The Unsettling Halo Lore That PREDATES The Games 

Like this comment if this Halo lore is older than you

“Raging seas and howling beasts” sounds like the flood to me

Funny how a new halo game hasnt come out in a few years and you still make content I just mindlessly watch lmfao

The one dude tasked with making the cortana emails to mess with Hamish must have been laughing his ass off. 😂

The whole eldritch Cortana thing Bungie used to do is why I’m not inherently against the idea of her going crazy/doing the whole guardians thing in theory - I just think the way it was executed in Halo 5 was really bad. If they were going that route no matter what, I think it would’ve been better if when our Cortana split herself apart in Halo 4, the game ended with the evil/red logic plague Cortana surviving The Mantle’s Approach and “our” Cortana still sacrificing herself to save John, but also warning him that her rampant doppelgänger is a big threat, and then having Halo 5 follow red Cortana as an antagonist trying to bring her enforced “peace” to the galaxy. Indeed, the way she talks about peace in Halo 5 and Halo Infinite is remarkably similar to how the Gravemind talks about peace and “unity” in the context of the Flood, so they could go all in on the red logic plague Cortana being a modern successor to Medicant Bias, betraying her creators and opening the door for the Flood’s return in Awakening the Nightmare, and the final message our Cortana left behind is the key to defeating her. Would’ve been a much less clunky way of telling the same story than what 343 actually ended up doing.

So one day the Old Ones were like, “Let’s make some Krorks!” And some time later *BOOM!* The Krorks became British by becoming Orks!

This shows me that Cortana becoming the bad guy is a dope direction to go in. But Halo 5 really dropped the ball

Even 343 referenced The Song Of Roland, the Infinity's AI in Halo 5 is named Roland

Are we going on a marathon? Hope it doesn't take us down any pathways into darkness.

You are one of the few reasons I stay interested in Halo, I don't think I've missed a single video since started watching you like almost five years ago.

This makes me wonder what Halo would’ve looked like if it was a Marathon sequel.

I spent HOURS late at night on forums and blogs discussing the letters. I liked when the forerunners were gunna be humans.

I'm tempted to wright a AU of halo where all of this (Cyborg Chief, Rampant Cortana, Leela, etc) DID happen

I imagine that Master Chief being called demon is supposed to relate to us, not be as us, now that I see this. Like us the Player are the Devil, and he the chosen Demon of the Devil. (I really love this third wall breaking so much, I wish it were done more.

So if Cortana was a fourth AI on the Marathon, maybe in the confusion of all the diverging timelines, she got split off from her original timeline and ended up in the Halo timeline. Maybe Halsey didn't create her at all. Maybe she just learned how to make smart AI's when Cortana appeared!

There are a LOT of references to the Song of Roland in Destiny, specifically the Warmind. Charlemagne is a sub-mind of the Warmind (Rasputin), and in Destiny 2's campaign, you visit another Warmind Bunker called "Joyuese." It's a long shot, but you could probably do an entire video on Bungie and their references to that story across their franchises.

The forerunners being chained by an even superior race isn’t too far off what happened. Although the forerunners en masse were wiped out by the rings, a few survived and left the galaxy to repent for their sins. It could be said that because of their grief and repenting that they’re emotionally slaves to the flood/precursors. And then the Didact, the only living forerunner to return to the Milky Way, is literally mentally enslaved by the flood/precursors

Some of it sounds like Cortana's rampancy in Halo 5

I wonder if 343 got Halo 5's Created from "Cortana saves sinners." It wouldn't make it any better, but it would be a neat fact.

This old marathon/halo deep lore is way more captivating to me than modern stuff, maybe cus it hasnt been expanded into a huge franchise anyone can just google info on. Here, allusions to forerunners, some greater power than even them binding them, and a faithful companion and friend turned mad god by unfathomable knowledge is just perfect for a sci fi setting. Halo CE and its atmosphere, the silence of space, the empty void that isnt so empty, a terrifying prospect and the lack of understanding, this to me is what makes lore compelling. Its like Dark Souls, but they never really expanded beyond what was necessary. A lot is left to interpretation and mystery, which is why people still debate it and speculate. You had to discover things that you couldnt even be sure of. These forces behind the veil are intimidating because we dont know what they are, and the idea of one stepping forward is terrifying. Its so much more interesting when you dont know everything about the universe and the mystery of diving in, trying to learn, and the payoff when they reveal whatever is being teased and alluded to, while keeping an air of obscurity and mystery. Back to Dark Souls, take the Nameless King. This is the perfect build-up of a mysterious figure of immense power. In DS1, we find a destroyed statue of him, indicating the end of worship of him. A ring of his that tells us he was a dragonslayer and inheritor of Gwyn’s light, that he was foolish and stricken from deity status and the records. A miracle he left with his father’s tomb as he said a final farewell before his exile, showing respect for him one last time on the way out. This is all we get on actual info of him until 3, but 2 furthers the mystery by including hidden and ruined relics of the faith. But we can see throughout it an idea thats hinted at and borderline confirmed by 3, that being the strange Path of the Dragon, a heretical cult where people attempt to escape undeath by becoming an everlasting dragon. The first game makes shrouded ties between Havel the Rock, a legendary dragonslayer who fought alongside Gwyn, and this cult, and their offering of dragons’ scales to further this aim, planting the idea of dragon hunters turning around and seeking to join the dragons. In DS2 we see similar themes furthering this with dragon knights in the endgame temple, as well as the DLC’s drakeblood knights, who worship the blood of dragons. Later in Irithyll dungeon, we find a whole host of strange draconic humanoid bodies alongside a miracle derived of the very miracle the firstborn of Gwyn left on his tomb, and Irithyll itself is the city around none other than Anor Londo, the domain of the gods. We can now imagine what the Nameless King’s sin was: He joined the dragons. And wait, wasnt there someone guarding that broken altar all the way back in the undead parish? The only way to reach that altar, is by slaying or ducking and running past a *wyvern* And then the Archdragon Peak, despite not explicitly saying so, shows us a tall man wielding a swordspear and wearing a uniquely designed spiky crown. Thats him. And when we ring the bell, the legend shows his face, riding a mighty dragon and wielding the light of Gwyn. We are given countless ways to infer this reveal, and yet its still a huge and powerful moment, and this is what a big reveal should be. Hints, clues, and boom, the conclusion. The power of this line of mystery, with peeks at the truth, and then the that truth comes down and looks you in the eye. Its great. And i dont think the reveal of the forerunners in halo 4 do that, at all. The key to these things is to show, not tell. We’re never even explicitly told the Nameless King is the firstborn of Gwyn. His armor remarks that it looks like Gwyn’s, his spear tells us he was a deific dragon hunter and heir of lightning, and his soul tells us he was a god of war that sacrificed everything to join the dragons. This all lines up perfectly with the tale of the Firstborn, a god of war and slayer of dragons who messed up and was banished, and even his name is lost. But they dont say “THIS IS THE FIRSTBORN OF GWYN. THIS IS THE GUY. THIS IS THE ONE THE RUINED STATUES DEPICTED. HES THE TRUE KING AND SHIT” They show us two sides of a story and we understand that theyre the same thing, the game knows we arent dumb. 343 made this whole lore dump right in the middle of the campaign by having this weird alien lady come and monologue to us about random bullshit and put us to sleep. Its not interesting at all and just throws away over a decade of teasing one thing to go “SIIKKKE IT WAS THIS ALL ALONG, here’s what happened, here’s this guy, he’s doing this, go kill, mr chosen one” Its pretty lame

There's a video I saw about Marathon's "hidden antagonist". It goes over some of the terminals from all three games that reference some sort of female character. It was seemingly all metaphor, but the theory was that it was referencing a female AI that would have been hostile to the Security Officer and Durandal.

For Entry 2 I believe the 4th is a reference to the flood and the fact that you wouldn’t know that faction exists until later on I the story

The halo lore after games: 😀 Halo lore before games:💀

“I have begun to sense a rumbling of a worse fate yet to come. I can recall a sun - black, but shining” “It is an *INCREASINGLY* unpleasant memory” “W’rkncacnter imprisoned within it” It kinda sounds like a black hole

'99 Feb? I was 9 years and 6 months old.... Damn you for making me feel old @HiddenXperia

we got halo before halo before gta 6

Luc, I just noticed a lot of the themes introduced in the Cortana letters later served as the foundation for I Love Bees. A portion of an AI that makes its way to our world linking the lore through time/space 🤔

Doesn't this kinda imply that Halo 4's story was pretty much already decided from the get-go? Or is that something we know already? Love this kind of stuff in Halo. Wish Infinite did this type of layering and cryptic messaging with it's story

Wait so you mean to tell me 343 had a whole reference and blueprint already made for their "Cortana wants to rule the world plot" with these Cortana Letters from Bungie back in 1999, and STILL couldn't figure out how to make it work? Oh nah 😂😂

I'm really happy for this video and the Halo 3 Terminals video. Like I said in the comments in that one, I'm writing a superhero series, but I plan to have a creepy hidden "found" story inspired heavily by those two ARGs involving a developing conversation between a government agent with the power to inhabit computers and an entity trapped in the center of the universe for whom the universe is a reminder of his greatest sin.

I was born in 98 so it’s as old as I am and has been around for as long as I can remember. I remember learning how to drive a warthog. I remember halo 2 trailer coming out. I remember being able to duel wield for the first time. And I remember accidentally killing all the elites the first time I played as arbiter because I didn’t realize they were ally’s

The King has uploaded

The Created takeover would have been SO MUCH more compelling if they had grounded it in these letters and actually saw it through. Tying this back to the data pads in Reach, and the Virgil/Superintendant subplot in ODST, and making Roland an actual character instead of a glowing chatbot would have been incredible too. 343 operates on a 2nd grade reading level though.

What i remember from Bungie pre 2000 is one thing and that thing only: ... *CASULTIES!* And i still have the original Myth: The Fallen Lords Disc here at home. This game was nuts, trust me.

Thank you for going over and explaining the Cortana letters I’ve known about them for years but never had the chance to look into them deeply

On Letter 4, I think it's meant that Cortana is in the Bungie systems. That other AI was either the Bungie Webmaster or Disembodied Soul.

You blew my mind a couple times in this video. I did not know that parts of Red vs Blue were somewhat inspired by AI Halo lore this deep, the Meta, Metastability. Also Roland, Roland the AI in Halo 4. 🤯 I don't know why I am always continually surprised by good stories being inspired by old literature lol. Also understanding where a lot of Halo 5 could have come from now.....

This popped up this morning. As soon as I saw the title I thought of the letters

I love hearing about the cortana letters again , you always explain things i might have heard about before in a different light that i understand easier, thank you for all the videos you make 💖

"You brought nothing to this world, and we shall make sure you bring nothing out of it" is such a raw line

I can't be bothered to play anything past Halo 4, where they lost me. Halo 3 was the end of the story for me, Reach and ODST are masterpieces, and we may never see the fervor and enjoyment of the Halo 2 era again. But I keep coming back for the lore. I love the lore. Nice vid.

lost four colonies worlds sounds like Stargate SG1tv series.

1:37 dude used the way back machine and now thinks he's part of some niche club

When 1999 hit the lower left corner a flood of memories and sounds of cheers went through my mind.

youre right most lore in the 90s was just word of mouth and hearsay, stories passed down from friend to friend at game stores and lan parties. I was a kid hanging out at game stores in the mall talking to high schoolers and college people about game lore, it was a whole other time. I remember this really pretty asian chick would bring these cortana letters in and read them in a really theatrical fashion it was soo cool

I've been waiting so long for someone to talk about the Cortana Letters, I love them so much!

I have heard that Halo started February 1999 and have heard of the Cortana Letters when I was looking into Halo lore before Halo 3 came out. This is what I was looking for, but never found. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THIS CONTENT. 😃

HiddenXperia, the best in the halo lore game as always

Learning so much from you🙏

This video is amazing. I'm new to the channel, and I'm absolutely loving your work.

This is the crazy insane batshit lore I'm looking for, I imagine there was a lot of work into this - big respect

24:05 funny that's almost what she does in H5 but instead of the covenant it's everyone 29:54 reminds me of The Babysitter, the halo legends episode where they find human ruins on an alien world

These Marathon-Halo vids are my favorites

Halo: CE was the first video game I played, I remember my brother worked with my mom over the summer to save up for an xbox for the family, we ALL sat around and played it for the entire weekend. Honestly, it’s one of the only memories I have from my childhood. It’s one of my most cherished memories, and for that, Halo as a whole will always hold a special place in my heart, mind, soul, and life; for life. Thank you for making such amazing, thorough and thought provoking content, Xperia. ❤️🥀 P.S. I LOVE your cooking channel!

Man I'm 25 and grew up on halo. I've always enjoyed your videos, however your past few ones have gotten better and better. You really found your stride bro

So I think that the forerunners used vacuum energy where they would generate and destroy a bunch of alternate universes to susatin their technology. Maybe Cortana tapped into one of the universes (possibly by interfacing with Guilty Spark?), that being the one of Marathon. I love this kind of stuff!

'sun, black but shining, and the creatures that inched along its fiery tracks' comes from 'The marriage of heaven and hell.'

Can we please appreciate how this guy literally took the time out of his day to write the subtitles for a 32 MINUTE VIDEO i did that for a like 5 min vid and it was booorrrinnggg Kinda tho it was kinda fun

Considering Bungie’s penchant for über-deep lore and breaking the fourth wall, I am absolutely convinced that it’s not only an intricate reference to Dr. Halsey, but also most certainly an elaborate “yo mama” joke.

See how much love developers can have for their games, worlds, stories...

At 11:48 if Cortana said it, then it will be done

Pretty insane to think about how much Bungie liked to reference old poems like that. Never really knew or thought about that.

Great vid as always!!!!!

You know what i love sbout headcannon lore? When the subjective itself drops an info vaguely confirming it.

Watching this video gave me a little feeling of what it must have been like back then. the mysterious nature of the internet and halo. I was born in 2005 so by the time i was old enough to understand all of this. it was already too late. Thank you HiddenXperia for letting me know how it was like back then

The music you have playing underneath Entry 7… it’s the melody to “Pursuit of Truth” from Halo 2!

Man i needed to watch fast as possible

Hiddenxperia my favorite halo lore RU-vidr. You should be hired to make future halo games my dude!!!

Cortana actually quotes some of the lines from the “Cortana Letters” in halo infinite I think in either the second spire mission or the silent auditorium

Obviously, the covenant is absolutely amazing and it’s lore is some of the best out of any video game faction, but there’s a real charm to the dehumanized much more sinister and distant covenant like in CE, Reach, and these letters

the fact that NASA/JPL/Arecibo were on board or even spoofed is honestly awesome af

2:32 "everything kinda just relied on hearsay and Chinese whispers"

I remember the Cortana letter is you mentioned them in a previous video and they're about Master Chief and Cortana from like after the work of marathon was concluded or coming to an end

I got some kush, a burrito, and watching a new lore video can't ask for much more lol

Cortana was always meant to be crazy, great vid bro.

the cortana letters now fit the time of cortana in the domain during the created conflict. as the deep domain is timeless, it would land the letters in 1999

Wtf? I didn't even know that this kind of lore existed. Shits wild man. Amazing video as always !

Don't know a whole lot about Marathon but I imagine the original plotline for Halo was to be a spin-off/sequel to Marathon. Kinda like Wolfenstein and Doom or Drakengard and Nier. Plans change, we get the Halo we know and love but there's still all the references left in as easter eggs instead of actual connections. That's kinda what I think was happening with the Cortana letters, establishing that it's the same universe but new threats, another time.

Love when you talk about Marathon in relation to Halo as it will be the next big Bungie game!

Aww, made me miss the old ascendant justice website. That guy analyzed the Cortana letters too!

25:30 I thought "palace" aluded to the Pillar of Autumn, and "lyca lies asleep" to the Master Chief in cryo.

Been watching for many years. For all that time I thought I was subscribed. Thanks for the reminder, Cortana?

I could swear youve covered this topic once, if not twice before

This is cryptic and creepy but I love every minute of it

So in 2007, the Cortana letters aren’t cannon anymore and the forerunners are no longer ancient humanity?… hmmmm I smell something.

I might be tripping but, letter 6 reminds me of halo 5 because the story depicted chief going against orders and having other's go ater him. Basically making him a sinner in the eyes of oni ro the unsc, then being saved by cortana from the warden and osiris wen they finally catch up. Finally holding blue team in that crypt for safety, which could be the sanctuary.

I'm less than 1 min into this video, and I'm already interested in this obscure lore

Dunno if you’ll see this, but “the other entity that has an unhealthy preoccupation with my mother” Cortana mentions isn’t another AI. It’s part of Bungie Lore. It’s a reference to the Webmaster - a man in a gorilla suit (or maybe an actual gorilla? Nobody knows!) wearing a cowboy hat. He’s always drunk or in the process of becoming drunk and claims to have “been with” every Bungie employee’s mom.

I did not realize the original Halo blueprint was already this far ahead. This means 343 wasn't just making it up as they go lmao, which at one point was starting look like it really was

These are kinda chilling

The first piece of Halo Lore came out on my 4th birthday?!?! 🤯

Thanks for the video.

343i refuses to bring more halo lore to us, fortunately we have HiddenXperia to bring up some old lore

2001 Christmas was the best christmas ever

It would be so dope if one day we got a game that linked Halo and Marathon… I guess we can dream

Hello Hidden, I'm trying to start my own halo youtube channel but I don't know where to get the halo music, do you know any place i can get some tracks?

I need that new Marathon game NOW, even if I'm worried after the rumors.

Music at the end of the video got me

Imagine if all of these had gotten stuck in Hamish's Spam folder...

Perfect usage of OSRS swords