As much as we’d like to deny it, the fact is the Halo universe is made up. Bungie did an absolutely incredible job with the back story and all around canon of Halo CE. Heck, read the “Story so far” from the original Halo manual; you’ll be pretty shocked at how thought out everything was. Words that were nothing more than blabber back then, now have books and actual games about the events told in that manual.
Even though Halo CE had a slight hint of a sequel at the very end, the story was pretty well finished and wrapped up. While Bungie did a phenomenal job continuing the Halo story without changing any pre-established facts, we noticed a few very subtle changes that were made between Halo 1 and 2. Here’s our list of 5 different canon adjustments made after Combat Evolved…
5. The spartans were a clone army
The description for the multi-player map Chrion TL-34 is “Spartan Clone Training Complex“. At this point in time, we don’t have the slightest bit of information about any other spartan than the Master Chief. Now, was the spartan army simply all just clones of the same person? No where else is this brought up, but its very possible that was the concept for the original story.
4. The Spartans were cyborgs
The term “cyborg” is brought up countless times throughout Halo CE. Again, at this point in time we have no back story on how the spartans really came to be. It seems logical to assume that the original canon was that UNSC created a cyborg soldier and (continuing from the last point) cloned him into an army. Sure, the spartans are augmented humans, but not exactly cyborgs. Inside the suit is still flesh and bone.
3. Cortana used to have an actual body
As you’re crash landing onto halo for the first time, Cortana says “if I still had fingers, they’d be crossed!”. This leads us to believe that Cortana, and perhaps all AI for that matter, were created from real people. We know now Cortana was a clone of Dr. Halsey’s brain, but Cortana seems to know she’s her own being and was never actually Dr. Halsey. Could it be that AI were created after real people in the original canon? This is of course purely speculation, but an interesting thought none the less.
2. The POA was Cortana’s home
On the final level, “The Maw,” when Cortana is plugged back into the main panel on the POA, she says “I leave home for a few days and look what happens.” This of course could just be a figure of speech, but as far as the information we have on her from the first game, it very well seems as though Cortana’s sole purpose is indeed the onboard ship AI for the Pillar of Autumn. This is referenced in the opening level when Keys reminds Cortana that “destruction or capture of a shipboard AI is absolutely unacceptable”, and more litterally in the users manual saying “Cortana is the highly advanced AI at the heart of the Pillar of Autumn.”
It seems as though after the first game, her role was far more important than they maybe realized. As the games progress we find out she’s a clone of the very brain that created the spartans, and that she does have some history with John after all…
1. Master Chief is the last spartan
Here’s the big one. It’s stated numerous times that the Master Chief is the last of his kind. It seems as though originally Master Chief was the last living Spartan, but as the univers expanded Bungie did something very clever. While Bungie continued to push the idea you were the last spartan through basically the whole trilogy, the tone of this statement changed after CE. The few times its mentioned in the first game, its stated rather factually and literally. You are the last remaining spartan, period. Then, as the universe began to expand and the novels came out, we know there are other spartans out there. The statement seemed to change tone into more of an open ended statement. Sort of, as far as the Master Chief knows, he’s the last one.
This change in tone is so subtle that after you’ve played through the series and you read those statements again from the first game, you read them in an open ended matter. If you weren’t there for the trip the first time around, you’d have never noticed this part of the canon changed.
Bonus: Johnson dies at the end of Halo CE
I figured I’d throw this one in the ring, since it is no doubt the biggest change in the story. As you all know, if you beat The Maw on legendary you see Sgt. Johnson hug it out with an Elite as the POA detonates and kills everything on Halo. Bungie has stated this was simply an easter egg and was not in fact canon. However, how can we ever know if that was indeed the complete truth, and that Bungie isn’t just trying to back track? Sadly, we wont. We think its better to view it as a complete easter egg either way.
So there you have it folks! Let us know if you have any other canon changes you’ve noticed, and make sure to head over to the contact page to let us know what you’d like to hears us talk about next!
