Arbiter's Halo 2 Anniversary Cutscenes Remastered by Blur Studios [1080p @ 60fps] 

"Tartarus.....the prophets have betrayed us." That is the pain realizing 4,000 years of Covenant history and a 28 year long war against humanity.....was all a lie.

i don't think any line of dialogue will ever match "Tartarus... the prophets have betrayed us" Keith David did such a fantastic job.

Back in the day when elites were elite.

Refumee: "Arbiter, listen to me!" Arbiter: Begins listening patiently. Refumee: Starts shooting instead of explaining.

This was never how it looked, but this was always how it felt.

how far the Arbiter has come, from being a loyal servant, to being called a Heretic, to surviving the civil war, to then finishing the war against the Covenant. Then heading back home and becoming the leader of his race, and creating a lasting peace with the Humans and even calling the Master Cheif friend... This is character development!!!

I just realized when truth says "they must be silenced", this is the same exchange of dialogue that occurs between the arbiter and truth in halo 3 when the arbiter impales truth in the back with his energy sword. "and so, you must be silenced." great writing.

*"The Council decided to have you hung by your entrails and your corpse paraded through the city. But ultimately the terms of your execution are up to me."* I miss Halo having such a nonchalant antagonist who really believed in what they were doing, Cortana can't perform evil for shit.

I always thought the arbiter didn't get enough attention from halo fans he was a fucking badass

I love how Arbiter still gave Tartarus a chance to redeem himself at the end, despite everything the brutes had done to the elites, he still wanted to try and convince him of the prophets lies

This was written in 2004. Think about that. Politics. Lies. War. Faith. Honor. Betrayal. Instead of writing 3 prophets with same agendas, they wrote em individually, with Truth being the mastermind and intelligent one among all of em. The internal conflict within the Covenant. The lore of the Arbiters. Etc.

I want a full out Halo movie with these graphics. I’m absolutely blown away at how in depth this story is

"If they came to hear me beg, they will be dissapointed" -Arbiter

Sergeant Johnson in a nutshell- Fights elites and brutes hand to hand Survives the flood Dies by a -lightbulb- *tinkerbell*

Brutes in 2004/2014: when they learn? Fool, they ordered me to do it Brutes in 2020: *C r a i g*

19:45 - The way Blur used Arbiter's eyes in this moment was brilliant. The yellow standing out against all the dark colours is such a stark contrast and it really gets across the shock and horror of this moment.

“Fate had us meet as foes, but this ring, will make us brothers.”

"Tartarus...the prophets have betrayed us." Love how crushed he sounds there...great emotion.

“You’ve drawn quite a crowd.” “If they came to hear me beg... they will be disappointed. Fucking balls on Arby. He’s rather take his punishment then let his enemies hear him beg for mercy

The Gravemind is really well designed and it looks so good in 60fps

These graphics combined with the sheer majesty of Keith David's voice gives us the ultimate Arbiter depiction.

oh my god. When I was a kid i skipped through these cutscenes and never even paid attention. As an adult, i'm realising how much effort and creativity went into creating this game and now i want to go rewatch the whole game.

2:06 In the original Halo 2 cut scene, the Brutes never shove the Arbiter. They walk towards him, in attempt to of course detain and lead him, but the Arbiter glances back and the two brutes back off. I honestly like the original better than this remastered one because it shows that the Arbiter is no pushover.

15:31 That brute is one hell of a pilot to fly backwards like that!

"Tartarus, the Prophets have betrayed us". Great line. You can tell the truth just pissed him off even more as the Prophets had just betrayed the Elites just to hide their lie.

The best looking cutscenes throughout the Halo series

27:14 How did they do that. They made a reptile with mandibles for a mouth look and sound with so much emotion

looking at the halo TV show then rewatching this, wracked my heart with grief, and sorrow

Man the Arbiter armor went from looking badass to outright beautiful in these cinematics. Not just power armor anymore, it make's Thel into a literal knight in shining armor.

Keith David is easily one of the most underestimated and underrated actors of our generation. Practically no one knows who this guy is, but he's a force of nature in the acting world. This, Spawn, and Princess Mononoke really just shows how deep his emotional range is.

Girls before dodgeball: "ugh I have dodgeball" Bois before dodgeball: 7:47

I have come to the conclusion that this is legitimately one of the greatest character developments in all of fiction. Video games, TV, books, everything. To go from hero, to heretic, to rebel, and make it this entertaining is truly amazing. His entire life he fought for what he believed, then it all began to slip away as he realized it was a lie, and that very moment when he tells Tartarus the truth, you can tell he has only just come to terms with the truth himself.

watching this made me fix my posture so many times.

Its always bothered me how the heretic leader opened fire on The Arbiter when if he'd waited a minute for Guilty Spark to explain things The Arbiter might have switched sides then and there. It probably would have just lead to Rtas and Tartarus flying off and leaving them both to die, but who knows?

These cutscene will be better in every way than the 2022 TV series. Calling it now.

"They called it The Pillar of Autumn" this has given me chills since I was 10

I still cant get over at how Blur did such an astounding job at animating the faces of the Elites.

When I was about 10 I played this game for the first time and loved the Arbiters missions. But due to my young and clueless mind, I never got why the arbiter was hunting down and killing the Heretic forces because I didn't understand politics and Heretics words that well. I just saw him as a bad guy, so I killed him. Now that am much older, I realize that the Heretic was the good guy all along, trying to save his fellow Sangheilli from the prophets lies

10 years later, these visuals are still breathtaking.

One piece of detail I never notice before: Tartaurus didn’t always have an elite’s skull mounted on his shoulder piece until the murder of the elite council.

Elite: *breathes* Prophets: HERESY!!!!

10:18 omg that face of “oh shit” is so well animated

This story has a lot to teach about the vast misuse of religion

I love "ya know, your father never asked me for help either" Johnson is such a good character. Basically all the characters in halo 2 were amazing.

I can recite Halo 2’s dialogue from memory still to this day hahah. Too damn good.

I think the great part about the cutscenes as the beginning where Thel is shown being ripped of his rank, tortured, and called a heretic is that as it’s going on, it’s being paralleled to Master Chief being celebrated and awarded for his success in destroying Halo and saving the universe. These two started the game as different as the two could be, and by Halo 3, ended up working together on the same path as friends.

16:15 not gonna lie... seriously one of my favorite moments in Halo 2(both og and remastered). "We shall cut into the heart of this infestation, retrieve the Icon, and Burn Any Flood That Stands In OUR WAY!!"

The Arbiter's voice is wonderful. Always so smooth and calm, even after being called a Heretic and being branded.

*Bungie:* "You are the publisher. The will of the Share Holders. But these are _my_ employees. Their livelyhoods matter to me. Yours does not." *Activision:* "That makes two of us."

I love the slightly sad tone in Arbiter's voice as he states the prophets had betrayed them.

I don't remember many voices from my childhood with much clarity - but Keith David's performance as Arbiter is something I'll never forget

"Tartarus.....the prophets have betrayed us." Keith David delivered this line so good that it sounds like the Arbiter is both about to cry, is very sad, and angry all rolled into one.

The best design for the Elites right here..lean and speedy.the new one looks more befitting of the brutes. Who's idea was it to make them look like fat dwarves???

This had a sense of exploration, mystery, adventure. Something that with the new halos was lost.

When they come down on the dropship and the commander gives him that line "These... Are my elites. Their lives matter to me. Yours does not." And the arbiter goes "That makes two of us." That line was what really gave the Sanghelli personalities to me. They feel deep respect and admiration for one another, not quite love. If anything it emulates the actual Spartans and other warrior culture.

13:35 When you see your friend walk out the principles office

Man, Arbiter really is the best character in the series

Such a beautiful story I feel as if it doesn’t get enough recognition as it should

This storyline and the final scene with Arbiter confronting Tartarus was the absolute peak of video game storytelling that will probably never be topped.

The detail in this is genuinely so stunning. Even listening so closely i think i can hear a different tone in the graveminds voice. Like a womans almost, buried in the guteral voice that you normally hear. The muscle on tartarus, the skin patterns on thel. The alert eye movements of johnson. Its crazy.

i like how in the halo 2 they showed as the alien side. that they are not only some enemies. but creatures who have they own religion, policy and traditions. wish more games be like this

Arbiter's line: "Tartarus, the Prophets have betrayed us." always gets me.

"When we joined the Covenant, we took an Oath." *According to our station, all without exception.* "On the blood of our Fathers, on the blood of our Sons; We swore to uphold the Covenant." *Even to our dying breath.* "Those who would break this oath are Heretics; worthy of neither pity, nor mercy. Even now, they use our Lords' Creation to broadcast their lies." *We shall grind them into dust!* "And continue our march to glorious salvation!" This speech is so damn good and so memorable. If you look closely, you can also see the arbiter not talking with them, or mouthing Rtas's words with them either. The scene after, too, arbiter is clearly lacking self confidence, it's honestly sad. Hes been stripped of his rank, his name, everything that makes Thel 'Vadamee, well, Thel 'Vadamee. These scenes have such meaning. God, I love halo 2 anniversary. Edit: also, towards the end with arbiter, Johnson, and tartarus, the way Johnson looks at arbiter- man, hes realizing and understands. God I love Johnson. I love, like, everything about the body language too.

I've lost count of how many times I've watched these cutscenes, not just because the remastered graphics are gorgeous, but how rich the story of this game is. Honestly I think this was the best writing the Halo games ever had.

I love the original covenant more than the covenant from halo 4 and 5

Hands down favorite character in the halo franchise.

"Nothing can be done until my sermon is complete!" IDK, I feel like Regret does not quite appreciate fully the gravity of his situation.

I was indifferent to the Combat Evolved remaster but damn when I played this and saw the cut scenes I was blown 100 feet away. Halo 2 is my favorite game in the series and the cinematic cut scenes really gave it a fresh coat of paint. I’ll always commend 343 for doing a real bang up job on this one.

We need a Halo movie done with Blur.

2:34 Man, getting called a heretic by grunts has to be one of the most humiliating thing to an Elite's pride imaginable.

I personally think Arbiter's redemption arc in the Halo trilogy is similar and on par with Zuko's. If you really think about it, they're more similar than you think. In their beginnings, they both received their mark of shame for their failures. Arbiter getting his burned on his body from Tartarus, chieftain of the brutes, and Zuko getting his burned on his eye from his father. Zuko then becomes devoted to getting his honor back by hunting the Avatar, and Thel Vadam(Arbiter) becomes the new arbiter in order to get his honor and respect back. When Arbiter kills the Elite heretic leader after he and 343 guilty spark told him the lies that the prophets were spewing, he begins to question his loyalty to the Covenant, and when Zuko finally got his father's respect after thinking he killed Aang after being told by Azula, he starts to question his loyalty to the fire nation and after betraying his Uncle. When Tartarus betrays Arbiter, it is similar to when Azula found Zuko and his Uncle to tell them that his father wants them to come back to the Fire Nation, but instead being told accidentally by her men that they were actually going to be prisoners. After the encounter with the Flood Gravemind along with Master Chief, he confronts Tartarus at the hall to activate the next Halo ring. He tells them the truth about what Halo really is, and I think it's similar to when Zuko reunited with his Uncle in an emotional moment. The 2 lines really resonated with me on how similar they are being: "Tartarus, the prophets have betrayed us." And "I was sad because I thought you lost your way." Arbiter is broken inside because his role in the covenant was all for a lie he didn't want to believe, and Iroh was sad inside because he thought he lost Zuko to help him become the man he wanted him to be. If you also think about it, Tartarus and Azula have some similar traits. The we're both jealous of their rivals. Tartarus hated Thel Vadam(Arbiter) because Brutes and Elites hated each other while also being jealous, and Azula was jealous because of Zuko getting more love from his mother when they were younger. They were both tools being used for a cause. Tartarus sadly didn't want to believe what he was doing was for a lie and had to fight Arbiter, and Zuko and Azula had one final Agni Kai battle to finish it once and for all to become Fire lord. Then once their arcs came to an end, Zuko became the Fire Lord and brought the war to an end, and Arbiter killed the last prophet and after his fellow Elites made peace with the humans and returned to their home planet. And those are why I think these 2 redemption arcs are similar to each other.

"Tarterus, the prophet's have betrayed us" I felt that...

Gravemind OG Halo 2: Whats with the giant talking plant Gravemind Halo 2 Anniversary: holy shit it looks like a parasitic twin with those teeth.

Arbiter will always be my favorite halo character.

Halo 2 has got to have some of the best cutscenes in gaming history. The story and graphics, voice acting, music, and atmosphere is amazing. Makes you believe this is real.

Welcome back Arbiter, the Guardians are ready to follow your lead and honor the legacy of our Commander, guide us in this new age!

Funny how one Elite had more personality than all of 343's Elites.

Halo 3 Anniversary, remastered graphics, 60 fps, multiplayer, bug-free, all that on Xbox Scorpio!! a man can dream...

This. This is the very video that hooked me into Halo. I wanted to know more about these guys. I wanted to play as them. I decided to start playing Halo. For that, I am grateful.

i could watch this a thousand times and it's still better and more intriguing as a movie or series than the current halo tv series.

This is how a full Halo feature film should be made and look

343, please DON'T let the Arbiter die!!! I beg you!!! If a character has to die let it be someone like Locke. *Edit:* just came back after 2 years, my god how many people...?! 😂🤣 Plus sorry for my cringy old comments rip

This is why the new halo show has no excuse. This looks better and it was like 8 yrs ago

YOU WERE RIGHT TO FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION AGAINST THE FLOOD ONLY TRUE WORDS THEY EVER SPOKE

the new halo bundle has been confirmed for steam the entire humanity: @14:58

Here's one thing I've always wondered about Halo 2, The Arbiter is naked, and walks up to a full set of perfectly good clothing to cover his shame, so what's the first thing The Arbiter puts on? The hat.

I love the way that Gravemind shudders when he says containment.

I'm back here again to cleanse my eyes of the Halo TV Series.

Keith David has the coolest voice ever

11:29 The one time a shield-generator actually works in a cutscene.

5:52 something about this line, the camera angle, music and atmosphere really captures the beauty of Halo 2

Notice how Arbiter hesitates when the “Heretic” tells him to ask “The Oracle” about Halo and what it does. This was the first seed of doubt and had the Heretic not shot first I think Arbiter would’ve listened.

*Sees 738 dislikes.* "This is the true face of heresy." "We shall grind them into dust!"

Arbiter was always my favorite.

“Those who build this place knew what they wrought” mmmmm, love it

Halo 2 holds a special place in my heart. As a kid my uncles would let me play the Xbox and they had this game. We never had internet when I was growing up so I made due with what I had. I played this campaign so many times because I was so captured by the story itself. God I love this game so much.

There needs to be a halo game where there's two separate campaigns, one for humans and one just for the elites, may be after they split from the covenant. It would be epic!

After reading the Arbiter's history and how far he came, plus all the crazy acts he was forced to do by the prophets, only to throw that life away and make his -own- army of elites, some grunts and even some lekgolo (Hunters / Scarabs), I've developed respect for elites. Now I find myself always wanting to play the holy warriors rather than cocky human soldiers, like the spartan IVs coming up in Halo 5. I somewhat wish I could play as one of the Arbiter's Sangheili.

Arbiter and Shipmasters first interaction aboard that phantom is so wholesome after seeing where they ended up. Man it was such a great story I'd love to see one or both return in infinite. That "they ordered me to do it line hits arby so hard poor guy. Same with the "the prophets have betrayed us" line such a delivery iconic love the guy

“I am already dead.” Man the Arbiter is relatable. Despite being obviously alive, I just feel dead inside.