Halo 3

WEBVTT

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Hello, everyone, and welcome back to The Other Castle.

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The Other Castle, I'm Andrea.

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And my name is Tom.

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And here on The Other Castle, we do the plot, lore, and more behind all your favorite video games.

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So today, we're gonna get into the production, the behind the scenes, and the actual plot of...

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Halo 3.

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Well, hello 3 to you.

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So yeah, we are gonna be closing out the first original trilogy of the Halo franchise.

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We've done the first two on our show.

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And you can find those episodes either wherever you're listening to this, frankly, or if you wanna get spunky with it, you can check out theothercastlepodcast.com.

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That's the othercastlepodcast.com.

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That's our website.

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It has all the games we've covered, all the Halos, all the non-Halos, which I guess you can categorize all games into.

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Yeah, I was gonna say most all the other games.

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Halos and non-Halo games.

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Yes, over there, you can also sign up for our Discord.

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Anybody can join us over there.

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We have great discussions.

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We have discussions on every single episode.

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We have some just general gossip that we go through.

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We do gaming news, all sorts of fun things.

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We're trying to bully Tom into picking an onion.

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Yes, I guess I choose the onion.

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Yes, you do.

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Okay.

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And then we also have our Patreon.

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Patreon's got this episode a day early, and they get some pretty cool shout outs at the end.

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They do, they get that.

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And also monthly episodes, especially during our off season.

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Oh shit, that's right.

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We need to do that.

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We still need to record next month, don't we?

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We do, but it's super fun.

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You can check that all out at theothercastlepodcast.com.

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Again, that's the othercastlepodcast.com.

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And our Patreon is just $2 a month, and we do have a seven day free trial over there as well.

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Hell yeah, that's what's up.

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Anyway, this game is Halo 3.

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And as we learned in our previous outing, Halo 2 was one of the last major releases on the original Xbox prior to the release of the Xbox 360.

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Having revolutionized multiplayer matchmaking on console, and thanks to the 360s backward compatibility, Halo 2 remained the most played game on the new console for two years.

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Hell yeah.

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Up until the release of Gears of War.

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This put a ton of pressure on Halo 3 to be the biggest and best Halo yet.

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If you'll recall, Halo 2 left gamers on a major cliffhanger.

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Oh my God, that's right.

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And this was mainly due to the fact that the final act of the game was scrapped during production in order to get it released on time.

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Well, I know you mentioned that they had some things they wanted to include that didn't make it.

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I didn't realize they scrapped a whole fucking act of the game.

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Yeah, the entire finale they scrapped.

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That's fucking crazy.

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Yeah, right?

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So the team at Bungie felt they had a few loose ends to tie up on top of having to produce a new game with a story that won't make people that are new to the series feel lost.

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Yeah, they had to finish the last fucking game.

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Yeah, right?

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Nobody else had.

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Oh no.

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The big problem was the production of Halo 2 had gotten so chaotic and the hours had gotten so long that the creative director and co-founder of Bungie, Jason Jones, decided he needed to take a break from making video games.

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So he took a sabbatical to clear his mind as the pressure of making a sequel had proved too much for him.

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Yeah, burnout is fucking real, especially in video game culture.

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Oh my God, yeah.

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And you know, mental health is important, so good for him.

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Absolutely.

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However, he didn't really prepare the team for his departure.

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Oh, he just kind of was like, I'm having a meltdown, I'm out.

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Yeah, and he just kind of left them leaderless in his absence.

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Oh shit.

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With no leader in place, head story writer of the Halo series, Joseph Staten, gotten to many arguments with the team left behind over the direction of the third game.

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And he decided that he too would need to take an extended leave of absence and departed Halo 3 as well.

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Like dominoes, they're falling.

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Yeah.

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This left Halo 3 without any direction whatsoever, really, for a majority of its development process.

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For a majority of the development, so I apologize, in my head, I saw this as like, one is like, ah, man, I'm going to fucking Bermuda, don't call me.

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And then he dips, and then the next week, the guy's like, well, shit, they're not listening to me.

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I'll meet you in the fucking triangle, let's go.

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No, this was most of the fucking development.

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Yeah, most of the development.

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Holy shit.

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The story was eventually developed by committee, and then run up the flagpole to the remaining heads of Bungie for approval.

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Yeah, because they're like, we don't have a specific leader, let's all fucking put our hats in the ring, figure it out.

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Yeah, just take the best ideas.

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You know, there's something wild about that too, because it was such a coveted and critically acclaimed property that like, it feels like it should be a home run.

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It feels like the path should be there.

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The path was not fucking there.

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It wasn't, and the issue is, is that there are a lot of opinions on what needs to happen next.

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Yeah, I get that, holy shit.

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And as the script made its rounds through the studio, resident composer, Martin O'Donnell, got his hands on a copy of the script and called it out for being awful.

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Oh shit.

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It dropped plot points and characters from the other games entirely.

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They just wrote Master Chef and made him a cook for half the fucking game.

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Yeah, and then ultimately, the game didn't have any stakes.

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Martin O'Donnell had recently watched a movie called Serenity.

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Yeah, and in that movie, major characters get killed off like they're nothing more than a leaf on the wind.

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Why are you doing this to me?

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So he made some suggestions, and they managed to convince Joseph Staten to come back from his vacation to finish the story once they had an outline they liked.

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Also, fun fact about Martin O'Donnell.

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In the years since, he has retired from composing in order to spend more time with his family.

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That's lovely.

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In his own words, his family didn't want him spending more time with them.

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Oh my God, what?

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So, I don't know, maybe just he might be a difficult person to get along with.

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Oh God, he was like, I'm committed to crunch culture.

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I haven't seen my family in years.

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He gets home and they're like, no, thank you.

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Dad, go away.

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Yeah, well, he decided to go and get a hobby.

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Uh-huh.

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As of this recording, literally yesterday, he announced he is going to be running for a congressional seat in the state of Nevada.

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I'm sorry, what the fuck?

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Did you just fucking say to me?

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The Halo composer may soon represent you and me in Congress.

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It sounds like Mad Libs, what you just said to me.

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So he was like, I'm a composer, a very storied one.

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I really appreciate his career.

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The Halo music is eye fucking conic.

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And it's not just Halo he's done.

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He's done tons of other games as well.

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Oh, amazing.

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I'm assuming a lot of the bungee catalog.

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Through the Destiny series, yeah.

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Beautiful.

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So he does that.

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He's like, man, I poured my heart and soul into my music.

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I'm going to go spend time with my family.

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Family says, no.

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They push him out of the house.

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Then he's like, all right, you pushed me out of this house.

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I'm going to get in the fucking state house, bitches.

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You know, there's something about being a musician who's somewhat tone deaf to not know where his place is in the world.

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You know, that's fucking wild.

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Why is this happening?

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I don't know, because honestly, I have looked into his politics, and yeah, he's not getting my vote.

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Probably not getting mine.

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You and I align on a lot of things.

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Oh, no.

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Yeah, I think there's got to be a reason that his family didn't like having him home all day.

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Fuck me.

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And honestly, in watching the documentary about like the making of Halo, one of the people working on the game was like, I really don't want to give Marty credit for this, but this was his idea.

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Oh, so at no point has anyone been around him liked him.

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Yeah, it doesn't seem like people have ever liked him.

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Well, great fucking composer.

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Yeah.

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But you know, sometimes artists are very difficult to fucking get along with.

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Certainly.

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So he's like, I'm going to take to the desert.

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Yeah, so he represents someone.

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He lives here in Las Vegas, and yeah, he wants to represent Las Vegas for Congress.

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Okay, he don't speak for all of us.

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I'm going to throw that out there right now.

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But okay, that's fucking wild to have a second win as a politician.

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I guess that keeps fucking happening.

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I know, right?

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Especially in the entertainment industry, but okay, sure.

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Well, anyway, despite the chaos of the storyline, the development of the game itself was actually quite smooth.

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It doesn't sound like it was based on everything you've said so far.

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Well, especially compared to the development of Halo 2 anyway.

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Okay.

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So there was no more crunch.

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Wow.

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And most of the assets had already been created, so they just got to focus on features instead.

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They're like, we don't have to build shit, we just have to place shit.

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This is great.

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Yeah, they just had to make it look better on the 360.

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Beautiful, smooth, shape it out, make it cool.

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Yeah, so they tweaked the weapons, created new power ups, vehicles and mechanics.

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Love that.

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They also took notes on the things players didn't like from Halo 2 in an effort to create a better experience.

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The composer's like, they don't like hanging out with their families.

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I can relate.

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While the story was important, this was Halo.

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Multiplayer was slightly more important than single player.

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Hell yeah.

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And they wanted to make that experience worth playing for years to follow.

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Adding additions like new and larger maps, as well as the ability to save your best moments and share them with your friends.

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That's so cool.

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Yeah, and it was like a precursor to Twitch and YouTube clips.

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There was also Forge mode, where people could custom build their own levels using assets from the game to build wild and original maps that can be played by anyone.

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They wanted to get an idea for how well they had done on the multiplayer of the game and decided to release a beta version four months prior to the release of the game.

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That's great marketing to be like, we'll give you a little taste, you can play with your friends, but the campaign is still close to the heart.

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A completely unrelated 360 exclusive title called Crackdown was about to release.

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Crackdown?

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I haven't even heard of that.

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Yeah, it was a new franchise and it really wasn't getting any buzz whatsoever.

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So they were like, we'll piggyback some Halo shit into it.

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Yeah, so they included the beta to Halo 3 with copies of Crackdown, making it the only way to access this sneak peek.

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I remember I bought it, thinking the beta would be there on release.

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And it wasn't.

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Oh no, so you immediately feel cheated.

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A little bit.

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The beta released a little while after while I was backpacking through Europe.

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Oh, so you're like, first of all, I have to wait.

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Second of all, I can't even plug this in to the right fucking outlet if I brought it with me.

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I didn't bring my 360 with me.

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Well, that's good because you wouldn't be able to plug it into any of the fucking outlets.

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No, and the beta ended a day after I returned.

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Oh, so it was timed.

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You did not get to enjoy this at all.

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No, I got to play it for like a day.

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Did you play Crackdown?

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I did, and to their credit, Crackdown was a pretty fun game.

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I think it got two sequels.

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Oh, shit.

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Yeah, think Spider-Man meets Grand Theft Auto, but you play as Super Cops instead of criminals.

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That's wild as fuck.

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Are we going to do that on this show?

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We might someday, because honestly, I did it.

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I don't remember what happens, but I remember that I enjoyed it.

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Sometimes that's all you could ask for.

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With an insane budget of $40 million.

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I was like, the budget for the game was $40 million?

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No, the marketing budget was $40 million.

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Fuck all the way off, just the marketing.

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Just the marketing.

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Okay, what the fuck?

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I'm a marketer.

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I haven't spent that much money in my lifetime buying ads.

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That's fucking crazy.

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$40 million.

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You could take neighborhoods out of poverty with $40 million.

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Yeah, right.

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You could have saved lives with $40 million.

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Okay, one of the most widely recognized and renowned films.

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Everything Everywhere All At Once.

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You know what the budget is entirely for that entire fucking movie?

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The one with the everything bagel?

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$25 million.

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Holy shit.

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You could have made one of the most acclaimed movies of all time and then had $15 million to sell Halo.

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It's a system exclusive.

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It's not even a cross-fucking platform, and they have $40 million.

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I'm losing my mind.

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Are you fucking kidding me?

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What the fuck?

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You could have made Blair Witch ten times.

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Honestly, they bought, I think, a couple Super Bowl ads during this time.

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Oh, there's half your budget.

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Never mind.

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I understand.

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Yeah.

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The ad campaign featured a live-action fake documentary about a battle that takes place during Halo 3.

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That's fucking sick.

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Okay, so I see where the budget went now.

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Yeah, right.

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They did make a movie.

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They tried to.

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And it could have been the Blair Witch Project.

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Essentially.

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No, they actually got District 9's Neil Blomkamp.

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Oh.

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Now, this is before he made District 9, actually.

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This was District 8?

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Let's fucking go.

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He actually got District 9 because he was working on a Halo movie, and then that got scrapped.

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So they were like, well, we've got all these assets.

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Let's make another movie entirely.

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That's cool.

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But apparently, he got that Halo movie off of doing these shorts.

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That's fucking great.

00:14:15.654 --> 00:14:18.214
So he was already kind of in with Team Halo.

00:14:18.574 --> 00:14:19.914
He knew the Master Chief.

00:14:19.934 --> 00:14:20.474
That's great.

00:14:20.494 --> 00:14:21.814
He understood the world, right?

00:14:22.694 --> 00:14:28.854
It features a war memorial with elderly men talking about the battles if they were soldiers who had survived the war.

00:14:28.874 --> 00:14:30.294
Oh, that's heartbreaking.

00:14:30.334 --> 00:14:30.834
Yeah.

00:14:30.894 --> 00:14:34.414
It also featured a diorama with figures frozen in a battle scene.

00:14:35.334 --> 00:14:43.494
The documentary even found cool ways to incorporate behind the scenes footage of the making of the game, disguising it as the work being put into the war memorial.

00:14:43.514 --> 00:14:51.334
They're like, here's some renderings of us just making a mountain, but also we're going to say, oh, we like recreated the fucking war zone.

00:14:51.354 --> 00:14:51.674
Yeah.

00:14:52.514 --> 00:14:54.554
To put love into this memorial.

00:14:54.574 --> 00:14:55.434
That's fucking funny.

00:14:55.454 --> 00:14:55.874
Yeah.

00:14:55.934 --> 00:14:58.034
It was such a cool way to advertise a game.

00:14:58.314 --> 00:14:58.834
Totally.

00:14:58.854 --> 00:15:01.354
And you know, you don't see things like that even now.

00:15:01.574 --> 00:15:02.374
No, you don't.

00:15:02.434 --> 00:15:08.254
But really, they were competing with the originality of the Gears of War trailer, which had just come out like a couple years earlier.

00:15:08.294 --> 00:15:09.274
I find that kind of funny.

00:15:10.054 --> 00:15:11.494
I find it a little sad, honestly.

00:15:12.554 --> 00:15:16.274
Instead of doing something similar, they went fully original and it worked.

00:15:16.794 --> 00:15:17.394
Hell yeah.

00:15:18.274 --> 00:15:23.074
For the voice actors in Halo 3, we of course have Steve Downs returning as Master Chief.

00:15:23.174 --> 00:15:23.834
Iconic.

00:15:24.174 --> 00:15:28.454
We also have the legendary Keith David back as the Arbiter.

00:15:29.174 --> 00:15:31.954
He's so fucking good in everything he's in.

00:15:32.294 --> 00:15:36.694
He has got just one of the smoothest voices of all people.

00:15:36.934 --> 00:15:38.394
Seamlessly sinister.

00:15:38.394 --> 00:15:40.454
It's fucking perfect.

00:15:40.474 --> 00:15:46.774
Julie Benz did not return to play Commander Keyes, and she was replaced by an actress named Justice Bolding.

00:15:48.094 --> 00:15:59.954
They also scored a plethora of celebrity cameos as well, starting with the amazing Terrence Stamp, who came in to replace the original actor for Prophet Truth.

00:16:00.774 --> 00:16:05.034
Now, Terrence Stamp played General Zod in the Christopher Reeve Superman movies.

00:16:05.254 --> 00:16:06.034
Oh, shit.

00:16:06.234 --> 00:16:09.594
As well as many great characters throughout cinema and television history.

00:16:09.834 --> 00:16:10.254
Neil.

00:16:11.074 --> 00:16:16.674
We have Katie Sackhoff, as she was one of the leads in the sci-fi classic Battlestar Galactica.

00:16:16.854 --> 00:16:17.474
Nerd shit.

00:16:17.494 --> 00:16:17.814
Love it.

00:16:18.074 --> 00:16:29.094
She's also one of the very few actors in the entire Star Wars franchise to play an animated character and then play the live action version of that character as well.

00:16:29.434 --> 00:16:30.414
That's great.

00:16:30.814 --> 00:16:34.454
And remember we said Serenity was a big influence on the story of this game?

00:16:34.474 --> 00:16:35.034
Yes, indeed.

00:16:35.174 --> 00:16:39.054
Well, stars Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin, and Alan Tudyk.

00:16:39.414 --> 00:16:41.574
Wow, they got the whole boy squad.

00:16:41.594 --> 00:16:44.974
All the boys appear as soldiers fighting alongside Master Chief.

00:16:45.074 --> 00:16:47.114
Holy shit, that's fucking great.

00:16:47.334 --> 00:16:51.814
Well, Nathan Fillion would actually go on to voice one of the major characters in Destiny as well.

00:16:52.194 --> 00:16:55.714
He loves nerd shit so goddamn much.

00:16:55.814 --> 00:16:58.034
He loves paychecks so goddamn much.

00:17:00.434 --> 00:17:04.594
Okay, I'm not going to knock someone for getting the bag.

00:17:04.734 --> 00:17:08.934
He did an uncharted fan film where he was like, I'm just going to be Nathan Drake today.

00:17:08.954 --> 00:17:11.174
It has nothing to do with Naughty Dog.

00:17:11.194 --> 00:17:13.294
He was just like, I'm going to go do this shit.

00:17:13.494 --> 00:17:15.194
If you bring a camera, that's on you.

00:17:15.894 --> 00:17:16.534
Good for them.

00:17:16.534 --> 00:17:24.534
I really do appreciate that whatever Marty's doing now, he did make the entire fucking Firefly squad come back together for this.

00:17:24.554 --> 00:17:25.354
True, right?

00:17:25.514 --> 00:17:26.114
That's great.

00:17:27.014 --> 00:17:33.914
Then Marcus Fenix himself, John DiMaggio, also makes a cameo just to show there's no bad blood between the franchises.

00:17:34.034 --> 00:17:35.254
He also loves a paycheck.

00:17:36.554 --> 00:17:37.374
You can't knock that.

00:17:38.054 --> 00:17:40.514
Then there's the coolest of the cameos.

00:17:40.774 --> 00:17:41.014
Oh.

00:17:41.794 --> 00:17:44.654
Almost the entire cast of Red vs.

00:17:44.654 --> 00:17:47.094
Blue got to voice random soldiers as well.

00:17:47.514 --> 00:17:49.394
Oh, that's so sweet.

00:17:49.414 --> 00:17:50.334
It really is.

00:17:50.434 --> 00:17:53.034
They got to be a part of the thing for real.

00:17:54.014 --> 00:17:54.734
That's so great.

00:17:54.754 --> 00:17:55.914
Now, can you explain what Red vs.

00:17:55.934 --> 00:18:01.874
Blue is, if anyone is a little too, let's just call it what it is, young for that reference?

00:18:02.434 --> 00:18:03.794
I'm not, but you know, it's fine.

00:18:03.814 --> 00:18:05.994
Well, it's where Rooster Teeth got its start.

00:18:06.774 --> 00:18:07.354
Red vs.

00:18:07.374 --> 00:18:11.634
Blue is a Machinima series that came out on early YouTube.

00:18:11.754 --> 00:18:13.694
Yeah, it's so dated.

00:18:13.974 --> 00:18:17.694
And Machinima is when you use a video game to kind of make your own movies.

00:18:17.914 --> 00:18:18.294
Yeah.

00:18:18.394 --> 00:18:26.074
And they were using Halo 2 to make these little funny cartoons about soldiers just kind of fucking about in their day.

00:18:26.134 --> 00:18:27.094
Just shooting the shit.

00:18:27.114 --> 00:18:31.254
We'll drop the link in the Discord if you guys want to catch up on it, because it is a wild corner of the internet.

00:18:31.474 --> 00:18:34.154
I don't know how well it's aged, so don't come for my neck.

00:18:34.174 --> 00:18:34.994
Yeah, right?

00:18:36.294 --> 00:18:38.774
That early internet was pretty rough, guys.

00:18:38.794 --> 00:18:39.454
It could be, yeah.

00:18:39.454 --> 00:18:39.774
Yeah.

00:18:40.174 --> 00:18:41.474
But for the nostalgia.

00:18:41.674 --> 00:18:42.714
Yeah, for the nostalgia.

00:18:42.734 --> 00:18:46.874
And yeah, it's just really cool that these guys got to be a part of the actual universe in the end.

00:18:47.074 --> 00:18:52.314
That's such a signifier of how we're seeing influencers showing up in games and shit now and stuff.

00:18:52.374 --> 00:18:53.734
That's true, yeah.

00:18:53.734 --> 00:18:58.634
This was the first domino to fall from Markiplier to actually have a legit VO career.

00:18:58.794 --> 00:19:00.834
And he is doing a shit ton of games.

00:19:00.854 --> 00:19:01.234
Yeah.

00:19:01.374 --> 00:19:02.234
A lot of them are.

00:19:02.254 --> 00:19:03.434
It's really impressive, actually.

00:19:03.454 --> 00:19:04.314
No, it's really cool.

00:19:04.674 --> 00:19:06.274
Didn't a couple show up in Bendy?

00:19:06.634 --> 00:19:07.834
I think so as well, yeah.

00:19:07.854 --> 00:19:08.934
There's a whole bunch in Bendy.

00:19:08.954 --> 00:19:11.714
Yeah, you know, this was the first fucking brick in that wall.

00:19:11.734 --> 00:19:11.994
Yeah.

00:19:13.334 --> 00:19:28.114
Halo 3 released on September 25th, 2007, and broke the world record for most sales of a video game in a 24-hour period, pulling in $170 million on the first fucking day.

00:19:28.214 --> 00:19:31.174
The marketing dollars were well fucking spent.

00:19:31.314 --> 00:19:39.074
Yeah, very well spent, because they beat the previous record holder, Halo 2, by $50 million.

00:19:39.194 --> 00:19:43.594
Whoa, so a significant margin and also for this to be a platform exclusive.

00:19:43.614 --> 00:19:45.114
We haven't even really touched that, though.

00:19:45.734 --> 00:19:57.314
This is just for the Xbox crowd coming correct with the money, and we're seeing that shift now back to the PlayStation crowd, where Xbox isn't getting those numbers and PlayStation's like, we have Naughty Dog and Last of Us, fuck you, you know?

00:19:57.654 --> 00:20:02.994
Oh, this game is one of the big reasons why 360 dominated that console generation.

00:20:03.114 --> 00:20:06.414
I mean, this title alone entirely, yeah, I fucking see it.

00:20:06.414 --> 00:20:13.974
And to only beat yourself is such a fucking flex, to be like, top one and two bitch, come for it.

00:20:14.134 --> 00:20:15.894
That's some James Cameron shit right there.

00:20:15.914 --> 00:20:18.354
Yeah, I only have myself to beat.

00:20:20.514 --> 00:20:24.594
Within two months, they had sold over five million copies worldwide.

00:20:25.774 --> 00:20:28.914
Today, it still holds a 94 out of 100 Metacritic score.

00:20:30.034 --> 00:20:35.034
When Halo 2 released, people expected Halo 1.5 and were surprised with the game they ended up getting.

00:20:35.774 --> 00:20:42.354
With Halo 3, they expected Halo 2.5, and once again were surprised with the innovations and upgrades they received.

00:20:42.634 --> 00:20:46.194
Well, from the last one, they were like, we didn't get a full fucking game with Halo 2.

00:20:46.214 --> 00:20:46.874
That's fair.

00:20:46.894 --> 00:20:49.714
They really did get kind of just a half a game.

00:20:49.834 --> 00:20:53.594
Yeah, they're expecting Halo 2.5 just because that was the.5 they were missing.

00:20:56.654 --> 00:21:00.394
Halo 3 overtook Gears of War as the most played game online.

00:21:01.614 --> 00:21:04.634
And went on to be the 360's highest selling software.

00:21:04.674 --> 00:21:05.494
Well done.

00:21:06.334 --> 00:21:09.934
2007 was still a messy time for Game of the Year awards.

00:21:10.294 --> 00:21:15.294
When you mentioned that year too, we were in a huge recession and approaching a big housing market crash.

00:21:15.314 --> 00:21:22.974
So seeing that money and that affinity and that love for that game come through all the crazy shit that people were going through in the country and worldwide.

00:21:23.334 --> 00:21:24.174
Fuck yeah, Halo.

00:21:24.634 --> 00:21:37.794
Well, it did go on to win the Spike TV Game Award for best multiplayer game as well as the classic most addictive video game fueled by Mountain Dew award.

00:21:37.894 --> 00:21:40.754
Fuck all the way off.

00:21:41.634 --> 00:21:42.594
Shut the fuck up.

00:21:42.794 --> 00:21:43.974
Why did we lose that?

00:21:44.134 --> 00:21:49.634
We as a country were better when we had the Mountain Dew awards when it came to video games.

00:21:50.034 --> 00:21:50.874
What the fuck?

00:21:50.914 --> 00:21:54.274
Wait, can you tell me one more time what that award title is?

00:21:54.374 --> 00:21:58.074
The most addictive video game fueled by Mountain Dew.

00:21:58.294 --> 00:22:01.934
Is the game fueled by Mountain Dew or is the award fueled by Mountain Dew?

00:22:01.954 --> 00:22:03.254
I'm not sure.

00:22:03.274 --> 00:22:06.614
It is fundamentally unclear what that means grammatically.

00:22:07.054 --> 00:22:11.654
They did introduce Gamer Fuel Mountain Dew with Halo 3, so...

00:22:12.094 --> 00:22:13.234
Oh, shit!

00:22:13.254 --> 00:22:14.094
Yeah!

00:22:14.494 --> 00:22:19.254
It might actually be related to the game being fueled by Mountain Dew.

00:22:19.834 --> 00:22:23.314
Gamer Fuel isn't even in the top three fucking Mountain Dew flavors.

00:22:23.334 --> 00:22:30.654
It obviously goes Code Red, Call of Dew, which is a seasonal, Original Flavor Dew, Baja Blast, and then Pitch Black.

00:22:31.314 --> 00:22:31.614
Oof.

00:22:31.814 --> 00:22:36.134
Putting anything above Original Flavor is just blasphemy.

00:22:36.154 --> 00:22:38.114
Have you had Code Red?

00:22:38.114 --> 00:22:39.994
It's a cherry blast of flavor.

00:22:40.034 --> 00:22:41.294
I fucking love that shit.

00:22:41.454 --> 00:22:43.834
I haven't had it in years, and I think it would kill me at this point.

00:22:43.854 --> 00:22:48.174
I was going to say, I haven't had any kind of soda in a long time, but when I did, it was Mountain Dew.

00:22:48.174 --> 00:22:54.694
I haven't had anything caffeinated since 2019, and I genuinely think a Mountain Dew would send my body into shock.

00:22:55.914 --> 00:22:59.374
But I will die on this hill that Code Red is goaded.

00:22:59.654 --> 00:23:01.954
But Gamer Fuel's not that good.

00:23:01.974 --> 00:23:02.194
No.

00:23:04.354 --> 00:23:16.654
The fact that Mountain Dew's marketing dollars bought them a specific slot in the Spike Gaming Awards, and that also that relationship did not transfer over when it changed into the Video Game Awards.

00:23:16.854 --> 00:23:19.054
Jeff Geely needs to get on this shit.

00:23:19.074 --> 00:23:24.514
He needs to pick up the fucking phone and say, Mountain Dew, baby girl, we got to get back together.

00:23:24.894 --> 00:23:30.194
Doritos just bought out the Luxor pyramid and made the pyramid a giant potato chip.

00:23:30.374 --> 00:23:33.414
I know PepsiCo has the fucking money.

00:23:33.974 --> 00:23:35.434
Actually, that was a tortilla chip.

00:23:35.914 --> 00:23:36.954
It was a Doritos chip.

00:23:36.974 --> 00:23:38.334
Yeah, that's not a potato chip.

00:23:38.354 --> 00:23:40.234
Oh, you're right, it is a tortilla that's cheesed.

00:23:40.414 --> 00:23:40.794
Yeah.

00:23:41.114 --> 00:23:44.894
Well, in this case, it was a fucking pyramid, Tom.

00:23:46.214 --> 00:23:47.354
It was none of the above.

00:23:47.554 --> 00:23:53.054
I just think that culture was better when Mountain Dew was participating in awards.

00:23:54.034 --> 00:23:56.434
And not as a recipient, as a giver.

00:23:56.434 --> 00:23:56.914
Yeah.

00:23:57.994 --> 00:23:59.334
That's fucking crazy.

00:23:59.534 --> 00:24:04.334
The early aughts were a wild time for a video game and food integrations.

00:24:04.614 --> 00:24:14.854
We're getting Subway in Uncharted 2, we're getting fucking Verizon commercials in Alan Wake 1, and now we're getting Master Chief chugging a Mountain Dew.

00:24:14.874 --> 00:24:15.814
Does he chug a Mountain Dew?

00:24:15.834 --> 00:24:17.274
No, we don't see him chugging a Mountain Dew.

00:24:17.294 --> 00:24:18.394
He's just on the Mountain Dew.

00:24:18.554 --> 00:24:22.334
Okay, so honestly, that's good protection of brand.

00:24:22.434 --> 00:24:23.234
Oh, yeah.

00:24:23.294 --> 00:24:33.214
With your in Halo, you're not going to break your sense of wonder and, you know, being involved in the story by him being like, Ah, 7-Eleven, time to refill all my Mountain Dew.

00:24:33.234 --> 00:24:35.174
Glug, glug, glug, I'm going to kill you.

00:24:35.254 --> 00:24:35.994
Fuck the flood.

00:24:37.554 --> 00:24:39.934
Also, why wouldn't you put the word flood in there?

00:24:40.154 --> 00:24:40.634
Right, exactly.

00:24:40.654 --> 00:24:41.634
Gamer flood.

00:24:42.914 --> 00:24:43.854
That sounds sticky.

00:24:44.194 --> 00:24:44.554
Yeah.

00:24:44.574 --> 00:24:45.234
I mean, it's Mountain Dew.

00:24:45.254 --> 00:24:46.154
Of course it's fucking sticky.

00:24:46.354 --> 00:24:47.094
I'm unraveling.

00:24:47.114 --> 00:24:47.594
Keep going.

00:24:47.614 --> 00:24:51.054
Not even Mountain Dew thinks it would survive to 2,500.

00:24:51.074 --> 00:24:53.874
They're like, there is no fucking...

00:24:54.074 --> 00:24:55.934
They'll be using it as fuel by then.

00:24:55.954 --> 00:24:56.714
Yeah, actual fuel.

00:24:56.734 --> 00:25:01.774
That's why it's gamer fuel, because it's running all the fucking Warthogs in the Halo world.

00:25:01.794 --> 00:25:06.454
That's the only use case they can figure out with all the Tareen, I think, is in there.

00:25:07.554 --> 00:25:10.474
The chemicals that would kill me or a Victorian child.

00:25:10.494 --> 00:25:11.674
The yellow number five.

00:25:11.674 --> 00:25:12.694
Yeah, exactly.

00:25:12.714 --> 00:25:15.994
It kills your sperm count, but man, it can drive a fucking car.

00:25:16.074 --> 00:25:18.094
But you can drive all the way to the moon, bitch.

00:25:19.314 --> 00:25:20.054
Exactly.

00:25:21.034 --> 00:25:26.474
Well, Time Magazine did give it their own Game of the Year stamp, and IGN gave it a bunch of awards as well.

00:25:26.574 --> 00:25:27.734
Those are unsponsored.

00:25:27.754 --> 00:25:28.574
Who gives a shit?

00:25:28.794 --> 00:25:30.874
There's no Mountain Dew involved, so who cares?

00:25:30.894 --> 00:25:35.114
I want the Snackwell Fig Newton Award for Best FPS.

00:25:37.134 --> 00:25:42.794
It's since been remade with the Master Chief Collection, and it looks absolutely stunning on modern consoles and computers.

00:25:42.814 --> 00:25:43.834
That's how you played it, right?

00:25:43.974 --> 00:25:44.314
Yeah.

00:25:44.694 --> 00:25:47.894
I mean, you obviously played the original, but you got to run through it again.

00:25:47.914 --> 00:25:48.434
That's great.

00:25:48.454 --> 00:25:49.314
Yeah, on my PC, yeah.

00:25:50.114 --> 00:25:54.034
To date, it has sold somewhere around 15 million copies across its releases.

00:25:55.354 --> 00:25:59.574
It also marks the last time Bungie worked on a numbered entry in the Halo franchise.

00:26:00.554 --> 00:26:14.574
Their deal with Microsoft would dissolve shortly after Halo 3, and Bungie would go their own way after making a couple spinoff titles, eventually making their next monolithic franchise Destiny, with Jason Jones back at the helm once again.

00:26:16.054 --> 00:26:18.534
For many, this was the last time Halo was great.

00:26:19.274 --> 00:26:24.034
Not to bash the titles that have come since, as quite a few hold a special place in the hearts of many gamers.

00:26:24.894 --> 00:26:27.794
But none of them have had the hype that Halo 3 brought.

00:26:27.814 --> 00:26:34.074
The 360 was a multiplayer haven, and Halo was the series that pioneered it all.

00:26:35.414 --> 00:26:37.994
However, we're not here to talk about online multiplayer.

00:26:38.734 --> 00:26:43.674
We're here to talk about the story, which we already have heard, might be a bit messy.

00:26:44.914 --> 00:26:47.734
And by might, I mean definitely is.

00:26:49.154 --> 00:26:53.454
But it's still a great romp and an exciting conclusion to the first Halo trilogy.

00:26:53.714 --> 00:26:56.754
And a refreshing caffeinated beverage, sponsored by Mountain Dew.

00:26:59.194 --> 00:27:00.954
This is not the Alan Wake episode.

00:27:00.974 --> 00:27:03.194
You're not going to be doing all that product placement.

00:27:03.274 --> 00:27:04.334
I love marketing.

00:27:06.954 --> 00:27:09.874
Yeah, this is the last game actually in the franchise that I've played personally.

00:27:10.714 --> 00:27:13.934
And it's the game I think of when I think of the Halo franchise.

00:27:15.514 --> 00:27:16.294
Now, here's the thing.

00:27:17.094 --> 00:27:28.274
I think since it's been such a long time since we covered the first two Halo games, we should do a quick recap on the series so far, especially since Halo 2 left us on a cliffhanger and 3 picks up right where it left off.

00:27:28.334 --> 00:27:29.254
Oh yeah, absolutely.

00:27:29.274 --> 00:27:42.334
For the first game, Halo Combat Evolved, you play as Spartan Number 117, Master Chief, an Earth Defense Space Marine who has been enhanced into a super soldier-like living weapon.

00:27:43.174 --> 00:27:45.194
Think Space Force Captain America.

00:27:45.214 --> 00:27:46.094
Hell yeah.

00:27:47.234 --> 00:27:49.834
In a spinoff book, of which there are 29.

00:27:50.034 --> 00:27:50.954
Oh my god!

00:27:51.174 --> 00:27:52.574
No, I did not read them all.

00:27:54.354 --> 00:28:01.374
But Brian David Gilbert has, and he made a wonderful Polygon Unraveled episode about it if you're interested, which you can find on YouTube.

00:28:01.474 --> 00:28:02.734
Oh, we'll put that in the Discord too.

00:28:02.754 --> 00:28:03.874
I just love BDG.

00:28:03.894 --> 00:28:05.394
Yeah, we'll throw that in the Discord for sure.

00:28:06.714 --> 00:28:13.634
In the first book, you find out that Spartans have one of the most fucked up origin stories humanly possible.

00:28:13.794 --> 00:28:15.534
No way, the super soldier?

00:28:16.054 --> 00:28:22.754
Yeah, they're kidnapped by the military from a normal ass family as a young child.

00:28:22.954 --> 00:28:23.914
Oh my God.

00:28:24.794 --> 00:28:29.274
Then, they're cloned and a near exact copy is made.

00:28:30.574 --> 00:28:34.914
The clone is then quote unquote found and returned to the family.

00:28:35.754 --> 00:28:37.034
Oh God.

00:28:38.554 --> 00:28:42.094
It's almost like the sci-fi version of that Jordan Peele movie, Us.

00:28:42.594 --> 00:28:46.894
Like, they're fucking tethered comes back and it's just a little wrong.

00:28:46.914 --> 00:28:48.594
Oh, it gets so much worse.

00:28:49.434 --> 00:28:54.734
I said they're a near exact copy, because the clone dies within a year.

00:28:54.754 --> 00:28:57.594
Like there's a ticking time bomb on the clone.

00:28:57.614 --> 00:28:58.014
Yeah.

00:28:58.194 --> 00:28:59.314
Oh, God.

00:28:59.334 --> 00:28:59.654
That's...

00:29:00.394 --> 00:29:02.994
The family first of all goes through missing a child.

00:29:03.574 --> 00:29:05.734
Which is so traumatic, so horrible.

00:29:06.014 --> 00:29:11.314
And then to lose that child after finding it within a year is so traumatic for everyone involved.

00:29:11.434 --> 00:29:14.054
It's just destroying so many fucking lives.

00:29:14.414 --> 00:29:16.774
That's so wild.

00:29:18.314 --> 00:29:20.574
Then, the kids that were kidnapped...

00:29:20.654 --> 00:29:21.134
Yeah?...

00:29:21.134 --> 00:29:24.494
were put through all sorts of horrific trials and human testing.

00:29:25.394 --> 00:29:25.654
Ah!

00:29:25.894 --> 00:29:28.414
Of which only about one-third survive.

00:29:28.714 --> 00:29:29.954
Oh, shit!

00:29:31.694 --> 00:29:32.974
This is so fucked up.

00:29:33.174 --> 00:29:34.814
Oh, it's horrifying.

00:29:35.454 --> 00:29:44.274
Then that one-third go on to live their lives like the Clone Army in Star Wars, learning how to be super soldiers from a young age into adulthood.

00:29:44.294 --> 00:29:45.414
Because what else do they have?

00:29:46.274 --> 00:29:48.774
These are the good guys of the series.

00:29:48.894 --> 00:29:51.014
These are the proud, the few, the Marines.

00:29:52.694 --> 00:29:56.354
And by that, I mean very few, because again, two-thirds of them died.

00:29:57.874 --> 00:29:59.454
Fuck, that's wild.

00:29:59.554 --> 00:30:04.274
And I want you to remember this origin story for a few minutes from now when we get into Halo 3 itself.

00:30:04.534 --> 00:30:08.314
Okay, I don't think I could erase this from my mind if I tried.

00:30:10.334 --> 00:30:11.094
So fucked up.

00:30:11.114 --> 00:30:13.474
Yeah, right now, we're gonna keep recapping one and two.

00:30:14.494 --> 00:30:20.194
It's the 2550s, and you're being called off to a distant planet to fight the Evil Covenant.

00:30:21.254 --> 00:30:27.774
They're a bipedal, reptilian-esque alien species, and they're the sworn enemies of the human race.

00:30:27.954 --> 00:30:29.914
Well, two legs good, four legs bad, right?

00:30:29.994 --> 00:30:30.634
Exactly.

00:30:32.134 --> 00:30:36.854
Upon reaching an alien planet, you discover a giant ring floating nearby.

00:30:37.934 --> 00:30:40.334
This ring is called a halo.

00:30:41.294 --> 00:30:43.954
You land on the halo and fight the covenant you find there.

00:30:44.974 --> 00:30:48.494
With you on your journey is your AI companion, Cortana.

00:30:49.794 --> 00:30:56.314
She's a blue hologram that can appear physically in front of you, but also as AR and also just kind of talk to you in your head.

00:30:56.454 --> 00:31:00.054
If you drink enough Mountain Dew gamer fuel, you will see her in real life.

00:31:02.394 --> 00:31:04.834
Yeah, she's whatever they need her to be, really.

00:31:06.074 --> 00:31:13.014
She is also genuinely the reason Microsoft named their virtual assistant Cortana at damn near the demand of gamers.

00:31:13.174 --> 00:31:13.914
I like that.

00:31:13.994 --> 00:31:14.994
That's fucking clever.

00:31:15.014 --> 00:31:20.374
If Siri was secretly fucking Atlas in Bioshock and was like, would you kindly do a system update?

00:31:21.474 --> 00:31:23.994
Well, I'd be nervous, but it would be fucking sick, you know?

00:31:24.074 --> 00:31:24.514
I know.

00:31:24.534 --> 00:31:25.814
I just remember this happening.

00:31:25.834 --> 00:31:32.234
And it was like, yeah, Siri had come out first, and then Microsoft was coming out with theirs, and it had a different name at first.

00:31:32.234 --> 00:31:35.894
I don't remember what it was, but everyone was like, wait, why the fuck aren't you calling this Cortana?

00:31:36.414 --> 00:31:37.134
It's built in.

00:31:37.154 --> 00:31:38.614
You dumb dipshits do this.

00:31:38.694 --> 00:31:40.134
And they've kind of just caved in.

00:31:40.154 --> 00:31:41.014
You're like, yeah, you're right.

00:31:41.034 --> 00:31:42.254
We should call this Cortana.

00:31:42.294 --> 00:31:44.534
Because once again, bullying works.

00:31:45.354 --> 00:31:47.154
Gamer bullying always works.

00:31:47.814 --> 00:31:49.114
No, don't do it.

00:31:49.234 --> 00:31:49.874
No, no.

00:31:50.854 --> 00:31:58.614
Cortana has valuable information, and your mission is to keep her away from the Covenant at all costs, but also to wipe out any Covenant you find.

00:31:59.814 --> 00:32:05.434
While exploring the Halo, the game takes a sharp turn from a sci-fi shooter into a horror shooter.

00:32:05.494 --> 00:32:07.534
This is where I got really excited about the game.

00:32:07.554 --> 00:32:08.014
Yeah.

00:32:08.774 --> 00:32:13.654
As the reason the Halo exists is to prevent the spread of a species called the Flood.

00:32:14.454 --> 00:32:20.234
The Flood is a parasitic alien that resembles any and all face-hugging creatures across movies and video games.

00:32:21.414 --> 00:32:31.374
They turn any creature they encounter into a space zombie, essentially, which you encounter human and Covenant versions of the Flood as you continue through the inner workings of the Halo.

00:32:32.234 --> 00:32:39.054
You meet a flying robot ball thing called the Monitor, who looks like Wheatley from the Portal series or The Ghosts in Destiny.

00:32:40.194 --> 00:32:46.914
In another spinoff book, we find out that the Monitor used to be a living being, and they were the one who designed the Halo in the first place.

00:32:47.494 --> 00:32:50.594
And now they're trapped to computer servitude forever?

00:32:50.614 --> 00:32:54.654
Yeah, he got his brain uploaded into this robo ball and was left behind to guard it.

00:32:54.674 --> 00:32:57.914
Yeah, it's a little bit like B-12 in Stray.

00:32:57.914 --> 00:32:58.794
That sucks.

00:33:00.154 --> 00:33:04.774
It tells you that the reason the Halo exists is to destroy the Flood if they ever get loose.

00:33:05.734 --> 00:33:12.014
The Flood can overtake an entire planet in a matter of days, and all it takes is a single facehugger to do it.

00:33:12.194 --> 00:33:12.494
Hmm.

00:33:13.354 --> 00:33:16.454
So you team up to activate the Halo in order to destroy the Flood.

00:33:17.574 --> 00:33:23.934
Cortana manages to get into the Halo's computer system, and she finds out the full story about the purpose of the Halo.

00:33:24.974 --> 00:33:27.114
It doesn't just destroy the Flood.

00:33:28.214 --> 00:33:32.514
It destroys all matter in a 25 light-year radius.

00:33:33.314 --> 00:33:34.234
Oh, shit!

00:33:34.654 --> 00:33:36.594
Yeah, that's a long, long way.

00:33:37.694 --> 00:33:41.794
She manages to stop you seconds from deleting everything and everyone.

00:33:41.934 --> 00:33:43.194
That is helpful, Cortana.

00:33:43.774 --> 00:33:45.894
You decide to destroy the Halo itself instead.

00:33:46.514 --> 00:33:50.694
That should handle the Flood, since they're only found on the Halo and haven't escaped to a planet.

00:33:51.914 --> 00:33:55.094
You blow it up, save the day, and the game is over.

00:33:55.274 --> 00:33:55.854
Yay!

00:33:56.634 --> 00:34:01.334
Halo 2 introduces us to a second playable character called The Arbiter.

00:34:02.554 --> 00:34:08.294
He's a Covenant Special Forces general whose job it was to stop Master Chief from blowing up the Halo.

00:34:09.434 --> 00:34:13.254
He gets punished for losing, while Master Chief gets a party for winning.

00:34:14.454 --> 00:34:18.174
They each get sent on separate missions to the same planet, where they find...

00:34:19.314 --> 00:34:20.114
another Halo.

00:34:20.154 --> 00:34:21.294
Dun dun dun!

00:34:21.314 --> 00:34:22.254
It's Halo 2!

00:34:22.414 --> 00:34:23.814
There's the second Halo!

00:34:25.794 --> 00:34:27.574
Master Chief's mission is pretty straightforward.

00:34:28.494 --> 00:34:29.374
Destroy the Halo.

00:34:30.454 --> 00:34:44.734
For Arbiter, you go on a whole political espionage story where you discover the Covenant's three elders, Prophet Truth, Prophet Mercy, and Prophet Regret, are releasing the Flood on purpose, in the hopes of activating a Halo.

00:34:46.014 --> 00:34:48.994
They're trying to bring about a prophecy called The Great Journey.

00:34:49.794 --> 00:34:58.034
They're not entirely sure what that means or what a Halo will do, but they know that if they free the Flood, the monitor of that Halo will activate it.

00:34:58.434 --> 00:35:00.914
It sounds like the journey that Heaven's Gate took as well.

00:35:00.934 --> 00:35:01.934
Yeah, right.

00:35:01.954 --> 00:35:02.794
It's very culty.

00:35:02.814 --> 00:35:04.214
A lot of space death.

00:35:05.414 --> 00:35:12.014
Master Chief also discovers all this information pretty much simultaneously when he confronts and kills Prophet Regret.

00:35:13.074 --> 00:35:17.594
You eventually meet up with the monitor from the previous Halo, and he gives you information about this one.

00:35:17.814 --> 00:35:20.634
He is just plagued with knowledge at this point.

00:35:21.574 --> 00:35:23.174
I honestly just kind of feel for Monder.

00:35:24.034 --> 00:35:27.014
He was a scientist engineer, and now he's a ghost.

00:35:27.034 --> 00:35:27.514
Yeah.

00:35:28.094 --> 00:35:29.394
No, the ghosts are in destiny.

00:35:29.734 --> 00:35:30.994
God damn it, Tom.

00:35:32.774 --> 00:35:44.814
Eventually, both Arbiter and Master Chief separately encounter the Flood, and after an epic battle, they both get taken by a giant, tentacled creature that looks like Audrey II from Little Shop of Horrors.

00:35:44.854 --> 00:35:45.834
Hell yeah.

00:35:45.854 --> 00:35:47.514
Or the Sarlacc from Star Wars.

00:35:47.774 --> 00:35:51.674
Two very specific fan bases that will understand that reference now.

00:35:52.254 --> 00:35:58.574
Thank you for breaking it down for the musicals and for the Star Wars' the two genders.

00:35:58.734 --> 00:35:59.054
Right.

00:36:01.154 --> 00:36:03.434
It's the central hive mind for all of the Flood.

00:36:04.034 --> 00:36:09.454
It says that right now, all three of you have a common enemy, the two remaining prophets.

00:36:10.474 --> 00:36:13.294
If they activate a halo, you're all fucked.

00:36:13.894 --> 00:36:18.334
So right now, the three of you need to work together to defeat the remaining prophets.

00:36:18.894 --> 00:36:19.374
That's valid.

00:36:20.054 --> 00:36:30.194
The monitor is there, too, and it tells you not only that, but if they activate this halo, it puts the other seven halos around the universe in a standby mode.

00:36:30.554 --> 00:36:31.834
Oh, shit.

00:36:32.214 --> 00:36:34.874
Also, he's like, but maybe you can kill me.

00:36:34.894 --> 00:36:39.094
I think he may have an underlying like, I'm kind of done, you know?

00:36:40.294 --> 00:36:46.854
But for your sake, because I'm a good computer ghost, just know that you're going to kind of set off a chain reaction.

00:36:46.874 --> 00:36:47.054
Yep.

00:36:49.174 --> 00:36:53.654
Well, there's a central computer called The Ark, where they can be remotely detonated.

00:36:54.674 --> 00:36:58.054
The prophets don't care if you stop this halo from doing its thing.

00:36:58.914 --> 00:37:05.174
All they want to do is activate it, even momentarily, so they can put the others into standby mode.

00:37:06.254 --> 00:37:13.514
One prophet is on their way to activate the halo you're on, and the other is on their way to Earth with a spaceship full of the flood.

00:37:13.834 --> 00:37:14.594
Oh, fuck.

00:37:15.314 --> 00:37:18.914
On Earth is a map to the Ark, since it's technically a secret base.

00:37:19.194 --> 00:37:19.754
Hmm.

00:37:20.514 --> 00:37:27.814
Master Chief hitches a ride on Prophet Truth's ship toward Earth, and the Arbiter goes to stop Prophet Mercy from turning on the halo.

00:37:27.834 --> 00:37:28.454
Hell yeah.

00:37:29.174 --> 00:37:30.474
Well, the halo gets activated.

00:37:30.694 --> 00:37:31.554
Oh, god damn it.

00:37:31.774 --> 00:37:39.674
The Arbiter gets Prophet Mercy killed, shuts down the halo, and Prophet Truth continues toward Earth with a ship full of the flood.

00:37:40.254 --> 00:37:41.374
And one Master Chief.

00:37:42.954 --> 00:37:52.934
Master Chief arrives just outside Earth and sees the Covenant forces, which now are being run by a group of ape-like creatures called the Brutes, the muscle of the Prophets.

00:37:54.974 --> 00:37:59.354
The invasion has begun, and the Prophets' ship is close to bringing the flood to Earth.

00:38:00.554 --> 00:38:05.214
Cortana chooses to stay behind on the Covenant ship, see what information she can steal from it.

00:38:06.374 --> 00:38:10.734
You jump out of the ship into open space, ready to bring the pain.

00:38:12.034 --> 00:38:13.694
And the game fucking ends.

00:38:14.034 --> 00:38:15.254
Oh, god damn it.

00:38:15.274 --> 00:38:18.674
I know it was an abrupt thing where you're like, fuck yeah, let's go.

00:38:18.694 --> 00:38:21.234
But it's clearly the beginning of the third act of this game.

00:38:21.254 --> 00:38:24.374
And they're like, yeah, nah, that's the beginning of the third game of this game.

00:38:25.394 --> 00:38:26.794
Shit, that's so cool.

00:38:26.874 --> 00:38:28.034
You're not going to end on Earth.

00:38:28.054 --> 00:38:29.414
You're going to start the next one on it.

00:38:29.754 --> 00:38:30.614
Welcome to Earth.

00:38:30.634 --> 00:38:31.914
Yeah.

00:38:33.914 --> 00:38:40.774
In our Halo 2 episode, I said that the theme of the second game was cliffhangers, and damn did they leave us hanging.

00:38:41.974 --> 00:38:45.574
Fortunately, it only took three real time years for us to get the answer.

00:38:47.294 --> 00:38:52.614
Charge up your plasma pistols, Goombas, for the exciting conclusion to the first Halo trilogy.

00:38:53.754 --> 00:38:55.894
This is Halo 3.

00:38:57.734 --> 00:39:00.474
Remember I said to keep Master Chief's origin story in mind?

00:39:00.574 --> 00:39:01.474
I can't not.

00:39:01.494 --> 00:39:02.294
It's so sad.

00:39:02.854 --> 00:39:05.494
It's because of this opening line that we get from Cortana.

00:39:06.374 --> 00:39:10.674
If you don't know his origin, it comes across a lot more innocent than if you do know it.

00:39:11.314 --> 00:39:13.694
It's like that one meme with the Mr.

00:39:13.714 --> 00:39:16.454
Incredible where it's like, those who know, those who don't know.

00:39:16.474 --> 00:39:18.874
The happy and the sad dark one, yeah.

00:39:20.254 --> 00:39:21.234
Yeah, now you guys know.

00:39:22.554 --> 00:39:26.314
You, like the monitor, are plagued with knowledge.

00:39:27.494 --> 00:39:30.474
The game opens on an inky black view of outer space.

00:39:31.914 --> 00:39:38.154
White specks spread across the darkness, the many stars that are threatened should any of the seven remaining Halos activate.

00:39:39.374 --> 00:39:47.874
Cortana's voice comes over the scene, and she says that she's not sure if she's ever told you this, but they let her pick the Spartan she wanted to be paired with.

00:39:49.594 --> 00:39:53.254
Out of the lineup of stolen children, she picked you?

00:39:53.734 --> 00:39:57.394
She watched you grow and train and become the Spartan you are today.

00:39:58.254 --> 00:40:03.834
She says that while you had everything the other Spartans had, you also had one thing that the others didn't.

00:40:05.114 --> 00:40:05.454
Luck.

00:40:06.694 --> 00:40:11.894
Which, if any of the Spartans were lucky, they wouldn't have gotten kidnapped and turned into warrior slaves.

00:40:11.914 --> 00:40:12.814
That's what I'm saying.

00:40:13.994 --> 00:40:17.754
It feels like he hit a patch of very specific un-luckiness.

00:40:19.014 --> 00:40:20.134
That's why he's here.

00:40:20.154 --> 00:40:23.954
It's also weird that she got to draft which stolen child she wanted.

00:40:23.974 --> 00:40:24.954
Yeah, right?

00:40:25.034 --> 00:40:25.914
Don't love that.

00:40:25.934 --> 00:40:26.714
Seems a little wrong.

00:40:27.494 --> 00:40:32.174
But again, the whole origin story is only found in a book and doesn't get talked about in the game itself.

00:40:32.674 --> 00:40:33.694
It's the implication.

00:40:33.714 --> 00:40:35.094
But it's the implication, right?

00:40:36.434 --> 00:40:42.234
The screen shows a shooting star, and it gets closer and closer to the camera, eventually flying right by it.

00:40:43.354 --> 00:40:49.454
It becomes apparent that the camera has been on a planet looking up at the sky, as we see the shooting star crash into some trees.

00:40:50.794 --> 00:40:56.854
After the crash, the screen goes completely black, and Cortana asks, Was I wrong?

00:40:58.554 --> 00:40:59.874
We come back to the crash site.

00:41:00.894 --> 00:41:10.354
We see a group of three regular human soldiers surrounding the body of a Spartan who, judging by the crater they just created, crashed down to earth from roughly 2 kilometers above.

00:41:10.454 --> 00:41:10.814
Oof.

00:41:11.874 --> 00:41:19.394
Sergeant Johnson, your right hand from the previous game, is one of the three, and he's giving up on reviving the unmoving Spartan.

00:41:20.574 --> 00:41:25.194
He knows the value of the armor, so he calls in an EVAC ship to pick up the fallen warrior.

00:41:26.714 --> 00:41:31.514
He pulls the chip out of the back of the head of the lifeless Spartan, and tells his men to get ready to pull out.

00:41:32.234 --> 00:41:32.534
Hmm.

00:41:33.214 --> 00:41:35.394
The Spartan finally moves and grabs his hand.

00:41:36.494 --> 00:41:38.434
He is, in fact, Master Chief.

00:41:38.634 --> 00:41:39.434
Yay.

00:41:39.754 --> 00:41:41.694
And you take control of him from here out.

00:41:41.914 --> 00:41:42.674
Let's go.

00:41:43.354 --> 00:41:44.714
Fun fact about this scene.

00:41:45.534 --> 00:41:49.894
Master Chief is revealed at 1 minute and 17 seconds into the cutscene.

00:41:50.814 --> 00:41:52.314
Oh, and he's Spartan 117?

00:41:52.334 --> 00:41:53.754
And he's Spartan 117.

00:41:53.774 --> 00:41:54.374
That's kind of sick.

00:41:54.394 --> 00:41:55.294
I'm not going to lie.

00:41:55.314 --> 00:41:55.494
Yeah.

00:41:56.634 --> 00:42:00.974
Johnson asks where Cortana is, and you tell him that she's stayed behind.

00:42:01.234 --> 00:42:03.814
She's also kind of all around us at all times, you know?

00:42:03.834 --> 00:42:04.014
Yeah.

00:42:05.154 --> 00:42:05.794
No, for sure.

00:42:05.814 --> 00:42:06.494
She's gone now.

00:42:06.974 --> 00:42:09.394
She is like fully on the other ship.

00:42:09.414 --> 00:42:09.894
Gotcha.

00:42:09.914 --> 00:42:11.094
She is on Prophet Truth's ship.

00:42:12.414 --> 00:42:16.054
Right now, you need to stop Prophet Truth from unleashing the flood on Earth.

00:42:17.374 --> 00:42:23.454
You see something moving just over Johnson's shoulder, and realize it's a Covenant soldier cloaked with their invisibility power.

00:42:24.794 --> 00:42:29.674
You run up to it and put your gun right up under its chin as it drops the invisibility and materializes.

00:42:29.814 --> 00:42:31.034
Oh, that's so fucking cool.

00:42:31.514 --> 00:42:33.174
Johnson tells you to calm the fuck down.

00:42:33.194 --> 00:42:35.214
That's the Arbiter, and he's a friend.

00:42:35.374 --> 00:42:36.174
That's our homie.

00:42:36.334 --> 00:42:36.734
Yeah.

00:42:36.814 --> 00:42:38.754
Which, you know who the Arbiter is?

00:42:38.774 --> 00:42:40.934
You met him a couple hours ago and teamed up.

00:42:41.214 --> 00:42:43.914
You just landed via falling, though.

00:42:43.934 --> 00:42:44.754
Yeah, that's true.

00:42:44.874 --> 00:42:46.834
There's some minor concussion at work.

00:42:47.234 --> 00:42:49.634
And in all defenses, he was invisible.

00:42:49.754 --> 00:42:51.914
Yeah, and you know, all those people look alike.

00:42:52.394 --> 00:42:52.974
Oh, them?

00:42:54.674 --> 00:42:55.774
Those people.

00:42:56.714 --> 00:42:58.094
I didn't like you saying that.

00:42:58.894 --> 00:43:01.334
You're giving real composer energy right now.

00:43:01.354 --> 00:43:02.794
Real composer energy.

00:43:03.254 --> 00:43:06.994
I'm gonna need you to compose yourself.

00:43:07.014 --> 00:43:07.614
So sorry.

00:43:07.634 --> 00:43:08.734
Yeah, that's Master Chief speaking.

00:43:08.754 --> 00:43:09.214
That's not me.

00:43:10.314 --> 00:43:15.974
Your group of five needs to join up with the rest of the military that are already fighting the invading Covenant forces.

00:43:17.234 --> 00:43:21.334
Along the way, you encounter brutes and Covenant soldiers torturing humans.

00:43:22.374 --> 00:43:27.954
What's cool is if you act fast enough, you can stop these soldiers from getting killed.

00:43:28.094 --> 00:43:28.774
Oh, that's great.

00:43:28.794 --> 00:43:29.774
And then they join your group.

00:43:31.294 --> 00:43:35.274
But if you treat it like a cutscene and just watch, they fucking die.

00:43:35.374 --> 00:43:36.554
And you're kind of fucked up.

00:43:36.654 --> 00:43:37.034
Yeah.

00:43:38.194 --> 00:43:42.014
But these were very interactive cutscenes though, which made it very cool.

00:43:42.034 --> 00:43:42.734
I love that.

00:43:42.734 --> 00:43:43.834
I love that they can join you.

00:43:43.854 --> 00:43:45.934
It's not just, oh, they'll drop and catch their breath.

00:43:45.954 --> 00:43:48.074
Like now they're going to join the fucking front lines.

00:43:48.094 --> 00:43:48.434
Yeah.

00:43:48.454 --> 00:43:52.354
And they'll like pick up a gun from a fallen soldier or like a fallen covenant.

00:43:52.614 --> 00:43:56.294
That's very advanced AI for just this specific sequence.

00:43:56.314 --> 00:43:58.434
We're barely into the game, and this is fucking sick.

00:43:58.454 --> 00:43:58.774
Yeah.

00:43:59.634 --> 00:44:05.034
While escaping, you get your first of many of what I'm going to call cork-tana flashes.

00:44:06.254 --> 00:44:14.934
Every once in a while, you'll start moving slowly and your vision will begin to blur, kind of like V in cyberpunk, and cortana will fill your vision and talk to you.

00:44:16.054 --> 00:44:19.254
But it's not like she's actively trying to communicate with you.

00:44:19.934 --> 00:44:21.874
She's not reaching out to be like, come help me.

00:44:22.594 --> 00:44:26.654
It's more like she's saying abstract things and asking rhetorical questions.

00:44:27.314 --> 00:44:34.594
She's just like, when you have a friend that's really stoned and you're trying to talk to them, they're like, philosophically though, what do you think flowers are for?

00:44:34.774 --> 00:44:39.454
Yeah, she asks questions like, can you sacrifice her to complete your mission?

00:44:39.834 --> 00:44:40.874
Oh, oh God.

00:44:41.434 --> 00:44:45.934
And she also appears to be hurt as she's usually lying down, even though she's a virtual assistant.

00:44:47.254 --> 00:44:50.434
But these flashes are pretty short, only about 5 to 10 seconds.

00:44:51.434 --> 00:44:54.014
Once they're over, you're back to running and gunning the Covenant.

00:44:55.514 --> 00:44:59.194
You get separated from Johnson and his men and have to reconvene with them.

00:45:00.054 --> 00:45:02.854
But they get caught by the Brutes and are being tortured for information.

00:45:04.154 --> 00:45:06.714
So you and Arbiter head into the Covenant Camp to free him.

00:45:07.174 --> 00:45:11.774
After freeing Johnson and his squad, an evac ship flies in and picks up the lot of you.

00:45:12.674 --> 00:45:18.234
You head back to the home base where you are greeted by Commander Miranda Keyes, a character we met in the previous game.

00:45:19.194 --> 00:45:24.814
She's the one in charge around here, and she welcomes you back and launches right into the information she has on the ground war going on.

00:45:25.834 --> 00:45:28.574
It's just some exposition for anyone new to the franchise.

00:45:29.714 --> 00:45:34.094
The Flood are on their way, and Prophet Truth is trying to find the map to the Ark.

00:45:34.134 --> 00:45:35.274
That son of a bitch.

00:45:35.334 --> 00:45:37.894
And he wants to use that to detonate the other seven.

00:45:39.014 --> 00:45:44.114
Prophet Truth even takes over the TV screens in the base and makes a bunch of threats to the human race.

00:45:45.454 --> 00:45:51.574
Commander Keyes orders an evacuation of the base, figuring that the threat means the Prophet is coming directly for them.

00:45:52.694 --> 00:45:58.574
When asked where she wants everyone evacuated to, she cocks her pistol and responds, to war.

00:46:00.394 --> 00:46:01.814
Honestly, big dick energy.

00:46:02.254 --> 00:46:03.774
That's fucking cool.

00:46:03.994 --> 00:46:05.574
I love Commander Keyes.

00:46:05.594 --> 00:46:07.154
She is so fucking badass.

00:46:07.174 --> 00:46:09.734
So it doesn't come off as like, I don't know, you figure it out.

00:46:09.754 --> 00:46:10.434
We're going to war.

00:46:10.454 --> 00:46:12.094
It's like, we're going to war.

00:46:12.114 --> 00:46:12.534
Yeah.

00:46:12.694 --> 00:46:13.974
She's a beefy beef boy.

00:46:14.174 --> 00:46:21.334
No, what's really great is that a lot of the other soldiers, you can feel the respect they have for Commander Keyes.

00:46:21.354 --> 00:46:22.894
That's just good writing and acting.

00:46:22.914 --> 00:46:28.574
I know the script went through some drama, but that's a great piece if she can drop that, and everyone's like, fuck yeah, let's roll.

00:46:28.694 --> 00:46:29.254
Yeah, no.

00:46:29.474 --> 00:46:31.434
All of her soldiers really respect her.

00:46:31.554 --> 00:46:33.574
Everybody fucking loves Commander Keyes.

00:46:33.594 --> 00:46:34.234
Good for her.

00:46:35.074 --> 00:46:41.374
You spend the next few minutes helping the evac, killing the Covenant as they attack the base, escorting soldiers to their escape vessels.

00:46:42.554 --> 00:46:45.634
You also set up a bomb to blow up the base once everyone is out.

00:46:46.634 --> 00:46:49.574
Through all this, you keep getting those Cortana flashes.

00:46:50.934 --> 00:46:56.334
Again, not really talking to you, but it seems to be shit you probably have heard before.

00:46:57.234 --> 00:47:05.314
Things like the motivational speech you probably heard on your first day of boot camp, saying things like, you will become the best of the best kind of shit.

00:47:05.334 --> 00:47:08.594
A little highlight reel of your Spartan career.

00:47:08.694 --> 00:47:09.774
Yeah, a little bit.

00:47:11.054 --> 00:47:17.114
You don't make it out before the bomb goes off, and you find yourself in the basement of the bunker with a group of soldiers.

00:47:18.534 --> 00:47:24.374
You locate a grip of Warthogs, the ever famous and trustworthy Humvee style vehicles of the Haloverse.

00:47:24.494 --> 00:47:25.174
The Pumbas?

00:47:25.214 --> 00:47:26.794
Yeah, in the basement.

00:47:28.094 --> 00:47:32.674
You mount up as either the driver or the gunner, and take off toward a rendezvous point.

00:47:33.954 --> 00:47:37.854
Johnson calls over the radio to tell you that there are supply ships there, and they'll pick you up.

00:47:39.014 --> 00:47:44.714
Through this section, you get a nice sampling of all the vehicles available in this game for both Covenant and the humans.

00:47:45.694 --> 00:47:50.114
You'll be able to hijack them and take them over if you want, or you can just keep your warthog.

00:47:51.214 --> 00:48:03.734
They give you a lot of new weapons to try out through this section as well, and you also find out that the reason the Covenant were attacking this specific location is because the map to the Ark is hidden inside an ancient Egyptian temple.

00:48:04.214 --> 00:48:07.914
Oh, they have an issue with Egypt in this entire franchise.

00:48:07.934 --> 00:48:09.174
Right, they really do.

00:48:09.174 --> 00:48:11.254
They blew up Cairo in Halo 2, right?

00:48:11.274 --> 00:48:11.854
Yeah, they did.

00:48:11.874 --> 00:48:12.654
Holy shit.

00:48:12.654 --> 00:48:13.594
Now they're back again.

00:48:14.834 --> 00:48:19.494
And they do end up finding it, and Prophet Truth recalls his troops back to their ship.

00:48:19.714 --> 00:48:20.514
He got what he needed.

00:48:21.214 --> 00:48:26.854
The Ark is located a little ways outside the Milky Way Galaxy, and he's heading there right now.

00:48:28.234 --> 00:48:34.794
Also, I know we talk about light years and shit in this game and how important they are, but they're also meaningless.

00:48:35.294 --> 00:48:35.554
Oh!

00:48:36.314 --> 00:48:43.574
For example, if a Halo detonates, it kills everything in a 25 light year radius, and it does so instantly.

00:48:45.414 --> 00:48:51.894
Even assuming the blast travels at light speed, that would take 25 years to complete the blast to its edges.

00:48:52.214 --> 00:48:52.734
Oh, shit.

00:48:54.474 --> 00:48:56.914
So, like, don't think about it too hard is all I'm getting.

00:48:56.934 --> 00:48:58.034
Yeah, not in Halo.

00:48:58.054 --> 00:49:00.334
It would be instant from center to the edges.

00:49:01.654 --> 00:49:03.994
This also seems to apply to space travel.

00:49:04.214 --> 00:49:05.554
Oh, we're just like, what's up?

00:49:05.574 --> 00:49:05.934
We're here.

00:49:05.994 --> 00:49:09.994
Yeah, the Milky Way itself is 100,000 light years wide.

00:49:11.074 --> 00:49:22.634
And the Ark is located 250,000 light years outside the Milky Way Galaxy, which makes the 25 light year radius seem minute in comparison.

00:49:22.634 --> 00:49:24.274
You're like, actually, that's not a big deal.

00:49:24.294 --> 00:49:26.594
Yeah, there's just like even seven of them.

00:49:27.034 --> 00:49:29.334
You could Halo Pluto and it's fine on here.

00:49:29.354 --> 00:49:30.414
Like, who gives a shit?

00:49:30.714 --> 00:49:31.414
It's not even a planet.

00:49:31.434 --> 00:49:34.894
It's actually considered a sub planet due to its mass shrinking because of how distant it is.

00:49:35.654 --> 00:49:36.254
It's fine.

00:49:36.434 --> 00:49:36.774
Yeah.

00:49:36.914 --> 00:49:37.334
Yeah.

00:49:37.634 --> 00:49:45.934
But despite that distance, space travel is super quick, especially when you open portals big enough to fit an entire armada through it.

00:49:46.114 --> 00:49:47.114
Oh, there you go.

00:49:47.134 --> 00:49:50.154
Because, yeah, we've got just kind of portal technology too here.

00:49:50.194 --> 00:49:51.114
Portals exist.

00:49:51.134 --> 00:49:51.374
Yeah.

00:49:52.174 --> 00:49:53.334
I fucking love science.

00:49:53.354 --> 00:49:53.774
Let's go.

00:49:53.794 --> 00:49:58.054
Yeah, it's just to kind of like get rid of the whole like, yeah, we got to travel through space kind of shit.

00:49:58.314 --> 00:50:02.274
I do see the holes of like, what's at stake immediately?

00:50:02.294 --> 00:50:02.654
Yeah.

00:50:04.054 --> 00:50:05.534
Maybe some holes didn't get resolved.

00:50:05.594 --> 00:50:06.194
That's okay.

00:50:06.294 --> 00:50:10.454
Yeah, like I said, it's a little messy, but it's still cohesive.

00:50:11.894 --> 00:50:18.154
You need to clear a path for the rescue ships to enter the area and have to fight off a couple of the Covenant's giant four-legged tanks.

00:50:18.894 --> 00:50:24.874
They were in the previous game as well, but this time they're a lot more dynamic and can move around the map a bit more freely than they did before.

00:50:25.614 --> 00:50:34.234
Unfortunately, your fighting isn't enough, and Prophet Truth activates a device that opens a giant portal in the sky, and the Covenant ships fly through it.

00:50:34.314 --> 00:50:34.574
Oof.

00:50:35.454 --> 00:50:38.314
Johnson calls over the radio and asks, what the fuck just happened?

00:50:38.854 --> 00:50:40.334
You're like, well, look up, man.

00:50:40.754 --> 00:50:42.254
It's pretty self-explanatory.

00:50:42.354 --> 00:50:43.234
Big hole in the sky.

00:50:43.314 --> 00:50:50.794
Yeah, well, just as the last Covenant ship escapes through the portal, another one comes flying back through it towards the Earth.

00:50:51.134 --> 00:50:52.034
Never a good sign.

00:50:52.534 --> 00:50:54.674
It's on fire and is set to crash.

00:50:54.814 --> 00:50:55.554
Worst sign.

00:50:55.974 --> 00:50:57.794
Johnson asks, is that more Covenant?

00:50:58.514 --> 00:51:00.114
And you respond, no.

00:51:00.954 --> 00:51:01.374
Worse.

00:51:01.714 --> 00:51:03.194
It's the shit that killed the dinosaurs.

00:51:04.074 --> 00:51:12.294
The ship crashes, and Commander Keyes comes over the radio to inform you that the Flood have just crash-landed, and that they are quickly taking over the area.

00:51:13.734 --> 00:51:18.874
You have to kill every last one of them, quickly, if you want to stop them from taking over the entire planet.

00:51:19.014 --> 00:51:20.334
I bet that's such a good sequence.

00:51:20.634 --> 00:51:25.654
And remember, it takes just one survivor, and they can take everything.

00:51:27.254 --> 00:51:33.014
You and the Arbiter go to the crash site where you are swarmed by the Flood, and the two of you kill them off slowly but surely.

00:51:33.114 --> 00:51:36.314
Do you play as Arbiter at all through this, or is it only Master Chief?

00:51:36.434 --> 00:51:37.734
Only as Master Chief.

00:51:37.754 --> 00:51:40.734
This game did not let you control Arbiter again.

00:51:40.994 --> 00:51:41.634
Really?

00:51:41.694 --> 00:51:45.554
Yeah, I think if you do it in two-player mode, the second player can play as Arbiter.

00:51:45.914 --> 00:51:47.934
But traditionally for campaign, all Master Chief.

00:51:47.954 --> 00:51:51.234
For the campaign, it's purely Master Chief, unlike Halo 2, yeah.

00:51:51.274 --> 00:51:51.634
Got it.

00:51:53.094 --> 00:51:58.134
All the while, you keep getting those Cortana flashes in your field of view, saying more cryptic shit.

00:51:58.334 --> 00:51:59.494
Bitch, I'm busy.

00:52:00.994 --> 00:52:04.474
Can you hold off on the fucking trolley problems that you're trying to drop on me?

00:52:04.494 --> 00:52:05.854
I have to kill the flood.

00:52:05.874 --> 00:52:08.934
Well, it's actually starting to be a little bit more personal and direct.

00:52:09.114 --> 00:52:12.974
Okay, she's not like, is the life of this worth the life of that?

00:52:13.214 --> 00:52:16.574
No, Cortana's finally speaking to you instead of at you.

00:52:17.454 --> 00:52:19.074
Saying, there's not much time.

00:52:19.794 --> 00:52:26.994
The ship she was left behind on got taken over by the flood, and now they have her and are getting information out of her.

00:52:27.234 --> 00:52:27.954
Ah, shit.

00:52:29.134 --> 00:52:36.454
The Covenant discovers that Cortana is on the crashed flood ship, and so they also send soldiers in to try and retrieve her as well.

00:52:37.594 --> 00:52:43.774
Cortana, as we discovered in the first game, has all of Earth's defensive capabilities and strategies stored inside her.

00:52:44.554 --> 00:52:48.434
That information is too important and can't be taken by enemy forces.

00:52:49.894 --> 00:52:54.414
You make it to the crashed ship, and it is fully overtaken by the flood.

00:52:55.074 --> 00:52:58.434
Like, the ship itself is part of the flood now.

00:52:58.794 --> 00:52:59.734
Oh, that's gnarly.

00:52:59.754 --> 00:53:02.094
There's one big facehugger across the front of the ship.

00:53:02.174 --> 00:53:02.894
Yeah, right, no.

00:53:04.114 --> 00:53:05.174
It's not quite like that.

00:53:05.194 --> 00:53:07.294
It's more like fungus growing on the walls.

00:53:07.314 --> 00:53:10.434
You know, like in the original live action Mario Brothers.

00:53:10.614 --> 00:53:11.794
Oh, God, that's so gross.

00:53:11.834 --> 00:53:13.354
Or maybe a little bit like The Last of Us.

00:53:13.374 --> 00:53:15.054
With the spores and shit everywhere.

00:53:15.074 --> 00:53:15.394
Yeah.

00:53:15.514 --> 00:53:15.954
Gross.

00:53:16.974 --> 00:53:19.334
As you enter it, the Gravemind speaks to you.

00:53:19.394 --> 00:53:21.994
That's the big Audrey 2 Sarlacc pit guy.

00:53:22.174 --> 00:53:22.554
Yeah.

00:53:23.154 --> 00:53:25.994
And these come to you much the same way the Cortana flashes were.

00:53:26.954 --> 00:53:29.714
It's telling you that the Flood are not destroyers.

00:53:30.534 --> 00:53:31.554
They are liberators.

00:53:32.754 --> 00:53:35.754
They bring peace once they overtake an entire planet.

00:53:36.854 --> 00:53:37.514
Do they?

00:53:37.974 --> 00:53:42.054
Well, they are life's salvation because they can't die as long as nobody kills them.

00:53:43.334 --> 00:53:46.914
I feel like Monitor would have some words to say about this.

00:53:46.934 --> 00:53:47.334
Right.

00:53:48.194 --> 00:53:52.734
You eventually find the console containing Cortana, but her information is scrambled.

00:53:53.914 --> 00:53:57.954
Monitor X Machina shows up and offers to help repair Cortana.

00:53:59.134 --> 00:54:04.394
You yell at him saying that back on the first Halo, he tried to kill Cortana and everyone else.

00:54:05.494 --> 00:54:11.174
He says that since you destroyed that Halo, he no longer has a mission, so he's going to help you instead.

00:54:11.194 --> 00:54:13.114
Why are you bringing up old shit?

00:54:13.154 --> 00:54:13.534
Yeah.

00:54:14.494 --> 00:54:16.074
I've been updated since then.

00:54:16.094 --> 00:54:17.014
I'm changed.

00:54:18.014 --> 00:54:24.694
He informs you that friendly Covenant Rebels have arrived, and they're going to quote unquote, glass all of Egypt.

00:54:25.074 --> 00:54:26.094
Glass it?

00:54:26.894 --> 00:54:37.734
Yeah, so glassing is a process where the Covenant use powerful rays of heat that are so fucking hot, it turns everything to glass instantly.

00:54:38.034 --> 00:54:42.254
Whoa, that is some horrific, cool as fuck shit though.

00:54:42.514 --> 00:54:47.454
It's a devastating but effective way of eliminating a small flood outbreak.

00:54:48.194 --> 00:54:50.474
But also, glass it?

00:54:50.674 --> 00:54:51.294
Yeah.

00:54:52.014 --> 00:54:53.714
Oh, that's chilling.

00:54:54.114 --> 00:54:55.254
It really is, isn't it?

00:54:56.254 --> 00:55:08.614
In the lore of this several day battle called the Battle for Earth, the population of the planet went from around 10 billion people to 200 million.

00:55:08.954 --> 00:55:11.714
Whoa, holy shit.

00:55:12.394 --> 00:55:15.394
That is fucking, that's everybody.

00:55:17.074 --> 00:55:20.254
And that change was a combo of deaths and evacuations.

00:55:21.434 --> 00:55:23.554
And after the battle, many returned to Earth.

00:55:24.234 --> 00:55:27.814
But still, I think it was something where around 5 billion people left.

00:55:30.394 --> 00:55:37.694
You, Arbiter, and the Monitor, joined up with the Marines and a small group of rebel Covenant forces to see if you can get Cortana back up and running.

00:55:38.934 --> 00:55:41.594
Cortana activates, but it's not actually her.

00:55:42.434 --> 00:55:43.274
It's just a message.

00:55:44.734 --> 00:55:47.954
She says that the Prophet is on his way to Earth with a bunch of flood.

00:55:47.974 --> 00:55:49.614
And you're like, yeah, we know.

00:55:51.114 --> 00:55:56.834
She says that they know she's in the system, but she was able to find out information they don't have.

00:55:57.914 --> 00:55:59.314
The portal they went through?

00:56:00.114 --> 00:56:03.294
They don't realize there is a way to stop the flood on the other end.

00:56:04.314 --> 00:56:08.274
A way that does not involve firing off the seven Halo rings around the universe.

00:56:09.454 --> 00:56:14.894
But before she can say what that thing is, she short circuits and collapses.

00:56:15.094 --> 00:56:19.694
Saying that you need to hurry to the Ark if you're going to stop Prophet Truth from detonating the Halos.

00:56:21.154 --> 00:56:28.514
You agree to head through the still open portal, and the Marines say they'll stay behind and try and hold off the enemy from releasing any other flood.

00:56:30.034 --> 00:56:34.754
The leader of the Covenant rebels, he was in Halo 2 as Arbiter's buddy, he was missing half his mouth.

00:56:36.034 --> 00:56:40.454
He says that the humans barely survived a miniscule outbreak of the flood.

00:56:41.394 --> 00:56:47.894
He was fully prepared to glass the entire planets, but Arbiter convinced him to only glass the impact site.

00:56:49.014 --> 00:57:00.574
The leader of the humans and the leader of the Covenant have some pissing match words at each other, which is all stopped by you saying that you believe Cortana is telling the truth, and want to go after whatever it is that will stop the flood.

00:57:01.774 --> 00:57:05.754
But you'll need the help of both the Covenant and the humans if you're going to pull it off.

00:57:07.034 --> 00:57:10.534
Yes, you'll be abandoning Earth and leaving it open to attack.

00:57:11.514 --> 00:57:18.434
But if this secret weapon doesn't exist, then the flood of one already anyway, and the Halos will be the only solution.

00:57:19.554 --> 00:57:24.014
Earth's commander says this will either be your greatest or worst decision ever.

00:57:24.334 --> 00:57:25.654
There is no in-between.

00:57:25.934 --> 00:57:28.394
But he probably won't live long enough to find out which.

00:57:29.314 --> 00:57:37.454
And he wishes you luck as he goes back down to Earth to lead the few troops he has left while you go with the rebel forces through the portal to the Ark.

00:57:37.574 --> 00:57:38.454
This is so good.

00:57:38.674 --> 00:57:39.214
Oh, God.

00:57:40.094 --> 00:57:45.894
Upon arrival, you see that the Prophet's forces outnumber the rebels three to one.

00:57:46.034 --> 00:57:46.754
Fuck me.

00:57:47.234 --> 00:57:50.394
To which the Covenant leader says, so it'll be a fair fight.

00:57:50.994 --> 00:57:53.974
Oh, good for you, bitch.

00:57:56.454 --> 00:57:59.214
The Ark is unlike anything we've seen yet.

00:58:00.314 --> 00:58:05.834
Flat Earth conspiracy theorists rejoice, as it's essentially a gigantic disk floating in space.

00:58:05.914 --> 00:58:07.654
You guys get this one round.

00:58:09.854 --> 00:58:14.234
Much like the Halos, it's so large that it has a whole ecosystem on its surface.

00:58:16.474 --> 00:58:23.254
The Brutes have anti-aircraft weaponry on the ground, so you take a small escape vessel down to the Ark so you can take out their guns.

00:58:24.594 --> 00:58:29.734
Once you clear the guns and create a landing zone, Commander Keyes flies her supply ship in and lands.

00:58:30.854 --> 00:58:33.714
You need to get into a building, but there's no opening.

00:58:34.534 --> 00:58:39.654
So she suggests blowing a hole in the wall using a handy dandy tank that she happens to have in her supply ship.

00:58:39.854 --> 00:58:42.074
I love her and everything she's ever done.

00:58:43.294 --> 00:58:44.434
I brought a tank, boys.

00:58:44.454 --> 00:58:45.274
Let's fucking do this.

00:58:45.294 --> 00:58:46.554
Yeah, she's like, here you go.

00:58:46.994 --> 00:58:47.614
Get to work.

00:58:47.634 --> 00:58:48.474
Yeah, have fun.

00:58:50.074 --> 00:58:53.014
You hop in the tank with a bunch of soldiers and head out.

00:58:54.294 --> 00:58:58.174
One of the soldiers on your tank is really impressed with your moves too.

00:58:59.434 --> 00:59:04.274
You use the tank to blow up one of the Brutes vehicles, and he goes, tank beats ghost.

00:59:06.914 --> 00:59:08.774
I love his joy in this moment.

00:59:09.074 --> 00:59:13.934
Then you blow up one of their elite soldiers, and he goes, tank beats hunters.

00:59:16.634 --> 00:59:17.794
Is he sweet?

00:59:17.994 --> 00:59:18.434
He is.

00:59:18.454 --> 00:59:19.234
Oh, we love him.

00:59:20.034 --> 00:59:28.334
Finally, you destroy one of their drop ships, killing a dozen Brutes in the process, and he yells out, tank beats everything.

00:59:28.354 --> 00:59:32.074
I love him.

00:59:32.074 --> 00:59:33.754
Tank beats everything, baby.

00:59:33.774 --> 00:59:35.394
Yeah, no, that guy is great.

00:59:35.694 --> 00:59:40.914
It's just a memorable line that I remembered since the very first time I played that game.

00:59:40.934 --> 00:59:43.934
A sweet angel NPC who's never done anything wrong in his life.

00:59:43.954 --> 00:59:45.694
It's probably one of the red versus blue guys.

00:59:45.694 --> 00:59:47.094
Yeah, that'd be a joy.

00:59:49.654 --> 00:59:52.834
You get your way inside the building, and the monitor was with you to help.

00:59:53.914 --> 00:59:58.774
He's taking you to a map that will show you where this secret weapon against the flood is located.

00:59:59.654 --> 01:00:02.414
You find the map, and it's a 3D model of the Ark.

01:00:03.394 --> 01:00:08.234
You ask where the weapon is, and the monitor explains that it's part of the Ark itself.

01:00:09.094 --> 01:00:12.414
It's so large that this giant disk we're on is part of it.

01:00:13.574 --> 01:00:17.414
But its trigger is being barricaded by Prophet Truth with a force field.

01:00:18.434 --> 01:00:21.294
You need to take down the barricade if you want to have any chance of winning.

01:00:22.094 --> 01:00:23.574
So you head off to break some shit.

01:00:23.814 --> 01:00:24.394
Hell yeah.

01:00:25.014 --> 01:00:30.434
You hop in a flying transport vehicle, as the generators creating the barricade are pretty far away.

01:00:30.554 --> 01:00:32.374
There's always a goddamn generator.

01:00:33.174 --> 01:00:37.594
If you turn off the generators, it will take down the force field enough for you to get in.

01:00:38.654 --> 01:00:41.634
Since there are three generators, you split into three groups.

01:00:42.514 --> 01:00:47.214
You go for one, Arbiter goes for another, and Sergeant Johnson goes for the third.

01:00:48.414 --> 01:00:52.314
You shut yours down, and through a window, you can see Arbiter shut his down.

01:00:53.314 --> 01:00:59.554
Commander Keyes asks Sergeant Johnson how he's doing with his, and he says his team is overwhelmed and needs backup.

01:01:00.174 --> 01:01:00.394
Aw.

01:01:00.734 --> 01:01:01.834
Then his comms go down.

01:01:02.014 --> 01:01:02.754
Oh, shit.

01:01:03.514 --> 01:01:07.994
Keyes tells you to join back up with Arbiter and go to help Johnson get the last generator shut down.

01:01:09.314 --> 01:01:11.954
You make it there and can't find Johnson anywhere.

01:01:12.094 --> 01:01:12.794
Oh, no.

01:01:13.234 --> 01:01:16.014
But you manage to shut it down and the barricade lowers.

01:01:17.474 --> 01:01:22.234
Then from the portal above, we see Prophet Truth's ship enter the atmosphere.

01:01:23.794 --> 01:01:28.374
And something I haven't mentioned about Prophet Truth's ship is that it's called High Charity.

01:01:29.374 --> 01:01:31.094
It's more than just a ship.

01:01:32.014 --> 01:01:35.154
It's more or less a movable megacity.

01:01:35.674 --> 01:01:36.674
Oh, shit.

01:01:36.694 --> 01:01:40.834
I fully assume just kind of a general sedan-style spaceship.

01:01:40.994 --> 01:01:45.514
No, this has 7.7 billion Covenant living on the ship.

01:01:46.774 --> 01:01:48.614
It is essentially the Covenant's home.

01:01:48.634 --> 01:01:51.554
They haven't lived on their own planet in centuries.

01:01:51.874 --> 01:01:56.014
He's taking the entire population's mobile home with him everywhere he goes?

01:01:56.694 --> 01:02:01.394
Prophet Truth essentially hijacked it and welcomed the Brutes to take it over.

01:02:01.594 --> 01:02:02.474
Holy shit.

01:02:03.614 --> 01:02:06.514
Only, it looks different now than it did before.

01:02:06.714 --> 01:02:07.774
It's gained some people.

01:02:07.794 --> 01:02:08.534
It's a little thicker.

01:02:08.934 --> 01:02:12.654
It's actually been completely overtaken by the Flood.

01:02:13.854 --> 01:02:19.654
Oh no, there's one giant facehugger wrapped around the whole thing and then a bunch of little tiny facehuggers everywhere.

01:02:19.774 --> 01:02:28.494
Yeah, Prophet Truth had apparently abandoned it at some point, leaving the 7.7 billion citizens to fend for themselves against the Flood.

01:02:28.654 --> 01:02:31.834
He left it out like an old sandwich and the ants got to it?

01:02:31.854 --> 01:02:32.114
Yep.

01:02:32.434 --> 01:02:33.654
Fuck, that's wild.

01:02:33.674 --> 01:02:34.914
And he doesn't give a shit, too.

01:02:34.934 --> 01:02:36.394
And it got moldy as fuck.

01:02:38.274 --> 01:02:42.934
The ship shoots out a bunch of escape pods and the Flood come pouring out of them.

01:02:43.234 --> 01:02:43.994
Of course.

01:02:44.294 --> 01:02:48.134
Almost like they were waiting for you to take those generators down the whole time.

01:02:48.374 --> 01:02:50.194
Crazy how it happens like that.

01:02:50.334 --> 01:02:51.794
You know he's a prophet, right?

01:02:53.554 --> 01:02:56.494
He might have some insight into what you're doing, Master Chief.

01:02:57.474 --> 01:03:02.114
The monitor says that the Ark is outside the radius of any of the Halos.

01:03:03.194 --> 01:03:05.874
So if they activate them all, that's it.

01:03:06.434 --> 01:03:10.974
The Flood wins because there will be no other defense against them left in the universe.

01:03:12.194 --> 01:03:20.574
Since you punched through the force field, this puts Prophet Truth on high alert, and he tears ass for the control room of the Ark to activate the other Halos.

01:03:21.714 --> 01:03:24.554
You take the monitor and arbiter with you and head off to stop him.

01:03:25.594 --> 01:03:28.074
On your way, you get another Cortana flash.

01:03:29.254 --> 01:03:36.834
She says that in exchange for a moment of safety, she gave up the entire universe, the Flood.

01:03:37.534 --> 01:03:38.734
God damn it!

01:03:39.274 --> 01:03:42.674
By answering one question, the grave mind asked her.

01:03:43.794 --> 01:03:50.994
She never says what that question or answer was, but I imagine it had to do with the force field coming down and the Flood showing up at that exact moment.

01:03:51.854 --> 01:03:53.574
Okay, I'm going to take it a step back.

01:03:53.594 --> 01:03:57.314
If you're ever being questioned, don't say shit until you get a lawyer.

01:03:57.334 --> 01:03:59.914
If you're pulled over, shut the fuck up.

01:04:00.094 --> 01:04:02.114
If you get put in cuffs, shut the fuck up.

01:04:02.134 --> 01:04:02.974
No face, no case.

01:04:03.214 --> 01:04:05.914
Do not speak unless you have legal representation.

01:04:06.174 --> 01:04:08.254
Yeah, even if you're being tortured by the Flood.

01:04:08.254 --> 01:04:09.254
Yeah, Cortana.

01:04:12.214 --> 01:04:17.794
As you're running through the facility, TVs are showing a live propaganda broadcast from Prophet Truth.

01:04:18.874 --> 01:04:24.314
He's saying that as he lights the rings of the Halos, all of the true believers will be saved.

01:04:25.414 --> 01:04:29.234
He says this from the comfort of the Ark, which is outside the blast range, of course.

01:04:30.814 --> 01:04:33.794
He's also already given up the Covenant to the Flood on High Charity.

01:04:34.254 --> 01:04:36.114
I don't know who he thinks is left to save.

01:04:36.274 --> 01:04:36.634
Yeah.

01:04:37.994 --> 01:04:43.534
Behind him, you can see one of his soldiers holding Sergeant Johnson by the throat high off the ground.

01:04:44.914 --> 01:04:55.834
Commander Keyes asks how close you are to getting there, and you respond, not close enough, as you look up an elevator shaft that is so long, you can't see the top.

01:04:56.194 --> 01:04:57.254
Oh my god.

01:04:58.654 --> 01:05:07.034
We cut to where Prophet Truth is, and we get a cutscene of Sergeant Johnson talking mad trash to the guy holding him up by his throat, saying he ain't shit.

01:05:07.054 --> 01:05:07.654
Hell yeah.

01:05:08.694 --> 01:05:12.754
The brute is about to snap his neck, but Prophet Truth stops him.

01:05:13.834 --> 01:05:16.714
He says that he unfortunately needs the Sergeant.

01:05:17.534 --> 01:05:25.594
You may need a reminder back to the first game, but only certain species can activate the Halos, and the Covenant are not on that list.

01:05:27.314 --> 01:05:33.874
Prophet Truth says that once the Halos are activated, anyone who knows that fact will be dead, and he'll get all the credit for doing it anyway.

01:05:36.234 --> 01:05:44.114
As he says this, we see an Earth Defense transport ship come flying straight at the window to this room from the outside.

01:05:45.234 --> 01:05:51.974
It crashes through the glass, taking out some of Prophet Truth's soldiers in the process and causing pure chaos in the room.

01:05:53.354 --> 01:06:01.754
Commander Keyes jumps out of the transport, guns fucking blazing, and starts blasting the enemy forces.

01:06:01.954 --> 01:06:04.294
She is the baddest bitch!

01:06:04.634 --> 01:06:06.634
She's so fucking cool for that shit!

01:06:06.674 --> 01:06:07.734
Fuck yeah, Keyes!

01:06:08.014 --> 01:06:09.354
She is so fucking cool.

01:06:10.494 --> 01:06:18.234
But there's just too many for her to handle on her own, and Prophet Truth reminds her that he just needs one human to activate the rings.

01:06:19.534 --> 01:06:21.214
Keyes says, You're right.

01:06:22.294 --> 01:06:24.874
And she points her gun at Sergeant Johnson.

01:06:26.414 --> 01:06:27.154
He says, Do it.

01:06:27.814 --> 01:06:29.454
Me first, then you.

01:06:30.274 --> 01:06:32.654
Oh, that is chilling.

01:06:33.054 --> 01:06:36.334
This way, they won't have anyone that can activate them.

01:06:37.074 --> 01:06:37.254
Ugh.

01:06:38.614 --> 01:06:47.834
She cocks her gun, but the shot of a Covenant weapon is heard, as a brute fills her body with projectile spikes, and she falls over dead.

01:06:48.874 --> 01:06:49.434
Fuck.

01:06:50.114 --> 01:06:51.774
She was the coolest bitch.

01:06:52.134 --> 01:06:52.954
Period.

01:06:53.394 --> 01:06:55.034
Period though, right?

01:06:55.054 --> 01:06:55.554
Fuck.

01:06:56.314 --> 01:07:00.194
Johnson screams out no as he's taken into brute custody once more.

01:07:01.514 --> 01:07:06.634
Prophet Truth has Johnson brought over to a control panel, and he forces his hand down on a button.

01:07:08.234 --> 01:07:20.914
A series of seven rings light up in front of them, and far down a tunnel, about 800 yards away at the distant other end of the room, you and the Arbiter finally make it to the top of the elevator shaft.

01:07:22.794 --> 01:07:27.934
Two hulking flood creatures drop down in front of you, and you ready yourself to attack.

01:07:29.194 --> 01:07:30.534
But one of them begins to speak.

01:07:31.654 --> 01:07:33.034
It's the voice of the grave mind.

01:07:34.514 --> 01:07:37.134
It says not to attack, but to trust.

01:07:38.634 --> 01:07:39.274
This is it.

01:07:40.054 --> 01:07:43.374
The three of you need to team up against this motherfucker once and for all.

01:07:44.294 --> 01:07:49.914
The halos can still be stopped, but just like starting it, only certain species can deactivate it.

01:07:50.274 --> 01:07:50.474
Oh.

01:07:51.074 --> 01:07:56.154
The grave mind says the flood will now fight by your side to take down Prophet Truth.

01:07:56.514 --> 01:07:57.374
Wow!

01:07:57.774 --> 01:07:59.354
Everyone hates this motherfucker.

01:07:59.454 --> 01:08:01.494
Yeah, and they fucking do.

01:08:01.874 --> 01:08:02.474
Hell yeah.

01:08:02.854 --> 01:08:14.134
Swarms of facehuggers and zombified soldiers descend on the room with you as you fight your way through hordes of faithfully deluded Covenant and brute soldiers toward Prophet Truth.

01:08:14.454 --> 01:08:15.214
Holy shit.

01:08:16.014 --> 01:08:22.314
When you make it to the control panel, Johnson is there holding Keys' lifeless body, sadly stroking her hair.

01:08:22.334 --> 01:08:24.114
Oh, I understand.

01:08:24.134 --> 01:08:25.134
I'm heartbroken too.

01:08:25.654 --> 01:08:31.074
He points to Prophet Truth, still standing over the control panel, and tells you to shut this shit down.

01:08:31.274 --> 01:08:31.834
Hell yeah.

01:08:32.614 --> 01:08:36.134
Arbiter goes straight to Prophet Truth and lifts him high up.

01:08:37.094 --> 01:08:38.174
Furious as all hell.

01:08:39.354 --> 01:08:43.154
The Prophet is old and weak, so he's no match for the Arbiter.

01:08:44.314 --> 01:08:47.674
You walk over to the control panel and very nonchalantly shut it off.

01:08:48.394 --> 01:08:49.794
Just casually, boop.

01:08:49.794 --> 01:08:53.134
Yeah, you literally just go like, boop, and it's just like, oh.

01:08:53.154 --> 01:08:55.614
Oh, that feels a little anti-psychotic.

01:08:55.634 --> 01:08:56.634
It was a little bit.

01:08:57.414 --> 01:09:00.774
Can we pop into Arbiter mode just to hold this motherfucker up?

01:09:00.794 --> 01:09:06.374
I want to feel the vibration in the controller of me squeezing the last pit of air out of him.

01:09:06.394 --> 01:09:07.674
Oh, it gets even better.

01:09:07.914 --> 01:09:08.174
Oh?

01:09:08.594 --> 01:09:10.694
Prophet Truth says, You can't do this.

01:09:11.514 --> 01:09:13.854
He is the voice of the Covenant.

01:09:15.034 --> 01:09:21.174
Arbiter lifts him up by the back of his neck and says, And so you must be silenced.

01:09:21.534 --> 01:09:23.174
Oh, that's hard as fuck.

01:09:23.494 --> 01:09:26.954
As he drives his laser sword through Prophet Truth's back.

01:09:27.194 --> 01:09:28.194
Fuck yeah!

01:09:29.254 --> 01:09:35.914
Arbiter gives out a victory cry as Johnson carries Commander Keyes' body onto the ship she crashed through the window.

01:09:36.514 --> 01:09:41.074
The reverence they have for her body is so wonderful to see highlighted.

01:09:41.094 --> 01:09:45.074
Like, this bitch fucking bodished 30 extra seconds, and we got this shit done.

01:09:45.074 --> 01:09:45.934
Girl, right?

01:09:45.954 --> 01:09:48.094
Like, she's the reason we made it.

01:09:48.214 --> 01:09:48.694
Mm-hmm.

01:09:49.754 --> 01:09:53.274
He powers it up, and you and Arbiter head over to hop on.

01:09:54.834 --> 01:09:59.234
Just before you do, tentacles burst through the ground around you.

01:09:59.514 --> 01:10:00.534
Fucking tentacles!

01:10:00.694 --> 01:10:03.094
And a deep, guttural laugh is heard.

01:10:04.414 --> 01:10:11.834
The voice of the Gravemind speaks out, thanking you for taking out the only weapon known to be able to destroy the Flood entirely.

01:10:13.194 --> 01:10:16.554
It wraps its tentacles around the ship as it tries to take off.

01:10:18.014 --> 01:10:24.234
You and Arbiter try to grab onto the ship, but are knocked off as Johnson hits the afterburners and manages to fly off to safety.

01:10:25.454 --> 01:10:29.434
You land back inside the building and are quickly surrounded by the Flood.

01:10:30.694 --> 01:10:36.954
You stand back to back with the Arbiter as he says, looks like we traded one villain for another.

01:10:39.074 --> 01:10:42.914
I love that they spent most of two nearly never interacting.

01:10:42.934 --> 01:10:44.134
Yeah, no, they really don't.

01:10:44.214 --> 01:10:46.574
And now they are bad boys for life.

01:10:46.594 --> 01:10:47.374
Yeah, right?

01:10:47.714 --> 01:10:49.754
Fully ride together, die together.

01:10:49.814 --> 01:10:50.454
Fuck yeah.

01:10:50.834 --> 01:10:54.254
The two of you ready your weapons and attack the oncoming flood.

01:10:54.494 --> 01:10:56.594
If this were Halo 2, this is where the game would turn off.

01:10:57.874 --> 01:10:58.534
That's the end.

01:10:58.574 --> 01:11:01.414
Yeah, this would be your cliffhanger to be like, wait for Halo fucking 4.

01:11:01.514 --> 01:11:02.614
No, not happening.

01:11:02.634 --> 01:11:03.234
Thank God.

01:11:03.254 --> 01:11:04.374
No, we're finishing this shit.

01:11:04.394 --> 01:11:04.934
Hell yeah.

01:11:07.014 --> 01:11:14.734
You fight your way through the facility, and as you do, you keep seeing Cortana show up on walls and down hallways, so you decide to follow.

01:11:15.854 --> 01:11:23.434
You come to an opening that shows the outside, and as you stand there, you can see a giant structure rising up from the ground.

01:11:24.874 --> 01:11:29.554
Looking at it, you and Arbiter realize it's a halo.

01:11:30.154 --> 01:11:30.734
Oh, no.

01:11:31.374 --> 01:11:34.534
It's a replacement for the one you destroyed in the first game.

01:11:34.954 --> 01:11:37.554
Like the donut wheel they put in the back of your car?

01:11:37.654 --> 01:11:38.294
Yeah.

01:11:39.274 --> 01:11:43.114
The monitor flies in, happy as can be, because this means he has a mission again.

01:11:43.134 --> 01:11:45.054
I have a purpose.

01:11:46.474 --> 01:11:51.354
Arbiter asks what you want to do about this halo, and you say you want to set it off.

01:11:52.534 --> 01:11:55.774
Monitor is thrilled, because that's exactly what he was built to do anyway.

01:11:55.794 --> 01:11:57.754
He's like, I've been saying this, you guys.

01:11:57.774 --> 01:12:00.134
Yeah, and he takes off to prepare it to activate.

01:12:01.114 --> 01:12:02.434
Arbiter's like, what the fuck?

01:12:03.334 --> 01:12:06.074
You explained the Ark is so far outside the Milky Way.

01:12:06.634 --> 01:12:14.394
If a halo goes off here, it only destroys the Ark, along with the Flood that have come here seeking safety, including the Gravemind.

01:12:15.634 --> 01:12:17.394
Arbiter's like, bet, let's do this.

01:12:19.194 --> 01:12:22.914
Knowing you're about to blow up a halo, the ground troops start evacuating the Ark.

01:12:24.014 --> 01:12:28.294
Johnson rounds up the humans, and Arbiter goes off to evacuate the Rebel Covenant troops.

01:12:29.074 --> 01:12:41.454
In the meantime, you want your virtual assistant back, and you take a small flying vehicle to the Flood-infested High Charity to see if you can manage to find Cortana and bring her back to safety before all of this vaporizes.

01:12:43.374 --> 01:12:48.234
As you kill your way through this metropolis of a spaceship, the Grave Mine keeps talking to you.

01:12:49.274 --> 01:12:51.974
It says that you can see what is done to High Charity.

01:12:52.574 --> 01:12:58.874
The Flood can overtake anything, organic or not, including AI.

01:13:00.674 --> 01:13:02.594
It tells you that Cortana is now his.

01:13:03.234 --> 01:13:04.814
She's a part of the Flood.

01:13:06.214 --> 01:13:11.554
But we keep getting Cortana flashes as well, and she has some level of humanity left in her.

01:13:12.274 --> 01:13:16.414
But she's clearly breaking, crying and screaming out in pain.

01:13:17.954 --> 01:13:24.354
As you get closer, it becomes more and more clear that the Grave Mine might not be telling the whole truth about Cortana.

01:13:25.254 --> 01:13:31.554
He keeps demanding that you tell it what she's hiding, meaning she hasn't given it everything she knows yet.

01:13:32.794 --> 01:13:35.874
There's still a chance she hasn't been fully taken over by the Flood.

01:13:37.434 --> 01:13:41.054
Finally, you find where Cortana is being kept, and you free her.

01:13:42.154 --> 01:13:45.634
She's weak, but eternally grateful that you came back and rescued her.

01:13:46.054 --> 01:13:47.954
Is there a digital facehugger on her?

01:13:48.114 --> 01:13:48.734
No, there's not.

01:13:49.334 --> 01:13:53.414
Is that a projection with just kind of a facehugger and arms sticking out of it?

01:13:53.514 --> 01:13:55.054
No, she just looks sick and tired.

01:13:55.734 --> 01:13:58.754
But honestly, as soon as you show up, she's kind of back to normal.

01:14:00.034 --> 01:14:03.674
She says that her circuits are all fucked, and she's not sure if she can be put back together.

01:14:04.614 --> 01:14:09.354
You tell her that you always keep your promises, and you'll get her back to safety and get her fixed up.

01:14:10.674 --> 01:14:15.274
She says she sure knows how to pick them, and you respond with, lucky me.

01:14:15.974 --> 01:14:18.094
Oh, no, but oh.

01:14:18.854 --> 01:14:20.434
It's just bringing the luck thing back around.

01:14:20.534 --> 01:14:23.234
I get the trope, but it's not well thought out.

01:14:23.254 --> 01:14:24.494
It's a lot cuter if you don't know.

01:14:26.874 --> 01:14:30.354
You tell her that you figured out the secret weapon was the replacement halo.

01:14:31.194 --> 01:14:36.994
You ask her if she still has the key that you almost used to activate the first halo before you knew it would destroy everything.

01:14:38.114 --> 01:14:40.314
She says that she kept it, just in case.

01:14:40.894 --> 01:14:41.874
After all this time?

01:14:42.774 --> 01:14:43.334
Always.

01:14:45.834 --> 01:14:50.954
With Cortana back in your head and the key to the halo, you set about escaping High Charity.

01:14:50.974 --> 01:14:58.114
Unfortunately, with the ship being basically alive, the Gravemind knows your plan to activate the halo.

01:14:58.214 --> 01:14:59.774
He's like, I can fucking hear you.

01:14:59.794 --> 01:14:59.994
Yeah.

01:15:01.614 --> 01:15:05.854
High Charity sets its course for the portal so it can get out of there before the halo can activate.

01:15:06.934 --> 01:15:10.714
You and Cortana decide it would be best to blow up High Charity before leaving.

01:15:10.854 --> 01:15:12.354
We should probably destroy this place.

01:15:12.374 --> 01:15:12.754
Yeah.

01:15:13.074 --> 01:15:17.514
And you set about overheating its reactor core as you do when you want to destroy a ship of this size.

01:15:18.834 --> 01:15:21.934
You begin a chain reaction of explosions and make your escape.

01:15:23.034 --> 01:15:27.934
As you are fighting, Cortana warns you that she is seeing Covenant forces up ahead on her radar.

01:15:28.874 --> 01:15:34.434
You turn the corner and find the Arbiter just slaughtering flood by the dozen.

01:15:34.454 --> 01:15:35.894
He's so fucking cool.

01:15:35.914 --> 01:15:36.914
Hell yeah, Arbiter.

01:15:36.974 --> 01:15:38.534
I love the Arbiter so much.

01:15:39.654 --> 01:15:43.074
Cortana's all, uh, what did I miss while I was gone?

01:15:43.314 --> 01:15:44.754
Oh, he's a badass now, babe.

01:15:44.754 --> 01:15:45.974
You guys are friends now?

01:15:46.034 --> 01:15:46.894
Oh, we are homies.

01:15:47.854 --> 01:15:50.114
We are bad boys for life, baby girl.

01:15:50.594 --> 01:15:55.634
You jump on an escape ship with Arbiter, and take off from High Charity just as it explodes.

01:15:56.954 --> 01:16:02.614
As you are flying, you get word from both Johnson and the Covenant that all their troops have been safely evacuated.

01:16:03.494 --> 01:16:07.074
You tell them to go through the portal to safety, and you'll activate the Halo.

01:16:08.434 --> 01:16:10.754
Once you land on the Halo, you explain the plan.

01:16:11.794 --> 01:16:17.934
Halos take a while to power up in fire, so you're going to activate it, and then head straight for the portal.

01:16:18.234 --> 01:16:20.294
Like a bug bomb, you set it off and you run.

01:16:20.394 --> 01:16:22.214
Yeah, hopefully that'll be enough time.

01:16:23.374 --> 01:16:25.054
You don't have a choice otherwise.

01:16:27.034 --> 01:16:30.074
You and Arbiter head out on foot to the activation station.

01:16:31.114 --> 01:16:36.354
Grave Mine managed to escape High Charity, and it sends flood forces onto the Halo to stop you.

01:16:37.494 --> 01:16:41.274
You fight your way to the front door of the station, and tell the monitor to open it.

01:16:42.574 --> 01:16:45.734
Cortana's like, wait, you're working with the fucking monitor now too?

01:16:45.754 --> 01:16:50.114
She's like, did you lose the plot at some point?

01:16:50.334 --> 01:16:54.534
You are friends with a lot of people that you shouldn't be friends with.

01:16:54.554 --> 01:16:58.134
Yeah, she's like, weird shit happened while I was out, right?

01:16:58.154 --> 01:16:59.654
Like, I'm not crazy.

01:17:01.614 --> 01:17:02.694
I didn't know you guys were cool.

01:17:02.714 --> 01:17:03.934
Are we cool with them now?

01:17:03.954 --> 01:17:04.734
And you're like, them?

01:17:04.994 --> 01:17:05.794
Those are my friends.

01:17:07.514 --> 01:17:08.914
These are my most trusted allies.

01:17:08.934 --> 01:17:10.954
Yeah, I would die for my brothers.

01:17:12.194 --> 01:17:14.094
She's like, you tried to kill him yesterday.

01:17:16.534 --> 01:17:20.434
Johnson shows up and surprises you because he wasn't about to let you two have all the fun.

01:17:21.354 --> 01:17:23.414
And he helps you fight your way to the control room.

01:17:24.554 --> 01:17:27.634
Once there, you find the monitor prepping the Halo to fire.

01:17:28.754 --> 01:17:33.374
You pull Cortana out of your head and hand her to Johnson so he can plug her in and she can use the key to turn it on.

01:17:33.714 --> 01:17:34.114
Sweet.

01:17:34.654 --> 01:17:36.374
The monitor says, good news, everyone.

01:17:37.134 --> 01:17:38.534
The Halo is almost ready to fire.

01:17:39.274 --> 01:17:42.094
It should only take a couple more days before it's fully operational.

01:17:42.234 --> 01:17:43.014
Days?

01:17:43.774 --> 01:17:45.754
And Johnson says, we don't have a couple days.

01:17:46.034 --> 01:17:47.374
We're firing this bitch today.

01:17:49.134 --> 01:17:54.434
The monitor does some calculations and says that if we fire the Halo now, it will only destroy the Ark.

01:17:54.914 --> 01:17:56.554
That's not what the Halo is designed to do.

01:17:57.374 --> 01:17:58.634
The Ark is supposed to be protected.

01:17:59.834 --> 01:18:04.734
Monitor was under the impression this replacement Halo was going to go back where it was originally.

01:18:05.654 --> 01:18:06.914
And then fire off.

01:18:07.474 --> 01:18:09.014
Oh, he missed part of the meeting.

01:18:09.474 --> 01:18:12.814
Yeah, he says that premature firing is unacceptable.

01:18:13.154 --> 01:18:13.834
Oh, no.

01:18:14.274 --> 01:18:14.994
Oh, no.

01:18:15.294 --> 01:18:17.354
The evil ghost computer is now evil.

01:18:17.734 --> 01:18:20.574
The monitor turns red, like all angry robots do.

01:18:21.614 --> 01:18:26.514
And fires a laser at Sergeant Johnson, who screams out in pure agony.

01:18:26.814 --> 01:18:27.594
Oh, shit.

01:18:28.534 --> 01:18:31.874
The monitor then turns and fires at you and Arbiter as well.

01:18:32.054 --> 01:18:32.874
Fucker.

01:18:33.514 --> 01:18:37.974
You now have to fight the monitor, which is very difficult because he's a tiny little ball.

01:18:38.194 --> 01:18:39.754
Can't you just like throw water on him?

01:18:40.354 --> 01:18:41.474
It'd be nice if that was true.

01:18:42.414 --> 01:18:49.894
While you're fighting it, using the last of his dwindling strength, Sergeant Johnson uses a rocket launcher to help you take him out.

01:18:50.054 --> 01:18:51.734
That's so fucking cool.

01:18:51.854 --> 01:18:54.634
His last breath and he reaches for the rocket launcher.

01:18:55.334 --> 01:18:59.894
Damn, Keyes and Johnson were the baddest motherfuckers on any planet they've ever been to.

01:19:00.454 --> 01:19:04.434
Well, after the monitor explodes, you go to Johnson and tell him you'll get him out of here.

01:19:05.034 --> 01:19:06.554
He says, no, you won't.

01:19:07.394 --> 01:19:11.494
You're going to do what you came here to do, and you're going to send me out with a bang.

01:19:11.654 --> 01:19:12.794
Fuck yeah, Mance.

01:19:13.014 --> 01:19:13.914
Oh, damn.

01:19:14.394 --> 01:19:15.874
So fucking cool, right?

01:19:17.254 --> 01:19:21.854
He hands you the chip with Cortana in it, and you put her in the computer to activate the Halo.

01:19:22.814 --> 01:19:27.314
The Halo begins to power up, and you and Arbiter take off to figure out your escape.

01:19:27.754 --> 01:19:33.434
Cortana says that Johnson had to get here somehow, and she manages to find the signal beacon from the ship he landed here.

01:19:34.314 --> 01:19:40.074
You head towards it, and as you exit the building you're in, you find the warthog Johnson drove from the ship to here.

01:19:40.974 --> 01:19:42.654
Now you have a minor choice here.

01:19:43.734 --> 01:19:46.974
You can drive the warthog, or operate the turret.

01:19:48.094 --> 01:19:50.334
Whatever you choose, Arbiter will do the opposite.

01:19:51.554 --> 01:19:56.574
And I can tell you from experience, this next section is best played in two player mode.

01:19:57.714 --> 01:20:02.794
As it is one of the most epic and action packed sequences in all of gaming.

01:20:03.134 --> 01:20:04.254
Oh, I love that.

01:20:04.614 --> 01:20:05.774
I'll be perfectly honest here.

01:20:05.794 --> 01:20:09.594
I try to keep my personal opinion mostly to myself in this show, as I try to stick with the facts.

01:20:10.694 --> 01:20:15.914
And the fact is, I wasn't that impressed with Halo 3 while I was playing through it on my most recent playthrough.

01:20:16.194 --> 01:20:16.634
Really?

01:20:16.654 --> 01:20:20.934
Yeah, the 30 seconds of fun from the previous games was still present.

01:20:21.654 --> 01:20:26.194
And it was just another case of, get to this area, kill the bad guys, move on.

01:20:26.514 --> 01:20:28.494
Yeah, pretty by the numbers.

01:20:28.774 --> 01:20:32.914
Yeah, but then this outstanding conclusion comes along.

01:20:34.374 --> 01:20:37.174
And it makes the entire game worth playing.

01:20:37.474 --> 01:20:38.234
Really?

01:20:39.234 --> 01:20:40.934
It's such a satisfying ending.

01:20:42.474 --> 01:20:47.234
Since this Halo wasn't complete, setting it off destroys it.

01:20:47.674 --> 01:20:49.874
It just kind of fucking collapses in on itself.

01:20:49.874 --> 01:20:51.474
It's like, fuck, we didn't do it right.

01:20:51.694 --> 01:20:53.954
Literally collapsing around you.

01:20:54.094 --> 01:20:55.674
It's like popping the donut wheel, yeah.

01:20:55.994 --> 01:21:00.934
You have to drive the Warthog across this collapsing and exploding Halo.

01:21:01.614 --> 01:21:06.974
All the while, you're running over flood creatures and blasting them with the turret during their own attempt at escaping.

01:21:08.034 --> 01:21:15.034
The floor is constantly giving out underneath you, and you have to make a few massive jumps across thousand foot drops.

01:21:15.214 --> 01:21:16.314
Damn, that's cool.

01:21:16.854 --> 01:21:22.054
You finally make it to Johnson's ship and have to floor it to make the jump into the open cargo bay door.

01:21:23.294 --> 01:21:29.634
Once you crash land inside, you put Cortana into the ship's computer, and she takes control, aiming it for the portal.

01:21:30.654 --> 01:21:40.214
This causes the ship to bank hard, and the warthog you just crashed, as well as a tank that's also inside the cargo hold, start moving around and start sliding out the back.

01:21:41.534 --> 01:21:45.494
Arbiter manages to make his way all the way to the cockpit of the ship, which is huge, by the way.

01:21:45.514 --> 01:21:46.594
It's like 300 yards long.

01:21:46.874 --> 01:21:47.634
Holy shit.

01:21:48.314 --> 01:21:53.934
As this ship tilts more and more vertical, you begin to tumble backwards toward the open bay door.

01:21:54.874 --> 01:22:01.454
You punch your fist into the metal of the floor of the ship and create a handhold so you don't fall out.

01:22:01.574 --> 01:22:04.034
That's the coolest fucking thing I've ever heard.

01:22:04.054 --> 01:22:05.514
Fucking right.

01:22:05.534 --> 01:22:12.794
Is it the first one where you punch someone through the face to kill them, and now you're punching through the spaceship to hang on?

01:22:13.894 --> 01:22:15.534
Master Chief is so fucking cool.

01:22:15.554 --> 01:22:16.834
Dead fucking ass.

01:22:16.854 --> 01:22:18.454
He is the perfect American.

01:22:18.874 --> 01:22:20.074
He really is.

01:22:22.234 --> 01:22:28.914
Yeah, and then you just barely avoid the tank flying by you out the door to the exploding Halo and Ark below.

01:22:29.074 --> 01:22:30.314
Tank beats Master Chief?

01:22:30.454 --> 01:22:31.374
Not today.

01:22:31.394 --> 01:22:32.114
Not today.

01:22:33.514 --> 01:22:38.374
Cortana is watching the explosion as you stand up, blocking her view and taking up the screen.

01:22:39.474 --> 01:22:43.774
You find a place to sit, and Cortana asks, what if we don't make it?

01:22:44.334 --> 01:22:47.214
You reassure her, simply saying, we'll make it.

01:22:49.074 --> 01:22:55.514
As everything behind your ship explodes, Cortana says, it's been an honor serving with you, John.

01:22:56.654 --> 01:23:00.034
Revealing for the first time in the game series, Master Chief's name.

01:23:01.714 --> 01:23:06.034
His full name being simply John 117.

01:23:06.054 --> 01:23:13.054
Halo ignites, and the screen fades to white as you lean your head back and accept whatever fate is about to come your way.

01:23:13.714 --> 01:23:15.374
Could be death, could be home.

01:23:15.694 --> 01:23:16.214
Who knows?

01:23:16.434 --> 01:23:18.554
Can't really do anything about it one way or the other.

01:23:20.674 --> 01:23:22.654
We come back to a scene taking place on Earth.

01:23:23.634 --> 01:23:31.874
We're seeing a military funeral, featuring pictures of Commander Keyes, Sergeant Johnson, and other soldiers that were lost during this conflict.

01:23:33.234 --> 01:23:35.934
The officiant talks about their bravery and their sacrifice.

01:23:36.874 --> 01:23:40.874
While we get a little flashback scene showing what happened, after the Halo ignited.

01:23:42.034 --> 01:23:51.474
Some Earth soldiers are watching the sky, and they see Johnson's ship come flying into view, completely engulfed in flames, and it crashes into the ocean.

01:23:52.794 --> 01:23:55.434
They next show them using blow torches to open the ship.

01:23:56.274 --> 01:23:58.454
An arbiter can be seen emerging from the wreckage.

01:23:59.854 --> 01:24:03.974
We cut back to the funeral, and see Arbiter is there as well, paying his respects.

01:24:04.174 --> 01:24:05.614
Is he in like military garb?

01:24:05.814 --> 01:24:07.274
He's in his military garb, yeah.

01:24:07.294 --> 01:24:11.634
Okay, he's not like shoved into a fucking marine suit out of respect or anything?

01:24:11.654 --> 01:24:12.474
No, nothing like that.

01:24:12.494 --> 01:24:13.294
The little hat?

01:24:13.394 --> 01:24:13.674
No.

01:24:15.574 --> 01:24:21.654
After the customary 21-gun salute, the funeral ends, and Arbiter approaches the memorial.

01:24:22.994 --> 01:24:29.054
The officiant says to him that, he remembers how this all started, the covenant and what they did to the humans.

01:24:30.194 --> 01:24:31.934
He says he can't forgive the arbiter for it.

01:24:33.114 --> 01:24:38.874
But despite that, he thanks him for being with him through to the end.

01:24:40.734 --> 01:24:43.234
He can't believe Master Chief is really dead.

01:24:45.034 --> 01:24:50.754
The two shake hands, and Arbiter looks up at the sky and says, were it so easy?

01:24:52.714 --> 01:24:55.634
The camera rises higher and higher up into space.

01:24:57.114 --> 01:24:59.054
We're taken to one of the remaining covenant ships.

01:25:00.194 --> 01:25:01.834
Arbiter is there with his right hand man.

01:25:03.214 --> 01:25:05.874
They talk about how they're finally going to get to see their home planet.

01:25:06.654 --> 01:25:11.674
Now that the prophets are dead and high charity is destroyed, they really don't have anywhere else to go.

01:25:13.234 --> 01:25:18.914
So Arbiter takes his place as the new head of the covenant, and leads them back home for the first time in ages.

01:25:21.154 --> 01:25:26.374
Back in the memorial, the camera pans over the pictures of the many dead soldiers from the battle at the Ark.

01:25:27.454 --> 01:25:32.754
And the screen fades to black as it settles on the number 117 carved into the memorial.

01:25:33.954 --> 01:25:35.674
And it remains black for a long time.

01:25:37.494 --> 01:25:40.094
Then we hear Cortana say, Chief?

01:25:41.274 --> 01:25:41.614
Chief?

01:25:43.254 --> 01:25:44.674
Oh, thank goodness, I thought I'd lost you.

01:25:46.094 --> 01:25:48.874
A light comes on, and we see it's coming from your helmet.

01:25:50.194 --> 01:25:55.034
You're in a ship, and you're floating around in zero-g with broken equipment bobbing around you.

01:25:56.394 --> 01:25:57.414
You ask Cortana what happened.

01:25:59.174 --> 01:26:03.614
She says that as the halo went off, it destroyed itself in the arc below.

01:26:04.834 --> 01:26:06.834
But it also did something to the portal.

01:26:08.134 --> 01:26:12.914
The ship had just entered it, and the front half made it, but this back half did not.

01:26:13.434 --> 01:26:14.494
Oh, shit!

01:26:14.754 --> 01:26:17.534
An arbiter was out in the front cockpit, so he landed.

01:26:17.754 --> 01:26:18.274
Yeah.

01:26:18.894 --> 01:26:19.454
You didn't.

01:26:19.774 --> 01:26:22.074
It sent this back half somewhere else.

01:26:22.914 --> 01:26:23.114
Oh.

01:26:23.394 --> 01:26:24.574
Not sure where, really.

01:26:24.994 --> 01:26:26.154
Oh, shit!

01:26:26.794 --> 01:26:30.294
So now you're on a dead ship, floating in space.

01:26:31.854 --> 01:26:32.474
But you won.

01:26:33.414 --> 01:26:36.614
You defeated the Flood, the Prophets, the Brutes, all of them.

01:26:38.034 --> 01:26:42.434
Cortana manages to bring back just enough power to turn on some of the computers.

01:26:43.914 --> 01:26:49.034
She says that she'll drop a homing beacon, but it could be years before anyone finds you.

01:26:50.594 --> 01:26:54.014
You climb into a cryo-sleep chamber for safety while you wait for rescue.

01:26:55.454 --> 01:26:56.674
Cortana says she'll miss you.

01:26:58.234 --> 01:27:03.154
Just before going to sleep, you look at her and say, Wake me when you need me.

01:27:04.914 --> 01:27:07.274
Neither of you actually think rescue will ever come.

01:27:07.894 --> 01:27:13.874
That wake me when you need me was really you saying, Let me know when you're about to run out of power.

01:27:14.534 --> 01:27:15.434
I'll want to say goodbye.

01:27:17.514 --> 01:27:21.294
Cortana sadly nods her head as the screen fades to black.

01:27:23.094 --> 01:27:23.614
The end.

01:27:25.574 --> 01:27:26.834
And that was Halo 3.

01:27:27.154 --> 01:27:28.914
That was fucking great.

01:27:30.214 --> 01:27:31.654
That was fucking awesome.

01:27:31.674 --> 01:27:34.734
It feels the most cinematic out of this original trilogy.

01:27:34.914 --> 01:27:35.734
Fully, right?

01:27:35.754 --> 01:27:36.534
That's incredible.

01:27:36.534 --> 01:27:37.814
I love that ending.

01:27:37.834 --> 01:27:40.034
That is a beautiful fucking ending.

01:27:40.474 --> 01:27:42.574
Such a messy script creation.

01:27:42.594 --> 01:27:44.054
They fucking killed that.

01:27:44.074 --> 01:27:44.714
They did.

01:27:44.774 --> 01:27:48.334
Now, this was a lot of my work to go into this.

01:27:48.834 --> 01:27:51.094
You're like, excuse the fuck me, I wrote this.

01:27:51.614 --> 01:27:52.574
Credits to you.

01:27:52.654 --> 01:27:53.154
Thank you.

01:27:53.174 --> 01:27:56.934
No, I have to say, there were plenty of times where I'm like going through this.

01:27:56.954 --> 01:27:59.274
I'm like, what the fuck is going on here?

01:27:59.294 --> 01:28:01.874
And I'd have to like look it up online just to double check.

01:28:01.894 --> 01:28:03.454
I'm like, is that what happened?

01:28:03.474 --> 01:28:04.834
Am I taking that correctly?

01:28:05.014 --> 01:28:06.014
Some of the times I was not.

01:28:06.914 --> 01:28:09.394
Is Monitor angry or happy right now?

01:28:10.854 --> 01:28:11.614
Stuff like that.

01:28:11.634 --> 01:28:15.754
But yeah, I did get it all figured out because this was, yeah, there's a lot of lore.

01:28:15.774 --> 01:28:18.594
Like I said, there's 29 fucking books in the Halo series.

01:28:18.614 --> 01:28:20.134
There's a lot of turncoats, right?

01:28:20.154 --> 01:28:22.594
There's a lot of allegiance changes and stuff.

01:28:22.954 --> 01:28:25.194
And there's also this whole battle for Earth.

01:28:25.214 --> 01:28:38.454
It becomes such a big moment in the Halo history that Halo 3 ODST, which is like a sequel to Halo 3 that's not Halo 4, but it's also kind of concurrent with Halo 3.

01:28:38.474 --> 01:28:41.134
There's Halo Wars that talks about the actual war.

01:28:42.554 --> 01:28:48.774
So this whole era becomes very important to the history of Halo, which creates a lot of lore for this portion of the game, especially.

01:28:48.894 --> 01:28:50.454
Yeah, totally.

01:28:50.474 --> 01:28:51.814
And it's a political thriller.

01:28:51.834 --> 01:28:53.734
It is, yeah, fully a political thriller.

01:28:53.754 --> 01:28:55.734
It's dense, and that's wild.

01:28:55.814 --> 01:28:58.294
Holy shit, that was beautiful.

01:28:58.554 --> 01:28:59.034
It was.

01:28:59.194 --> 01:29:02.014
And thank you for coming along on that journey so much, Goombas.

01:29:02.034 --> 01:29:03.554
Like, really appreciate it.

01:29:03.574 --> 01:29:05.354
Also me, I've never picked up a Halo.

01:29:05.374 --> 01:29:06.034
No, you haven't.

01:29:06.094 --> 01:29:09.014
I'm wildly emotionally attached to Commander Keese.

01:29:09.814 --> 01:29:12.354
Right, she was so badass, wasn't she?

01:29:12.374 --> 01:29:14.034
I'm going to light a candle for her tonight.

01:29:14.054 --> 01:29:15.434
I think you should, honestly.

01:29:15.574 --> 01:29:17.274
Fuck yeah, women in STEM.

01:29:19.094 --> 01:29:21.094
The M stands for military now, sorry.

01:29:22.634 --> 01:29:24.354
Where's the military and all that, but yeah.

01:29:24.934 --> 01:29:25.914
She's a Marine.

01:29:25.934 --> 01:29:28.114
Yeah, oh, she is such a badass.

01:29:28.154 --> 01:29:29.314
No, this game was great.

01:29:29.954 --> 01:29:38.734
It's really, like I said, I wasn't really enjoying the gameplay too much because it's just kind of repetitive, but then once you get to that fucking ending, oh, that ending is so fantastic.

01:29:38.874 --> 01:29:40.894
Yeah, that's so cinematic.

01:29:41.014 --> 01:29:42.094
I really enjoy that.

01:29:42.114 --> 01:29:43.174
That's so fucking fun.

01:29:43.474 --> 01:29:57.854
And it does feel like a nice closed loop of three games, you know, two feeling kind of weak being in the middle and being two-thirds of a game, but man, three is a killer third act, both in terms of two and in terms of the entire trilogy.

01:29:57.994 --> 01:30:02.794
And what's crazy to me is that, like I said, I've only played up to three, I haven't played anything afterwards.

01:30:03.194 --> 01:30:06.254
From everything I understand, the flood's done after this.

01:30:06.574 --> 01:30:09.034
They're just like, we moved on, we fucking solved that shit.

01:30:09.154 --> 01:30:11.554
Yeah, I guess they are finished with the flood after that.

01:30:11.674 --> 01:30:12.274
That's cool.

01:30:12.294 --> 01:30:17.074
Maybe they show up a little bit later, but they are not really a conflict anymore.

01:30:18.414 --> 01:30:20.914
I love that also, the surround of it all.

01:30:20.934 --> 01:30:24.634
There's that Firefly episode where one guy ends up floating out in space.

01:30:24.994 --> 01:30:26.874
That's kind of what happens in Master Chief.

01:30:27.054 --> 01:30:28.034
A little bit, yeah.

01:30:28.054 --> 01:30:28.554
A lion?

01:30:28.574 --> 01:30:29.934
I guess I have a mighty roar.

01:30:31.354 --> 01:30:37.294
There is a lot of the Firefly surround of the world kind of Easter egged throughout, which is very fun.

01:30:37.314 --> 01:30:40.734
Yeah, you can really feel the influences, especially in some of those death scenes.

01:30:40.894 --> 01:30:47.474
Yeah, if I'm looking through that lens specifically, yeah, a badass death for the cause, very much of that world.

01:30:47.494 --> 01:30:48.294
Yeah, definitely.

01:30:48.814 --> 01:30:51.054
Oh, that's a ride.

01:30:51.094 --> 01:30:52.554
Thank you for taking us through that.

01:30:52.654 --> 01:30:59.394
Oh, thank you so much for going on it with me, and if you enjoyed that, please make sure that you are liked and subscribed to our show.

01:30:59.434 --> 01:31:00.834
Leave us a review, that'd be cool.

01:31:00.854 --> 01:31:04.834
Leave us anything that'll let you leave on whatever website you use to listen to our show.

01:31:04.894 --> 01:31:08.294
And leave your shoes at the door when you check out theothercastlepodcast.com.

01:31:08.314 --> 01:31:10.134
That's the othercastlepodcast.com.

01:31:10.474 --> 01:31:24.334
Over there, you can check out our Patreon, where for just $2 a month, you can get early access to these episodes, as well as get our Patreon exclusive, The Other Castle Side Quests, which are monthly episodes that are a little bit different from the show that we do here.

01:31:24.594 --> 01:31:29.234
And if you are on the Patreon, I'm just gonna go ahead and apologize for singing at you last week.

01:31:31.454 --> 01:31:33.114
I'm sure they loved hearing their names.

01:31:33.134 --> 01:31:34.494
I'm sure they fucking didn't.

01:31:36.074 --> 01:31:43.354
So, instead of that, I'm gonna be regular this week and say thank you so much to patrons who made the show possible, like these wonderful people.

01:31:43.794 --> 01:31:53.214
Amber, Berserk Panda, Andrew, Damien, That Chonky Boy, AJ, Paul, Omar, Aaron, Cerise.

01:31:53.614 --> 01:31:57.594
Yeah, sorry, by the way, Cerise, because we've pronounced you as Cyrus all this time.

01:31:57.614 --> 01:31:58.514
Tom fucked up.

01:31:58.534 --> 01:31:59.674
We got this corrected.

01:31:59.694 --> 01:32:01.414
So, Cerise, this one's for you.

01:32:02.134 --> 01:32:07.534
Unuseful, Molly, Krisha, Molly Mock, Jackie, Jacob, and Ellen.

01:32:08.034 --> 01:32:09.934
Thank you, all of you, so much.

01:32:09.954 --> 01:32:11.054
We really appreciate it.

01:32:11.074 --> 01:32:12.194
You make this show possible.

01:32:12.274 --> 01:32:16.454
Yeah, and we will see you next week with another wonderful game.

01:32:16.594 --> 01:32:17.894
Patrons will get it on Tuesday.

01:32:17.954 --> 01:32:19.174
You'll get it on Wednesday.

01:32:19.374 --> 01:32:23.134
Don't forget to join us in the Discord, on Patreon, on Instagram.

01:32:23.394 --> 01:32:24.394
Join us on all the things.

01:32:24.414 --> 01:32:26.074
And don't forget to join the Marines.

01:32:26.934 --> 01:32:27.174
No?

01:32:27.614 --> 01:32:28.474
If you want to.

01:32:28.494 --> 01:32:31.054
You can be the Master Chief.

01:32:32.454 --> 01:32:33.114
That's true.

01:32:33.134 --> 01:32:34.974
Yeah, no, we are not sponsored by the Marines.

01:32:34.994 --> 01:32:36.574
So I'm not going to put my stamp on that.

01:32:36.734 --> 01:32:39.074
Would you want the Marines to sponsor?

01:32:39.154 --> 01:32:41.654
The Marines, first of all, would not want to sponsor us.

01:32:41.674 --> 01:32:46.594
They'd be like, whatever the fuck those two knuckleheads are doing, we do not want to encourage it.

01:32:46.794 --> 01:32:52.034
We want to encourage, I don't know, like doing pushups and shit, maybe making your community better.

01:32:52.054 --> 01:32:55.214
Whatever the fuck those two are doing, we do not endorse.

01:32:55.234 --> 01:32:57.634
They definitely do not.

01:32:57.734 --> 01:32:58.174
Yeah.

01:32:58.474 --> 01:33:03.174
Well, anyways, goombas, this is Tom and Andrea reminding you, Tank beats everything!

01:33:04.474 --> 01:33:06.334
And don't skip the cutscenes.