What happened to Cortana in Halo Infinite? (EXPLAINED) Why Cortana was DELETED Halo Infinite!

[@strisk2388]

The last scene between Cortana and Chief in both Halo 4 and Infinite still makes me cry. It was a good send off for her. Both times.

[@michealmurphy8985]

Should of been left at that

[@1992jamo]

@@michealmurphy8985 yep.

[@susannaahola7641]

I cry too😥

[@josephchohan5351]

She’s come back to life nearly as many times as Loki

[@otherZinc]

@@michealmurphy8985, No, no it shouldn't have.

[@maysinbell5765]

Johnson: Don't 'ever' let her go! 343: Whoops, butterfingers!

[@Chiwalker]

My thoughts on why I want Cortana to be alive: She is the first person, heck the first words uttered in this franchise. She is who half of Noble Team dies for, she is the other survivor of Halo, she sacrifices herself in Halo 2 to send you to Earth, she's who we fight through a fully infested High Charity in Halo 3 for and is our companion as we float through space with, she's who we fight everyone for to save from rampancy in Halo 4, and then she's who needs saving from herself in Halo 5. Cortana is just as essential to Halo as the Chief is. There's a reason Green & Blue is even a theme in the franchise. Hell, 343 should have listened to Sgt Johnson "Don't ever let her go". I hope there's some sort of a merging of the Weapon and Cortana or something because Cortana is just so integral to Halo.

[@otherZinc]

I agree 100%! and, I don't think she's gone...

[@jaredbills72]

The weapon is a copy of cortana. That's the merging of the two.

[@dfchang813]

It’s completely idiotic that 343 centered their entire trilogy to solve a problem that didn’t exist: Cortana. Seriously? With all the directions they could have gone they decided to pull this rampancy bullshit out of their ass, kill her off, make her the main villain in Halo 5, and then backtrack to replace her with essentially herself? If you take a step back and look at the totality of the story 343 was trying to tell it’s just a huge muddled clusterfuck.

[@fitterniti]

Nah. It's fine. This is how it should be. More western poetic and it's high time for us to move on kids. We've lost a loved one but we have a new friend and the fight must go on. 👍🏻

[@nwing07__]

@@dfchang813 it's because Chris Scherf the writer for Halo 4 stepped out when Halo 4 ended. This is exactly like the Star Wars Rise of Skywalker trilogy. The Last Jedi = Halo 5 Halo 5 really screwed Cortana's storyline so Infinite's campaign is basically a PR apology to the fans. my only hope is 343 somehow messes with the potential time travel theory with the Grand Edict and bring back Chief to save "evil" Cortana and and/or somehow merge her with the Weapon... but even then it's too late because HALO 5 exists.

[@irememberjeepz]

I’m glad Cortana came to her senses and went out as a savior rather than a genocidal dictatorial maniac. Far more believable. On that note, I love the new Cortana or whatever she plans on naming herself. I’m assuming that’s her choice or what she was hinting at at the end of the game. They better be releasing story DLC or more in the form of seasons/installments. There is so much more to explore.

[@gr3ywolf144]

She probably names herself Echo...

[@BojackTrunks]

@@gr3ywolf144 I prefer "Joy" but I have a feeling they'll stick her with Cortana. I hope that doesn't happen but it'll most likely be it since she asked Chief "Do you think it would be okay?" with Chief giving a nod then Weapon following up with "Are you sure?" to then Chief saying "YOU get to choose your name". I originally thought that she was seeking permission to choose her name outright from Chief (which could be the case), but her two questions really make it sound that she's willing to take the name "Cortana" while making sure Chief is alright with it being that the final seal of approval is Chief's "You choose" line.

[@Schwertioboy]

cortana>weapon >.>

[@jaredbills72]

Cortana is the assistant in the windows OS. Makes me think they'll try to stay with cortana. But Joy or even Joyce would make a good name too.

[@bandannadee9370]

Cortana 2 Electric Boogaloo

[@jrthehunter4309]

"Near Genocide"...🤔 I'm pretty sure blowing up Doisac is a pretty successful Genocide 😂

[@AbdulBido]

I think Genocide has to be upgraded to properly convey the meaning.. Also using multiple guardians to do it has to earn bonus points on the Hitler scale..

[@darwinjina]

Cortrana had control of the guardians and access to all defenses of the halo ring but could not defend herself against Atriox ? So, Atriox was able to capture Cortana, but Cortana caused a self-destruct.

[@narutobroken]

Yeah the story makes no sense. She had tons of Guardians and was able to destroy planets, yet somehow she was beaten by some aliens. Should have had all her guardians show up and destroy zeta halo

[@Determ1nat1on]

You both forgot the part where she was locked down by the Weapon.

[@narutobroken]

@@Determ1nat1on How did the weapon trick her to coming to zeta Halo and how did she lock down the most powerful AI in all existence? Why did she come to Zeta Halo? Its not explained. Poor script writing.

[@Determ1nat1on]

​@@narutobroken Cortana was already present on Zeta Halo by the time Infinity arrived. She used the Ring's defenses to trap Cortana and disconnect her from the Domain. She came to Zeta Halo for something to do with the Endless.

[@darwinjina]

@@Determ1nat1on Thanks for the info. I had not heard that that happened.

[@handsomegentleman7997]

I dont think the Banished were already on Zeta Halo with Cortana discussing Banished terms of surrender with Atriox. I think that happened before either were at Zeta Halo. I think the Infinity arrived and deployed the weapon asap while keeping Chief on board as defense mechanism against Cortana from destroying them. After the Weapon was deployed and soon after succeeded, the Banished arrived and surprised attacked the Infinity while also invading Zeta Halo. Then Atriox met a locked down Cortana after the battle. Definitely dont think Cortana would have allowed the Banish to land and establish themselves on the ring while she wasn't locked down by the Weapon.

[@michealmurphy8985]

They were thier before the banished did you not hear the audio logs axtoix I think whent after cortona because she destroyed thier homeworld

[@handsomegentleman7997]

@@michealmurphy8985 that’s basically what my comment said tho. UNSC arrived at Zeta Halo before the Banished

[@SuPaF1SH]

Guardian got them. Probably why their shields were down.

[@SR71ABCD]

From what I heard in the UNSC Audio logs a marine said something about The Target is here, It's HER - relating to the Cortana's arrival with her Guardian. So I'm confused Audio logs say the UNSC landed fighting the banished and Cortana arrived but in the scene where Cortana was talking to a monitor she senses the Infinity's Arrival. So someone explain who came first?

[@alyssaalestar1749]

I wish Cortana would have been reborn through merging ai and organics like they mentioned in Halo 5 or 4. I forget which one it was.

[@Sinn0100]

Why would firing the ring destroy Cortana? Halo is designed to send out a pulse killing everything with a central nervous system. Cortana does not have a central nervous system. The rings do not hurt the Monitors so the same thing should be true for Cortana.

[@Andrewbaysura1]

In previous Halo Games, Cortana herself even says that she isn't 100% AI. She is mostly AI made up of organic matter of Dr. Halsey. So... not really a Cyborg but... an AI human... thing.

[@seanathan117]

If you read the forerunner saga, you’ll find out that the rings destroy precursor architecture, which is what the domain is constructed of. She uploaded herself into whatever remained of the domain, which became the source of her galactic spanning power. By firing the ring, she would’ve destroyed the very thing that kept her alive. Read on it, it’s a phenomenal series that explores so much lore never touched on in the games, and expands the forerunner secrets we know

[@CodeguruX]

@@Andrewbaysura1 What the fucking bjesus does that even mean?

[@Andrewbaysura1]

@@CodeguruX idk but it's what the Halo lore KZbinrs kept saying a few years back.

[@himynameiscorey]

@@Andrewbaysura1 she’s not artificial intelligence because she’s composed of halsey’s real life intelligence… that being said, it doesn’t mean she’s organic material, she’s literally computer data in a chip. Zero organic matter involved.

[@PlatinumPeasant]

You know what would have made halo 100x better? Getting to actually fight Cortana. The running, the creation of the “weapon”, fighting to deliver it, etc. You could have had an entire campaign in what took place between halo 5 and infinite.

[@yourfrenghost3028]

dlc maybe

[@m4thieu7q]

impossible, because everyone would be mad to fight cortana's prometheans

[@jakeriese4862]

I've thought of that concept since 2015. Fighting her in a boss fight

[@ryandtheguys1781]

I feel like cortana isnt completely gone. with the domain and her having access to it, that maybe she'll be like another mendicant bias. silently pulling string to assist chief, stuff like that. But what happened with the idea of the logic plague? I was excited to see a mirror to what happened with the forerunners and mendicant bias. would like to see why or if she was infected by the logic plague

[@ProfligateGhost]

Considering she went full dictatorship on controlling the galaxy and the mantle of responsibility, I'm pretty sure the only thing the logic plague could do is maybe make her help the flood but that's about it.

[@Benjamin-wy4dj]

No excrubeant witness regained control of Genesis and the Domain and cortana no longer has access to it

[@tscchope]

@@Benjamin-wy4dj Exuberant Witness was the Forerunner ai in control of Genesis, but not the Domain. Even if Exuberant Witness could restrict access to the Domain, Cortana was already in it.

[@mattmcdonnell4205]

I love the story but still disappointed Cortana died off screen. She deserved more

[@Predator321]

I’m still confused. What was the point of her being evil in the first place? And how did she survive halo 4’s death??

[@whitedragon1204]

Rampancy but yea idk more like 343 did not know how to continue after cortanas death in 4

[@Predator321]

Sad. I feel like they’re treating halo how Disney treated star wars. With bad writing

[@whitedragon1204]

@@Predator321 that is why she had to be deleted in Halo infinite a fresh new start and a great writing to get it done

[@matlohn9381]

She was corrupted, or maybe she was finally free and was able to see all the wrong in the galaxy and wanted to correct it. I don't think she was evil, she truly believed her way was the only way for true peace and wasn't afraid to take down anyone who got in the way of that peace. I actually wanted to see the continuation of halo 5s story and wished everything didn't happen off screen in halo infinite.

[@Predator321]

@@matlohn9381 yeah don’t get me wrong halo infinite is very fun to play but I wished the story was better. Wished we played IN-GAME about the infinity going down and not have the game tell us a story only through audio logs and hologram cutscenes. Got very repetitive. This is far from the perfect halo IMO

[@dustinfletcher8309]

I very much loved the dislodge that played throughout the last sequences of the game especially at Respiratory where Jacob Keys was shown off, which I totally understand the purpose so The Weapon can be acquainted with Cheifs intent with the rings, what he hoes through when it comes to sacrifice... and also establish Cortana's purpose more as she was an important asset to protect not just for her sake but also humanity's. But I think what could really have been nastolgic and probably hit even harder would be the remeberence of Sargent Johnson as he was a true friend but even more, the second last thing he told Cheif was to "Don't EVER let her go" before "passing the torch" onto John to light the ring.

[@shaenni9122]

It still amazes me that everyone doesn't know that the ring jumped to a new location and the infinity is still at the original location. It is not known what condition the infinity is in as the ring jumped before infinity was destroyed. The banished most likely lied to chief to affect him.

[@ethansdroid]

The fact that no one (myself included) knows/knew that goes to show how messed up and poor the writing was. I don't understand most of the story at all, but hopefully things will clean up as 343 continues to clean house and find some direction.

[@chris56269]

Perhaps I just mis-understood a load of stuff but I really think the Cortana story in Infinite was poor. Halo 4 gave Cortana a great send off. It made me feel sad. Halo 5 made it really to empathise with the Master Chief, trying to find out how Cortana was back and why she had apparently turned evil. It made me feel motivated and you felt the weight of her apparent betrayal. Infinite just felt like a let down. I didn't feel anything. I get why a lot of people don't like her going evil in 5 but in Infinite she's basically just "yeah I shouldn't have done that, we were meant to be a team, oh well I'm good again and now I'm going to just die". She has access to the Domain, control of the Prometheans and the Guardians, surely she could have either effectively fought the Banished and/or moved herself off of the ring?

[@monkaeyes3417]

Yeah I don’t get it either, everyone is like yay for Cortana! She redeemed herself! I’m like no she committed mass genocide on the brutes and slaughtered billions who defied her oppression. She’s basically space hitler, you can’t redeem space hitler no matter what she tries to do to make up for it. And for the weapon to name herself after her? Kinda weird in my eyes. Would’ve been better if chief held Cortana’s chip with her in it in his fist, and after an excruciatingly painful silence, clenched his fist and crushed it.

[@chris56269]

@@monkaeyes3417 I don't have an issue with Cortana somewhat redeeming herself, they could have explained away her behaviour one of several ways but instead it was basically Barney from How I Met Your Mother "When I start being evil I just stop being evil and be good instead". Essentially it was "ok I good now" and that's it. That's just terrible writing.

[@spacecraftcarrier4135]

Yea you aren't the only one. Infinite's story is crap tbh, I have no fucking idea what happened, and what was going to happen. The only saving grace was really how the story between the Chief & the Weapon developed overtime. Infinite created more questions than answered existing questions lol.

[@mjHushpuppy]

It’s why I feel like Infinite was kind of damage control for Halo 5’s story. But I also think that she’s not “dead” or she is dead and will return somehow. Maybe through Chief saving her through the time travel setup they’re creating at the end of Infinite.

[@chris56269]

@@spacecraftcarrier4135 one of the worse things for me is the audio logs, not because they are bad they're actually good and that's sort of my problem as they demonstrate 343 have the capability to tell interesting stories which makes it all the more of a shame that the Cortana/Created/Guardians storyline basically gets regulated to an after thought.

[@twysted73]

*every male gamer listening to her speak, chest tightening, knowing they wished they could meet and love someone this connected and supportive*

[@CodeguruX]

That's fantasy for ya. It ain't gonna happen, so make one up and sell it.

[@clintparsons3989]

it was an abrupt ending and left everything between the last game and infinite totally unexplored or resolved in my opinion. One day she’s taking over the universe, the next day she’s dead but it’s OK because here’s her clone? Way too abrupt. Cortana deserved better than what the writers wrote for her character lol. And having Weapon choose the name Cortana is A TERRIBLE choice. She is NOT Cortana. Even Cortana said she wouldn’t ever be Cortana. Pick literally any other name but Cortana lol. There was way too much time focused on the banished and not enough on her arc.

[@Arredo515]

She never said her name was going to be Cortana, she just said she had the perfect name for herself. The name Cortana comes from the name of a trio of legendary blades, 2 of which have already been used in Bungie games. My guess is she is going to pick the name of the final blade which would also suit her character.

[@clintparsons3989]

@@Arredo515 oh! That makes sense! I sort of assumed she meant Cortana but your idea is much better!

[@Arredo515]

@@clintparsons3989 Yea, I know the name of the 3rd blade but I didn't want to spoil it for you. All I'll say is that I'll be happy if she picks that one. It would suit her just fine

[@Notazaku]

my biggest issue with this game is just how much it doesn’t explain literally anything. What happened to the infinity? Wheres the arbiter? Wheres Locke(hopefully dead)? Why is blue team not with chief on this seemingly critical mission? How did the banished cut through the infinity like a hot knife through butter?

[@jakeriese4862]

@@Notazaku I think Blue Team took Weapon to ZH

[@fitterniti]

And also. Someone else here (wolftal 117) wrote so well. Our Cortana died in Halo 4 saving our ass. In Halo 5 her remnant rampant version went off the hook but even that had traces of our Cortana who finally came around and did the unthinkable again, saved our asses by letting it all go. She truly may not have been the love we wanted but she was the friend we needed. A talkative guardian. A watchful protector. A light knight. 😅

[@misterkevlax3852]

It's really a good video. The thing I really want to see, was something like mendicant... cortana, somewhere... trying to make amends for her and chief... hide and seek with him... helping him during his journey... and not just dying, to share a message... a good message, by the way. But well... I think we need to turn the page about her... sadly.

[@_Wizzo]

I think Cortana's journey is over now, and the weapon will take that spot... But It would still be good to have references to her in the game!

[@darriuscole8544]

@@_Wizzo - I'm not so sure that it's that esthetic to just turn the page on a character that with the fans every step of the way since the beginning, especially the girl. Chemistry is a big deal in storytelling of all forms. Adding or removing 1 character can change the chemistry in ways that no one can forsee.

[@Pooh0Bear8]

Cortana should have just ended at Halo 4; as planned.

[@stanley13579]

100% agree. Bringing her back for Halo 5 and Infinite just dragged the whole story down... 5 and Infinite felt like a massive waste of potential and time.

[@ridley3436]

I still don’t understand how they pulled off such a amazing story with halo 5s shit effect. Infinite was just amazing and some of the most emotional and best fun I’ve had in a while.

[@_Wizzo]

Why did Cortana Sacrifice herself in #HaloInfinite? Some might not know that Cortana actually sacrificed herself in #Haloinfinitecampaign for 2 big reasons! I explain it all in this video!

[@vasilios_2469]

So glad I found this channel. So good

[@1992jamo]

Why didn't she just call the guardians to the zeta halo to fight the banished. How is Atriox in a position to ask for her surrender when she still has control of the forerunner guardian army?

[@burniejarvis9298]

I think it was because the Zeta Halo was teleported to an unknown location. But that's a really weak excuse.

[@1992jamo]

@@burniejarvis9298 Just in case you're interested, I just found a spot in halo infinite where you can see a dead Guardian Custode in the distance. I wonder if the banished really did beat her.

[@bradbot]

Thank you. This is the first comment I've seen over multiple story explanation videos that has the same question I have. I also dont u understand why cortana changed her mind about holding the mantle. Was it only because she lost and it was better than the alternative? Would she have continued to force the submission of the galaxy if she wasn't defeated?

[@Arredo515]

The Weapon cut her off from the Domain you guys and trapped her in the silent auditorium. She couldn't use the guardians anymore

[@andrewjvalencia]

It’s so simple. 343 wanted to set themselves apart from Bungie. And they absolutely did. As I’m sure you’ll all agree, Cortana and the Chief are the core of the Halo franchise. Apart from the groundbreaking multiplayer and matchmaking systems, the reason why we fell in love with Halo was the relationship between John and Cortana. We’ve seen them been through hell and back together and we’re always rooting for them. Bungie understood how important the two of them were and that is why they never put them against each other. Even in the first trilogy, they knew that we would never love or follow another pair in the Halo universe. They couldn’t kill one of them off, so they separated them in Halo 2. And you know you played the hell out of Halo 3’s campaign praying to whatever gods you believe in that they’ll be reunited. And by the end, you’re like, “Hell yeah! What’s next for us!? We’re ready!” Here comes 343 and is like, “Nah, let’s kill half the heart of the franchise.” So they do, and obviously true fans were like, “Bro… what the actual $&@%?” “Killing” Cortana in Halo 4 was a huge mistake and so they were like, “Oh, I know! Let’s make her the enemy!” And yup, you guessed it… it only made things exponentially worse and further lessened the faith and respect of the Halo fan base. And finally, here comes Halo Infinite. 343 was finally able to remove their heads from a certain location of the human body. But the damage was already done. They had already destroyed what little love we had left for our dear Cortana. So what do they do? They go and try and make her this self sacrificing hero. And are even like, “See! We gave you Cortana back 😬. Everything is rainbows and sunshine again right 😅?” WRONG. In my opinion, making a copy of our beloved Cortana actually made it worse. We love characters because of their individuality. That they’re irreplaceable because there’s only one of them. But apparently, 343 thought they could just give us a copy and that we’ll be fine. When deep down you know that’s not the real Cortana. And so here we are, backwhere the first trilogy ended. “Cortana” and the Chief are finally reunited AGAIN and half the heart of the franchise is just a copy. Thanks for wasting all that time 343. Hell of a way to make a name for yourselves 👍

[@donovandelaney3171]

No one’s ever really gone.

[@user-MidwayDisc]

It feels like 343 is leaving the overall Halo galaxy in a worse state then it was at the end of the Human-Covenant War. UNSC Military is practically gone, whole worlds have been reduced to primitive levels of technology by the Guardians, Banished and other groups are raining terror throughout the galaxy, various rouge Created AIs, and add to that the looming threat of the Endless coming.

[@ethansdroid]

It feels a lot better if you just tell yourself there are only three halo games and then a few fan-fic spinoffs

[@wolftal1178]

I always thought that this was just one of the rampant versions of Cortana, and the real one died at the end of Halo 4. But considering this Cortana said “we just keep saying goodbye” it’s obvious she really was the original Cortana. However I think she redeemed herself and became the old character we loved so much, the one who would do anything for humanity and especially for the master chief. And in fact did sacrifice herself for them as she did in 4.

[@Red1Green2Blue3]

Can you really "redeem" yourself after committing genocide lol?

[@wolftal1178]

@@Red1Green2Blue3 I guess not LOL, however I don’t think she was exactly in her right mind.I’m still in debate with myself if she still had a touch of rampancy in her. And it was a constant struggle between the actual her and the crazy version, and perhaps at the very end the real Cortana broke through???? But let’s face it the original Cortana never ever would’ve done half of these things, she was saying how humanity and all other life were destructive and couldn’t be allowed to control themselves, but in the first three halos that was one of the things caught on a lot about humans. (at least their spontaneousness and sometimes crazy actions).

[@BojackTrunks]

This IS one of the rampant versions of Cortana. The Halo books confirmed it (Dominion Splinter to be exact), 343 deliberately ignored it & left it out of Halo 5 & Infinite to sell us on that the "real" Cortana had come back and turned evil (and it basically flopped lmao). The Real/Original Cortana has been dead since the end of Halo 4.

[@wolftal1178]

@@BojackTrunks I’m relieved, because that means the real Cortana is good name hasn’t really been tarnished. In reality this rampant Cortana was going against everything the original loved about humanity. She said they were reckless and stupid but the original Cortana loved that about humans sometimes. Cortana:”you do know this is crazy don’t you?” Chief:” so don’t come.” Cortana:”……………… unfortunately for us both, I like crazy”.

[@jakeriese4862]

@@BojackTrunks 343 are idiots and for the first time now in 14 years of Halo, thanks to Infinite, I'm having a crisis of faith. Hopefully DLC stories will.be better and have better writing. I had hoped Joe Station coming on board would help. Apparently not

[@darkspark5854]

As far as I’m concerned, theirs no Chief without Cortana, and no Cortana without Chief. If they have to go, they should go together. I know things haven’t gone the way 343 had originally planned it, as Lock was supposed to replace Chief, but now they are to scared to drop him due to all the backlash Halo 5 got. I personally think the weapon should end up being Locks ai. Despite Cortana telling John it’s okay that he had a new one, I don’t think he will ever be able to truly care for the weapon in the way he cared for Cortana. Chief and Cortana’s personnel and emotional connection was part of what made them such a good team. That kind of relationship can’t just be recreated. That is why I think the weapon needs a different spartan. Giving Lock his own ai would help make him a more likable character undoubtedly. After all it was part of the reason Chief was so easy to like. Cortana helped humanize him and the weapon is now just a constant reminder of his failures. This is what Cortana got wrong: she thought Chief needed a second chance, to start over. When in fact it was her who needed to start over. The weapon is better with someone else not because Chief isn’t good enough, but because he already knows her to well with her not knowing him. And despite what the game keeps trying to tell us, she is nothing like Cortana, a complete different person. This only makes things harder for the Chief and that is why I hope their partnership is only temporary. Chief needs a break when this is over. And sense time travel may become a real thing in the Halo universe, Cortana may just get that second chance she needs with John.

[@tyc4587]

I hope cortana isn’t really dead. I’ve always viewed the halo series as a subtle love story as well as the awesomeness we all love.

[@johnny44937]

I think cortana became the halo ring

[@MxStella]

I just hope they bring her back to replace the Weapon. Halo has always been Chief and Cortana, then Arbiter and Johnson. I can accept Johnson being gone, but Chief needs Cortana (the Weapon doesn't feel the same), and Arbiter needs to come assist the UNSC. Idk, it just doesn't feel right with Cortana gone, especially in that ridiculous "hey, Cortana's dead.. Oops, sorry, she's not dead, she's actually *evil* of all things now" way. Ugh. Just bring her back, she deserves better than this.

[@HardPhoenixRock]

Careful what you wish for. Some people wished for cortana to be alive in guardians, and we all know how that turned out.

[@greenbudpacker8893]

@@MxStella the voice actress died last august, she was murdered

[@MxStella]

@@greenbudpacker8893 Yes yes, merry christmas to ya

[@varo2397]

What I don't get is where is Cortanas army?

[@_Wizzo]

No one knows right now… maybe in one of the new books coming!

[@reffa2858]

If Cortana didnt turn evil, halo 5 and halo infinite would have better stories.

[@stanley13579]

If Cortana died and was gone after Halo 4, like she was supposed to, yeah. She dragged down both Halo 5 and Infinite. Both games felt like a waste of time, with Chief trouncing around like a lost puppy looking for his mom.

[@BeBe_TrAnS]

So my question is, what's going on with the Guardians now?

[@stanley13579]

It's 343, they probably won't explain it in-game. Probably in a book, where the writers actually care.

[@BeBe_TrAnS]

@@stanley13579 sadly, you're not lying, I don't mind reading but it's so annoying not knowing what's cannon and not cannon these days with Halo

[@griffin3578]

@@stanley13579 there’s a guardian visible in the over world it’s not reachable thought yet however you can see it.

[@disgruntledshota]

Man this is fucking sad, i never want cortana to leave cheif they are perfect. But the universe has put limts on everything.... I guess ill just play halo trilogy over and over.

[@AcM.5233]

Without Corona, there is no more Halo. :'(

[@heavy2288]

Thank you for the explanation it really helped me very much

[@warhammer40kwilliamafton83]

well I'm playing all the halo games before 4 to see cortana again

[@windingroadelven]

Where was Cortanas Warden Eternal or her Promethians ? Why was she alone on Zeta halo and why didn’t she just leave the halo instead of killing herself none of it makes sense.

[@tc5963]

I dont think she dead because she says:" this isnt the end. Its a chance to make ammends". Someone else said that she could be like mendicant bias in pulling strings in the background and helping chief sight unseen

[@windingroadelven]

@@tc5963 she means it’s not the end of him and him having an AI like he will continue with a part of her kind of as it’s the same model she’s absolutely gone

[@skyhawkslcb18]

they're in the trash can where they belong

[@donovandelaney3171]

Cortana is not really dead. She’s hidden away inside the Halo ring somewhere.

[@greenbudpacker8893]

I like how cortana is taller than chief in his ptsd flashbacks, even though he's like 7-8 feet tall

[@funguy8444]

The campaign does a pretty good job of explaining the whole Cortana/Atriox situation if you paid any attention

[@otherZinc]

Agreed.

[@jakeriese4862]

I thought it confusing, but each to own

[@GeorgisTrying]

Naw mate, it's messy

[@Azureskies01]

Ya know what is funny, most of the halo fans don't have any idea what happened after halo 3.

[@steelcaboose5975]

To all the people saying why she didnt have a guardian with her if you look around the far distance of zeta halo you can see a fallen guardian lying on the ring

[@darkwhite1259]

the guardians fell because she died. she still had them when she was a alive.

[@kirayoushikage9525]

Still didn't understand how cortana couldn't stop attriox from defeating her ? She mange to destroy his entire plant within seconds...

[@ethanharding4126]

Still not convinced she’s truely gone

[@emmyturner7385]

Her story arc is one of those deep deep disappointments that I struggle to get past. SUch a great character and they just couldn't care less.

[@Predator321]

Seriously. Infinite’s story was very poor

[@jakeriese4862]

@@Predator321 yeah. Just Ce 2.0. They used Bungies orginal first idea, with some of their own. And even then it flopped

[@Andrewbaysura1]

I know it'd be very divided but I hope they go back and completely redo Halo 4, then 5 and even Infinite or just call that something else. I'd be very happy if they just said "ok we f#cked up, we will make it right this time."

[@tebjosh13]

thanks for clearing that up. cant wait to play more halo in the coming years.

[@fitterniti]

Everyone whining about Cortana being gone for good is just not able to separate their personal selves from the beautiful reality that 343 has finally brought into picture by trying to correct the mess of Halo 5. This hit harder than anything, letting go of the past and moving on to the future, but with a similar version of what you once knew. Kind of like real life isn't it? We hate it, but we must make amends, make new friends, and move forward in the memory of those we once loved and lived with. It's a sad but hopeful ending but still, it feels like a new beginning. I'm ready to go ahead with new cortana or whatever she calls herself 😊 Cus it's not her her but it's still her.

[@noeraldinkabam]

The only thing you forgot was how Cortana basically became insane (extremely malfunctioned): rampancy. She was ‘healed’ but with some wires crossed.

[@chaotickey4168]

The Cortana “send off” she got in Halo Infinite, is not at all what I wanted. It never explained why she went bad in the first place and I didn’t feel satisfied with her sacrificing herself. Honestly would have liked it more if Chief killed her himself or if something happened where Cortana was always dead and something was just impersonating her. Imo, she didn’t redeem herself at all, she still killed billions and destroyed planets. Just because she blew herself up and said bye to chief at the end, does not mean she’s redeemed at all. Not even close.

[@Predator321]

100% agree

[@Lok1tu5]

It is explained. She went rampant. Plus she spent years with the gravemind between Halo 2 and 3. The gravemind gave her the logic plague, which worsened her rampancy. It's like being infected by the flood except for AI/machines, essentially arguing with them until they believe what the gravemind is saying.

[@chaotickey4168]

@@Lok1tu5 I know she went rampant and she was with the gravemind, but they never really gave an explanation in Infinite. I mean in Halo 5, she said she was “cured”, so it just made it confusing for me.

[@regularstan6212]

Hav you played halo 5 at all?

[@regularstan6212]

@@chaotickey4168 she wasnt cured. She litterly tried to imprison all of humanity or else. How is that cured? She was designed to help humanity not imprison. Clearly The logic plague had greater effect on her.

[@TheImmortalBloodwolf]

After Cortana's betrayal in halo 5 all i can say in response to her death is, "good bye and GOOD RIDDANCE to you TRAITOR" never forget NEVER FORGIVE

[@Calhoon4U]

I would like to see another iteration of Latin for the weapons name. Cortana basically means sword, so I thought of 2 choices. The obvious one would be Sheild which would be Scutum which kinda sounds off. What I like is naming herself after spear which is Hasta and I like that better. who knows though

[@sanicthehoghegde9220]

What i think is halo 4 was the real send off and in halo 5 was just a rampaging clone that was able to be controlled by the forerunner tech and was able to some what cure herself and keep herself alive still having some side effects of rampancy she being a clone of cortana came to realizing she messed up trying fix what she messed up

[@hakuakua3020]

It was rather lazy from my viewpoint. Games and stories we read are always having the good guy go crazy, turn evil then come to their sense and be redeemed. Feels like they took a page out of the World of Warcraft bingo book. What was happening to Cortana was inline with a guy watching the person he cares about suffer from cancer and then die. But in this game we got the same ole go crazy and get redeemed story which was the wrong thing to do. They should have given us a hard to kill Cortana like the Chief is... they should have had her defy that life-span issue and not simply be lazy and give us an effin copy.

[@src6339]

The weapon could have called herself anything (apart from Alexa)

[@analyticalhabitrails9857]

O.G Cortana MUST come back!! Halo will never be the same without her!! Cortana....

[@dportass]

Does anyone else think Cortana in the end scenes looks very like Yvonne Strahovski (Mass Effect 2 & Chuck)? I think it's the smile that reminds me of her

[@josehuerta5048]

5:37 Then why didn’t Cortana warp spaced her minions and robots her legions and guardians to come to get rid of the banish

[@CPPidiots]

I hated that they just scrapped the Guardians storyline. Just like that, she realized she was wrong. lol

[@_Wizzo]

There is one in the background, so I think we will see more about that in the DLC!

[@jakeriese4862]

@@_Wizzo hope so. And the DLC tell the sides of the stories that hasn't been told or need to be expanded on

[@swampdonk3y712]

I felt like 343 was speaking through Cortana in Halo 5. It feels like the knew they screwed up Halo 5 and were making a promise to do better. Kinda refreshing to have a game studio admit they were wrong and course correct.

[@skyhawkslcb18]

everything she says sounds like it's coming right out of 343's mouth.

[@bannanafym2139]

343 keep giving us hope of cortana coming back and the potential for her relationship to build with chief, maybe in another full game, just to be like, nope she can't be persuaded back

[@satyanarayangoswami823]

So..she is gone finally. So many memories throughout the years.

[@KaneDeath4]

1:20 god dammit u just activated my PTSD.

[@BacklogDrifter]

Reading through these comments I can see that people literally played the game with the volume on mute. It’s like no one actually listened when the game mentions that Cortana was powerless because the weapon had her locked down on the ring.

[@jakeriese4862]

I just think the story is all over the place that its no wonder people are confused

[@BacklogDrifter]

@@jakeriese4862 it is. Not going to deny that haha!

[@ethansdroid]

Nah man, it's just that the story doesn't make any sense. Like at all

[@chriscobayne2235]

I don’t get how cortana lost to atriox I mean she had all kinds of Guardians Also interesting how she referred to him as master chief on the end not John. I wouldn’t liked to see cortana fuse with weapon. Maybe unsc never knowing that but cortanas back in a way and also weapon is still her. Idunno lol

[@_Wizzo]

Tbh we don’t really have these full details yet… as soon as I know I’ll make a video on it

[@talisredstar1543]

I haven't been that devastated as I was at the end of Halo 4. Very few games can move me so, but that did. I didn't want to see Cortana go, she was just as important to this series as Master Chief. But if you are going to send her off, then THAT was the way to do it. Halo 5 should of been anyone or anything else. Another forerunner, a progenitor, An ancient human freed from some super secret suppose to be forgotten tomb, that was mad with power, and as distant from us as the diadac was. Another AI that went rogue and chief has to stop. Maybe to only learn at the end it went mad from when it delved into something. That something being a copy of Cortana, and she thrust her rampancy upon it to save herself. ANYTHING but stain her as they did in Halo 5. That being said, Im' glad she came to her senses and redeemed herself.

[@Sonacnights]

Unrelated, I loved the design for Cortana in Halo 4 the most. I don't get what happened, but they started doing this thing with the lip movements in these later games that remind me of those clips of games like RE-Remake with animations at 500%. Just... Extra.

[@krishan8735]

Hey. So I've got a slight question. If the weapon had locked Cortana down and cut her off from using any of her resources, how is it that she was able to destroy the ring?

[@_Wizzo]

That's the current mystery!

[@Andrewbaysura1]

343 devs are asking that question also...

[@voidvoidvoid7274]

If she doesn't name herself Cortana, there's a possibility she names herself Durandal ?

[@BrandonStrugy]

The final cut scene was without a doubt the best. 3fail3 FINALLY gave the majority of the fan base what we REALLY wanted for over a decade❤ Great send off for Cortona, phenomenal send off❤

[@_Wizzo]

100% agree. As annoying as it was for her to be killed off, off screen, was rectified by the ending I think... But that's just me!

[@BrandonStrugy]

@@_Wizzo 💯%

[@narutobroken]

This game had some bad writing, all the major stuff happens off screen

[@_Wizzo]

Yep... Hopefully DLC is writen better

[@narutobroken]

@@_Wizzo I think its because it was so rushed. You can tell once they brought in Staten that they re-wrote everything and started from scratch. I guess its the best they could do in the short time they had to get the game back on its feet.

[@_Wizzo]

@@narutobroken yeah man. Covid probably didn’t help either, but over 2/3 of the campaign was scrapped, I presume all or most of that would be now used for DLC but I agree, so much left to interpret and not much explaining… hopefully DLC will flesh a lot of mysteries out!

[@Determ1nat1on]

Cortana destroyed Doisac probably long before either of them were on Zeta Halo. Which is why the Banished came to the Ring in the first place.

[@geltecmail]

Never played the game, but have been watching and enjoying all the gameplay and cut scene videos for years. If the Zeta Ring holds the secret to time travel, as the Harbinger hinted? Then why couldn't Cortana have used it to become the Weapon reincarnate, so as not to have all the baggage of the Rampancy and deeds thereafter that led to Her end? The whole theme I have gathered is they were always and will forever be together.

[@Mark_Wilson07]

Yes I think she used same ring implosion technique like one 343 guilty spark used. Which I am guessing caused shock wave move through ring.

[@ZackAbramowitz]

Can you work for 343? You explain their story so much better.

[@PaxRufrax]

Why was Cortana on Zeta Halo? I still don't get why she would surrender. Couldn't her guardians defeat the banished? How did Atriox and The Banished think they were going to defeat her? Or is it that they thought they had her beaten/defeated but didn't and Cortana just decided to sacrifice herself?

[@ramshacks9493]

I still think we should of had a small gameplay of what happened after halo 5, we all wanted to experience that

[@j13josh]

Why was she powerless though against the Banished? Where was her army? She had all those guardians and prometheans.

[@_Wizzo]

I think it was becaus when she was on the Halo and it had been overun with Banished, she could fire it and have guardians come in, but that would put herself at risk. So she sacrificed herself to prevent the banished from being able to overthrown her and have the ring as a "Weapon." Now you know this, go check back the reason 1 on the video and see if it makes sense :)

[@ullebrammerloo74]

She was lockdown by the weapon that why she couldn’t control her guardians also the reason she couldn’t fight against Atriox search for cortana whisper in halo infinite

[@MarioYt7]

So they just revived Cortana to make a fool of herself in halo 5 and kill her again in infinite.

[@voicefreedom9085]

Matt DG elite she went in good way

[@Hession0Drasha]

A banished atriox campaign would be cool

[@garydietz5612]

I honestly cried in this final cutscene

[@_Wizzo]

I think the fact we grew up with this duo and it's now finally over, I was on the edge I won't lie

[@michaelmckeithan2293]

This was beautiful

[@philsierraallen2105]

The story for cortana in infinite is just horrible. Bad writing. Like none of it makes sense to go from Halo 5 cortana to this cortana. Honestly, the whole infinite story is simply just trash. Like just think that cheif got his ass beat in the opening scene and we never get a chance to get payback on Atroix........cause he's supposedly dead. Instead we fight some other dude no one cares about

[@JohnSRR-lw4bx]

It's not a real Halo game without Cortana by Chief's side, period.

[@stanley13579]

Cortana's been a pain in the ass since Halo 4, and I hope she's dead for good.

[@billyg.1351]

I just don't get how the weapon was even able to lock down all powerful, infinite space Cortana.

[@hersh511]

I'm extremely disappointed they killed her off "off screen".

[@_Wizzo]

And me… I was hoping for a last convo with them both, as the end of the game was just a recording…

[@casperflexing3116]

Someone who will always b #1 is Spartan b312😢 she picked him before chief, b312 didn’t have luck but he had courage and he died a hero which made it more realistic. Cortana has forgotten who her real #1 was rip six gone but not forgotten

[@dalexnator160]

So much emotions and feelings at the end.🥺

[@moeqawama4776]

I have a question I haven’t seen the answer to yet anywhere - what happened to the guardians? How were they taken down? You can clearly see a downed guardian in the horizon on the ring. Did atriox figure out how to disable them with the Menachite Crystal? I’m surprised no one has discussed this yet

[@spelworldstream]

it's so sad that the campain dlc got cancelled

[@belgianheskey]

What Cortana did to the brute homeworld is irredeemable, let's hope Atriox gets his revenge on her

[@MarioYt7]

Yeah, they make Cortana reaaally dirty

[@jessetaylor4357]

Redemption for cortana

[@coco-thenoodleslurper]

Bro everything she did the damage she caused and the people she’s killed her plan to eventually regret it as well as apologize and then just die off it was all for nothing in the end…wtf

[@thenightscythe2030]

This Cortana didnt deserve a Redemption Arc.... This was the biggest slap-in-the-face to the fans. She basically does the "if i cant have the Mantle of Responsibility, then no one can" And since this was a BrokenFragment of Cortana, we did indeed give Original Cortana a send off in Halo 4

[@jmh1101]

well the weapon says something is helping her during the final battle. Cortana? And just because there was an explosion doesnt mean cortana is dead. Atriox was in the same room and he survived the blast unless they are going to say it was a hologram. The logic of this game writing is crap, lazy, and too short. Also, they made MC talk way too much.

[@_Wizzo]

Offensive bias👀

[@jakeriese4862]

I agree. Except maybe Chief talking, but each own

[@owendavis3500]

Great content mate

[@_AtTheBar_]

Wait but why didn’t Cortana just use the guardians or any other created to attack and fight Atriox and the banished to take back the ring after realizing her mistake or did she not do that because of the ring shooting off to an unknown location???

[@DocDarkness]

There is a dead guardian on the ring in the distance. I can only surmise that was the one she used to get to Zeta Halo. I'm assuming the banished must have destroyed it and once Cortana sacrificed herself the other guardians must have shut down.

[@_AtTheBar_]

@@DocDarkness ok that makes a little more sense but she still could have called upon more sentinels or Promethens or even the Warden Eternal and his clones

[@DocDarkness]

@@_AtTheBar_ I agree there are some plot holes there. But ultimately the goal was to distance themselves from Halo 5 as much as possible and that includes dropping certain plot threads like a bad habit. Still doesn't mean some of them won't be picked up again in the future.

[@_AtTheBar_]

@@DocDarkness yea I guess, I just want it to make sense, cause they got my girl Cortana acting like she bipolar, then they introduced the banished into main halo story but no word or here say on what happened to Spirit of Fire or Professor Anders. And theirs probably other things I missed but yea.

[@DocDarkness]

@@_AtTheBar_ I'd say there's a pretty good chance we will see Halo wars get connected to Infinite.

[@TimberWolfCLT]

This was a great send off. It was nice for her and for Chief that she got to say goodbye. It will help Chief as things progress and allow him to process the loss (again)... And now the torch passes and I'll love to see where the relationship with "The Weapon" goes (I'm looking forward to learning her name.) This was a good death for Cortana and we'll all miss her.

[@Vash_Adonis]

I hope Cortana doesn’t die…I know I’m a year late but what I’m trying to say Is…is that in every movie where they kill off a main character OFF SCREEN they are never die they come back later in the movie always but if 343 really did just kill her off then welp…