Daddy Max It’s even worse with Wallace. He turns into a Flood combat form, but still retains partial control of his body and mind, but was unable to free himself from the horrific torture.
@Daddy Max Yeah, that's the thing, you *don't* die to the Flood. You're just sort of... decentralized. The Flood is one giant brain and your thoughts are diffused into it like a blood transfusion. Everything about you is retained and subsumed into a larger super organism.
I honestly think for a moment he actually reversed the roles of the situation where instead of his mind being searched he actually was strong enough to catch a glimpse of the grave minds true intentions.
@@dreadnought_official_YT And that what's make this cutscene so deep and horrifying at the same time. Just look at keyes, he's experiencing the worst possible torture he has or ever will know. His flesh has already been almost completely absorbed by the flood super cells yet his mind and his willpower was strong enough to make the gravemind struggle, if only for a moment. A moment that lasted for several hours I might add.
One thing I've always found ironic about the flood is that even though their the most grotesque thing in halo they're also the most divine in a sense considering their origins
Tonight, just for you, I'm gonna hop on the Flood Playlists. Gonna kill every last one of them just for Keyes and every other victim as an act of mercy.
Terrible to think that billions of individuals from different species over history had to go through this. Firing the rings and letting the galaxy be temporarily empty is a mercy compared to all of us living like that.
Every other being infected by the flood immediately lost control (excluding Jenkins, but he was infected by an old, damaged infection form). Jacob Keyes was in the clutches of the Gravemind as it tore out his memories one by one. He fought back and for a moment made the Gravemind struggle. No other being did that, except for Cortana (where it's noticeable during the Halo 3 mission, Cortana). Even when it seemed that he was gone, he came back trying to break free of him, even making the Gravemind say what he is saying. Out of every other character in the Halo Series, Captain Keyes had the strongest will to do something no other character would be able to do. His death was a serious loss, and he will be missed.
Its interesting how the flood takes control of the mind first they show the memories of every race past or present that's ever been infected every moment the flood has seen and even the precursors experiences and view in the universe all this combined being forced into a primitive human mind would drive you insane in seconds that's how the break you and then take your memories everything that makes you they take truly the worst way someone could die not only is there own body now fighting for the flood but bow your own mind is used against you the perfect way to destroys so.eones body mind and escencially the soul
Granted the Flood would've consumed everything and then starved themselves and left the universe void of all life. Or use the Forerunner tech to mass produce lifeforms to always be able to live on as the sole sentient entity in the universe. Firing the rings was the best thing that could've happened. Otherwise it would've only been a matter of time until the Flood consumed everyone. I'd rather die something quick and easy. Walking into the light is no different than falling asleep really. It's an acceptance of what's going to happen. It'd be no different than a Thanos finger snap
This is by far one of the saddest yet most badass moments of Halo. I can't even imagine the pain Keyes went through, but he fought until the very end. Sure, the Flood took him, but not as easily as they expected.
You know what.. I just wanted to like your comment.. but you have exactly 117 likes.. so if you know Halo lore.. I cant give you like.. sice 117 is magical;)
The most awesome part? He held out long enough for John to arrive, find him absorbed, and just as the Flood finally had his tactical data in their grasp...just as they were on the edge of taking what he'd kept from them...John took the chip, and put the captain out of his suffering. Keyes' stoic resistance was vital in stopping the Flood. A brave man, and a tragic loss.
Keyes litteraly fought back against the Gravemind for endless hours, probably over 24. As the gravemind searched his mind for the location of Earth, he purposefully pushed those memories as far down as possible and fed the Gravemind his other memories that would not endanger humanity. He quite literally endured consecutive hours of psychological torture in which his very memories were ripped from his head. He even deemed his battle with the Gravemind as "the toughest - and the most important" battle he ever fought. Which he fought litteraly to the very end. This level of pure badassery is unmatched, and part of the reason Halo is such an awesome fictional universe. And why Keyes might just be the most badass Halo character.
The flood wasn’t just searching for earth, it was searching for EVERYTHING. Him fighting back was just giving that persona and fighting spirit to the grave mind, as that is what it takes from you but it still doesn’t undermine how legendary it is.
That scene where the marines are getting overtaken by the Flood is gruesome. There's no way to have a good death when you're facing the Flood. You could either get taken over and have your body *violently* mutate while you lose yourself. Or, you could get ripped apart by the brutal melee attacks. I mean, Hell. In the books, the Flood use their hosts' bones as stabbing and slashing weapons.
+Birna Tena To keyes? The flood captured them because... knowledge? Don't know but yeah he was captured by the flood during the sudden ambush on containment area. And the marines? They're infected. Johnson? He fought his way out.
polarsasurex's forehead just for the flood to infect your corpse and bring you back to life for 10 seconds as the infection form rips and slashes through you
I know this is necro posting but I would like to mention that only those in the league of Keyes were submitted to the Proto-Gravemind, everyone else ((excluding the rare case like Jenkins)) pretty much just die a painful and quick death.
Senior Copter Ah. Well still, makes you feel for Keyes. When I first saw him die in Combat Evolved I was sad, but not *7 YEAR OLD SPOILERS* Miranda or Johnson sad and definitely not *2 YEAR OLD SPOILER* Cortana sad. But this terminal changed my perspective.
S-IV yeah, it was kinda sad cause keyes was the only one that you knew apart from foehammer that was still 'alive' but it wasn't that sad because you didnt get to know him that much
It's interesting how, throughout, he thinks that he's being interrogated by the *Covenant*, not the Flood. Wondering whether this is because he doesn't know that the two are separate, or because the Flood's messed with his mind so much he can't tell the difference anymore.
The flood weren’t totally unknown to him - he was among the first to encounter them with Sgt Johnson and Pvt Jenkins. I think it was just his mind was somewhat deluded and so he forgot about the flood, he did seem to be struggling a lot with his memory. It seems reasonable that some of things he’s remember most were his role in the military and his fight against the Covenant. I think when he realises his interrogators want a lot mor than just Earth, he also realises that he’s not dealing with the Covenant. It’s sad to think he spent such a large part of his life fighting for Earth and humanity against the Covenant, and then this new force brushed him under the carpet like he was nothing. He dedicated himself to fighting the Covenant and it meant almost nothing in the end because the Flood are so much worse.
"Oh no, you don't want Earth . You want everything !" By saying that line, I think Keyes realized that the Covenant didn't capture him . It was something else . Something worse .
Jakeoflines Piano The flood was not a known threat until the beginning of halo 2. At this point in the war no one knew what the flood was except for the covenant due to their “scriptures” but was more of a myth which most covenant themselves didn’t even believe #sanshyuum. The reason his memory is distorted is because the proto-gravemind is actively searching and confiscating memories of use. It’s like your mind is in a constant blank/blur trying to remember only for the flood to take it upon recollection. And he doesn’t come to realization that “omg it’s the flood” His realization is that “oh god this threat it doesn’t just want earth it wants everything” Also he automatically assumes he was captured by the covenant because they’re the only known threat around in the galaxy besides the insurrectionists but this was all the way in *unknown* space so their intervention wasn’t a feasible analysis. If he knew what the flood was he would’ve stated them by their factions title and that memory was them being ambushed in the swamp not alpha base :/ Keyes,pvt.jenkins and Johnson’s first encounter with the flood was that situation and even then they didn’t know what it was. I just hate when false assumptions are made due to blind perception.
Actually, I'm pretty sure Captain Jacob Keyes was still consious all until The Master Chief smashed his arm into his head. I do not think this was his death. But truthfully, the flood did have control over his whole body, so he is pretty much as good as dead. If you read Halo: "The Flood" by: William C. Dietz, it says it hurt to breathe at all, so he was still alive until The Master Chief put him out of his misery.
M0tionL355Halo lol imagine keyes saying "you fucking idiot,why are you just staying here watching at me....wait,are you doing to to with that fist? No,NO-" *head gets smashed*
At this point, death was inevitable. But at least he chose to remain steadfast to the end. And even though no one would probably know it, but if they did, they would want to know that their captain undertook great pains and refused to allow himself to break or falter, even in the most unbearable torments, rather than submit to evil. The true definition of a soldier to remember and one that would've been worth following in the face of impossible odds to the bitter end.
I’ve read two Halo books and they establish just how great Keyes was even further. Even Chief looked up to him. There often moments like “he wondered what Keyes would do on this situation” and such.
@@mattemattics5667 I think it may be The Cole Protocol since Keyes is a main character in that book, and it tells how he became a Captain in the first place.
My God, Stacker did an amazing job with the voice acting here. That last defiant breath, fighting the Gravemind to the very end sent absolute chills through me! It made his pleas for Chief and Cortana to leave even more heartbreaking. "Chief. Don't be a fool. Leave....me!" "I gave you an order soldier now pull out!!" Respect to Keyes. One of humanity's best!
I wish we could've also gotten a terminal from the dead Marine the Chief found in the Library in the novel as well. "I didn't know you, Sarge, but I sure as hell wish I had. You must've been one hardass son of a bitch."
Did anyone else take their Magnum out after you find keyes and just shoot the fuck out of the proto gravemind? I just wanted to make sure Keyes suffering had ended, just in case Cortana was wrong
Being incorporated into a Gravemind is clearly one of the worst fates in all of science fiction. The only things that even compares to it is those cases in Warhammer 40k where Servitors sometimes aren't mind-wiped perfectly and end up fully conscious and aware of their fate and the immense pain coursing through their entire bodies while still not being able to control their bodies, and of course the fate where you are slowly raped to death by daemons over the course of a thousand years. Even the Dark Eldar would struggle to come up with a form of torture worse than a Flood infection. The physical agony of the Flood infection is already terrible enough. I mean, in most cases, it usually begins with an Infection Form latching onto your torso, snapping your neck, and burrowing itself into your chest, which is quickly followed by rapid and excruciatingly painful mutations to the body as internal organs are liquified, skin tears, arteries burst, and bones and tentacles are made to protrude from the body. If you're lucky, you're dead by this point, but this doesn't always happen. This alone was enough to make Private Jenkins want to commit suicide by any means necessary as fast as possible. If you're a particularly unlucky bastard, you'll be made into a Carrier Form, in which case the Flood will reduce you into little more than a waddling incubation chamber, and you can look forward to the feeling of over a dozen new Infection Forms, which are much larger than you'd think, by the way, standing at about 3 to 4 feet tall, writhing around in your now extremely swollen back until you manage to find another sentient lifeform to self-destruct on, finally releasing all of the little horrors that you've been growing in your body, and hopefully giving you the sweet release of death. But as if that wasn't enough, if you become incorporated into a Gravemind, you can look forward to being mind-raped and psychologically tortured on top of all the pain you're already going through before having your mind become slaved to the Gravemind, which, barring any sort of damage to your section of the Gravemind or its death, can mean you will now exist in this state of pain and psychological torment for the rest of eternity. Hell, even if you were at one point given the sweet release of death, we can see in the case of the Prophet of Regret that the Gravemind is perfectly capable of resurrecting you so that you can suffer this fate and become a puppet on its string. Imagine getting killed by the Flood and going to whatever afterlife you believe in only for the Gravemind to force your consciousness back into your body for an eternity of psychological torment while crudely attached to to a skyscraper-sized pile of shapeshifting rotten flesh composed of hundreds of thousands of other sentient beings suffering the same fate as you. Even by 40k standards, that is a terrible fate that is quite hard to top.
Don't you love when other people think of the Flood as *just* space zombies? If only those people knew, then people would understand why a hyper advanced civilization like the Forerunners were forced to choose galactic genocide after everything else they tried failed to quell the parasite.
Fun fact: reciting your name, rank, and service number is actual military protocol for interrogations, love that Keyes was being probed by a literal eldritch horror and he still did it by the book. Another fun fact: the only reason Keyes was able to keep reciting his name, rank, and service number was because of the neural attachment he had in his head, the one thing the flood couldn’t infect, every time he recited it the flood made him forget but the neural attachment was restoring the memory into his mind, this is actually a rare case of a gravemind being frustrated, usually they are able to take their time while probing all the memories and then be done with it but this proto-gravemind was so angry it was bringing Keyes physical pain, and ripping his memories from him even faster all while Keyes continued throwing mundane memories such as sights, sensations, and smells.
This was a monster that brought down the most advanced and intelligent race in the Galaxy. And Keyes fended it off with his mind, as long as he could. For the player it was three minutes. For Keyes, it was eternity.
Infact this was a monster inadvertently created by a race more powerful even than the forerunners called The Precursors who the forerunners were at war with
arbiter690 Halo: The Flood. Jenkins is infected by the flood through the book, but at times he is able to resist to point out important things. I believe it said the infection form that got him was weak from hibernation.
elitehonor117 Interesting. Though it was as you pointed out a single weakened infection form, Keyes here was up against the Gravemind in a mental battle for control for if he lost, which he did, Jacob would be no more and truly be dead. Despite a hive mind, without an established central the fragments are without a doubt going to be weak, only acting on by instinct, preset thoughts of orders, and a drive to immediately make a central for more guided and unified leadership.
arbiter690 It is safe to assume that at the time of his infection(though if need be I can go and recheck the book-it is wonderful that each chapter has a time and location stamp on it) that there was no central consciousness, if that would make a difference after. Jenkins was infected at first contact, it would take the flood sometime to take over the Truth and Reconciliation and establish the proto grave-mind at it's controls. looking at the proto's form you can also distinguish 2 pairs of legs, possibly officers(they have most information/better brain) as there is no visible combat armor. It is possible that once the proto grave-mind was established, the rest were "woken up" of sorts. another explanation is that due to the pain(caused by the flood breaking one of Jenkins's limbs) he was able to grit through it and temporarily take control, but this is not explained later(at this point the proto grave-mind is no longer on Truth and Reconciliation at least) where Jenkins is able to once again point to something. it is possible the extermination of a large portion of the flood forces on Halo, and his previous experience were able to power through it. I could type up the part where he was infected, if that would interest you? If you don't plan on getting the book. it seems the re-released a version of the original books awhile back in larger format with different art, and possibly edited. (I don't know, I only have the original versions.)
elitehonor117 Thanks, I would like that very much. I wouldn't even know of anything like where the books are, existence, and more I may not understand.
When I first encountered the flood in halo and saw what it did to my team I was scared shitless and wanted to quit but I fought the flood and I loved it! I've never had an fps hit me as hard with fear and emotions as halo!
Big iron and the Boys Vevo My first ever flood experience was Floodgate in Halo 3 and I didn’t know anything about them, so I was really horrified to see them raining down and eating the marines alive all around me.
I remember for the first time I played this game.. I actually freaked out when those eggs kinda things came in huge numbers unstoppably.. I was just 10 at that time and I remember how horrifying this game was for me. I could feel my heart beating way too faster while playing this game. And the part which really scared me was the hunters!
Keyes could most likely be the strongest willed character in all of halo. He endured so much pain for hours and still kept the grave mind from obtaining the location of Earth and other Intel on the UNSC and well humanity in general. While heroes and ends up failing, he managed to fight flood and win for a little bit. He is truly the strongest of the UNSC and is such a badass. This is sad but also legendary.
Keyes ordered Chief to leave him behind. Then went through this. His mind was being slowly and painfully taken over, and his memories ripped from his head. Even through the pain, he endured as long as he could, doing everything in his power to keep the Flood from learning Earth’s location. Between his loyalty to humanity and his troops, his sense of duty, and his immense mental fortitude, he is the most badass character in all of HALO. And to think, if Chief had actually obeyed Keyes’s orders, the Flood would have eventually gotten what it wanted, because Chief wouldn’t have been there to put Keyes out of his misery just in time. This is how you kill off a respectable character
The proto-gravemind remake with the faces of marines and keyes is freaking horrifying. you can even see it balancing on several legs of humans they absorbed. The flood is the creepiest enemy I think could have ever been made. To even imagine a parasite or entity like this existing in our universe today, is very scary.
That glory hound never understand the true test of a warriors spirit; the willingness to sacrifice everything for the sake of duty. Thankfully for the galaxy Mckay understood her duty even if he didn't.
2:20-2:21 the ceiling fan, the night gown, this was the night that Miranda was conceived, he’s talking about these photos and the woman in pink on the balcony is Catherine Halsey in her younger years.
This terminal is what made me think of the Flood as a credible threat, in all the Halo games they've always felt too weak, for a species that brought the Forerunners to their knees we defeat them time after time and they just didn't feel threatening, I think they were at their worst in Halo 3, where hardly anything they do makes sense and they don't feel powerful.
This scene is hardcore , being taken over by a parasite , and eventually being ripped out from your own skin to be a "zombie" of the Flood . All the memories erased , anything useful used against your own people , what a horrible way to go.
Yeah , I find I weird how you can destroy a flood with a couple of melee attacks while in the others they dont tske damage from that. I did like how they were introduced in the floodgate mission.
Vincent Bédard I did like their introduction in Halo 3, but I felt Floodgate ended up being a Flood mission for the sake of a Flood mission. It only existed to create a plot point that led nowhere and really, could have been cut from the game entirely with little having to be changed.
The flood is at its worst when it metastasizes. Despite how weak they are in the games, the real danger comes from when their hive mind grows strong enough to think hard enough to change the fabric of reality.
I like how much incredible lore, story, and character is in a 3:34 video for like, basically no amount of budget, versus an entire 10 million dollar episode of a show which apparently has nothing to tell us in an entire 45 minutes of run time
Fucking terrifying... by far the best scene from the Halo series in my opinion because it turned the flood from generic and boring enemies into actual monsters who have a horrifying motivation.
The pain of watching your memories disappear is so scarily impossible to conceive. At one point he’s only half of what he once was... there would be no way to save him
This has been one of my favourite stories in the whole Halo universe, ever since I read The Flood. Absolutely moving, imagine having your personal memories wiped away, your whole life. The only reason he could remember his name and service number was because of that chip that the MC snatches from his head, if anybody was wondering.
After my mom died of cancer, I really DO understand what Keyes is enduring in this scene. He's such a brave man. Flood is like if cancer has mind. At least cancer is mindless.
More than anything, this scene reminds me of my maternal grandmother. She suffered from Alzheimer's disease during the closing decade of her life and had to move into a retirement home after grandpa fell down the stairs one morning and never got back up. When cleaning out her childhood home, my mother would find a cupboard with its insides covered with notes. Both of my grandmothers were very engaged in taking care of me and my brothers with both our parents working full-time jobs. Spending time with us, picking us up after school, helping us with homework. Even as the disease was slowly taking away her ability to remember, she and grandpa would still do their outmost to give their grandsons the best upbringing possible. She deserved far better than the agonizingly slow decline she was subjected to. When she finally passed, she was utterly unrecognizable. More akin to an ancient, withered fetus than the beautiful woman she had once been. After she was finally freed from her suffering, I promised myself that I would never let myself be brought low by such a disease. I would sooner lay my life down than subject myself and force any eventual descendants to bear witness to that degradation. I promised myself that, no matter what, I would die as myself. It is perhaps the only true victory a mortal man doomed to die can hope for. Man, I really needed to let that out of me.
Dude honestly Halsey was fucking smokin. Makes her actually much more intimidating and scary when you think about that dangerous, near-sociopathic mind in THAT body. We’re VERY lucky she was on the UNSC’s side.
Such a powerful scene 😭. This is why I love halo. It’s more than just a shooter. It has epic music, story, emotions, a bit of everything… it’s basically a work of art
@@kurtisvandermiller4507 unfortunately, that's not enough. They literally reconnect synapses to bring you back to life and then they fuck you over. To truly be safe from assimilation you need to be blown the hell up with nothing left
It's impressive the amount of time he managed to hold onto his memories for considering how hard the proto-gravemind was trying to make him forget R.I.P. Captain Jacob Keyes. A good soldier and an even better father
2:21 Mate, this is the part where I started sweating in my eyes because of all that wasted time and opportunities and that love and the fact that he's always had feelings for Halsey even till the end and oh my goodness those two... No, three, all deserved so much more than this fate.
Every time I play CEA , I always listened to this terminal . It's a good reminder of why the flood is a treat and of how horrible the fate of their victims is .
This just shows Keyes is the strongest willed character in all of halo. He could for a time resist not only the flood which ALL other people in the game infected by it were immediately taken over by but even the Gravemind itself trying to develop right in his head... his now massive warped flood filled head... Keyes is the strongest for even still being alive nonetheless conscious and still resisting almost successfully till the end there. Masterchief has full Spartan body armor so the flood cant even get in him.
in flood mode in multiplayer the models are flood infected spartans. Besides we've never seen and other spartans in the story who are fighting the flood, and chief never actually gets killed or infected.
During The Maw, in the books, an infection form actually managed to get into Chief's neck from the back and he would have been infected if it wasn't for Cortana sending an electrical pulse to kill it.
I like to think this is also what dementia patients go through. My dad fought so hard to not lose his identity even till the end he still remembered who we were. Like Keyes he would often repeat things to try and retain his sense of self. Not something you want to happen to yourself let alone see someone you love go through
It varies per host, some are "killed" outright, others are kept alive and conscious to be fed to the growing Gravemind. Though, even those who are "killed" at first, can by some extent be brought back if the Flood wishes. Whether its to painfully extract information from them at a later time, or using them as a psychological weapon/tool against its fellow comrades. Take Regret for example, he was killed by Chief, but was "alive & well" when the Gravemind used him like a puppet
It depends on if you have knowledge that the flood considers valuable, if you know locations of important locations, have experience with technology, have strategic intelligence, they will steal your mind.
I'm not going to go into what I think of 343, or Halo 4 or 5, but this clip here got me considering a terrifying thought. Watch this, then ask; what if the Gravemind we know is because of Keyes? Listen how disjointed and broken the voices are at first "No more what you were" and stuff like that, then compare it to the end where they say in a clear sentence "We already do." WHAT IF, the Flood take leaders or people with strong minds, and the act of struggling and fighting births and structures a Flood "personna" as an effective leader for themselves to guide them? The strong trying to resist and maintain their own minds provides a sort of template for them that survives the traumatic and violent infection process to base their new leader off of, and in the entire series, Gravemind as the Chief knows him IS a corrupted flood alter-ego of sorts of Captain Keyes?
TheApprentice225 that actually is what happens. They use their thoughts, emotions, and personas to structure a strong leader, which is why they used the crew from the Pillar of Autumn in this Gravemind.
@@Krosstic Any information that the flood gain from infecting those it comes into contact allows the memories it gathers to be save, since this was a proto gained the information it needed it was technically now on a backup save. So that information was now saved and could be used by ANY Gravemind which means that it's possible his theory is correct.
That moment when keyes came to thst terrifying discovery, the horror that must have gone through him when he got a glimpse of the proto-gravemind's intentions? That's the scariest part of this
In the book his agony took really long, from 343 guiltily spark to the end of Keyes level, he was just suffering and fighting this over and over, when the flood destroyed the memories that weren't useful he felt the pain of loss physically and emotionally
Now if you think a video game character dying like this is sad just know there’s a disease already like this out their called Alzheimer’s. It’s pretty much the same thing, when your in the late stages you forget your name, how you ended up in certain places, and everyone you loved you forget. You forget everything until you can’t even walk or feed yourself because you don’t remember how to use a fork. Alzheimer’s is very sad disease
It's sad to think in the past you think he was just there and he didn't do much But in the terminal It shows you what he struggled with in the inside That's terrifying
The fact that Keyes thinks it’s the covenant is disturbing. It either shows one of 2 things: Keyes doesn’t know what the flood is or knows of its existence, or the flood corrupted his mind to where it erased all knowledge of the flood from his mind
