THE RETURN OF THE FLOOD - NEW Spartan Combat Forms EXPLAINED & A NEW GRAVEMIND?

[@HiddenXperia]

Spent my birthday editing this bad boy yesterday so ENJOY! I am now the ripe old age of 27, my knees hurt and my back is starting to creak...

[@thelowground7741]

Happy birthday

[@markdevonport3274]

Happy belated birthday

[@Geekasaurus18]

Happy birthday just dont get infected cause we all need more flood lore

[@brak5638]

Happy bday old man, heres to many more

[@viscotel]

Happy birthday man. Depressed a multiplayer update is the first we see the flood in infinite but I guess it's better than not at all. Here's hoping for more flood in future campaign dlc

[@jingle9691]

I think the most terrifying part of the flood is that it doesnt truly kill you but assimilates you into the hive mind.

[@Titanos-vc6zh]

The easiest way to get connected with friends! Imagine you are just chilling in the hive mind and a friend gets infected. "Hey! They got you too? That's too bad. At least we have each other!"

[@m16-a2]

@@Titanos-vc6zh And there you lay, for all eternity...

[@Meowtro]

You're basically dead though, they take everything that makes you who you are.

[@xenowilson]

Agreed

[@krankenhaus4545]

@@Titanos-vc6zh Connected with agonizing pain and horrors beyond the human imagination!

[@HazopGaze]

As much as I love the Flood lore... I love how there's a subtle yet probably unintentional tidbit with the armor. Notice how none of the corrupted armor is directly hazard-containment related. It tells me that the infected Spartans were caught out or went into a threat zone unprepared. It also reinforces my headcanon that if you're a Flood Containment Fireteam member, you're among the best of the best, because only the best can survive the Flood.

[@JTruong3rd]

And every one of those members are likely equipped with an state of the art on-board Smart-AI to assist and potentially prevent infection like what Cortana did to save Chief. Can't spare any expenses to deal with the flood

[@Golems_victory]

So wait, it’s possible to beat the flood through weapon means and no halo rings needed?

[@JTruong3rd]

@dannyadam4972 it's been done before with ancient humans but how they did it was lost to everyone thanks to the forerunners being dicks.

[@Golems_victory]

@@JTruong3rd yeah forerunners are like grublins from Spyro dawn of the dragon XD they dumb XD yes I made a Spyro reference on a halo video comment section. Because I damn can..XD also without the plot armor Spyro has he wouldn’t have been able to pull Cynder free from MALEFOR’S golems grip XD 😈😜🤪😝😈🔥

[@frylad]

​​@@JTruong3rdwait, did it get retconnd again? Might be wrong but I swear It used to be that the ancient humans were losing the war against the flood and basically resorted to destroying any planets they found the infection on while running like hell from their own territory which is why they ended up at war with the forerunners. The 'cure' they had was either a bluff by the flood to trick them into a false sense of security, or a way of taunting the forerunners with something that didn't exist. Edit: went and double checked. The first book of the forerunner trilogy stated humanity had a cure but it was revealed in the 2nd or 3rd book that it was just the grave mind screwing with them and that there was no cure. I haven't seen anything since then to change that, but if you know where it says otherwise I'd love to know since I like reading about pre cannon lore. At the moment I'd say no, the only "victory" over the flood that wasn't small scale or temporary was the halo array and even that could be considered a Pyrrhic victory at best. I'm counting anything contained within one star system as small scale due to it being a galaxy wide threat.

[@incredibilis4024]

I see flood, I click

[@Randomdude-t7e]

Me too

[@HiddenXperia]

🤝

[@dogesquad4077]

Yes 🤝

[@timothyburns9154]

Same

[@odinulveson9101]

Click serves the hivemind, obey

[@DeathTempler]

Can we all agree Dee Bradley Baker should return to voice the Gravemind? I'm sure there's plenty of other actors who could do it justice, but his unique talent voicing monsters is legendary.

[@RicardoPerez-rz8pu]

No one does the gravemind better than Brady Baker

[@HiddenXperia]

A billion times yes

[@RosheenQuynh]

OMG PLEASEEEEE His Gravemind voice is one of my stims!!

[@JayPlusForerunner]

And clone bois

[@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 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’re 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

[@DeadGothicRed]

From what I remember, most newer generations of Mjölnir have a failsafe that if the SPARTAN is infected somehow that the suit will overload and detonate the fusion pack. But evidently one team of SPARTANS didn't have that happen. Also remember that the flood can corrupt and control technology as well.

[@postalknight69]

its also in the intel drops on waypoint, the suit tried to execute the failsafe and it failed, as the flood injected its code into the armor and took control

[@DeadGothicRed]

@postalknight69 that's what I figured happened. I know it's not Grimdark like WH40K but it's still pretty scary having an infected super soldier running around.

[@pramusetyakanca1552]

I sometimes forget The Flood are smart as hell, Jesus

[@toringmort4231]

that's literally what the intel drop is about

[@Odinfang]

Very well aware of this and good chance the flood figures out how to override spartan tech from those it infected already. Hell, the flood can evolve into an AI replacement for a spartan aid in battle with its hive awareness, strategizing with lesser flood to infect planets and population centers more effectively. With flood also demonstrating they can lace rounds and explosives potentially, infection is assured in plenty of cases.

[@GamingxKnight]

3:31 little bit of a mistake. Cortana wasn't with Chief in the Library, but rather she saved him from being infected on the Pillar of Autumn.

[@HiddenXperia]

Oh yeah my b, been hot hot minute since I read The Flood

[@devincorns409]

I was gonna say..

[@GamingxKnight]

@@HiddenXperia Haha only reason why I know that is because I just finished listening to the audiobook not that long ago and forgot Chief nearly got infected so it stood out to me. You still know far more about Halo than I do and I come to you for all my lore needs and entertainment.

[@kx7500]

That moment felt like a desperate attempt by the writer to put something interesting in the story near the end of the book. And like over half of it was just describing you playing the game lol. Forerunner trilogy looks way better

[@Brady_Boy_Gaming]

So cool to see them bringing the flood back into the main games. All i ask for now is that they actually put it into the campaign and multiplayer. Imagine having some sort of hoard mode with Ai flood kinda like zombies in ways but more halo. Edit: I mean they did just add AI enemies to multiplayer so 343 let's get this cart movin already

[@Danny344S]

They better make the next halo m rated

[@vibes_4225]

considering all of the flood lore we've been given recently, i'm guessing that they're working on flood ai to add to the wargames simulation to train spartans against the flood since a group of spartans were recently infected by the flood, and the unsc is probably trying to prepare the spartans at the academy as quickly as possible so that it flood spartans never happen again

[@nezarecdiscipleofthewitnes3823]

Nope keep them away from the Flood. 343 will ruin it just like the franchise.

[@luca_lwls]

I doubt that they would add Flood to the multiplayer before the campaign (besides the armor ofc), I think they're saving them up for a huge reveal in the next campaign, I think anything other than that would be pretty anticlimactic

[@RetrovexAmbient]

Or they just wont do anything with them, knowing 343 theyll just drop this and not pursue anything flood related after this

[@drag0nmancer]

Dont forget that the host organism thats infected, their consciousness still exists, its just trapped in a body it cant control. The gravemind can still talk to and interact with the original inhabitants consciousness, they just cant physically responds. So the description of the Rusalka armor is the Gravemind trying to wear down any mental resistance the host consciousness is trying to maintain. Trying to convince them to give up so that way the gravemind can continue unimpeded. This is happens in the Halo books when people like Key's were infected and effectively prisoners in their own now alien body as per the Halo books.

[@bable6314]

This is especially true for individuals who are implanted with a neural lace, such as officers (like Captain Keyes) and, yes, Spartans.

[@epicdude3659]

You wanna know the best part of all this? A day or two before the season started, YT recommended your old video about what happens when a Spartan gets infected.

[@HiddenXperia]

The algorithm has the logic plague

[@brak5638]

Always a welcoming feeling to see HiddenXperia excitedly giving a video on some new Halo content. Keep up the good work mate.

[@Marlo-138]

The Flood needs to come to Firefight in Halo Infinite. And just to add to your comment at 21:51, this is exactly why I plan to wear Tarnished Olympus coating. We've never truly had an opportunity to battle the Flood as our Spartans. Halo 4 infection doesn't count. I'm talking about battling the Flood just like John-117 in the main Halo trilogy. That's the sort of PvE Flood experience I've been craving for over 20 years. I would like to see more coatings added that have blood on them. Primarily Covenant/Banished alien blood. Orange blood of Hunters. Blue blood of Grunts. Purple blood of Elites. There was a small section at the beginning of The Fall Of Reach where a bunch of naval officers reacted to seeing John-117 in his armor. They weren't just dumbstruck by seeing a Spartan in person, but a Spartan that was covered in blood from days of endless battle. I want that gritty, battle-hardened appearance.

[@leemorgan5560]

It needs to come back to campaign

[@NestorKYAT]

Oof that would be a huge W for 343

[@odinulveson9101]

Yesyesyes! Also include real time dynamic infection animations if a flood pod infection form latches unto you after shields are down and half health etc. Or in very dense infection spore form mist. You can choose to respawn and possible fight your former self or spectate your flood form with all the armor customization turned grose and fight your teammates😂

[@Sonof_DRN2004]

Imagine a flood coated coating with a green gooey right hand, and a name to reference the moment Master Chief put Keyes out of his misery.

[@KingHeavyTankConnoisseur]

I agree fighting the flood would be dope

[@Merrick117]

4:35 I mean, it seems possible that the flood could penetrate spartan armor, considering back in halo 1 343 Guilty Spark stated that chiefs armor was scanned to be a "class 2 model combat skin" and then recommends that he needs at least a class 12 to properly combat the flood. Also kinda shows you how much more advanced forerunner tech was back then, even to the current standards, and they still lost the war...

[@Dylan_Eccles]

The flood are the only horror thing that actively scares me as a fully grown adult. The mission Cortana in halo 3 has done some permanent damage to me from playing it as a kid. I remember the first time I ever beat it after putting it off for literal years, it left me shaking for almost an hour.

[@andusensei]

Throughout watching this all I could think of is the potential of a flood spinoff game. Imagine being a researcher stuck in a UNSC research facility, being hunted by these spartan flood forms. So much potential.

[@sa-amirel-hayeed699]

Lol there's no way that game would have an ending where the character survives

[@agentnukaz1715]

There is a fan made flood game in the works.

[@agentnukaz1715]

The branching sickness

[@andusensei]

@@sa-amirel-hayeed699 Good! The darker and more imposing the flood are made out to be, the better. Not every game needs a happy ending.

[@kx7500]

They can’t even do a main game lol

[@Navyassassin781]

Me seeing the new infected Spartans: NO! NO GOD PLEASE NO!

[@cyriell]

The flood tentacle whip thing is pretty much allready a thing in awaking the nightmare opening of high charity scene when some pure forms use their tenticles to expose weak spot in the armor of the brutes and ensnaring them (like exposing the neck of a brute in that clip)

[@garrettv7421]

Let’s gooooo The Flood are back!!! Love to see the enthusiasm so excited to see the videos you cook up with the new lore

[@ZealotPara]

I've gained an appreciation and deep fear for cosmic horror recently, and getting back into Halo lately has been a treat for a number of reasons but The Flood being the literal definition of cosmic horror makes me unbelievably excited and terrified. I'm wearing my brown pants today. Anyways happy birthday Luc!

[@pileoweirdness]

The excitement in him at the start sent dopamine through my spine, that's how happy he looks Glad the Flood's back, hope they do more with it

[@Titanos-vc6zh]

For not getting any official story to go with this, he did really well! Being a lore junkie myself, this is really fun!

[@gesprite8971]

I genuinely think if 343 were to add flood forms into Halo Infinites forge we would see full on campaigns be made. I just have been blown away by what’s been made in just a week.

[@bable6314]

We'd finally get Halo 3 Anniversary lol

[@Ace2up]

This armor shows that the CORRUPTOR Protocol was never used due to the campaign showing no UNSC Frigates survived the war to enact on the CORRUPTOR Protocol to destroy the Infected Spartan Combat Form

[@Thekidwho3949]

What there is still a whole unsc fleet still what are you talking about sure there's nun on zeta halo but that's it

[@Ace2up]

@@Thekidwho3949 If you’re talking about the academy sure but since the academy had to go dark to not let the Banish find them which was compromised due to the banished AI taking over the academy and on top they wouldn’t know about the infected spartans roaming the flood controlled areas of the Halo Ring to send a strike team to denote a warhead to destroy them because I doubt they would still have UNSC prowlers left due to the war with the created and the war with banished

[@Robitron2084]

?? The UNSC fleet at large is still around and fighting the banished on several fronts. Another ship of the same design as the Infinity, the UNSC Eternity was built. The loss of the infinity was a huge blow to the UNSC, but they still have Earth, Tribute, and several other colonies.

[@A_Productions]

In the lore thing, the Halo Infinite in-game Intel Drops, it says that self destruction measures were activated but something was actively changing the code and canceled the procedure

[@Thekidwho3949]

@@Ace2up dude the flood shit does not happen on the ring and are you slow the unsc is huge one ai can't destroy everything there are still plenty of ships that can bombard shit and also you do know long swords and short swords can bot cary nukes

[@horrorpleb249]

Hearing Hidden being so happy with new flood lore and being so optimistic while talking about the new lore just makes me so happy. THE FLOOD ARE BACK!!!!!

[@lonelystarboy]

The fact that the Primordial / Graveminds consciousness can never be destroyed it really shows the power of a 5 dimensional being.

[@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 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’re 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]

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 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’re 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.

[@GOJO2238]

The flood: GIVE ME YOUR KNEE CAPS

[@atthoricus]

Yum yum yum knee caps yum yum yum

[@celestialspartan1176]

I think it’s safe to say that the Awakening The Nightmare DLC was just the beginning for The Flood’s return. You can hold off the swarm, but it’ll always come back. They are hungry. They’re preparing. They will rise again.

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

But they got all killed off and contained again…

[@sonicrunn3r895]

⁠@@jakespacepiratee3740Defeat is never permanent for the Flood. In the words of the Gravemind in Halo 3, “Defeat is simply the addition of time to a sentence I never deserved... but you imposed”. They will return, it's just a matter of time…

[@jakespacepiratee3740]

@@sonicrunn3r895 They sure seem to be imposed on a lot for something so powerful.

[@Arander92]

If that’s the case, then what’s the point of fighting them? They’re just gonna keep coming back, which means they’re gonna win eventually. Why bother? This is the problem with doing something new in Halo. Good or bad, the fanbase hates it and they demand something familiar, even if it doesn’t make sense. Like the Flood coming back(almost as bad as Palpatine in TROS), or insisted on MC ALWAYS being the main character. We’re just too desperate for the old magic back to realize it’s gone and never coming back

[@sonicrunn3r895]

@@Arander92 The difference between the Flood’s return and Palpatine is that nowhere is it said that all the Flood in the galaxy have been wiped out. Palpatine is one guy and bringing him back with no foreshadowing undermines the victory of previous characters in a way that simply “we only stopped one possible source of an invasion” doesn’t

[@TheJakeo147]

They really need to make a side game survival against a flood containment gone wrong and you can be a civilian, a marine, odst, or Spartan. Even adding a banished side where you can be a grunt, a elite, a Brute or jackel. This would definitely make me start playing again

[@Pack52022]

Not sure if its a hot take but the flood is the most terrifying infection in fiction in my opinion. Unless there's something im missing

[@kingrushy4533]

Necromorphs are up there with them

[@bable6314]

The Flood is terrifyingly grotesque. The best description of the Flood that I've heard is this: "the corpse of a dead god, come to life." It's very Lovecraftian.

[@nobodyhere7761]

17:35 In the Halo Wars 2 flood cutscene, we saw different combat forms use their whip like arms to grab at the brutes and hold them in place/trip them up. They were rather effective.

[@That1greykight0666]

Imagine if we still have seasonal cinema-tics seeing the flood come back and hearing the grave minds voice

[@Lockdown7263]

Finally! Something flood related! Only took em 3 games

[@shangothunder1055]

The Flood were in Halo Wars 2…

[@ViperSRT3g]

The defiled sniper description is a callback to a USMC bootcamp idiom. The drill instructors would yell out AT&T and the recruits would respond with Reach out and touch someone when it came time to catch up in a hump (hike) where the lines were getting too dispersed and gaps started forming. The recruits would have to reach out and touch the recruit in front of them so everyone was within arms reach of their neighbors.

[@virtualtrashbin2610]

Or in some cases close enough to grab their cargo pockets

[@evoheretic9370]

Feels so good to have a iconic flood video!

[@JoshuaAndres]

I like the idea of giving different graveminds different names, the one on Delta Halo should obviously be called ‘the monument of sins’

[@ledaric7742]

Flood Spartans would be actually scary like more then the normal forms we see. Imagine a infected spartan tearing threw a unsc base or 1v1ing chief

[@wyattmaniscalco3090]

20:27 the halo sniper is chambered in 14.5x144mm, which is a caliber developed by the Soviet Union for anti tank rifles (if you’ve ever played World at War, it’s the round the PTRS fires). It has double the kinetic energy of .50BMG

[@AKIS_Proto]

Fun fact, the Kraber-AP in the original titanfall also uses this caliber.

[@michaelsullivan8497]

18:47 I mean, didn’t the books mention how super cells would do this. They’d sneakily convert as much as they could without alerting the host and then immediately convert the rest at an opportune moment as a sleeper agent of sorts?

[@Pheonixflamez10]

"We are outside you but you are within us" Who been having convos with extradimensional beings?

[@mattl9084]

Been waiting for more flood lore for what feels like forever

[@octocatpug2327]

"every tentacle fans favorite dream" oh how your innocence blinds you

[@Bi9Clapper]

Speaking of gravemind quotes i still can't get over the fact that the Harbinger quoted the gravemind 1 for 1 and what exactly that means. I agree i think 343 is slowly cbut surely setting up a flood return

[@alexlyster3459]

Agreed. I hope it isn't too soon though. I want the Endless to be done properly and not just "haha, it was the Flood all along!"

[@shangothunder1055]

@@alexlyster3459Exactly

[@shangothunder1055]

Nah the Floods story finished and has been done to death it’s time for something new in the Endless which 343 has hyped up for being immune to the Flood. No need to drop a new story only to tell the same story all over again.

[@KaijuDinoLover26727]

After nearly 20 years since we last saw them in halo 3 The flood are finally back and with full force aswell with infected spartans FINALLY BEING CANON to the halo universe

[@dovahkiin7253]

Bro we saw them in halo wars 2 it hasn't been that long

[@KUNARO19XA1]

Dude I keep saying this but I'm so on top of this I hope to god we get flood ai for forge mode and maybe we'll get campaign dlc with flood because if you remember there was a hidden chamber with the flood and it was locked up

[@theknave1915]

Right before season 5. They published their lore blurb that said CORRUPTOR was in effect. And the meme of bender saying "yep, we're boned" came to my head.

[@absoluteduck6376]

FLOOD IS BACK PARTY

[@TheSquattingSquatch]

They gotta find out what made the Spartan 1's immune to Flood infection and add that stuff back into the formula lmao, a Flood-infected Spartan sounds terrifying

[@SleepyKurisu]

I definitely feel like there's a bit more then just teasing going on with the descriptions of the new flood armor sets I mean the community has wanted the return of the flood for a while now and this would be the perfect way to hide that 343 is doing it in the next game By finally giving us flood infested spartans as cosmetics and actually giving a bit of thought to the detail summaries

[@shangothunder1055]

Nah the Floods story finished and has been done to death it’s time for something new in the Endless which 343 has hyped up for being immune to the Flood. No need to drop a new story only to tell the same story all over again.

[@applenewmoon4402]

@@shangothunder1055 keep seeing you with these bad opinions

[@ItzKyber]

about the whip thing, the flood are seen using their tendrils as a sort of whip in one of the awakening the nightmare cutscenes

[@Heartman77]

I'm wondering if the Rusalka armor might be the appearance of the infected Spartan mentioned in the Reckoning Intel. Since almost every armor kit we've gotten has been some sort of character from the Halo universe, there might be a possibility that this could be the case. Ik you mentioned the meaning behind the Rusalka name, but didn't go into further detail about the legend. Rusalka (in modern interpretations) is an undead spirit of a woman who had drowned or died near a body of water, and would essentially lead others to a watery death as well. There might be some levity to the idea, considering how much The Flood tend to have lots of water motifs (the literal name plus the ebb and flow quote from the gravemind).

[@lofiriguy]

The Flood is the most terrifying antagonist in any fiction I've ever consumed. Absolutely stellar concept.

[@monstrospotatoes8484]

It’s also worth mentioning that the contamination event in season 4 looks like there’s flood spores in the background.

[@alexissoto5825]

There are still so many things about the flood that still don’t make sense, i hope that can become clear in the future

[@DropDedDundrHed]

FLOOD LOOOOOORE! Been waiting for this video for sure

[@birdienator7377]

So with the gravemind intelligence thing is it basically like the gravemind cloud saved it's knowledge and consciousness to the universe? So when a new one is made it just downloads the cloud saved data? Happy birthday aswell btw!

[@sabersurge4936]

I really hope this season is foreshadowing to whats to come in the campaign. If it comes.

[@shangothunder1055]

Nope the Floods story finished and has been done to death it’s time for something new in the Endless which 343 has hyped up for being immune to the Flood. No need to drop a new story only to tell the same story all over again.

[@warbrand2]

One thing to remember about the flood, it doesn't kill it adds you to it. And the flood has been known to let a few keep their minds.... yeah.... that is scary, being mutated into a beast or bieng that willingly and keeping your mind.

[@TheNinjaCoby]

A gravmind "Ai" would be great.

[@isaacadams8014]

I think it would be cooler in infection gameplay with the flood that when you die to an infected, instead of responding to the other side you mutate where you died and transform into the form.

[@JV-lz3jd]

I’m really hoping that 343 will make a short horror story of what happened to the Spartan containment team or the personnel that were working on that dig site because I have so many questions as to what’s going on in that dig site.?

[@reecewilson223]

Infected bullets arnt too big of a stretch, hollow points filled with flood spore could be plausible, i dont think hollow points could break through spartan armor though.

[@TheSplatterCat]

I do agree on the orange bubble like things on the armor and the flood from hw2, its an overrated detail for zombie/parasites from different games.

[@CHR-0-MA]

Overrated, maybe, but the Flood have always had them in some capacity, think back to the Combat Evolved infection forms

[@observingeye9579]

@@CHR-0-MA i think it'd be better if they had that sickly green glow rather than the new orange

[@Your-Least-Favorite-Stranger]

@@CHR-0-MA They have had them but its never been a core part of their design; the bulbous rotten mass and tendrils with exposed veins/feelers/nerve endings were their largest identifying features. There's an insectoid/annelid look as well (looking at the balloon-like infection forms with the chitinous conical, almost segmented back). Any illuminated points tend to highlight weakpoints rather than be a central part of identifying its flood - the orange bubbles here look like a generic "alien infection/parasite" trope. Its foreign to the body so it has to have pustules of infected bioluminescent goo - Im happy to see the flood again but those bubbles are so overused it just doesnt fit. The muted organic design has always been a terrifying aspect of the flood - they dont immediately have this identifier that says "Hey im a bad alien and your friend is dead, you can tell by the bubbles", they just deform slowly and retain aspects of their human life. A neck might snap and the head remain attached at an unnatural angle, their last moments of agony painted across the face, or a limb might hang at an odd angle with small feelers extending from a break in the elbow or shoulder: flood benefit from mimicking their prey, playing on the psychological connection to those lost. The bubbles detract from that - its just another generic alien infection identifier.

[@TheSplatterCat]

@@CHR-0-MA I think it was green rather than orange, could be wrong tho.

[@CHR-0-MA]

@@TheSplatterCat yeah, it was green, I was mainly referring to just the pustules, but HW2 introduced the orange coloration

[@p5studios742]

the 4th episode /should/ come out on halloween, either way, great video! im going to probably have nightmares of being stuck in flood hives now :)

[@Sonof_DRN2004]

It would be really cool to see a skull flood version of master chief’s helmet, kinda like the one from H2A infection multiplayer games. Maybe it could be rewarded if you get max rank and max rank in Firefight.

[@taytoflame2314]

Happy birthday my dude! 🎉 And damn, the FLOOD!!!

[@TheHakitser]

don't the spartan armours have an automatic self destruct sequence that blows them up like a nuke in case the spartan dies? or when they become infected? would like to know if i'm wrong and a explanation how the flood manages to circumvent the nuke protocol.

[@robofreak425]

Based on the lore bits explained by others, the flood started pouring in their own code to interfere with the armor systems during the infection process. It happened so quickly that the armor lock didn't engage and neither did the suit reactor go off.

[@YourFreund]

Every time I see the flood grapple, I think back to marvel zombies spider man using his veins and nervous system as a substitute to his web shooters.

[@mythelementz]

I like how everyone got something from infinite returning brutes, classic look, old and new armor, flood customizable flood gear, firefight, infection gamemode and more

[@NEWGHOST9]

The gravemind could be destroyed for good i feel if every single flood spore was entirely destroyed but seeing as there are many samples of them stored throughout the galaxy and possibly more in deep space that'd be a hard task to accomplish But the consciousness would probably still remain without a host for it to ever inhabit theiretically Honestly flood could be sooo fun to see new types to fight i sure hope they plan on bringing back flood and other enemies for halo infinite would be soo fun to fight the enemies not in infinite with the infinite sandbox

[@sarahthesarah2850]

I have a theory that even if every single flood spore was completely destroyed it could still come back by manipulating intelligent life that managed to connect to the neural psyche 5th dimension. Like a logic plague, but dimensional. Nanite Flood that carries the Flood Mind is a horrific concept.

[@JonStark117]

*Happy Birthday HiddenXperia…Happy that Season 5 and the resurgence of Halo Infinite came just in time for your Birthday!🎉🥳*

[@shmuel6246]

Just remembered the Flood whip arms... 343 Definitely could have made a game play animation for the grapple shot where your spartan shoots a Flood tendril instead to pull you across rooms🫨 Love your Vids! Glad to finally see another lore video for the best enemy Halo ever made

[@22lagoon]

They did do that lol

[@blahblah3775]

They... Literally did that... He literally shows that in the video

[@sabrenasser6238]

I love your uploads. Your voice adds so much more to the lore then just the words.

[@trust3474]

According to folklore, rusalki (plural for rusalka) were once women who either committed suicide by drowning due to unhappy circumstances such as a poor marriage, or they were violently drown against their will. The second part of that origin might hint towards maybe a twisted ONI experiment to study the flood by causing a spartan to get infected unwittingly. Given that the CORRUPTER protocol was issued, maybe the subject escaped the lab.

[@evrickwilliams3817]

LEETTSSS GOOOO

[@SS-2178]

‘Sing victory everlasting’ one of the sets of words spoken by the gravemind from H3

[@Bary_McCokner]

I had to explain the neural physics concept of Halo to a coworker just a few hours ago. I told him to consider the word "physics" and some of its most basic principles. Two of them being the laws of conservation - mass and energy, and explained that all data, knowledge, wisdom, everything that every sentient creature has ever experienced, behaves by the same set of rules. Flood is so horrifically terrifying because it's capable of tapping into this fount of knowledge.

[@thatbr1t1shguy]

Hopefully cross core comes soon so we can see what it's like on other armour.

[@The63stToast]

The Gravemind is definitely rubbing his hands together with glee that he has a new toy to play with

[@jasonhadfield3902]

So cant wait to see flood return in campaign. Hopefully we see this soon.

[@shangothunder1055]

You’re setting yourself up for disappointment then. It’s the new big baddies will be the Endless which 343 has hyped up for being immune to the Flood. No need to drop a new story only to tell the same story all over again.

[@ThatLazyOtakuVT]

WE NEED TO REVIVE THE GRAVE MIND AND CONTINUE HIS MISSION

[@atthoricus]

Yes.

[@calebvartanian9852]

i actually screamed "YEAAAH" when you said another flood lore video

[@holdenwelch1166]

For the grapple thing, look at one of the trailers for halo wars 2 flood mode, they have some that do almost exactly that

[@ThePyrusKnight]

That bit you mentioned about combat forms mutating to secrete flood-stuff in blightlands reminded of something in canon. An Infection Form managed to infiltrate the UNSC Spirit of Fire during the later missions of Halo Wars 1 and broke into a crew member's cryopod during the timeskip. When it realised that it was the only Flood Form on the ship, the Infection form sacrificed it's host body to mutate into a Carrier and spawn a bunch more Infection Forms, abusing the former host's knowledge (and Serina's rampancy induced experimentation) to infect more crew members.

[@DHCR-core]

Something interesting to note about the Sapper chestpiece- It's the Flood attempting a form of asset denial. Render the grenades unusable so that no E.O.D. attempts can happen. While I question the logic (i.e. why can't the Flood just use the grenades or discard them) it's still a neat idea.

[@WeaponizedAutism7]

You really should do a deep dive into Chimera lore, it’s one of the least talked about aspects of canon and it’s really interesting

[@WHOOOOOOOME]

That flood infected spartan story is gonna be amazing when Xperia covers it!

[@MishraArtificer]

The way you described that ONI scientist infecting a party or a city street at random made me say out loud, "someone call the Ordo Xenos, we found a Genestealer Cult...again."

[@danielr1690]

Ty Hidden finally the flood video I was waiting for

[@fotherphrogg]

All Graveminds, past, present, and future, share the exact same mind. This sentience is stored within the flood spores themselves, like in a cooler. The Gravemind of Halo 3 is the exact same group of Keyminds from the Forerunner War, just made of different biomass. Just thought I should say that since you seemed to struggle to say that.

[@elizabethrhodes4820]

I love your vids especially your Flood lore videos, and Halo's my favorite game ever! Your the BEST!!!

[@TexasDinoHunter]

I just read through the “Saturn devours his Son” on Halo Waypoint, and it is DEFINITELY a good read. I got chills reading it.

[@WDG1999]

My guess towards the use of the grapple tendril is to help compensate for the shear weight of the Mjolnir armor

[@agentnukaz1715]

Missed opportunity to have the arm tenticle and chest infection form. They could've come up with better designs in general.

[@chickendmac9085]

I’ve been starving for more flood content, and this video has watered my dehydrated flood flower, WE NEED MOOOORRRREEEEEEEE 🎉

[@Ironhide16]

It feels like the second release of Infinite. Its so hype right now

[@chipsdubbo9589]

I have always loved Halo Lore from HiddenXperia I use them to study thanks Hidden

[@ghoulishtheories7979]

“We are outside you.” “But you are within us.” I know this has several meanings to it, but I wonder if it could be a hint about the flood outside of the galaxy. Either way, I’m glad they’re fleshing the flood out more.

[@unknownusrname]

Yoo, its cool that you made this on your birthday and it came out on my birthday, pretty cool.

[@dogalolo]

Great video! Since the first reveal of the Flood-themed cosmetics, I immediately went and played Halo CE (for the first time!) and devoured rounds of Floodfight on the MCC. I seriously love the idea that those coatings could be used by Spartans volunteering on Flood Containment Fireteams! I know for certain that my Spartan would do their damnedest to fight back the parasite-- and I never even considered that there's no true end to the Flood, thanks to your 1 a.m. philosophy. Looking forward to more HiddenXperia videos, as always!

[@witzer]

Loving the In Utero shirt. Perfect album cover art for the floody video!!