and fanbase. But this video perfectly explained why Halo 4's campaign is so good imo! And Happy 50k subs! You truly earned it! :)

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@igbinedion6410]

@@greaterhalo0659 Darude Sandstorm

[@LasertechStudios3142]

I think Halo 4’s problem as a campaign was in its failure to actually provide context for the story. You should not have to read books outside of the game to properly understand details as important to the story as the ones you talked about. Halo 4 was my first Halo game, and I didn’t understand the point of the Didact until years after I played the campaign.

[@wilburforce8046]

Lasertech Studios same

[@solidsnake9477]

Lasertech Studios Did you not read the terminals? Plus the Halo trilogy has these flaws as well. You never truly had a backstory explained in-game as to why the Covenant are fighting the UNSC until Contact Harvest.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Terminals should also have been viewable IN GAME, not just on the Waypoint website.

[@Onxide]

It was pretty well explained if you play thru the entire campaign. Very similar to CE, where the story and mystery unfolds as you progress thru it. It makes perfect sense if you pay attention to the parallels

[@NazmusLabs]

Chris sonofPear halo 3 terminals are viewable ingame

[@michaelsperry2654]

I do hope that the Didact makes a return at some point. He isn't actually quite dead.

[@BoisegangGaming]

"You are more than just a suit of armor. You are more than a soldier. What will you do when there are no more wars for you to fight? What will you do when you lay down your weapon? What will you become?" Read that in Cortana's voice and you've got a haunting synopsis of this video.

[@CloverBnuy]

See, my main issue with most of this video, though it is a good study of the didact against chief, is that Halo 4 fails to explain most of this directly without the player having to read books/find secrets. Overall good video but its hard to look over how halo 4 presents him.

[@triplehelix3207]

NotoriousBusinessMan Exactly, i hope if halo 6 comes around, they don't make that mistake

[@slvrcobra1337]

Basically this. The Didact comes off as very one-dimensional and aimless, you get that awful Librarian cutscene about his backstory that makes no sense, then you have to do homework to even get half of what was going on with him. To me the biggest thing is how confusing he is. The Didact was an established character prior to Halo 4, yet parts of his portrayal run at odds with the Halo 3 terminals. I later find out its because this guy is literally a different person from that one, at which point I figured, "Well, wouldn't it have been way easier to just make the villain a new character?" That's basically what they did, only it's a confusing mess.

[@Celeste-hu5vg]

NotoriousBusinessMan eyyyyyy

[@SiphonRayzar]

You do have to remember, at one point, there were 2 Didacts. The Ur Didact, which is the one killed (maybe, not too sure if he's actually dead or not) at the end of Halo 4, and the Iso Didact, who was killed upon the activation of the Halo Array. The Ur Didact and the Iso Didact evolved into 2 very different characters. Unfortunately, none of that matters to the casual fan, but it is an important distinction for lore fans.

[@solidsnake9477]

What I'm basically hearing is that you rather have everything spoon feed to you instead of watching the terminals.

[@starwarsnexus6872]

If they really wanted to go for this Master Chief and Didact being two sides of the same coin they should have ended Halo 5 with Chief actually remaining trapped within the Cryptum and woken up thousands of years later so in the next game he too was fighting a war long ended as its the only thing he knows how to do.

[@spearfisherman308]

Yep and the start of infinite begins.

[@spartans2383]

Had the campaign made any effort to make these parallels between chief and The Didact, it may have been interesting. But because it didn’t, the only ones who can draw those conclusions are lore nerds like us. Without any prior knowledge, Halo 4’s Didact is just a cookie cutter “kill all humans” alien baddie that uses the force. No lore justification can fix that. Couple that with an extremely linear linear level design and it’s IMO the one of the least entertaining campaigns of any Halo game. Cortana’s death and Chief’s humanity were great parts of the story, and I think they were well done. I just wish the rest of it would have been done differently.

[@maximus3869]

Spartan S238 tbh I feel people just give h4’s story a pass because of chief and Cortana

[@solidsnake9477]

He didn't want to kill the humans. Just use them as puppets as a way to show superiority.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

Well, that’s my opinion covered.

[@Prodigy396]

@@aminenait-yahia4179 H4's story is overrated video just proves that even more.

[@plasmaoctopus1728]

I think more people became more like "yeah Halo 4 was at least all right" after the train wreck that is Halo 5's campaign.

[@blacktoplegacy8424]

DAYUM!!! THIS MADE ME RESPECT HIM MORE

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@toastman7671]

I've heard this many of times, but how you said it that... tone of voice, and how you explained everything, it made me cry. You are very very convincing.

[@iw_legendary_sayain2215]

Man am I glad I came across your channel. You’ve pretty much dissected Halo 4’s story to its core. This coming from a Halo veteran. I’ve been with the series since the very beginning. But this video gives me new perspective and a better understanding to the Chiefs central being. Which I appreciate to the utmost and for that I Thank you. 🙏

[@lukeskywalkerthe2nd773]

IW_LEGENDARY_SAYaiN22 Ikr

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@DeceptiveSteam6]

@@greaterhalo0659 Not sure what the name is, but it's definitely from Spartan Assault /Strike.

[@Nevirate]

Halo 4 just got deeper for me. I just shed a tear.

[@thefatbatman7334]

Throughout this, I couldn't help but think of Batman. In a sense, all three are similar, victims of circumstances beyond their control, becoming warriors that are unparalleled in ability who are destined to save the world, but are nothing more than terrified children who just want to be loved. The more I think about it, the more it gets to me, and the more I see the similarities between, the Chief, the Didact, and Batman.

[@AzraelAkumaJustSomeNPC]

I was thinking of The didact and Chief being the same as Batman and Joker.

[@justanotherhaxzor2492]

Symbiotic Spirit except Batman is gay

[@TheGoldNShadow]

@@justanotherhaxzor2492 imagine using gay as an insult. The funny thing is that gay doesn’t just mean ‘boys in love with boys’ or ‘girls in love with girls’, it also means happiness. Basically you just called Batman happy.

[@lelandgrubson2736]

@@TheGoldNShadow old English word lmao

[@nicholascristan9640]

this was such a sad video :( i never really saw the didact in this sort of way until now

[@ZHibiki]

nicholas cristan actually the didact was supposed to meditate with the help of the domain but when the Halo array was fired the domain became "close" so actually the Didact was like thousand of years just thinking by himself

[@nicholascristan9640]

The Russian Husky yeah I remember hearing a lot about that. From what I remember the Domain is a precursor creation, therefore being vulnerable to physical and “organic” harm, such as the flood and the firing of the halo array. So since the didact couldn’t tap into the domain to help meditate the logic plague (which I BELIEVE he had, correct me if im wrong), he just spent thousands of years with rage just festering in his mind. It really is pitiful and just really sad

[@VainerCactus0]

Basically yeah, the Forerunners thought that about the domain, but later Halo lore shows that the Domain survived in some form or another. Being stuck in your head for a hundred thousand years with all the damage the Gravemind did to him, it is no wonder the Diadect woke up the way he did.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

The data was wiped, even if the Domain itself was slowly healing (and accessible somewhat in 2547, if the hint in Halsey's Journal is correct)

[@huntercaptain9411]

Me neither

[@majorthesk9294]

You’ve actually convinced me to try and reread the Forerunner Trilogy.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Book 2 can be a slog, and most of the important stuff is in the last quarter of it. Book 3 has a lot of key details though. I've also been writing my own fanfiction that summarises most of the key stuff, whilst focusing more on the elusive Mendicant Bias.

[@DrakleStudios]

Another glorious analysis and over all incredible video Taras. I wish to offer an idea: A video studying the Arbiter Thel 'Vadam or perhaps the idea of the Covenant Arbiters. I also wish to make this video with you as I have studied Thel thoroughly and it would be an honour to work with you. However that is merely an idea. It can be changed to fit your desire.

[@tylertarkington9314]

Drakle Studios that would be awesome. I feel like thel vadam is not talked about enough.

[@DrakleStudios]

Tyler Tarkington Agreed comrade!

[@dldoubleg2915]

sleep < LNG

[@greaterhalo0659]

DLDouble G what's the song at 7:08

[@I_am_a_cat_]

Sleep > everything else

[@surge2388]

Halo was my childhood Master Chief didn't get that😢😂

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@haydnplaysgames]

This statement is sadly profound. Thats why I love Halo 4s campaign! They finally addressed the elephant in the room; the Master Chiefs trauma.

[@endymion7585]

I already loved Halo 4, I truly did, as it was my first Halo game And now I love it even more, thanks LNG!

[@trendingvideos9683]

15:47 spartan abilities

[@brutechieftain9321]

Thank you for this video. I enjoyed Halo 4's study on my first playthrough, and found it difficult to articulate why I enjoyed and liked it so much. I'm not sure what exactly I was expecting from Halo 5, but I was thinking more of a narrative focused on the effects of being a "child" super soldier. Without Cortana he would slowly descend into a sort of madness of his own.

[@Multigameguy35]

"Warrior, sleep." Lol I love how the cheery music(used in Spongebob?) comes in after that deep presentation

[@yodadude2462]

Also you have to remember, chief was a schoolyard bully so even before his abduction, he probably didn’t have a good childhood. That’s why he was picked: he was a strong, ruthless leader

[@MartinSmithInterfaces]

I "Met" the Didact in the books before he appeared in Halo 4. When learning about this colossal being, this master of war, and the duality he displayed, between his highly self-evident power, prowess, and ruthless aggression, and the more calm, philosophical, even tender aspects of his more personal moments, I could see how powerful of a character he could be to the Halo Universe. Learning about his final banishment into the Cryptum, and spending 100,000 years alone with his own rage, paved the way for when I played Halo 4. The moment the Didact returned to the Universe was groundbreaking and I was so excited to see where it would go. I am greatly disappointed his story seems to have ended so abruptly not in the game, but the comics, it left a lot to be desired. I hope that he can be brought back into the active story line once more as he is an interesting character. I do know John referenced him as being "contained". So it is possible. As for the direction Halo is taken, the first trilogy was what I grew up on. Chief is, in a great many ways, a source of inspiration and an ideal I strived to be like. As I have aged, the games story has matured. The new more emotional and dark tone of Halo 4 was a welcomed development, and I hope that this style of story telling continues, because I have enjoyed the newer story, Halo 5 notwithstanding.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Brian Reed set up the Didact to be composed, apparently. But the writers seem to have left him out of the Cortana plot, at least for now. Could be he'll return in Halo 6, but I'm worried it won't be until after that.

[@greaterhalo0659]

what's the song at 7:16

[@hakon5473]

We might well get our Didact back. His voice was heard sevral times throught the Halo Infinite campaign if you stayed long enough while being inside the halo. His faceplate was also possibly in the S2 background update.

[@VainerCactus0]

5:40 If you have read the book "New blood" by Matt Forbeck, you will see that this is pretty much the goal of the Spartan IV program. To create super soldiers who are also people. The problem is, Halo 4 was OK if you had read the books, but lots of people did not read the books, therefore the Halo 4 "experience" as a whole, is lessened. The concessions made to those who would not have read all those books, (Such as that Librarian scene half way through) made the story telling feel very poor.

[@daveslyker4431]

I liked the Spartan IV's a lot more after Musa's explanation of his reason for the progra in New Blood.

[@goosesniper454]

Well, that was deep.

[@Greatspartan87]

The video was beautiful, LateNightGaming. Keep up the fantastic work!

[@staroneanimation6826]

Thank you so much man. For years I have said that I love Halo 4's story. And I have been ridiculed by people not calling me a "real" halo fan. Thank you!

[@a.a.o.t-1213]

Wow...that was a good retrospective.

[@SpartanJess]

Very well said LateNight. Great video! The didactic sounds very much like the "Man of Steel" version of Zod

[@solidsnake9477]

Halo 4 reminds me of that movie.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Similar motivations, maybe. Didact is maybe more sane - at least in his initial actions. But much turmoil beneath.

[@BlurryWhaleFTW]

I hope Infinte gives us the character moments of halo 4 with the badass moments of the bungie trilogy.

[@BlueDrakma]

Man, I've always loved Halo 4, but hearing some of this explained all in one place makes it so much better. Really wish the terminal cutscenes were implemented more smoothly into the campaign. Always been a sucker for Chief being so grounded and human.

[@TheCHRILLCAST]

I must have missed this video when it came out. Got recommended it today. Did not regret watching it. I love this video, nice work!

[@markrough.469]

Wow, dude! This is legitimately the best video I have seen in 2 or so months. Fantastic video, friend.

[@TheTalyn08]

Yo...i can tell you worked really hard and poured a lot of passion into this. This video was AMAZING and you completely changed my mind about halo 4. This video was AMAZING. Thank you SO MUCH.

[@xenozillarex1518]

The fact that halo 4 wasn’t a traditional halo story was why I fell in love with it, I remember getting it as an early Christmas present from my dad and I had to borrow my brother’s 360 because mine was at my moms house and I stayed up almost that whole night playing the campaign and I was hell bent on finishing it, even though my dad said not too but still let me cause he knew how excited I was for it, and I nearly cried when Cortona died weather it was because I was tired or that I beat the game or how broken Chief was or even a mix of all three I don’t know but man that’s probably my favorite memory as a halo fan

[@domsang422]

The Didact didn’t die during Halo 4, he was composed on a halo right during a comic (forgot about the name of it and what halo installation it was on)

[@mrgears3045]

Dom Sang the didact cant be composed hes immune

[@LateNightHalo]

We are ignoring the post-halo 4 comic nonsense because all of that went out of its way to UNDO all that halo 4 set up.

[@romeo3373]

LateNightGaming The didact isn't dead, watch Bradley Freakins video of how the didact is alive. The pieces are there, and he put them together.

[@solidsnake9477]

LateNightGaming Halo 5 screwed everything up. Not Escalation.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Brian Reed wrote both the terminals and the comic, so he claims he has a longer term plan for this (probably with Frank O'Conner's help too) But sure would be nice to give us SOME glimpse of him recently, huh?

[@themadspartan]

"Our job.. As soldiers.. Is to protect humanity.. Whatever the cost.."~master chief

[@darianmartinez9926]

I wanted to do a story somewhat like this. The difference is that there are 2 super soldier's and one is a broken soul and the other is a deep meditating monk out a squad of 4.

[@darianmartinez9926]

Love your videos keep up the good work LNG

[@gioac96]

I have to say, I now understand why many people loved h4 story, even if most of them can not explain why. I hated it as a 16 years old, but after watching this I’m now very curious to play it again. This video is extremely well written, amazing job.

[@SashaB33]

Not gonna lie, I’m still not a fan of Halo 4’s story but after watching this I can appreciate it a little more for what it is rather than what I wanted it to be

[@ZHibiki]

I really think that Cortana's dead was so perfect to end a character, but the Halo 5...

[@shauntempley9757]

Halo 5 is basically Gravemind fucking with the galaxy, and Chief while using Cortana's A1 corpse.

[@haydnplaysgames]

Really devalued everything they accomplished with Halo 4s campaign. Thats why Halo Infinite is quickly ending that plotline as an occurrence off screen...

[@ZHibiki]

@@haydnplaysgames I hope it ends well tho, like, I want Cortana dead but not give her the Jul Mdama treatment

[@octotenor00]

Great video! Only criticism I have is that you said at the end that the didact died at the end of halo 4. Technically he survived his encounter with chief and in a separate comic was somewhat digitized into the domain. But overall, great analysis. I too enjoyed the didact as a villain and hope he returns to the games in some fashion.

[@LateNightHalo]

Matthew Rupprecht I like to pretend the nonsense of the post-H4 comics didn’t happen because of how they deconstruct everything H4 set up

[@octotenor00]

LateNightGaming yea, I definitely agree. When I saw how they handled that part of the story, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. Hopefully, with the new leadership in the narrative department at 343, we’ll see some interesting and satisfying conclusions to the story.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

The idea seems to be to have 'sidelined' the Didact so they do the whole Cortana/Warden/Created story first.

[@5hane9ro]

I hear alot of people talking about their depression game, something they play through to help them cope while going through a dark time. Halo 4 is one of those for me tbh That and Halo reach, silent hill 2 and 3 lol

[@michaelmanosalvas3718]

Thank you for deconstructing the poetry of H4's story. You made the story considerably more beautiful than it first appeared, and I enjoyed Halo 4 (more or less) from the get go.

[@roadrunnerproductions7941]

I'll be honest I liked Halo 4's story. If only it kept the old art style it'd be icing on the cake. On the other hand Halo 5 doesn't have a good.... anything really, makes me appreciate Halo 4 a lot more.

[@laras8911]

Wow just wow I had my view on this game but you blown it out of the water and really put a new view on it. It really is brilliant. I wanted cry that’s how deep it was halo is my childhood. Great vid glad I found your channel all those years ago.

[@BioTroy]

Even though this video is 2 years old now, I still come back to it occasionally cause I really appreciate how you breakdown Chief/Didact and the emotions it makes me feel. With Halo 4 coming to MCC PC, I hope more can appreciate the good and ambitious things that this entry brought to the series. I still look at it at extremely fond light.

[@ToxicBalloon360]

Loved the use of the Vitruvian man in the video. Brilliantly done.

[@SQTOS]

Ok, wait, nice video, but you left out crucial things, it might have killed the rhythm but, UrDidicts capture by the flood made him crazy, and when the Librarian locked him up he was supposed to have access to the domain to help him normalize. Instead he was left alone with his crazy brain, because when the array fired the domain became inaccessible. I get why you left those out though, but, you know...

[@mrweirdguy5249]

Rewatching this video a year later has reminded me of a few things that I would like to say. I have plenty of problems with Halo 4. It's art direction, hameplay mechanics, level Design, and Multiplayer. But it's story is something I will continue to defend. It's honestly good to see more people appreciating Halo 4's story as the years have passed. Its such a pity that most people look at Halo 4's superficial plot, and judge it on that. Halo 4 has a really deep story that goes really underappreciated. I am kinda glad that as the years pass, more people understand this story, and see it for what it is. I have high hopes for Halo Infinite's story considering the lead writter is the one who wrote Arkham City, whose story I really loved. I hope 343 can deliver especially after that awful story in Halo 5.

[@patrickhild4066]

You should do more of these kinds of videos, they're all well versed and have tons of effort and thought put into them

[@ExtremeUnction1988]

Wow. You just helped me look at the story in a whole new way. Fantastic video. Thanks!

[@blakejones5193]

If you're pro soldier, you're antiwar (not defense). I wasn't even ready for this video, man. Great job. I love the raw emotion and the analysis here. They have such a deep well to pull from with this story and character development.

[@LateShiftWolf]

I never really knew how to explain why I thought halo 4s story was amazing to me...but this video out it perfectly

[@cameronkinsella6981]

Dude... I've been subscribed to your channel for a while now and I think this might my favourite of your videos. It reminded me why I loved Halo 4's story when not many of my fellow Halo fans did. It reminded me why I used to like Halo period and how good this game was at deconstructing the character of Chief in a way that no other Halo game came close to doing. It was honestly beautiful and my day just got better after watching it. I'd love if you did more content like this, examining the meaning behind stories in games, movies and TV shows just like you did here. It's even more tragic that everything you just said was thrown out the window and forgotten entirely by 343 when that cum-stain of a campaign in Halo 5 rolled around. Chief's humanity, Cortana's sacrifice and the Didact all meant nothing in the end. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the story Halo 4 gave us, and this video that reminded me how much I loved it. :)

[@WesleyReagan]

Holy crap this is your best video. This was awesome! It made me love Halo 4's story even more than I already did. Great job!

[@TheChadPad]

I honestly don't think the Didact was far gone enough to be like your average villain, or maybe he was even more far gone than that. In him I see confusion over the loss of his people and his wife, and I see that the only thing that makes sense is building his army and fighting enemies, and he has the same delusional obsession with it that other villains have. I do see how the different type of storytelling plays a part, and I hadn't considered that till now. There's a lot more to him than we've gotten to see and I hope he comes back

[@GhostofNykr]

Did we all know they never going to show Chief's face maybe if Chief dies it's going to be a headshot so we don't even get to see his face in the light

[@thegreatcannoli189]

Wow, you just made me love halo 4 more than i already do. I'm officially convinced now that halo 4 has the best story.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

Vying with Halo 2, which arguably 'tells' its story better... (particular for Arbiter's plot)

[@LafBoi]

Just stumbled upon this video, I know it’s been a good minute since it’s been uploaded but thank you for this. This is the type of video i think a lot of us needed. I noticed during halo 4 chief had changed in almost a dramatic fashion, and this video kind of solidified my thoughts on the matter. I’ve never really given the books a read, so maybe I should do that. Again, great video. Always a pleasure seeing your content.

[@misfit4816]

this mans got me crying for the didact and chief

[@chiefsenpai969]

Can you please make a video regarding Halo 3 ODST? I know that many, if not all, don't like it much because of the fact that you're "too" vulnerable. But that's the reality. Isn't it? We are just humans and not super-soldiers. Humans who can easily die. Please, if you can, do make a video on this topic. And yeah, I liked your content.

[@chrissonofpear3657]

I rather like it, despite occasional cheesy feel.

[@lightmetro7508]

People don't like ODST? its a wonderful game!

[@lightmetro7508]

@Let Volir Heretic Hero well we all have wrong opinions I guess.

[@cozyapustaja8249]

Damn, there’s a lot of little parallels I didn’t notice. Great video, dude

[@thereefshark]

This is a great breakdown of Halo 4's story. Well done!

[@brianmead7556]

Halo 6: Master Chief Gives His Therapist Vicarious PTSD

[@maximumwolfe9462]

Didact: *You Persist Too Long After Your Own Defeat* Me: Woah, that's like, Fuckin mean

[@shadowsift]

Well written script and well narrated! Enjoyed the video thank you.

[@gamerchief7740]

This made me rethink everything about the chief and the Didact, the way the Didact represents that "war machine" chief is becoming is really interesting, amazing video.

[@Blade4952]

It really makes me sad that so many hated H4's story, I loved the deeper story that treated me like an adult reading a book rather than a child being told a story. It also brought of John's nature from the books which I thought was very satisfying as a fan who felt an almost distaste for the books from Bungie. With the introduction of Blue team in H5 they could have done so much if they kept to the H4 storytelling rather than overly dumbing it down into "Cortana is generic villain blah!" I am hoping they strike a good balance in the future.

[@classicmenswear9850]

I’ve played every game more times than I can count and I personally think that Halo 4 was an amazing change of style for Halo. I’m almost certain that Halo 4 was the first game in the series that I genuinely balled my eyes out to, and despite the faults in the multiplayer its campaign is definitely one of my all time favourites

[@chilledge7637]

wow I just clicked this out of curiosity but you got a sub out of me. The detail and almost epiphany I felt when I heard you description of the Didact and Chief. Wonderful video love the depth

[@Madchris8828]

This may be an older video, you may never see this, but I just want to say you've reinvigorated my passion and love for a franchise I had nearly forgotten. Your effort you put into you videos shines as I see the beautiful emotional side of Halo coming back together. You may not know me, but you are kickass for doing this man. Keep it up 😁👍

[@blackwing7999]

*insert comment about halo 4 being bad*

[@omnissiah1119]

People have outgrown that mindset, I think, Halo 4 was an incredible game, artistically, but wasn't good mechanically. EDIT: And by artistically I'm not talking about the art style...

[@approvingduck1]

*INSERT COMMENT ABOUT HALO5 BEING BAD*

[@takaro0]

''Halo 4's story is about Chief being confronted with his own future: An old soulless machine of war robbed of his youth and perfected for war. THIS is the future that Cortana is scared of for Chief. The Didact became a soulless war machine that was sharpened for war... and will chief become the same?'''' THIS is the theme I thought and hoped that Halo 5 was going to dig deeper in. Like Chief was going to do something horrible bc he thought he could bring back Cortana and that would be the reason he's hunted and that Locke might have to kill him. 343 really dropped the ball on some epic, emotional and thought provoking stuff for something that is down right garbage that is H5. Halo 4, you're not that fun to play but your story deserve alot of love. And yes, The Didact deserve some love too. He's a good written character.

[@ironaspect6850]

Beautiful video and thoughts. Great perspectives!

[@dutchvanderlin8821]

Really great video! Captured my thoughts on H4 very well, and you Brought up some points I missed. I would love to see more videos like this. Sorry if my English is bad, I speak Ugandan.

[@agentgamma771-08-B]

Halo4's ending was best

[@Ghost7065]

Can we all agree that Cortana is HOT!!

[@beoxsgaming9388]

This is one of the best reviews / retrospectives of the Halo 4. Some of what you said is why I like the campaign so much. Other things you brought up I never even thought about. I appreciate the hard work and deep thinking.

[@davidnolan9169]

This is my favourite video that you have ever done.

[@deeman010gdj]

I really don't understand why everyone thinks that chief is "broken". He is perfect. He shows us what we should be in order to combat the horrors. I don't understand why the Didact is screwed up either. His genetic modifications allow him to better express what he was made to do. That type of optimization leads me to believe that the Forerunners were a society that very efficiently allocated their "human" resources/ manpower.

[@solidsnake9477]

deeman010gdj Then you obviously ain't looking hard enough. Chief isn't perfect because in the books he sometimes questions what he's fighting for. I think that in The Flood Chief actually thought about going off the grid so he wouldn't hurt anyone. As for the Ur-Didact the Gravemind mind-raped him to the point of no return plus spending a 100 thousand years trapped inside a cryptum would break you.

[@deeman010gdj]

Which was why I disliked the books. I feel like they humanized the Spartans too much and I also never got any of that from any of the games until 343 took over.

[@LateNightHalo]

Have you ever read real stories about societies that use caste systems/child soldiers? Spoiler alert, it NEVER ends well

[@deeman010gdj]

Are you insinuating that a caste system by itself is wrong? I would argue that it's served its purpose in many civilizations as it kept order for hundreds of years and that some of those civilizations are still alive. Although, do agree that from our modern moral perspective, it seems very backwards. Isn't the use of child soldiers in Halo rooted in the survival of the human race? I would have no problem in saying that every human being subconsciously believes the survival of the human race is good. So we'll be comparing the use of child soldiers to being annihilated as a species. The use of child soldiers in Africa, for example, is most likely due to the lack of troops to fight for a particular cause. Their cause most probably being, having a particular leader keep or obtain power over a certain region. I would argue the the above is of little concern to most human beings. We do not care about who in particular is in power but how the population is doing under them and how the future of that population will be. So what's being compared in that scenario is the use of child soldiers to some political leader being in power. I do not think that the survival of the human race and having a particular human continue to be in power or to obtain power is comparable. Even if you escalate it to a particular human being's life or a group of human being's lives (if that's on the line), I do believe that most would see that the survival of the race is always more value. I read the books but I never understood the need to humanize the spartans. Maybe it makes for better story telling because it appeals to our own emotions? They've always seemed more like tools in the Halo Universe to tell stories/ world build. It's so strange seeing the new direction of the series because from my game play, I don't think I've ever seen the chief ever react to marines in his squad dying. Of course, I've never really paid much attention to the books. I've read them but I'm one of those individuals who believes that the game (if that is the original source) should be given importance over other companion media such as the comics and books. Sorry for the long text, been a fan of your channel for a long time and I'm excited in interacting with you.

[@sage_thunderleaf487]

Hey LNG, I really enjoyed your video on why you dislike Halo 5's enhanced mobility. It was very well thought out and I appreciated the time and effort you put into it. However, I was wondering if maybe you could do a follow up on it by talking about ways to correct the mistakes 343 made with it for Halo 6 in a way to where the mobility will be more fluid and natural, if such a way exists. If you don't wanna do that though, I understand. I just though I would put the idea out there. Keep up the great content

[@nassim1173]

I love and remember this Channel for ever

[@toby-wankanobi1385]

I love how basically the entire video focused on Chief