Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Wild, speculative theories born from the communications with AdjutantReflex.

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BaneRDX
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Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by BaneRDX »

Merged the topics. - Avateur

Notably, Bungie's MO for story telling is through terminals, as per the Marathon series.
So as I went through the list of achievements I noted that the second last terminal Orpheus has an interesting story behind it, that might help explain more about the relationship between the Forerunners and the human/Reclaimers (n.b. Reclaimers is the last terminal game...).

Anyhow this is what I found interesting on wiki;

Orpheus in astronomy

Further information: Giant impact hypothesis

In planetary science, Orpheus refers to a proto-planet that collided with Earth early in the solar system's history. This collision led to the birth of Earth's moon that formed after the violent impact because the Earth’s gravity pulled the remnants of Orpheus into its orbit.

This planetary collision is believed to be of vital importance in the development of life on Earth. Prior to the impact, Earth was almost completely covered with oceans so only the highest peaks rose above sea level. In addition, the atmosphere of Earth was very dense and had low levels of oxygen. As a result of Earth’s collision with Orpheus, much of the ocean water was ejected into space as were a large percentage of the atmospheric gases. These changes made it possible for life on Earth to evolve as we currently know it.
Orpheus
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by Orpheus »

lol, my username here is in Halo 3, that's kinda cool.
(WOW, haven't been here in forever, once im done with Nightshade im gonna ask for an update)
Omega Hunter 9
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by Omega Hunter 9 »

The whole ejection into space seems fishy. A shockwave may evaporate a large portion of water, but it wouldn't eject the liquid itself, if it did, we would have ice rings like Neptune. And the atmosphere just can't move like that unless the gravitational center was disrupted, which infers a much larger object that hit than Orpheus.

Anyone notice that a Halo 3 achievement is to read all the terminals in the game, and the pic has the Marathon symbol?
RoboChocobo
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Thoughts on the Terminals in Halo 3, and the ARG.

Unread post by RoboChocobo »

Given the current use of "terminals" in Halo 3's ARG, and the fragmented information delivered within, It is my theory that in Halo 3 the Terminals will further be used as a means of delivering forerunner information to the player. Through Halo 1-2 the player has almost no information regarding the Forerunners directly available. All information that exists are what can be visibly ascertained, and second hand reports from 343 Guilty Spark/ 2401 Penitent Tangent.

We have almost no information on them, and yet the player is supposed to accept that the Forerunner's built WMD's on a Galactic Scale? Very little was shown with regards to the Forerunners and Flood, belying the true scale of the conflict in the Halo universe. Starting with Halo 2/the Halo Graphic Novel, and in ARG there is a strong push towards revealing more about the Forerunners and the Flood.

This information is essential towards understanding and appreciating the sheer importance of the Halo's, as well as the Ark.

Therefore it's quite possible that the terminals in Halo 3 will focus on the Flood, and the battle against them from the Forerunner perspective, a Journal perhaps. A continuation of the ARG if you will. What could be better than making an ARG which directly ties into an element of the story and rewards gamers who follow the ARG all the way until Launch?
BaneRDX
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Re: Thoughts on the Terminals in Halo 3, and the ARG.

Unread post by BaneRDX »

Ahh Terminals...
BaneRDX
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by BaneRDX »

I wasn't being literal about Orpheus hitting Earth. I was bringing up the point that life on Earth changed after the Orpheus event and wanted to correlate this to the terminals, i.e. the one just before the "Reclaimer" terminal. Which is where I'm assuming that we get the final piece of the story about why GT343 recognised Master Chief way back in Halo (1)as a reclaimer.

My theory is that OSD used Forerunner tech to create the Spartans from the Reclaimer design. They couldn't adapt it to there current troops and used gene technology to breed suitable humans to be able to withstand the Reclaimer suit. Since GT343 refer to MC armor as level 2, I'm guessing they copied the janitor's suit and the real armor's somewhere on the ark :)
Lurono
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Re: Thoughts on the Terminals in Halo 3, and the ARG.

Unread post by Lurono »

RoboChocobo wrote:Therefore it's quite possible that the terminals in Halo 3 will focus on the Flood, and the battle against them from the Forerunner perspective, a Journal perhaps. A continuation of the ARG if you will. What could be better than making an ARG which directly ties into an element of the story and rewards gamers who follow the ARG all the way until Launch?
I REALLY like the idea. It would be awesome just to see a few references in the game... Hell, it would make me happy just to simply see AR's glyph hidden somewhere!
Maimbot 9000
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by Maimbot 9000 »

Well, when I saw "Orpheus" in the achievements list, I assumed it was bad news for Cortana (see the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice). But I quite like the astronomical connection. If you (Bane) are suggesting the Forerunners caused the Orpheus planetoid to collide with Earth and make our planet more suitable for life as we know it, that gives extra significance to our moon in this game. The Forerunners (indirectly) created our moon! So not only are the events in this game apparently following a lunar calendar, but they're following a calendar that the Forerunners devised.

What that means exactly, I don't know, but I like the significance.
BaneRDX
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by BaneRDX »

Why do people take everything they read as literal... The "Orpheus Event" was when the moon collided into the earth, which changed life on Earth. Now I'm trying to relate that when the forerunners came to earth they changed life as we know it. I'm not suggesting that they created the moon... Their use of the lunar cycle to count to 5 is beside the point.

Also referring to your (Maimbot 9000) simile of Orpheus and Eurydice, where I'm assuming your likening Cortana to Eurydice doesn't make sense. The only way that would work is if Gravemind returned a fake Cortana to the Master Chief and she disappeared as they were leaving... Again writers can't follow mythology to the letter and are probably just taking the context of the situation to help explain their plot twist.

My theory is that Cortana goes into the final stage of rampancy and that's why, during the cut scene from E3, we see her fall to her knees. Actually that's WAY to obvious. That they'd use the same story from marathon in halo... It's bad enough that they're homaging marathon by using the terminals again, but at least the mini games are a fresh addition.

My expectations for the ARG was to explain the Halo universe. So far, I'm just thinking that they are preparing people for the terminals in Halo, as per RoboChocobo's idea.
RoboChocobo
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Re: Orpheus - Story of Halo... via Terminals?

Unread post by RoboChocobo »

I doubt Cortana will be evil per say. Instead, much like Frankie stated in a recent interview, Cortana is the "damsel in distress" who happens to have the key to the survival of all life in the universe.

Her connection with the forerunner database is astonishing if you think about how much sheer information she has. Perhaps she has underwent a sort of Psuedo Rampancy and come out the other end intact.

I doubt it will involve the Terminals per say. I believe that if my theory on the terminals is correct, then they will only appear in Forerunner levels. Hidden, Most likely.

Let's keep our eyes open for new ARG information that could relate to Cortana.
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