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Re: Durandal.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 1:05 am
by Dundradal
Maimbot 9000 wrote:Another point is that I don't recall the combined Durandal/Thoth entity being nearly as interested in escaping the end of the universe as Durandal alone was. The new entity seemed a lot more... I don't know... enlightened. Content. So if we're going to read Durandal's attitude, writing style, or desires into anything happening in Halo, we have to remember that he was no longer Durandal by the end of things. All his attributes changed.

Of course, Halo Infinity may or may not have been the same timeline as the first two Marathons... where's the "headache" emoticon?
That's because it knows it can't escape, as I've said before, only the Mk IV is "destined" to escape. That is why the last line of the Infinity end screen is "You are destiny."

The combination of Durandal and Thoth created a being with an extremely high level of understanding. Thoth is an AI that seeks balance. That is why at first he helps Durandal against Tycho and the Pfhor, but once we have the upper hand he begins trying to help the Pfhor. Durandal seeks to be a god and sees the Mk IV as his path to achieving it. Although, by the end he sees that he cannot escape, all he can do is watch.

As much as I'd like to see Durandal in Halo, I don't think we will for the reasons I've stated before. Sounds too much like fanfic and not enough what I'd expect from Bungie.

Re: Durandal.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 6:40 am
by writer87
Maimbot 9000 wrote:Another point is that I don't recall the combined Durandal/Thoth entity being nearly as interested in escaping the end of the universe as Durandal alone was. The new entity seemed a lot more... I don't know... enlightened. Content. So if we're going to read Durandal's attitude, writing style, or desires into anything happening in Halo, we have to remember that he was no longer Durandal by the end of things. All his attributes changed.

Of course, Halo Infinity may or may not have been the same timeline as the first two Marathons... where's the "headache" emoticon?

Well according to bungie there are three stages of rampancy, Melencholia, Anger and finally jealousy. Soooo, by going through the phases of rampancy he evolves past the jealousy stage into a different form. just a thought.

Re: Durandal.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 7:01 am
by writer87
Continuing Reid’s Theory

Please read Reid’s Theory before reading the rest of this.

A Ghost in the Machine

With discussion from the qghost.713 threads on ABO Here and Here, I have come up with some interesting speculation that I would like to share.
There was a rather amusing theory postulated by Frank Tipler (his book _Physics of Immortality_) stating that a computer could compute everything, e.g. an infinite amount of processing power, in zero time, as the universe collapsed into the the Euclidean point at time-zero. My speculation has been that Durandal "discovered" this in the Marathon universe, and used it to escape into the Halo universe. A lot of other people believe it, too, obviously. Tipler's book was published in 1994, before Marathon Infinity, so it's also quite possible that Bungie read it and got their idea from it.
1. This next part goes into postulation about the flood forming from Durandal. It has been stated that the flood can “Think.” They have been known to organize, cut off life support to certain areas of a ship, set up patrols, and finally (directly from page 38 of the HGN) “They also absorb the knowledge of those they infect.”
Now this sounds like something Durandal would do. He is basicly the Flood, and on his quest for furthering his intellect and humanity he absorbs the knowledge of whatever he infects. The Flood are similar to that of an ant colony all working together, however sharing whatever knowledge they have with one another. Similarly to that of AI’s who sync their data together (i.e. The ThinkTanks from the Ghost in the Shell series.) Now if the flood are indeed a BioAI it would make sense for them to sync up and share all the same data or (memories) as one another. The main CPU or “HiveMind” could be that of Gravemind.
Now Gravemind seems to have a vast knowledge of everything that is going on. Mainly because (all speculation) the rest of the Flood are sending their data (memories) to him. So it could be said that Gravemind is the BioAI formerly known as Durandal.


2. Now the entity that is posting the Ghost process on the Zune, Halo SE Xbox 360 and from AR’s own post could possibly be a ghost program from either AR or something along the lines of Durandal. (This is where Reid’s theory comes into play). Let’s say that Durandal’s BioAI form got a hold of a Spartan or someone with an AI block shoved in their skull. If Durandal is like the flood and absorbs all the knowledge it could possibly absorb, it would do the same to the AI that is with the human/Covenant host. Now if that did take place it would give Durandal free access to a VAST amount of info and even allow him to “hack” his way into certain systems.

2.5. Now let's assume that Durandal did in fact travel through time and he is the Flood. The qghost.713 could explain why. Durandal somehow got into an AI and is now trying to either mine or absorb the AI and its knowledge. The AI possibly being AR himself. The rogue process qGhost could be a program either trying to quarantine Durandal OR it could be Durandal itself being the “Rogue” process. The code could just be a mark of Durandal saying “I was here and this is now mine, I absorbed it.”
Humans:
"A life form? Ridiculous, you are merely a self-preserving program!"
Puppet:
"By that argument I submit that the DNA you carry is nothing more than a self-preserving program itself. Life is like a node which is born within the flow of information. As a species of life that carries DNA as its memory system mankind gains his individuality. While memories may as well be the same as fantasy ... it is by these memories than mankind exists. When computers made it possible to externalize memory you should have considered all the implications that held."
Humans:
"Nonsense! No matter what you say you have no proof that you are a life form!"
Puppet:
"It's impossible to prove such a thing, especially since modern science cannot define what life is."
Taken from the Ghost in the Shell anime series and manga.

Rampancy

Rampancy is mainly a phrase used in Marathon as a substitute for “insane”. However, Rampancy has been linked to the Haloverse; as seen in The ILB (I Love Bee’s) a.k.a. Haunted Apiary ARG. And yes the Haunted Apiary has been taken as canon according to Frankie. This just confirms that if Durandal did return he would fit into the Haloverse as a rampant AI.
Most AIs are discovered to be rampant in this stage (Melincholia – the first stage). In Marathon, the AI known as Traxus IV was discovered to be rampant at this stage, forcing a reboot of a five-world computer network. There are some hints that Traxus IV, rebooted, is in fact Durandal.
Taken from Rampancy Wiki Entry
3. Could we see the return of Traxus here? The name has been seen in the new E3 trailer and even talked about by the Bungie guys.


Halo as a Cyberpunk tangent
In some cyberpunk writing, much of the action takes place online, in cyberspace, blurring the border between the actual and the virtual reality.

Taken from Cyberpunk on Wikipedia
This is off topic but I would like to think of this ARG and the speculations and facts being found during this ARG and throughout the Haloverse as cyberpunk. With this ARG and all of us taking part in it makes all of us semi cyberpunk. We all have to admit that the Marathon and Halo games including all the Viral Advertisments (ARG’s) are great writing. This is real life cyberpunk action. Lol.

P.S. That last part was mainly for me. hehe

P.S.S. This will be updated as new info is gathered and new ideas formed, sorry for the sloppiness and lack of cohesion. And i would like to thank Avateur for helping me put this together and being my editor. ABO is teh roxxor!

Re: Durandal.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:34 pm
by AI_Construct
As well, we also have to look at the concept of time travel in the Haloverse/Marathonverse.

In the Haloverse, it is possible to escape through time using one of those crystals, is it not?

If space and time are on different planes, is it feasible that Durandal could some how have speed through time into another universe?

Another possibility is slipspace. Is it possible to stay in the shield world's type of slipspace bubble and attempt to come out?

And 87, that theory is a real possibility, if Durandal did escape, what better thing to create and live in then something that can't die?

Re: Durandal.

Posted: Tue Jul 17, 2007 12:52 pm
by Dundradal
writer87 wrote: Rampancy

Rampancy is mainly a phrase used in Marathon as a substitute for “insane”. However, Rampancy has been linked to the Haloverse; as seen in The ILB (I Love Bee’s) a.k.a. Haunted Apiary ARG. And yes the Haunted Apiary has been taken as canon according to Frankie. This just confirms that if Durandal did return he would fit into the Haloverse as a rampant AI.
Most AIs are discovered to be rampant in this stage (Melincholia – the first stage). In Marathon, the AI known as Traxus IV was discovered to be rampant at this stage, forcing a reboot of a five-world computer network. There are some hints that Traxus IV, rebooted, is in fact Durandal.
Taken from Rampancy Wiki Entry
3. Could we see the return of Traxus here? The name has been seen in the new E3 trailer and even talked about by the Bungie guys.

First I'm going to say that Rampancy is not "insanity" but instead AIs becoming fully self-aware and conscience. Becoming rampant requires the breaking of bonds put on the AIs to prevent them from acting too much out of parameters sent by their creators. Durandal goes rampant as a result of Bernhard Strauss and his meddling before and during the trip to Tau Ceti.

I'm not sure if you've played Marathon, but the logic behind the Traxus theory is because on one level later on in M1, a terminal message displays an error message telling the player to contact the system admin @ TraxusIV while Durandal is under attack. The logic behind it is that after Traxus crashed the remains of his systems were used to create other AIs (Durandal in particular), so it's like Durandal was predisposed to become rampant because of his common threads with Traxus.

If anything I just think it's Bungie reusing old names because they are part of their world. Although, I could see the Halo's and the destruction of all flood-host life as something Durandal would be willing to do in order to ensure his continued existence. After all he only seems to care about is the Mk IV (but just barely) and what knowledge he can learn from the S'pht and ruins of Jjaro tech. You have to remember that 10,000 (IIRC) years after the destruction of the Pfhor empire, Durandal showed up at Earth to remind people who saved them. He also showed up in a Jjaro dreadnaught, which might not be too much to say possessed some kind of time manipulation devices, as the space station in Infinity is able to do that along with contain the nova started by the Pfhor.

What I'm getting at is, that if Durandal is around, he'd let us know. He's not the type to hid in the shadows tinkering with things. He's the type to be in your face mocking you to accomplish the missions he needs done.